Health and Science

Primary information for Swine Flu (H1N1) can be found at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When at the site, there's general information about this strain of the flu, as well as influenza disease activity in the United States and findings of key flu indicators in a report called FluView.

Another page on the CDC site includes a seasonal flu map and resources for your individual state.

The CDC site includes questions and answers about the safety of the Swine Flu vaccine.

We're including the section that's devoted specifically to seniors:

Why aren't people 65 and older recommended to get early doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine?

There are two main reasons why people age 65 and older are not included in the groups recommended to get the initial doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine:

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Although we're generally familiar with the Nun Study and Massachusett's Women's Health Study (an epidemiologic investigation of menopause), SWAN (Study of Women's Health Across the Nation), is another notable longterm scientific investigation. It was constructed to examine the women's health during their middle years and has the financial backing of such agencies as the National Institutes on Aging, of Nursing Research, of Mental Health and Child Health & Human Development, among others.

Here's SWAN's background: The study began in 1994 and is in its eleventh year. Between 1996 and 1997, 3,302 participants joined SWAN through seven designated research centers. The research centers are located in the following communities: Ypsilanti and Inkster, MI (University of Michigan), Boston, MA (Massachusetts General Hospital), Chicago, IL (Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center), Alameda and Contra Costa County, CA (University of California Davis and Kaiser Permanente), Los Angeles, CA (University of California at Los Angeles), Hackensack, NJ (Hackensack University Medical Center), and Pittsburgh, PA (University of Pittsburgh). SWAN participants represent five racial/ethnic groups and a variety of backgrounds and cultures.

And highlights of the study's findings: What factors increase heart disease risk?

American women who have experienced chronic stress or discrimination in their lives have more risk factors for cardiovascular disease (thicker carotid artery walls and more carotid artery plaque) than their Caucasian counterparts.

Major depression, even before menopause, predicts cardiovascular risk. Mid-life women (Caucasian and African American – the only two ethnicities studied for this project) who have a history of two or more major depressive episodes are twice as likely to have a risk factor of heart disease (like cardiovascular plaque) before menopause than women who have no history of depression, or only one episode of depression.

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Lyrics by *Susan Tifft:

I feel good, I feel fine.

I’ve even had a little wine!

But them salad days are over and done.

Mass General Hospital again has won.

I got the knock-me-down, throw-me-up, I’m fixin’ to heave, day-before-chemo blues.

No more yoga, no more fun.

For the next few days it’s walk don’t run.

Phooey on rest, phooey on quiet.

I’d much prefer to stage a riot.

I got the knock-me-down, throw-me-up, I’m fixin’ to heave, day-before-chemo blues.

Food ain’t tasty, drink ain’t cool.

I stare at the wall, I start to drool.

My mind’s a fog, my brain’s a mess.

I even forget to brush with Crest.

I got the knock-me-down, throw-me-up, I’m fixin’to heave, day-before-chemo blues.

This isn't such a woeful plight.

It’s just a week or so out of sight.

I’ll think of you, my dearest friends,

And be back to you when chemo ends.

I got the knock-me-down, throw-me-up, I’m fixin’ to heave, day-before-chemo blues.

*Susan Tifft is former writer at TIME magazine and an emerita professor of the practice of journalism and public policy at Duke. She is the co-author of two biographies of media families, and has been living with Stage IV endometrial cancer for two years.

A statement was issued by the issued by the Association of Bioethics Program Directors' Board of Directors on behalf of its members concerning health reform. EthicsShare is another site that can be consulted for additional information.

The Association of Bioethics Program Directors (ABPD) represents the leadership of 60 academic bioethics programs across North America. At this critical juncture in the national debate about health care reform in the United States, our membership wishes to send a clear message about some myths that challenge the ethics of reform proposals.

Myth #1: Health care reform will mean giving up control of my own health care decisions.

Fact: The field of bioethics has long championed the rights of individual patients to make their own health care decisions in consultation with their physicians. If we thought the major proposals being considered posed a serious threat to these rights, we would be the first to speak out. But that is NOT the case. The right of individuals to make decisions about their health care is engrained in the ethics of American medical practice and that won’t change under any of the approaches to health care reform currently under discussion.

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