Prevention Matters

One in every two U.S. children now grapples at some time with a chronic health condition, such as asthma, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or obesity, new research suggests. But those chronic illnesses won't persist for most of those children. Just over 7 percent of those who reported a chronic condition at the beginning of the study still had the condition six years later.

"Over time, we found the rates of chronic conditions and obesity in U.S. children increased, but quite a few of these conditions resolved on their own," said study author Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave, a pediatrician at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston.

The findings are published in the Feb. 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the national effort to lower health care costs by preventing chronic disease and hospitalizations, dentists may be an important part of the solution. A nationwide survey published in the January 2010 issue of the JADA (The Journal of the American Dental Association) reports that dentists would be willing to screen their patients for medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases when they come to the office for dental care. More than three-quarters of the 1,945 dentists who responded thought it was important for them to screen for hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, with a majority indicating they would be willing to check patients also for hepatitis and HIV.

U.S. life expectancy has risen to a new high, now standing at nearly 78 years, the government reported Wednesday. The increase is due mainly to falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death. The average life expectancy for babies born in 2007 is nearly three months greater than for children born in 2006.

The death rate from heart disease dropped nearly 5 percent in 2007, and the cancer death rate fell nearly 2 percent, according to the report. The HIV death rate dropped 10 percent, the biggest one-year decline in 10 years. The diabetes death rate fell about 4 percent, allowing Alzheimer's disease to surpass diabetes to become the sixth leading cause of death.

The National Health Statistics Group reports that health care spending in 2007 grew 6.1%. The overall response to that news has been an interesting mix - one that gives you the impression that while the oncoming train is still headed for your car stuck on the crossing, at least it's slowed down a bit.

Several media reports focused on the fact that it was the lowest level of growth in health care spending in nine years. But, as Forbes noted, since the total economy grew by only 2.3% in 2007, the 6.1% hike in health care costs still means everyone’s losing ground.

Drug costs grew by only 5%, as a number of low-priced generics came on the market. But hospital and doctor spending grew 7.3% and 6.5%, respectively, and health insurance premiums grew by 6 percent.

Meanwhile, Health Affairs published a study that shows out-of-pocket medical expenses in the U.S. have grown by 40% over the last decade. Study author Kathy Paetz says it's due largely to the fact that middle-aged Americans today are 10 percent more likely to suffer from more than one chronic disease. Prevention, anyone?

Providing universal health care won't be nearly enough to truly reform the American health system, says the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a recent column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dr. Julie Gerberding says universal access to quality health care services "would address no more than 25 percent of the gap between our current health status and that of the world’s healthiest nations."

"Health doesn’t only happen in the doctor’s office or the hospital bed," Gerberding wrote in an op-ed piece.

"We have to promote changes and policies that build health opportunities into everyday life — walkable streets, nutritious school lunches, health education and fitness programs for all students, smoking cessation programs and easy access to parks and gyms," she said. "Transportation, housing, agriculture, environment and education legislation abounds with opportunities to leverage better health — at an investment price that brings far better value than dollars spent treating chronic diseases once they occur."