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Bones, Joints, and Muscles - Slides Aim to Help Cut Health Disparities in Rheumatic, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases
Format: Web site and slide show
Institute: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)In the United States, health disparities exist among minority groups for rheumatic, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases. In response, NIAMS is sponsoring the Health Partnership Program, which seeks to address these disparities and to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases and their complications. Groups most affected are African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders.
At the request of community partners, NIAMS has produced a PowerPoint slide show to help these partners promote the Health Partnership Program to their organizations' leadership and clients. The slides provide an overview of the program's mission, accomplishments, and future activities. More Next Steps
You can view and download the slideshow in English at www.niams.nih.gov/hi/outreach/hpp/HPPSlideShow.ppt, or in Spanish at www.niams.nih.gov/hi/outreach/hpp/HPPSlideShow_espanol.ppt. - Sprains and Strains: Facts About Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, and Prevention
Format: Booklet
Institute: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)Do you know the difference between a sprain and a strain? Where they most often occur? Or when to use RICE therapy?
To find out, read Questions and Answers About Sprains and Strains, a booklet produced by NIAMS that contains general information about sprains and strains, which are both very common injuries. There are also tips on how to avoid sprains and strains in the first place. Next Steps
You can view the booklet online and in PDF format, in English and Spanish, at www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/strain_sprain/strain_sprain.htm. - Facts about the Bone Disorder Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)Osteogenesis imperfecta is a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily, often with little or no apparent cause. The number of people in the United States with the disorder is unknown, although it is thought to be between 20,000 and 50,000. It is caused by a genetic defect that affects the body's production of collagen, which is the major protein found in the body's connective tissue.
Fast Facts on Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a fact sheet produced by NIAMS that describes four recognized forms of the disorder, which represent a range of severities. For example, a person might have only a few or several hundred fractures in a lifetime. The fact sheet covers various aspects of the disorder, including diagnosis, clinical features, treatment, and prognosis.
Next Steps
You can view the fact sheet in English and Spanish at www.niams.nih.gov/bone/hi/osteogenesis/oi.htm. - Surgeon General’s Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis: What It Means to You
Format: Booklet
Institute: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)Strong bones begin in childhood. By 2020 an estimated half of all Americans above the age of 50 will have weak bones unless we make changes to our diet and lifestyle.
In recognition of the importance of promoting bone health and preventing fractures, President George W. Bush declared 2002–2011 the Decade of the Bone and Joint. Consequently, the Surgeon General’s recent Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis brought together for the first time the scientific evidence related to the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of bone disease. More Next Steps
You can view the booklet in PDF format at www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/bonehealth/docs/Osteo10sep04.pdf. To order copies of this booklet or the full Surgeon General's report, Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Surgeon General's Report, call toll free (866) 718-BONE. For more facts and advice, visit www.osteo.org, or write to the National Resource Center, 2 AMS Circle, Bethesda, MD 20892-3676. You can also call for information at (202) 223-0344 (toll-free at (800) 624-2663 and TTY at (202) 466-4315.
Cancers - Access to Investigational Drugs: Questions and Answers
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Cancer Institute (NCI)An investigational drug is one under study that does not yet have permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be legally marketed and sold in the United States. The most common way for patients to receive such drugs is through clinical trials. The drugs are typically free under these circumstances, but it is not known whether an investigational drug is better than standard therapy for treating a disease, and a patient might not receive any benefit.
The first step for developing a new drug is to test it in the laboratory. If the results are promising, the drug company or sponsor must apply for FDA approval to test the drug in humans, through clinical trials. Ultimately, the drugs must be proven to be reasonably safe and effective before they will receive FDA approval. Next Steps
To view or download the fact sheet, visit http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/7_46.htm. - Calculating Lifetime Risk of Breast Cancer: Questions and Answers
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Cancer Institute (NCI)Women in the United States face a 14 percent lifetime risk of developing invasive breast cancer, but this overall statistic has been broken down to pinpoint a woman's risk using factors such as age, race, and region of residence. For instance, the chances of a 50-year-old, cancer-free black woman of developing breast cancer by age 60 is about 2.5-percent, whereas a white woman under the same conditions has a 2.9-percent chance.
NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program is an authoritative source of information on new cases of cancer (incidence) and survival in the United States. It began collecting data on January 1, 1973, and publishes the cancer incidence and survival data used to estimate risk for close to 25 percent of the national population. The SEER Program is the only comprehensive source of population-based information in the United States that includes the stage of cancer at time of diagnosis and survival rates for each stage of disease. The mortality data reported by SEER are provided by another federal agency, the National Center for Health Statistics. Next Steps
To view or download the fact sheet, visit www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/BreastRiskCalculate. - Human Papillomaviruses and Cancer: Questions and Answers
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Cancer Institute (NCI)Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a group of more than 100 types of viruses, some of which cause warts, or papillomas, and others that sometimes cause cancerous growths in the throat or genital area.
Researchers at NCI and elsewhere are studying how HPVs cause precancerous changes in normal cells and how these changes can be prevented. They are using HPVs grown in the laboratory to find ways to prevent the infection and its associated disease and to create vaccines against the viruses. Vaccines for certain papillomaviruses are already being studied in clinical trials for the prevention of cervical cancer.
Facts about HPV infections and the latest research into ways to thwart the viruses are available in an updated NCI fact sheet. The sheet also includes links to other sources of relevant information. Next Steps
To view the fact sheet, visit http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/3_20.htm.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Backgrounders for Understanding Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)If you are interested in learning more about complementary and alternative medicine and related research can read five new backgrounders compiled by NCCAM. These are: - Energy Medicine: An Overview
- Biologically Based Practices: An Overview
- Manipulative and Body-Based Practices: An Overview
- Mind-Body Medicine: An Overview
- Whole Medical Systems: An Overview
Next Steps
You can find the five documents by visiting the NCCAM Web site at http://nccam.nih.gov/health and clicking on Major Areas of CAM, or by calling the NCCAM Clearinghouse toll-free at (888) 644-6226.
HIV/AIDS - Treatment of HIV Infection: Facts About 20 Approved Drugs
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)When AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) was first recognized in 1981, patients with the disease were unlikely to live longer than a year or two. Since then, scientists have developed an effective arsenal of drugs that can help many people infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) live longer and healthier lives.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved 20 drugs to treat patients with HIV. NIAID has published an updated fact sheet describing the drugs, how they work, and possible complications, as well as new drugs in the pipeline. More Next Steps
To view or download the fact sheet, visit www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/treat-hiv.htm.
Immune System - Allergy Facts and Figures
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)If you're an allergy sufferer, whether from hay fever, foods, latex, antibiotics, or other substances, you are part of a growing group of people already more than 50 million strong in the United States.
NIAID has updated its allergy statistics, which reveal some startling facts: - Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, costing the health care system $18 billion annually.
- Chronic sinusitis is the most commonly reported allergy-related chronic disease, affecting 16.3 percent of people or nearly 32 million in the United States.
- Approximately 150 Americans, usually adolescents and young adults, die annually from food-induced anaphylaxis.
- Penicillin is a common cause of drug allergy.
Next Steps
To view more facts and statistics about allergies, visit www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/allergystat.htm.
Infectious Diseases - Updated Facts about the Common Cold
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)The common cold is probably the most common illness known. More than 200 different viruses cause cold symptoms, including sneezing, scratchy throat, runny nose, swelling of sinuses, headaches, and coughs. The viruses can survive longer than you might think—up to three hours on your skin or on objects such as telephones and stair railings. Children have 6 to 10 colds a year and adults 2 to 4.
NIAID has published an updated fact sheet on the common cold that addresses the causes, symptoms, treatments, and prevention of colds. It talks about the different viruses behind the cold and why most colds in the United States occur in the fall and winter. Next Steps
To view or download the fact sheet, visit www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/cold.htm. - Pneumococcal Pneumonia: Facts About Symptoms, Treatment, and Complications
Format: Fact Sheet
Institute: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)About 500,000 cases of pneumonia and 40,000 deaths occur annually due to the bacterium pneumococcus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacteria can infect the upper respiratory tracts of adults and children, and can spread to the blood, lungs, middle ear, or nervous system. Pneumonia affects twice as many African Americans as whites. At any given time, the noses and throats of up to 70 percent of healthy people contain pneumococcus, and researchers don’t know what causes it to suddenly invade the lungs and the bloodstream to cause disease.
NIAID has published an updated fact sheet on pneumococcal pneumonia that describes the transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and possible complications associated with the disease. Next Steps
To view or download the fact sheet, visit www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/pneumonia.htm.
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