Bøger af Office Of The Surgeon General

Our nation stands at a crossroads. Today's epidemic of overweight and obesity threatens the historic progress we have made in increasing American's quality and years of healthy life. Two-third of adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese. In addition, many racial and ethnic groups and geographic regions of the United States are disproportionately affected. The sobering impact of these numbers is reflected in the nation's concurrent epidemics of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases. If we do not reverse these trends, researchers warn that many of our children-our most precious resource-will be seriously afflicted in early adulthood with medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. This future is unacceptable. The Surgeon General asks you to join me in combating this crisis. Every one of us has an important role to play in the prevention and control of obesity. Mothers, fathers, teachers, business executives, child care professionals, clinicians, politicians, and government and community leaders-we must all commit to changes that promote the health and wellness of our families and communities. As a nation, we must create neighborhood communities that are focused on healthy nutrition and regular physical activity, where the healthiest choices are accessible for all citizens. Children should be having fun and playing in environments that provide parks, recreational facilities, community centers, and walking and bike paths. Healthy foods should be affordable and accessible. Increased consumer knowledge and awareness about healthy nutrition and physical activity will foster a growing demand for healthy food products and exercise options, dramatically influencing marketing trends. Hospitals, work sites, and communities should make it easy for mothers to initiate and sustain breastfeeding as this practice has been shown to prevent childhood obesity. Working together, we will create an environment that promotes and facilitates healthy choices for all Americans. And we will live longer and healthier lives. In the 2001 Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, former Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, warned us of the negative effects of the increasing weight of our citizens and outlined a public health response to reverse the trend. Although we have made some strides since 2001, the prevalence of obesity, obesity-related diseases, and premature death remains too high. The Surgeon General is calling on all Americans to join in a national grassroots effort to reverse this trend. Plans include showing people how to choose nutritious food, add more physical activity to their daily lives, and manage the stress that so often derails their best efforts at developing healthy habits. The real goal is not just a number on a scale, but optimal health for all Americans at every stage of life. To achieve this goal, we must all work together to share resources, educate our citizens, and partner with business and government leaders to find creative solutions in our neighborhoods, towns, and cities from coast to coast. Together, we can become a nation committed to become healthy and fit.

Houses have always been one of the centerpieces of American life. Houses are the places where parents raise their children, where family reunions take place, and where people live, work, and play. Americans have always realized that healthy houses can lead to healthier lives. Many of the extraordinary improvements in health that were achieved in the 20th century resulted from improvements in the Nation's homes. Although poorly maintained homes increases the risk for injury and illness, unhealthy and unsafe housing continues to affect the health of millions of people of all income levels, geographic areas, and walks of life in the United States. That is why this Surgeon General's Call to Action To Promote Healthy Homes is so important. The Call to Action describes the steps people can take now to protect themselves from disease, disability and injury that may result from health hazards in their houses. These steps have been scientifically proven to reduce health problems that cause or contribute to disease and injuries. And, improving literacy about healthy homes and teaching people about the steps they can take to change unhealthy and unsafe behaviors at home will lead to better health for all Americans. This Call to Action also outlines the next steps of a society-wide, comprehensive and coordinated approach to healthy homes that will result in the greatest possible public health impact and reduce disparities in the availability of healthy, safe, affordable, accessible, and environmentally friendly homes. As Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and as a wife, mother and homeowner concerned about the health of my family, the Surgeon General urges all Americans to embrace the holistic approach to creating healthy homes described in the Surgeon General's Call to Action To Promote Healthy Homes.

