Will swine flu fears change your daily life this fall?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's estimated between 30,000 and 90,000 people in this country could die from the swine flu this year. Scary stuff. True, in an average year about 36,000 people die from regular flu - but this has the potential to be much, much worse.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the best things people can do are simple... like washing their hands often and coughing into their sleeve.
President Obama says he doesn't want anybody to be alarmed, but he does want people to be prepared... This includes families and businesses making plans in case relatives or co-workers catch the virus and need to stay home.
Swine flu cases are expected pick up again as the school year starts... and possibly peak in mid-October. A vaccine is being tested - but isn't expected to be available until at least mid-October. Children and young adults will be at the greatest risk.
This thing has got Americans' attention. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows 39-percent of those surveyed are concerned that they or someone in their family will get the swine flu... that's double the percent who felt that way in May.
The poll also shows most Americans are confident in the government's ability to prevent a nationwide epidemic, and two-thirds say they plan to get vaccinated.
So far there have been 550-deaths in the U-S from H1N1 - or swine flu. A scientific panel recently said it's possible that anywhere from 30-to-50 percent of the population could catch it. 50-percent of the population would be around 150-million people.
Here’s my question to you: Will the fear of getting swine flu change your daily life this fall?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
More than 1 in 10 Americans on antidepressants
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The number of Americans taking antidepressants has doubled in the last decade...
A new study of 50,000 adults and children shows about 10-percent of Americans - or 27 million people - were using antidepressants in 2005; that's up from 13-million people in 1996.
The report in the Archives of General Psychiatry shows most of the people taking these drugs weren't being treated for depression. Rather - half of them were using the medication for back or nerve pain, fatigue, sleeping problems or other issues.
The study says more people are being treated with antidepressants, and they're receiving more prescriptions. But the percentage of antidepressant users seeing psychiatrists actually fell during this period. This might be because insurance companies don't cover the visits; and it's cheaper for people to just get a prescription.
Some think the increase is due to the fact that it's more socially acceptable to be diagnosed and treated for depression. Also - there are new drugs that are safer and have fewer serious side effects. And, during this time, spending on so-called direct-to-consumer antidepressant advertising increased from $32 million to $122 million during the nine years of the study.
Some are concerned about the results of this study, saying antidepressants are only moderately effective; and that getting therapy can be more effective than just taking drugs.
Also, there have been several public health warnings on these medicines, including that they increase the risk of suicidal thoughts in children and teens.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean when more than one in 10 Americans is on antidepressants?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What does it mean if organic food is no healthier than regular food?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Organic food is no healthier or more nutritious than regular food. But it is more expensive.
That's according to a study commissioned by the British government and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers looked at 50,000 studies conducted over 50 years - and found no significant differences in the foods. They focused on a wide range of crops and livestock raised and marketed under organic standards.
The few differences they found were about the kind of fertilizer used - like nitrogen or phosphorus - and how ripe the crops were when harvested. They say these differences are unlikely to provide any health benefit to consumers.
This will probably come as a blow to those who shell out a lot of money to buy the more expensive organic products because they think it's healthier.
Sales of organic foods have skyrocketed in the U.S. in the last 20 years; topping $23 billion last year.
Critics of the report say it ignores possible side-effects from pesticides and that organic farming may be better for the health of the animals. They say consumers who buy organic are supporting a system that bans the routine use of antibiotics and treats livestock better.
But if you buy organic food because you think it's more nutritious, you may want to think again. Plus, regular food is cheaper.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean if organic food is no healthier or more nutritious than regular food?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What message is sent if U.S. Surgeon General is overweight?
President Obama announced Dr. Regina Benjamin as his nominee for Surgeon General in the White House Rose Garden last week. (PHOTO CREDIT: TIM SLOAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In a nation where more than one-third of adults are obese - the president is coming under fire for his selection of an overweight surgeon general.
