| The Faith Column
What picture pops into your mind when you read the word feminist? Is it a woman layered in petticoats with a big, swooping hat, picketing the white house for her right to vote? Is it Gloria Steinem in her aviator glasses, sleek, straight hair hanging down both sides of her pretty face? These are the dominant images that so many people associate with feminist history, and for good reason. The first image�the suffragist�represents the so-called �first wave� of feminist history. These women, philosophising and organising from the late 1800s through the 1930s, were primarily focused on legal and institutional changes that would allow women to gain more power and autonomy. The �second wave,� then, was most active in the 1960s and 1970s and was concerned with social and psychological liberation (think dishes, contraception, and objectification).
Now, the Stick
Employers frustrated with mounting health-care costs for their workers have tried dangling a carrot to discourage bad habits such as smoking as well as behaviors that can lead to obesity, uncontrolled diabetes or high blood pressure. Now some employers are beginning to brandish a stick, docking pay, hiking insurance premiums or even banning employees from the workplace if they don't comply with off-site smoking bans. So far Midwestern companies have taken the lead; only a few Washington area employers have followed. Starting in January, Tribune Co. will require its employees, including 1,200 at the Baltimore Sun, to pay $100 a month more in insurance premiums if they or any of their covered family members smoke. .
Submit An Abstract To Summer Forum 2008 - American Association For Respiratory Care
The AARC Education Section is looking for educational research on models and instructional methods for preparing entry-level therapists, continuing education and professional development for practicing therapists, or patient education. The 2008 Summer Forum, scheduled for July 11-13 in Phoenix, AZ, offers an excellent opportunity for participants to share their scholarly activities with colleagues through a research abstract. The Summer Forum program will include time for presenters to give a brief overview of their research abstract to all of the attendees, followed by a question and answer session.
This year the Education Section is connecting budding researchers with volunteer mentors. Our goal is to help respiratory therapists develop their research skills and share their scholarly work at the annual Summer Forum Education Research Abstract presentations.
New Lung Association Research: Millions More May Have COPD Than Previously Estimated, Canada
Startling research findings released by The Lung Association demonstrate that as many as three million Canadians may have COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), Canada's fourth leading cause of death. This is nearly double previous estimates and includes over one and a half million (1.6 million) undiagnosed Canadians (1) and one and a half million (1.5 million) who say they currently suffer from this chronic lung disease.
The research also shows that the disease is highly prevalent among younger Canadian baby boomers - one in seven Canadians aged 45 to 49 (375,000) may have COPD.
This research confirms recent global prevalence data published in The Lancet which states "…evidence suggests that rates of disease (COPD) are generally underestimated." (2)
"Smoking is the number one cause of COPD and it is astounding that millions of Canadians who may have COPD haven't been tested," said Dr.
Store owners sue over tobacco sting
Two county store owners are suing Mendocino County over its cigarette business license program by which both are on three-week cigarette sales suspensions they say are unfair. Doug Hendricks, owner of Albion Grocery, and Phil Gravier, owner of Gravier's Chevron in Laytonville, are unable to sell any tobacco products for three weeks because last spring their stores were caught selling tobacco products to minors for a second time within three years. "Their ordinance is kind of unconstitutional; it's real unconstitutional," said Hendricks. "There's no due process. I was cited, convicted and sentenced in absenteeism. I was not allowed an attorney in the appeals process. There are no rules or regulations on how they conduct the stings. We think the suspensions don't fit the crime." Hendricks refers to the stings the county conducts with local high school students who volunteer to go into stores to try to buy cigarettes.
Study Shows Need To Test More COPD And Asthma Patients For Underdiagnosed Pulmonary Disease
A new study finds that a higher than expected number of COPD and severe asthma patients had abnormal low levels of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), suggesting the need for broader criteria for AAT deficiency testing. AAT deficiency, also known as Alpha-1, is a widely undiagnosed hereditary disorder that is usually fatal in its severe form.
Alpha-1 is estimated to affect up to 100,000 Americans, but up to 95 percent are undiagnosed or have been misdiagnosed as having another form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). Details of the study were presented at CHEST, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians held in Chicago from October 20 to 25. Study results are being announced on World COPD Day to focus attention on the need for wider testing for AAT deficiency.
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