Since 1900, the nation has witnessed unprecedented improvement in the health of its people thanks, in large part, to the public health movement that works to prevent disease and its spread, and to promote mental, physical and emotional well-being. As a result of a century of public health initiatives, such as vaccinations, improved nutrition and sanitation, and new treatments to combat acute illnesses, millions of people have led longer, healthier lives. As a result, the emphasis of the nation's work in public health has shifted from a focus solely on acute illnesses to a more balanced approach that has added attention to chronic medical conditions and the factors that cause them. The perception of disability-a condition of the body, mind, or senses of a person of any age that may affect the ability to work, learn or participate in community life-also is in transition. With the recognition that disability is not an illness, the emphasis increasingly is on continuity of care and the relationship between a person with a disability and the environment at the physical, emotional and environmental levels. This approach is based on the knowledge that good health means the same thing for everyone, and that the best possible health status and quality of years of life should be a goal for everyone, whether experiencing a disability or not. Today, 54 million Americans-more than one fifth of us-are living with at least one disability. Some individuals are born with a disability; others acquire disabilities over the course of their lifetime. At any time, each of us is at risk for acquiring a disability, whether through an illness, an injury, genetics, or any number of other causes. This Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with Disabilities is built on the need to promote accessible, comprehensive health care that enables persons with disabilities to have a full life in the community with integrated services, consistent with the President's New Freedom Initiative. Persons with disabilities must have accessible, available and appropriate health care and wellness promotion services. They need to know how to-and to be able to-protect, preserve and improve their health in the same ways as everyone else. This Call to Action encourages health care providers to see and treat the whole person, not just the disability; educators to teach about disability; a public to see an individual's abilities, not just his or her disability; and a community to ensure accessible health care and wellness services for persons with disabilities. This volume provides a roadmap for change. It delineates the challenges and strategies to address this critical public health concern. Because it is based on input not only from health specialists in the disability field, but also from individuals with disabilities and their family members, this Call to Action presents not just a scientific perspective on disability, but also the reality experienced by those living daily with disabilities. This Call to Action can, and must, resonate with community leaders in both the public and private sectors (including employers and the media) and with policymakers who craft or influence the creation of community programs. The principle and goals of this document can both incentivize and yield dividends for employers of persons with disabilities, including greater productivity and lower overall health costs by preventing illnesses and injuries secondary to a disability. Advocates for persons with disabilities can use this Call to Action to promote the involvement of individuals with disabilities as equal partners in all aspects of American life. With concerted action-undertaken through public-private partnerships spanning all levels of government and all service, education and research systems-the full potential of legal, health policy and health program initiatives to improve access to health and wellness services by persons with disabilities can be realized.

As one of the most universal and natural facets of motherhood, the ability to breastfeed is a great gift. Breastfeeding helps mothers and babies bond, and it is vitally important to mothers' and infants' health. For much of the last century, America's mothers were given poor advice and were discouraged from breastfeeding, to the point that breastfeeding became an unusual choice in this country. However, in recent decades, as mothers, their families, and health professionals have realized the importance of breastfeeding, the desire of mothers to breastfeed has soared. More and more mothers are breastfeeding every year. In fact, three-quarters of all newborns in America now begin their lives breastfeeding, and breastfeeding has regained its rightful place in our nation as the norm-the way most mothers feed their newborns. Each mother's decision about how she feeds her baby is a personal one. Because of the ramifications of her decision on her baby's health as well as her own, every mother in our nation deserves information, guidance, and support with this decision from her family and friends, the community where she lives, the health professionals on whom she relies, and her employer. That is why this Surgeon General's Call to Action is so important. This Call to Action describes specific steps people can take to participate in a society-wide approach to support mothers and babies who are breastfeeding. This approach will increase the public health impact of everyone's efforts, reduce inequities in the quality of health care that mothers and babies receive, and improve the support that families receive in employment and community settings.

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, yet most cases are preventable. Every year in the United States, nearly 5 million people are treated for skin cancer, at an estimated cost of $8.1 billion. Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, causes nearly 9,000 deaths each year. Despite recent efforts to address risk factors, skin cancer rates continue to rise. While those with lighter skin are more susceptible, anyone can get skin cancer-and it can be serious, even deadly. Almost all of the conditions can be caused by unnecessary ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure, usually from excessive time in the sun or from the use of indoor tanning devices. It is alarming that every year, nearly one out of every three young white women aged 16-25 engages in indoor tanning. It's important to shatter the myth that tanned skin is a sign of health. And a "base" tan is not a "safe" tan. Tanned skin is damaged skin. Understanding the risk of UV exposure is crucial to protecting ourselves and our loved ones. That is why "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer" is important for all of us. It outlines action steps we can all take-as individuals, parents, educators, employers, policy makers, health care professionals, and communities-to reverse this alarming trend. As a nation, we can all do more to address skin cancer as a serious public health challenge. Everyone is urged to find out more about the risk of skin cancer-and what we all can do to prevent it.