ABC News reports that Although Dr. Regina Benjamin has been praised for her top credentials - like creating a medical clinic for the poor after Hurricane Katrina - many believe that Benjamin's appearance sends the wrong message as the nation's top doctor. It is estimated that Benjamin is as much as 40 pounds overweight.
The Department of Health and Human Services insists that Benjamin is highly qualified, saying: "She is a role model for all of us, and will be an outstanding surgeon general."
And supporters suggest her job is to make health care decisions - not to look good. They say her size might help her better understand the problem of obesity. Some health experts highlight studies that show it's possible to be fat and healthy, while others say the president himself - who still smokes cigarettes - isn't the best role model for good health either.
But - there's no doubt obesity is a growing crisis that's costing the U.S. billions of dollars a year. Fat people are at higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and cancer among other things. Critics also point out that Benjamin could set a better example for the black community - where obesity is even more prevalent.
Here’s my question to you: What message does it send if the surgeon general of the U.S. is overweight?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Has swine flu story been overblown?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you have been bombarded with news coverage of the swine flu for several days now. And when the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to the second highest level - of 5 - yesterday, the media couldn't get enough of it. After all, this stuff sells newspapers and gets ratings. But when you take a look at the numbers, it seems like the story might be overblown...
The WHO has confirmed 257 cases of swine flu worldwide. 97 cases in Mexico, with seven deaths. Mexican officials have reported much higher numbers - 2,500 cases and more than 150 deaths - but those numbers haven't been confirmed. In the U.S., the WHO says there are 109 confirmed cases with 1 death. Out of a population of more than 300 million people, that hardly seems to be cause for alarm.
And scientists who are studying the virus say this strain of influenza doesn't look as deadly as strains that have caused previous pandemics. In fact, some suggest that the current form of the swine flu virus may not even do as much damage as the regular flu.
More than 13,000 people in the U.S. have died of complications from seasonal flu since January; and it's expected to continue killing hundreds of people a week. In total, about 36,000 people a year die from the flu in this country; and worldwide, the annual death toll is somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000.
One scientist tells the Los Angeles Times that just because the swine flu is being identified in more countries doesn't mean it's spreading especially quickly, saying: "You don't ever find anything that you don't look for."
Here’s my question to you: Has the swine flu story been overblown?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Has fear of swine flu changed your life?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Drastic measures are being taken to prevent the spread of swine flu in many countries around the world - including Mexico, which is the eye of the swine flu hurricane. But in the U.S. the response has been more muted.
Only 64 cases of swine flu have been diagnosed here so far - and the majority of these people apparently became ill after traveling to Mexico. Compare that to Mexico's 1,600 cases and more than 150 deaths linked to the swine flu.
Newsweek reports that public health officials suggest the virus probably won't hit us as hard as our neighbors to the South. For one thing, the anti-terror training that took place after 9/11 makes American hospitals better prepared to handle a pandemic.
The U.S. also has more resources: more hospitals, facilities for doctors and nurses, better critical care, and with large quantities of drugs that can treat influenza.
Also, the government's declaring a public health emergency should help, because it can act more aggressively. And, if people are freaking out a bit, they're also more likely to wash their hands, get treated, etc., which can all help keep swine flu from spreading.
In this country some schools have closed, others have told kids not to shake hands. Pharmacies in New York reported that paper face masks were selling by the box; while New Mexico set up a swine flu hot line. One Chicago hospital required anyone entering to use a liquid disinfectant.
Here’s my question to you: Has the fear of swine flu changed your life in any way?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should 17-year-olds get "morning-after" pill without prescription?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
17-year-old girls will soon be able to buy the so-called morning-after pill without a doctor's prescription - and for that matter without their parents' knowledge or permission. The emergency contraceptive is currently available to women 18 and older, but the FDA says it will soon be available to 17-year-olds as well.
Plan B, also called the morning-after pill, is intended to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex.
The agency decided to accept a recent ruling from a federal judge that lifts Bush-era restrictions limiting over-the-counter sales of Plan B to women. The judge also directed the FDA to determine whether all age restrictions should be lifted.
