FYI: December 6, 2007
UCSF PRINT AND ONLINE COVERAGE
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Long decline in birthrate of teens ends (<cite>Los Angeles Times - Online</cite>)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that "after 14 years of steady decline, the rate of teen births rose 3% last year," said the Los Angeles Times. Claire Brindis, co-director of the Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy at UC San Francisco, told the LA Times the study results were encouraging.</li>
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Overweight Kids At Risk as Adults (<cite>Washington Post</cite>)
Researchers from the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen report today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that "being overweight as a child significantly increases the risk for heart disease in adulthood as early as age 25," said the Washington Post. In an article accompanying the Danish study in today's NEJM, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues, with Columbia University researchers, published "an analysis of U.S. health statistics that projects teenage obesity will raise the nation's rate of heart disease by at least 16 percent by the year 2035, causing more than 100,000 additional cases."
-- Original article by Copenhagen researchers: Childhood Body-Mass Index and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Adulthood,
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/23/2329
-- Special article by UCSF's Kristen Bibbins-Domingo:
Adolescent Overweight and Future Adult Coronary Heart Disease
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/23/2371
-- [This Washington Post story was published by the San Francisco Chronicle today]</li>
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Newly HIV-Infected Gay Men Select Other Infected Partners (<cite>US News & World Report</cite>)
Wayne Steward, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, and colleagues reported at the 2007 National HIV Prevention Conference that "most men newly infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) choose to have unprotected sex only with other HIV-infected partners," said HealthDay News. ..."The study was to be presented Wednesday at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta."</li>
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Overweight children face premature heart attacks, strokes (<cite>USA Today</cite>)
"Two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine today show that "excess weight affects a child's long-term risk of heart disease and life expectancy," reports USA Today. "The first study [by researchers at the Institute for Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen] examines how excess weight affected the fate of more than 250,000 youngsters examined in 1930 and followed through to adulthood." Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco is lead author of the statistical analysis accompanying the Danish study that "uses the digital crystal ball of computer modeling to predict that heart disease deaths could rise by 19%, with the increase beginning at age 35."</li>
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UCSF TELEVISION COVERAGE
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Should a parent lose custody of an obese child? (<cite>ABC 7 -- KGO-TV CH 7 San Francisco</cite>)
ABC 7 reports: "In this country, parents who allow a child to become morbidly obese face the possibility of losing custody and in some cases, being charged with child abuse." Dr. Robert Lustig, director of the weight assessment for teen and child health clinic at UCSF, talks to ABC 7 about obesity. "Dr. Lustig blames the food companies for much of the weight gain in today's children because they add fructose to many of their foods." -- Air Time: 6 PM</li>
<li>San Francisco police visit UCSF Children's Hospital (<cite>FOX News -- KTVU-TV CH 2 San Francisco</cite>)
KTVU reports that San Francisco Police dressed up as Santa Claus and his elves and visited pediatric patients at the UCSF Children's Hospital yesterday. -- Air Time: 6 PM</li>
<li>Childhood Obesity and Heart Disease (<cite>WBZ-AM 1030 (CBS) Boston</cite>)
CBS Boston reports: "By the time today's teens are middle aged , the rate of heart disease could be 16 percent higher because of the extra pounds they are carrying around right now. Researchers reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine also predict heart disease deaths could rise, up to 19 percent. Our reporter spoke with the lead researcher, Dr. Kristin Bibbins-Domingo at the University of California, San Francisco: "it suggests to us that this will be something that will have an impact on the healthcare system in the future," said Bibbins-Domingo. -- This CBS program also aired on WBBM-TV CH 2 (CBS) Chicago. Air Time: 5 PM</li>
<li>Obesity and Heart Disease Study (<cite>Today In L.A. - KNBC-TV</cite>)
NBC in LA reports: "A University of California, San Francisco, and another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine warns that overweight teens risk heart disease and heart attacks at an older age. ... Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, one of the researchers, says that obesity puts the teens at risk at the age of 35." -- This NBC program also aired on WMAQ-TV CH 5 (NBC) Chicago. Air Time: 5 PM</li>
<li>Obese Children Face Premature Health Risks (<cite>KTXL-TV CH 40 (FOX) Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto</cite>)
FOX News reports: "Two new reports released today suggest that obese children face more heart disease risks as adults. The studies indicate that about the time today's teens are 50 years old, the rate of heart disease in the U.S. could be 16 percent higher. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that the rate of heart disease will jump to as many as 100,000 more cases, and heart disease deaths could rise by as much as 19 percent." -- Air Time: 6 AM</li>
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UCSF HEADLINES
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Dean of Dentistry Search Underway (<cite>UCSF Today</cite>)
UCSF Today reports: "UCSF School of Nursing Dean Kathleen Dracup, RN, DNSc, is chairing the committee in the search for a new dean of the UCSF School of Dentistry. ... John Featherstone, MSc, PhD, director of the Program in Biomaterials, Biophysical Sciences and Engineering in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, is serving as interim dean until a successor to Charles Bertolami has been recruited."</li>
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Boys three times more likely to have growth delay with Crohn's (<cite>UCSF News Office</cite>)
"The largest study ever conducted of the effect of gender in children with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic intestinal disorder, has found that boys were over three times more likely than girls to suffer one of the condition’s most devastating effects: the failure to grow normally. That is surprising, researchers said, because the study also found girls had a more severe disease course than boys," reports Phllyis Brown in the UCSF News Office.</li>
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