The burden of suffering experienced by children with mental health needs and their families has created a health crisis in this country. Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs are not being met by those very institutions which were explicitly created to take care of them. It is time that we as a Nation took seriously the task of preventing mental health problems and treating mental illnesses in youth. The mental health needs of our children have elicited interest from the highest level of government, including the White House and members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This Report of the Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental Health: A National Action Agenda represents an extraordinary level of collaboration among three major Federal Departments: the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the Department of Justice. This report introduces a blueprint for addressing children's mental health in the United States. It reflects the culmination of a number of significant activities over the past year. On March 20, 2000, a White House Meeting launched a new public private effort to improve the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of children with emotional and behavioral conditions. Serious concerns were raised about the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioral difficulties in children, and the need to take steps to address this issue. On June 26, 2000, the Surgeon General's Listening Session on Children's Mental Health was hosted. On September 18 and 19, 2000, the Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental Health: Developing a National Action Agenda was held in Washington, DC. Three hundred participants were invited, representing a broad cross-section of mental health stakeholders, including youth and family members, professional organizations and associations, advocacy groups, faith-based practitioners, clinicians, educators, healthcare providers, and members of the scientific community and the healthcare industry. This conference enlisted the help of the participants in developing specific recommendations for a National Action Agenda on Children's Mental Health. A related meeting on Psychopharmacology for Young Children: Clinical Needs and Research Opportunities, was held by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Food and Drug Administration on October 2nd and 3rd, 2000. Recommendations from these two meetings formed the basis of this national action agenda. One of the chief priorities in the Office of the Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health has been to work to ensure that every child has an optimal chance for a healthy start in life. When we think about a healthy start, we often limit our focus to physical health. But, as clearly articulated in the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health, mental health is fundamental to overall health and well-being. And that is why we must ensure that our health system responds as readily to the needs of children's mental health as it does to their physical well-being. One way to do so is to move the country towards a community health system that balances health promotion, disease prevention, early detection and universal access to care. That system must include a balanced research agenda, including basic, biomedical, clinical, behavioral, health services, school-based and community-based prevention and intervention research, and it must include a new invigorated approach to mental health. Mental healthcare is dispersed across multiple systems: schools, primary care, the juvenile justice system, child welfare and substance abuse treatment. But the first system is the family, and this agenda reflects the voices of youth and family. The vision and goals outlined in this agenda represent an unparalleled opportunity to make a difference in the quality of life for America's children.

Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America's youth. A higher percentage of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 use alcohol than use tobacco or illicit drugs. The physical consequences of underage alcohol use range from medical problems to death by alcohol poisoning, and alcohol plays a significant role in risky sexual behavior, physical and sexual assaults, various types of injuries, and suicide. Underage drinking also creates secondhand effects for others, drinkers and nondrinkers alike, including car crashes from drunk driving, that put every child at risk. Underage alcohol consumption is a major societal problem with enormous health and safety consequences and will demand the Nation's attention and committed efforts to solve. For the most part, parents and other adults underestimate the number of adolescents who use alcohol. They underestimate how early drinking begins, the amount of alcohol adolescents consume, the many risks that alcohol consumption creates for adolescents, and the nature and extent of the consequences to both drinkers and nondrinkers. Too often, parents are inclined to believe, "Not my child." Yet, by age 15, approximately one half of America's boys and girls have had a whole drink of alcohol, not just a few sips, and the highest prevalence of alcohol dependence in any age group is among people ages 18 to 20. This Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking was issued to focus national attention on this enduring problem and on new, disturbing research which indicates that the developing adolescent brain may be particularly susceptible to long term negative consequences from alcohol use. Recent studies show that alcohol consumption has the potential to trigger long term biological changes that may have detrimental effects on the developing adolescent brain, including neurocognitive impairment. Fortunately, the latest research also offers hopeful new possibilities for prevention and intervention by furthering our understanding of underage alcohol use as a developmental phenomenon-as a behavior directly related to maturational processes in adolescence. New research explains why adolescents use alcohol differently from adults, why they react uniquely to it, and why alcohol can pose such a powerful attraction to adolescents, with unpredictable and potentially devastating outcomes. Emerging research also makes it clear that an adolescent's decision to use alcohol is influenced by multiple factors. These factors include normal maturational changes that all adolescents experience; genetic, psychological, and social factors specific to each adolescent; and the various social and cultural environments that surround adolescents, including their families, schools, and communities. These factors-some of which protect adolescents from alcohol use and some of which put them at risk- change during the course of adolescence. Because environmental factors play such a significant role, responsibility for the prevention and reduction of underage drinking extends beyond the parents of adolescents, their schools, and communities. The process of solving the public health problem of underage alcohol use begins with an examination of our own attitudes toward underage drinking-and our recognition of the seriousness of its consequences for adolescents, their families, and society as a whole. Adolescent alcohol use is not an acceptable rite of passage but a serious threat to adolescent development and health, as the statistics related to adolescent impairment, injury, and death attest. A significant point of the Call to Action is this: Underage alcohol use is not inevitable, and schools, parents, and other adults are not powerless to stop it. The latest research demonstrates a compelling need to address alcohol use early, continuously, and in the context of human development using a systematic approach that spans childhood through adolescence into adulthood.