Plan B - or the morning after pill - is emergency contraception that contains a high dose of birth control drugs. It's a series of two pills; and if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can reduce the chances of a pregnancy by almost 90 percent.
Women's groups say the decision is long overdue; and "a strong statement to American women that their health comes before politics." Supporters also say the pill is safe and effective and could help reduce the number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies.
But critics - many of them conservatives - say parents should be furious at this decision as it steps on their rights. Some also say the drug - which they liken to an abortion pill - will encourage promiscuity.
The debate over the morning-after pill has been going on for years. Critics of the FDA say the agency has refused to listen to scientists who have recommended that the drug be made available with no restrictions.
Here's my question to you: Should 17-year-olds be able to get the "morning-after" pill without a doctor's prescription?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should government limit embryo implants?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The California woman who had octuplets to go with the six children she already had continues to stir debate around the country. The latest comes from Georgia, where lawmakers want to prevent the same thing from happening in their state.
A Georgia state senator has introduced a bill limiting the number of embryos that can be used during in-vitro fertilization.
A state senator has introduced a bill that would limit the number of embryos that can be implanted in a woman's uterus during in-vitro fertilization. He doesn't want taxpayers to have to end up paying for raising children that result from multiple births if the parents can't afford it.
The limits would be two embryos for a woman under 40 and 3 for a woman older than 40. These numbers are slightly lower than what's considered normal by most doctors. Breaking the law could result in a fine of up to one-thousand dollars.
And it's not just Georgia. Missouri is considering a similar bill and laws just like this are already on the books in England and Italy.
Some fertility doctors suggest the proposed legislation would hurt a woman's chance of getting pregnant, that there are special cases where they need more than 3 embryos.
Critics also suggest this bill is a backdoor effort to ban abortion. That's because the bill says "a living in vitro human embryo is a biological human being who is not the property of any person or entity."
It's not likely to pass in Georgia anytime soon because of a crowded legislative calendar, but the fact that it's being discussed at all is cause for alarm in some circles.
Here’s my question to you: Should the government limit the number of embryos a woman can have implanted?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Risks of too much “screen time” for children?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Pulitzer Prize winning author Larry McMurtry says he doesn't see kids reading anymore and never sees them in his book store. He thinks we're witnessing the end of the culture of the book, and he may be right.
Kids in the U.K. spend an average of six hours a day looking at screens.
Kids in the U.K. spend an average of six hours a day looking at screens while watching TV, on the internet or playing video games, according to a new report by ChildWise.
The annual survey across the U.K. found that kids ages 5 to 19 spend only half an hour a day reading a book while they spend nearly 3 hours a day watching TV, an hour and a half on the internet and more than an hour playing games on consoles.
Many parents justify the time their kids spend online as necessary for school work. Wrong answer. Only 9-percent of kids said they looked up something for school the last time they logged on. Instead they are on social networking sites, chatting with friends, playing games and watching You Tube videos.
Some experts say the result could be a generation unable to compete in the adult world later in life because they lack essential reading and writing skills. Others warn this is a dangerous digital divide between parents and kids that is widening.
Here’s my question to you: What's the risk of allowing children to spend six hours a day in front of computer screens?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
More Than a Third of Americans are Obese
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There are now more obese Americans than those who are merely overweight.
A new Federal report says that 34% of Americans are now obese.
A new Federal report says that 34% of Americans are now obese as compared to the 32.7% who are overweight. More than one third of all Americans, 72 million people, are obese.
Among the objectives set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services for the year 2010 is to reduce obesity to less than 15% of the adult population. To say they've got their work cut out for them is a gross understatement. It's now 2009 and the numbers are moving in the wrong direction.
The rising rates of obesity aren't new. As a nation, we've been getting fatter and fatter for years. Health officials have warned us that obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other illnesses. The message is clear, eat healthy and exercise. But we don't listen and rather than shedding the pounds people are putting more on.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that more than a third of Americans are obese?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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