Category: Health

El Alcalde Emanuel y la Secretaria de la Ciudad, Anna M. Valencia, anunciaron que Coast2Coast Rx ha sido seleccionado como vendedor para proveer descuentos en medicinas de marca y medicinas genéricas, sin costo directo a la Ciudad o a los residentes de Chicago participantes. A partir de esta semana, los residentes podrán aprovechar el beneficio gratuito usando una tarjeta de descuento disponible en www.ChicagoRxCard.com, en las sucursales de la biblioteca pública o en muchas oficinas de los concejales. Adicionalmente, las tarjetas CityKey que son expedidas incluirán un número de descuento para que CityKey pueda usarse también como tarjeta de beneficios en recetas para los residentes. La Ciudad, en colaboración con Coast2Coast develan una nueva red www.ChicagoRxCard.com que permite a los residentes localizar las farmacias participantes y buscar el precio de las medicinas con receta, equipo médico e inclusive medicina para sus mascotas. La Tarjeta Chicago Rx será aceptada en todas las prncipales cadenas de farmacias, además de muchas independientes. Más de 60,000 medicinas están incluídas como parte del programa, con ahorros de hasta el 80 por ciento, tanto en medicinas de marca como en las genéricas. Una tarjeta puede utilizarse para los dependientes de una familia entera y es buena para recetas de mascotas, así como cuando son surtidas en una farmacia. No hay límite en el número de veces que puede usarse una tarjeta. La Tarjeta Chicago Rx no es un seguro y no se intenta que reemplace el seguro.

Over 200 mothers and families attended Sinai Community Institute’s (SCI) 6th Annual Baby Shower event on June 29, 2018. New and expectant moms “beat the heat” on Friday morning at the event, which rewards mothers and families for their participation in these programs providing them with important education and skills for having healthy pregnancies, positive birth outcomes and healthy young children. Moms, dads and babies started the day with an informative program featuring guest speakers including Nancy Maruyama of SIDS of Illinois, Angela Ellison of the UI Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships, Kimberly Howard-Shores of the SCI WIC Program and Luvia Quinones of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights. Illinois State Representative Melissa Conyears-Ervin also spoke about the importance of getting babies off to a healthy start through access to programs and services like those represented at the SCI Baby Shower. The day also featured a number of fun-filled games and raffles for baby products and a fair-style set-up of 30 vendors and program representatives with tables and displays. For anyone interested in learning more about SCI’s programs, you can call 773-257-6216 or visit www.sinai.org.

Photo Caption 1: Mothers attending Sinai Community Institute’s annual baby Shower event.
Photo Caption 2: State Representative Melissa Conyears-Ervin (10th District) Debra Wesley, President of Sinai Community Institute and Lee Smith, SCI Director of Family Case Management.

Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, as it is more commonly known, is now available as a new pain management option for women at the Saint Anthony Hospital Maternity Center. Unlike other forms of pain management today, nitrous oxide is not a narcotic. Many women are worried about the effects of taking strong pain medication and want the least amount of side effects as possible. Now, at Saint Anthony, women in labor have this new, alternative pain option. A combination of nitrous oxide and oxygen is administered to the patient through a mask. Within seconds, the process quickly takes effect, and the patient feels more relaxed and has a decreased perception of labor pain. For women who are in early labor or who are too far along for an epidural, nitrous oxide can be a good substitute. Patients should consult with their health care provider about the right treatment options. Prior to being used in the U.S., nitrous oxide has been used as a major method of labor analgesia in countries with high standards for safe and effective care such as Australia, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Additional research put out by Vanderbilt University and the University of California at San Francisco has its use gaining popularity in the U.S. Currently, only a few other Chicago hospitals have this program in place for women wanting a more natural-like childbirth.

The Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) announced that the state is taking additional steps to curb the growing opioid crisis in Illinois. The DOI is asking the federal government to approve five critical changes to its Health Care Benchmark Plan, ensuring that people who struggle with substance use disorder have access to the most affective forms of treatment. The Benchmark plan serves as a minimum scope of benefits that most health plans sold in Illinois must cover. The Illinois DOI hosted an electronic public notice and comment period to solicit recommendations from the public this past Spring. Based on the analysis of the comments and the expertise of the providers and researchers, DOI revised the Benchmark Plan with the aim of reducing addiction and overdose by:

• Covering alternative therapies for chronic pain,
• Improving the way opioids are prescribed, and
• Expanding access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment and services.

DOI submitted its revisions to the Federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Sunday, July 1st, making Illinois the first state in the nation to address the opioid crisis through its Benchmark plan. If approved, private health care insurers in Illinois would be required to cover alternative therapies for chronic pain, issue short-term prescriptions for chronic pain, remove barriers to prescribing Buprenorphine products for medically assisted treatment (MAT) of opioid use disorder. The changes would go into effect for plan year 2020.

Children whose mothers stick to healthy lifestyle practices are less likely to be obese than children of less healthy moms, researchers report. Mothers have a powerful influence over their children’s lifestyle choices, but it’s unknown whether healthy lifestyle patterns in mothers influence the development of obesity in their children. Dr. Sun’s team used information from the Nurses’ Health Study II and Growing Up Today Study to clarify the association between the mother’s lifestyle during her offspring’s childhood and adolescence and their risk of obesity between the ages of 9 and 18 years. In particular, the researchers considered five low-risk lifestyle factors: healthy diet, body mass index in the normal range, not smoking, light to moderate alcohol consumption, and engaging in moderate or vigorous physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week. The risk of obesity in offspring decreased with each additional lifestyle factor in mothers, such that children of women who followed three low-risk behaviors (healthy diet, physical activity, and light to moderate alcohol consumption) were 23 percent less likely to be obese, compared with children whose mothers did not have any low-risk factor. Moms’ healthy lifestyles did not necessarily translate into children’s healthy lifestyles in this study, but when they did, offspring had an 82 percent lower risk of being obese, compared to when mothers and children had high-risk lifestyles.

An experimental HIV vaccine was safe and triggered strong immune responses in healthy adults and in monkeys, researchers report. They say it also protected two-thirds of monkeys against an HIV-like virus. Though results of animal studies are not always the same in humans, researchers are encouraged by this early-stage study, which included nearly 400 healthy people. For their next step, they are launching a new vaccine trial that will include 2,600 women in southern Africa who are at risk of HIV infection. The experimental HIV-1 vaccine is one of five that have progressed to tests of effectiveness in humans. While previous experimental HIV-1 vaccines have usually been limited to specific regions of the world, this vaccine combines different HIV viruses. The aim is to trigger immune responses against a wide variety of HIV strains, according to authors of the study published Friday in The Lancet medical journal. About 37 million people worldwide have HIV/AIDS, and there are 1.8 million new cases a year.

The University of Chicago Medicine and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky officially broke the Guinness World Record for the largest basketball lesson, which took place during this year’s inaugural #ChicagoFit Health and Fitness Festival. An audit showed 1,442 people attended the July 8th lesson, which took place at Soldier Field. That bested the previous record, which had been held by the National Basketball Association. In 2017,  the NBA hosted a clinic in India for 1,150 people. The attempt was certified by Michael Empric, an adjudicator from the record-keeping organization, immediately after the attempt. In addition to the record-breaking basketball clinic, the #ChicagoFit festival also featured free health and wellness screenings, along with appearances by the entire Chicago Sky team, local celebrities and civic leaders. . The event, in its first year, was designed to promote the principles and practices of fitness and healthy living to all Chicagoans. The event included free health and wellness assessments and screenings. In addition to the world record attempt, the Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox and Bears hosted activity stations