Suicide is a serious public health problem that causes immeasurable pain, suffering, and loss to individuals, families, and communities nationwide. Many people may be surprised to learn that suicide was one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States in 2009. And death is only the tip of the iceberg. For every person who dies by suicide, more than 30 others attempt suicide. Every suicide attempt and death affects countless other individuals. Family members, friends, coworkers, and others in the community all suffer the long-lasting consequences of suicidal behaviors. Suicide places a heavy burden on the nation in terms of the emotional suffering that families and communities experience as well as the economic costs associated with medical care and lost productivity. And yet suicidal behaviors often continue to be met with silence and shame. These attitudes can be formidable barriers to providing care and support to individuals in crisis and to those who have lost a loved one to suicide. More than a decade has passed since Surgeon General David Satcher broke the silence surrounding suicide in the United States by issuing The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide. Published in 1999, this landmark document introduced a blueprint for suicide prevention and guided the development of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (National Strategy). Released in 2001, the National Strategy set forth an ambitious national agenda for suicide prevention consisting of 11 goals and 68 objectives. The revised National Strategy is a call to action that is intended to guide suicide prevention actions in the United States over the next decade. The National Strategy includes 13 goals and 60 objectives that have been updated to reflect advances in suicide prevention knowledge, research, and practice, as well as broader changes in society and health care delivery that have created new opportunities for suicide prevention. Some of the major developments addressed in the revised National Strategy include: A better understanding of how suicide is related to mental illness, substance abuse, trauma, violence, and other related issues; New information on groups that may be at an increased risk for suicidal behaviors; Increased knowledge of the types of interventions that may be most effective for suicide prevention; and An increased recognition of the importance of implementing suicide prevention efforts in a comprehensive and coordinated way. Because suicide is closely linked with mental illness, in the past, suicide prevention was often viewed as an issue that mental health agencies and systems should address. However, the vast majority of persons who may have a mental disorder do not engage in suicidal behaviors. Moreover, mental health is only one of many factors that can influence suicide risk. For example, enhancing connectedness to others has been identified as a strategy for preventing suicidal behaviors and other problems. All of us can play a role in helping to make this protective factor more widely available. Suicide prevention is not exclusively a mental health issue. It is a health issue that must be addressed at many levels by different groups working together in a coordinated and synergistic way. Federal, state, tribal, and local governments; health care systems, insurers, and clinicians; businesses; educational institutions; community-based organizations; and family members, friends, and others-all have a role to play in suicide prevention. The revised National Strategy reflects this understanding. Suicide prevention efforts must involve a wide range of partners and draw on a diverse set of resources and tools. The National Strategy seeks to do so by integrating suicide prevention into the mission, vision, and work of a wide range of organizations and programs in a comprehensive and coordinated way.

The Manual For The Medical Department is a book published in 1899 by the Office Of The Surgeon General. It is a comprehensive guide for medical officers in the United States Army, providing detailed instructions on the organization, administration, and management of medical services. The book includes information on everything from the duties of medical officers and the care of the sick and wounded to the procurement and distribution of medical supplies and the construction of field hospitals. It also covers topics such as hygiene, sanitation, and the prevention and treatment of diseases. This manual was an essential resource for medical officers during the Spanish-American War and World War I, and it remains a valuable historical document for researchers and scholars interested in the history of military medicine.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.