October is Health Literacy Month, and medical professionals are educating Pennsylvanians about heart inflammation. Heart inflammation can lead to serious cardiac events if untreated.
The age-adjusted death rate for heart disease in 2021 was 180 deaths per 100,000 Pennsylvania residents.
Dr. Philip Nimoyten, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical School and Philadelphia Cardiology Consultant, said recent medical research has discovered new preventative measures and treatments for heart attacks, the leading cause of death in the United States. Added within the past year. , new drugs are now available that directly target inflammation in the heart, significantly reducing the risk.
“The drug, a low-dose colchicine sold under the name Rodco, has been shown to be able to reduce heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular death in individuals with coronary artery disease or multiple risk factors for coronary artery disease. ” Nimoitin outlined.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the three main risk factors for heart disease are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking, and nearly half of Americans have at least one condition.
Nimotin stressed the importance of maintaining heart health, including avoiding intestinal problems through a healthy diet. He added that the gut is home to the gut microbiome, a population of microorganisms.
“It is estimated that there are 10 trillion microorganisms in the gut, and they produce 10% of the body’s chemicals, called metabolites,” Nimoitin explained. “The types of bacteria that grow are influenced by what you eat. So if you eat beef, for example, you’ll increase the growth of bacteria that release inflammatory metabolites.”
He added that new treatments have led to a significant 31% increase in demand for coronary revascularization procedures such as stenting and bypass surgery. He encouraged Pennsylvania to start screening for heart disease early in life, especially if there is a family history.
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Health professionals and advocates in the Latinx community are using National Hispanic Heritage Month to encourage residents to prepare for the upcoming cold and flu season.
The nonprofit organization Latinx Voces has partnered with pharmaceutical company Pfizer to dispel misconceptions about vaccines.
Paulina Sosa, the group’s founder, said recent webinars focused on the importance of vaccination, and they are now taking that message to the community.
“Explain what a vaccine is, what makes it safe, and how do we know if it can be trusted,” Sosa outlined. “We hope that explaining this to people will really help educate and inform them, but also help remove any hesitancy or fear that people may have about this vaccine.”
Hispanic adults were 30% less likely to have received a flu vaccine than non-Hispanic whites, according to the latest information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A link to the webinar is available at LatinxTaskForce.org.
Sosa noted that much of the anxiety about vaccination within the Latino community is fueled by misinformation.
“Many people still believe that they will get the chip or that it will affect their fertility,” Sosa explained. We still find that there is a lot of misinformation out there that actually creates consistent fear and hesitancy about vaccines of all kinds. ”
With respiratory infection season upon us, she said she wants to make sure residents have the right information about the coronavirus, influenza, pneumonia and RSV vaccines.
“We want to provide information, but we also want to remove barriers to access,” Sosa stressed. “How can we do that? Partnering with health fairs, partnering with clinics, making sure the information is in Spanish and that people feel comfortable asking questions.”
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One year after the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history, union members say they’ve seen changes since their 2023 victory.
More than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in Oregon and four other states went on a three-day strike in October 2023 to win a 21% pay raise over four years.
Keven Dardon is a patient access representative at Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas and was a member of the bargaining team with Service Employees International Union Local 49 during the strike.
He said the strike carries risks.
“This was not an easy decision for us,” Dardon said. “Make a plan and talk to your colleagues as well as your family about what the strike means to us and how going on strike for them will affect our position and income. It took a lot of time. Three days.”
Durdon said health care workers want to meet demand from the growing Portland area. SEIU Local 49 says its members received the largest pay package in 25 years.
Durdon said the biggest concerns for workers are understaffing and turnover. He said he worked with management to analyze the staffing needs of each department within the hospital.
Durdon said the increase in staff will benefit patients.
“Ultimately, this means more access to providers,” Dardon said. “Overall, this is a huge win for us because we can now start to get the staffing we need, meet the city’s demand, and see patients in a really timely manner.”
The Kaiser strike is one of many strikes that took place last year and continues this year, including the recent longshore workers’ strike. Dardon said the action gave him the strength to see.
“Companies are making record profits, but we’re the backbone of the company, right?” Dardon said. “We should show up on time every day, do our jobs, see our patients and customers, and be rewarded for our hard work and the profits these companies are making.”
Disclosure: SEIU Local 49 donates to our foundation for livable wage/working families and social justice reporting. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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Experts warn that health insurance premiums could rise by an average of $1,000 a year for the more than 2 million Californians who buy insurance on the individual market unless Congress extends subsidies from the Inflation Control Act. are.
The nonprofit Health Access California has federal data by congressional district.
In the Central Valley alone, for example, 140,000 people benefit from subsidies, said Rachel Lynn Gish, communications director for the advocacy group.
“As Congress considers taking steps to make these federal aids permanent, we need to understand how the health care decisions that members of Congress are about to make will impact their constituents. We want to make sure they know,” Gish emphasized.
Lynne Gish hopes Congress will take up the issue soon, as CoveredCA is currently working on setting rates for 2026. At a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, criticized the Inflation Control Act, which was passed without a single Republican on the bill. He said voting to permanently extend the subsidies would contribute $325 billion to the federal deficit over 10 years.
A recent report from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles found that the Inflation Control Act’s enhanced tax credits could save Californians $1.7 billion annually.
Gish pointed out that the federal budget has allowed state funds to flow to programs that offer zero deductibles and zero out-of-pocket costs in many CoveredCA plans.
“If we lose federal support for premium assistance, we may have to shift state funding to backfill it,” Gish warned. “Consumers may therefore also see a sharp increase in their medical and other out-of-pocket costs.”
A recent study by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles found that 69,000 more Californians could become uninsured due to higher premiums if federal subsidies are allowed to expire next year. I predicted that there would be.
Disclosure: Health Access contributes to the Health Reporting Fund. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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