American journal of public health
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Bioterrorism preparedness programs have contributed to death, illness, and waste of public health resources without evidence of benefit. Several deaths and many serious illnesses have resulted from the smallpox vaccination program; yet there is no clear evidence that a threat of smallpox exposure ever existed. ⋯ The present expansion of bioterrorism preparedness programs will continue to squander health resources, increase the dangers of accidental or purposeful release of dangerous pathogens, and further undermine efforts to enforce international treaties to ban biological and chemical weapons. The public health community should acknowledge the substantial harm that bioterrorism preparedness has already caused and develop mechanisms to increase our public health resources and to allocate them to address the world's real health needs.
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We examined within-person associations between changes in family income and women's depressive symptoms during the first 3 years after childbirth. ⋯ Given that women head most poor households in the United States, our findings indicate that reductions in poverty would have mental health benefits for women and families.
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We assessed the association between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and coronary heart disease among postmenopausal women. ⋯ The association between adverse childhood SES and coronary heart disease is in part mediated through insulin resistance, which may be influenced by poor childhood nutrition, and in part through the association between childhood SES and adult behavioral risk factors.
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Comparative Study
Gender differences in physical disability among an elderly cohort.
We analyzed the role of sociodemographic factors, chronic-disease risk factors, and health conditions in explaining gender differences in disability among senior citizens. ⋯ Greater prevalence of nonfatal disabling conditions, including fractures, osteoporosis, back problems, osteoarthritis and depression, contributes substantially to greater disability and diminished quality of life among aging women compared with men.
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We used an electronic medical records system retrospectively to evaluate how frequently, in a public hospital and its clinics, combined gonorrhea/chlamydia tests were accompanied by a syphilis test before and during a syphilis outbreak. Among 70,330 gonorrhea/chlamydia tests (1996-2000), the proportion with a syphilis test increased from 13% (preoutbreak) to 50% (intervention period) for men and from 6% to 13% for nonpregnant women. The increased syphilis testing coincided with a multifaceted public health intervention.