Más de 200 madres y familias asistieron al 6º Baby Shower Anual de Sinai Community Institute el 29 de junio del 2018. Nuevas madres embarazadas “retaron al calor” el viernes en la mañana acudiendo al evento que recompensa a madres y familias por su participación en estos programas que les proveen importante educación y destrezas para tener embarazos sin problemas, resultados positivos en el nacimiento y bebés saludables. Madres, padres y bebés empezaron el día con un programa informativo a cargo de conferencistas invitados, incluyendo a Nancy Maruyama de SIDS of Illinois, Angela Ellison de UI Office of Community Engagement y Neighborhood Health Partnerships, Kimberly Howard-Shores de SCI WIC Program y Luvia Quiñones, de Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, La Representante del Estado de Illinois, Melissa Conyears-Ervin habló también sobre la importancia de tener bebés saludables aprovechando el acceso a programas y servicios como los representados en SCI Baby Shower. El día ofreció a todos juegos divertidos y rifas de productos de bebé, en un ambiente de feria de 30 vendedores y representantes de programas con mesas y exhibiciones. Toda persona interesada en más información sobre los programas de SCI puede llamar al 773-257-6216 o visitar www.sinai.org.

El óxido nitroso, o gas de la risa, como se le conoce más, está ahora disponible como nueva opción de control del dolor para las mujeres en St. Anthony Hospital Maternity Center. A diferencia de otras formas de control del dolor de hoy, el óxido nitroso no es un narcótico. Muchas mujeres se preocupan por los efectos de tomar medicinas fuertes contra el dolor y quieren los menos de efectos secundarios como sean posibles. Ahora, en St. Anthony, las mujeres en labor de parto tienen esta nueva alternativa contra el dolor. Una combinación de óxido nitroso y oxígeno, administado a los pacientes a través de una máscara. En segundos, el proceso hace efecto rápidamente y la paciente se siente más tranquila y siente una menos percepción del trabajo de parto. Para las mujeres que empiezan el trabajo de parto o no desean una epidural, el óxido nitroso puede ser un buen substituto. Las pacientes deben consultar con su médico sobre las opciones correctas de tratamiento. Antes de ser utilizado en E.U., el óxido nitroso ha sido utilizado como principal método de analgesia en el trabajo de parto, en países con altas normas de seguridad y cuidado efectivo, como Australia, Canadá, Finlandia, Suecia y el Reino Unido. Investigaciones adicionales realizadas por Vanderbilt University y la Universidad de California en San Francisco han hecho que su uso gane popularidad en E.U. Actualmente, solo unos cuantos otros hospitales de Chicago tienen este programa para las mujeres que desean un parto y nacimiento más natural.

Los niños cuyas madres mantienen un estilo de vida saludable es menos probable que sean obesos que los niños de madres menos saludables, reportan los investigadores. Las madres tienen una poderosa influencia sobre las alternativas de estilo de vida de sus hijos, pero se desconoce si los patrones de vida saludable en las madres influencían el desarrollo de obesidad en sus hijos. El equipo del Dr. Sun utilizó información de Health Study II y Growing Up Today Study de las enfermeras para clarificar la asociación entre el estilo de vida de la madre durante la niñez y adolescencia de su hijo y su riesgo de obesidad entre las edades de 9 y 18 años. En particular, los investigadores consideraron cinco factores de estilo de vida de bajo riesgo: dieta saludable, índice de masa corporal, el no fumar, consumo ligero o moderado de alcohol y participar en actividad física moderada o vigorosa por lo menos 150 minutos a la semana. El riesgo de obesidad en el hijo disminuyó con cada factor de estilo de vida adicional, como los hijos de mujeres que siguieron tres comportamientos de bajo riesgo (dieta saludable, actividad física y consumo ligero a moderado de alcohol) estuvieron 23 por ciento menos propensos a la obesidad comparados con niños cuyas madres no tenían ningún factor de bajo riesgo. Los estilos de vida saludables de las madres no necesariamente se pasa a los estilos de vida saludable de los hijos en este estudio, pero cuando se pasa, el hiio tiene un 82 por ciento de mejor riesgo de ser obeso, comparado a cuando las madres y los hijos tienen un estilo de vida de alto riesgo.