Posted in global respiratory health on 03. Mar, 2010
I think one of the most questions I was asked most often while working at the CDC was whether indoor air filters were effective at reducing symptoms of asthma and allergy.
This week the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology has published a report on air filters and air cleaners that should help answer [...]
Posted in environmental health, epidemiology, global respiratory health on 19. Feb, 2010
Rural asthma study launching in the Midwest
Novel technology automatically tracks where and when attacks occur
Beginning next week, Madison-based Reciprocal Sciences, with funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will launch a new study to learn more about the problem of rural asthma in the Midwest. The study follows a recent report by [...]
Posted in epidemiology, global respiratory health on 16. Feb, 2010
Recently-revised NIH guidelines encourage physicians to more closely monitor patients to ensure that treatments are controlling their symptoms and improving quality of life. The results has been growing interest in measures of asthma control yet relatively little work done to compare the various measures against other methods of classifying asthma. This week, JACI and ERJ [...]
Posted in environmental health, epidemiology, global respiratory health on 09. Feb, 2010
Work-related respiratory diseases in the EU [Sigsgaard et al - ERJ]
New European Respiratory Society report surveys the epidemiology of the major occupational respiratory diseases in the EU, with a look at historic and contemporary risk factors, and an update on regulation. Highlights the emerging burden of occupational lung disease in “newer professions, such as public administration, [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on 02. Feb, 2010
Last year, I became interested in emergency room wait times when a family member needed medical attention but did not want to spend his day waiting for treatment.
I had recently seen an article about the growing number of hospitals publishing their wait times online, but since that information is scattered across multiple sites, I found it [...]
Posted in global respiratory health on 02. Feb, 2010
Reduction in Asthma Hospitalizations, Definitions of Childhood Asthma; Confirmation of Asthma; Adult Asthma Trends
Rapid reduction in hospitalizations after an intervention to manage severe asthma (ERJ – Souza-Machado et al.) – Evaluation of the Programme for Control of Asthma in Bahia (ProAR) which focused on providing free management of severe asthma. Achieved an 82% decline [...]
Posted in epidemiology on 27. Jan, 2010
The public comment period for the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media / Reimagining Learning competition has opened. The scope and cleverness of these projects is extraordinary and very motivating. If you have a minute, it’s well worth reviewing and contributing to the conversation- http://bit.ly/cjKa0S.
I humbly added my classroom epi project (EpiLab) to the mix. It’s [...]
Posted in environmental health on 15. Jan, 2010
Last year (Nov 6, 2009), the House approved legislation to reduce the risks of terrorist attacks on chemical plants and water treatment facilities. The Chemical and Water Security Act of 2009, which passed without a single Republican vote, includes measures a NY Times editorial called “reasonable, vital and long overdue” that were long sought by [...]
Posted in global respiratory health on 15. Jan, 2010
I spent last week in the United Arab Emirates, attending a great conference sponsored by UAE University in Al-Ain to raise awareness of global health problems in the Middle East and neighboring Asia, and to draw attention to the region and its populations and health problems among the global health community.
As a result, I’ve been [...]
Posted in global respiratory health, inhaled drug delivery on 23. Nov, 2009
Last week in London I gave a presentation on the Spiroscout GPS inhaler device at the Inhaled Drug Delivery conference. It was a great meeting and I thought well worth writing up a few words on some of the presentations over the course of the next couple of weeks.
One of my favorites was a [...]
I'm a medical anthropologist, asthma epidemiologist and entrepreneur with an interest in chronic respiratory disease.
I currently work at the University of Wisconsin and as the owner of Reciprocal Sciences LLC - a small company developing new tools for public health and clinical research.
