November is COPD Awareness Month

Here is an important message about COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease from NHLBI:

STATEMENT FROM ELIZABETH G. NABEL, M.D., DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, ON COPD AWARENESS MONTH, NOVEMBER 2007 COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), a serious lung disease, is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. An American dies every 4.5 minutes from COPD. While there are 12 million people with a diagnosis of COPD, there may be another 12 million who have it and don't know it.Despite these alarming numbers, relatively few Americans have heard of COPD. As a result, those at risk are not aware of the symptoms and health care professionals are not always on the lookout for the early symptoms and warning signs.COPD occurs when the tubes that allow the air to get in and out of the lungs are partially blocked, making it difficult to breathe and leaving patients feeling short of breath. Anyone over the age of 40 who smokes or has smoked is at risk for developing COPD. People who have had long-term exposure to things that irritate the lungs, such as chemicals, dust, or fumes in the workplace; secondhand smoke or other pollutants; and people with certain genetic conditions are also at risk.Diagnosing COPD involves a simple breathing test called spirometry that can be done in the doctor's office. Newer treatments for COPD are helping people live longer, more active lives.The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in collaboration with more than 20 partners, has developed an education campaign, COPD Learn More Breathe Better, in order to promote greater awareness of COPD among those at risk for COPD, patients, and health care providers. We hope that our efforts and those of our partners will serve as a wake-up call for America to help those with the disease and at risk for the disease take steps to improve their own health.For information, visit <www.LearnAboutCOPD.org>.

Immigrant Health

Immigrant health is such a volatile and polarizing topic poised to dominate the upcoming Presidential elections in 2008. At issue are the rising costs of health care and growingly controversial politics of immigration in this country. The inevitable interactions between health, policy, politics and public opinion gave rise to intractable debates among concerned parties, and more consequentially, poor health status of immigrants.

An article published by RAND in its September/October 2007 issue outlined the various sources of vulnerabilities for immigrants and discussed policy options that should be considered in order to improve their health status. According to the article, immigrants are more than likely to receive inadequate, poor or no health care at all compared to US-born citizens. The reasons for this disparity are the immigrants' disadvantaged socio-economic status, limited English proficiency, and the marginalization and stigma that accompany their legal status as immigrants.
The growingly unfavorable shift of policies and laws towards the immigrants only serve to inflame the issue further.

The article stated that the factors above contribute negatively to the health status of the immigrants in this country. As a result, poor access to care, as well the poor quality of care and services they receive, combine to affect serious implications on the health of the immigrants. The article considered certain policy changes that could reduce immigrant's vulnerability to poor health. Expanding the social insurance coverage, addressing the issue of language barrier, expand and strengthen community safety nets, and finally, revise federal laws that restrict immigrants' access to government-subsidized health care.

Please read the entire article in this link: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/5/1258