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Americans probably know very little about the risk factors and early warning signs of oral cancer despite a 5-year survival rate of 54%, according to a survey by the National Center for Health Statistics. Oral cancers affect all mouth areas, tongue and lips, and cause 8,000 annual deaths in the U.S. In a survey of 41,104 adults, the 1990 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Supplement measured how knowledgeable the general population was about oral cancer. Sixty-seven percent of participants (67%) identified only smoking and tobacco chewing as substantial cancer risks. Furthermore, only 25% of respondents could easily recognize early cancer symptoms, such as mouth sores and swelling. Lack of knowledge and incorrect answers can be reversed by the educational efforts of oral care providers.

The article analyzes data concerning the use of warfarin and its prevalence of bleeding complications in the United States to support a requirement by the Food and Drug Administration for a boxed warning in the professional product information and for a patient Medication Guide. Warfarin use has increased, and bleeding from warfarin use is a prevalent reaction and an important cause of mortality.

In this report the data regarding coronary heart disease (CHD) from the 1990 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Supplement of the National Health Interview Survey are used to examine the relationship between risk factor knowledge and health related behaviors among currently employed white collar(N=5,349) and blue collar(N=4,158) men workers. Blue collar employees have less knowledge about CHD risk factors, less favorable risk factors status, and poorer health practices than their white collar workers. Despite these findings within each occupational group, the relationship of knowledge to either risk factor status or health practices is similar. Knowledge is generally related to the attempts to change behaviors. However, for the different risk factors, the associations vary. For example, knowledge of cigarette smoking as a risk factor of CHD is negatively associated with reported ever smoking or current smoking, but not with heavy smoking. In contrast, knowledge of overweight, high serum cholesterol, and high blood pressure as CHD risk factors is not associated with risk factor status. These results suggest that while difference in level of knowledge and risk profiles remain between blue collar and white collar employees, the associations between knowledge and risk profiles are similar. Programs located at worksites must continue to provide education opportunities about the risk factors, especially among blue collar workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We collected data on all residents of San Diego County, California who were hospitalized for or died from a brain injury in 1981. The objectives were to assess the frequency of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing and the associations of BAC prevalence with the external cause of the brain injury and case outcome. We found that high BAC levels were most frequent among brain-injured subjects between the ages of 25 and 44 and among those subjects involved in motor vehicle crashes and assaults. Contrary to expectations, injury severity and hospital mortality were inversely related to BAC level, controlling for other predictors. We believe that these inverse associations might be due to differential rates of BAC testing by severity. Among brain-injured survivors with more severe injuries, however, we found that BAC level was positively associated with the prevalence of physician-diagnosed neurological impairment at discharge and with the length of hospitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objectives of our study were to determine the number, rate, and types of deaths attributed to specific X-ray contrast media on the basis of U.S. death certificates and to attempt to assess the comparative safety of commonly used diagnostic X-ray contrast agents using death certificate information., Conclusion: From 1999 through 2001, deaths attributed to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code for contrast media occurred at the rate of 1.1-1.2 per million contrast media packages distributed. An analysis of 1999 death certificates indicated that most deaths attributed to contrast media predictably were associated with renal failure or nephropathy and anaphylaxis or allergic reactions. Risk assessment of the comparative safety of classes or agents was limited by lack of specific contrast media names. Names of administered contrast agents should be recorded in patients' medical records and communicated to primary care physicians and certifiers of death in the event of serious sequelae after an identified recent radiologic procedure.