Kim’s public health blog

In continuing coverage from previous editions of Morning Rounds, the New York Times reports on the front page of its Science Times section that “a vast majority of emergency [department] (ED) patients are discharged without understanding the treatment they received, or how to care for themselves once they get home,” according to a study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. Investigators “followed 140 English-speaking patients discharged from emergency departments in two Michigan hospitals, and measured their understanding in four areas — their diagnosis, their [emergency department] treatment, instructions for their at-home care, and warning signs of when to return to the hospital.” The researchers “found that 78 percent of patients did not understand at least one area, and about half did not understand two or more areas. The greatest confusion surrounded home care — instructions about things like medications, rest, wound care, and when to have a follow-up visit with a” physician

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. The 2004 Surgeon General report found convincing evidence for a direct causal relationship between tobacco use and the following cancers: lung and bronchial, laryngeal, oral cavity and pharyngeal, esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, kidney and renal pelvis, urinary bladder, and cervical cancers and acute myelogenous leukemia AML). This report provides state-level cancer incidence data and recent trends for cancers associated with tobacco use.
Results: Approximately 2.4 million cases of tobacco-related cancer were diagnosed during 1999–2004. Age adjusted incidence rates ranged from 4.0 per 100,000 persons (for AML) to 69.4 (for lung and bronchial cancer). High rates occurred among men, black and non-Hispanic populations, and older adults. Higher incidence rates of lung and laryngeal cancer occurred in the South compared with other regions, particularly the West, consistent with high smoking patterns in the South.