Wellness Wednesday

Reviewing the Top Public Health Stories According to the University of Berkeley

A quick overview of the top ten public health stories of 2010 according to the University of Berkeley.

2017 has been a crazy year, that's for sure. Between the political, environmental and sports stories, it's very easy to forget about all the changes that have been made in the public health sphere this year. Here are a few of the top stories as selected from Berkeley's top ten public health stories of 2017:

• Cancer Deaths are Still on the Decline:
• Deaths by cancer continue to decline in the United States, specifically at a 1.5% annual decline. The improvement in cancer prevention is due to early detection and improved treatment of common cancers such as lung, breast, prostate and colorectal carcinomas.Overall, there has been a 25% decrease in cancer deaths since 1991, with promise that this percentage will increase in future years.
• The Opioid Epidemic is at an All Time High:
• As seen in Harford County, where the total of overdoses is well over 400, the opioid epidemic continues to reach all time high's in regards to those it affects. In the past four years, as many Americans have died of prescription opioid overdoses as those Americans who had died during the entirety of the Vietnam war. Preventative measures, such as restricting the amount of opioids prescribed, have been taken to try and halt the continuation of the opioid epidemic.  
• Sugar Has Finally been Identified as a True Culprit of the Obesity Epidemic:
• Fat Free? Try just higher amount of sugar. Processed foods and beverages have been identified as the culprits behind the skyrocketing numbers of obesity and type-2 diabetes.This new focus has spurred dietitians and researchers across the nation to re-focus their attention on how to get populations to eat food that's not as processed.
• New Guidelines Lower the Threshold for High Blood Pressure:
• 31 Million more Americans have high blood pressure no thanks to the American Heart Association's reclassification of what constitutes the disease according to new blood pressure reading thresholds. This reclassification will affect millions of Americans pockets now with their premiums possibly rising, but the Association hopes that this will spur the patient populations to make necessary health decisions for the better. 
• Babies Can Once Again Enjoy Peanut Butter:
• If your child has a severe allergy or eczema reaction to eggs, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease advised feeding them peanuts at as early as four months old. The turnaround on the ruling has much to do with the finding that feeding peanuts to a child at an earlier age reduces the likelihood that the child will develop an allergy to it.