Emergency Departments For Bicycle-Related TBIs: United States, 2009-2018
Bicycling leads to the highest number of sport and recreation–related emergency department (ED) visits for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the United States. Because bicycling continues to grow in popularity, primarily among U.S. adults, examining the strategies that mitigate the risk for TBI is important. According to the May 14, 2021 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP) to determine the incidence of EDs for bicycle-related TBIs during 2009–2018. An estimated 596,972 ED visits for bicycle-related TBIs occurred in the United States during the study period. Rates of ED visits were highest among adult males (aged ≥18 years) and among children and adolescents aged 10–14 years during 2009–2018. Overall, the rate of ED visits for bicycle-related TBIs decreased by approximately one half (48.7%) among children and by 5.5% among adults.
Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program Enrollment: 2020
Government involvement in the financing of health care is substantial. According to recent estimated average monthly data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in calendar year 2020: Medicare had a total of 62.8 million enrollees among whom 54.5 million are aged and 7.3 million are disabled. An additional breakdown shows that 37.7 million beneficiaries are enrolled in Original Medicare and the rest are in the Medicare Advantage Plan and the Prescription Drug Plan. Medicaid, a jointly administered federal-state plan, had a total of 76.5 million enrollees in Fiscal Year 2020. Major groups include: 6.4 million aged individuals, 11.0 blind and disabled persons, and 28.9 children—the largest single group numerically. Another 7.4 million individuals are enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) on average each month based on the latest available data.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY CORNER
Ventilating The Rectum To Support Respiration
The coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed the clinical need for ventilators and artificial lungs, resulting in a critical shortage of available devices and endangering patients’ lives worldwide. As described in an article published on May 14, 2021 in the journal Med, inspired by organisms such as catfish that use intestinal air breathing, researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University show the effectiveness of an enteral ventilation approach in attaining systemic oxygenation in both rodent (e.g., mice) and porcine (e.g., pig) models. Intra-rectal delivery of a liquid form of O2 known as conjugated perfluorocarbon, a compound historically used in clinics for liquid ventilation through airway administration, is highly tolerable and efficacious in ameliorating severe respiratory failure. By repurposing the distal gut as an accessary breathing organ, enteral ventilation therapy offers an alternative paradigm as an adjunctive means to patients who are in critical need of respiratory support.
Opening A Window Into Alzheimer's Disease
According to new research by scientists at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, retinal scans can detect key changes in blood vessels that may provide an early sign of Alzheimer's. An article published on May 11, 2021 in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring offers some important insights into how one of the most common Alzheimer's risk genes contributes to the disease. Researchers have indicated that the most prevalent genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease is a variant of the APOE gene, known as APOE ε4. Although it is not entirely clear how this variant increases risk of brain degeneration, it does appear to do so and the risk is modified by sex, race, and lifestyle. The results of the study reported in this article suggest that APOE ε4 affects capillary health in humans and that retinal capillary measures could serve as surrogates for brain capillaries, providing an opportunity to study microangiopathic contributions to neurodegenerative disorders directly in humans.
More May 2021 TRENDS Articles
MINISCULE CREATURES OF HUGE IMPORTANCE
is a discussion on how declines in the population of insects on earth can have major negative impacts on the health status of humans. Read More
A MAJOR FOCUS ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING
describes early attempts to appropriate funds for the upcoming next fiscal year, the return of “earmarks,” and key hearings on Capitol Hill regarding COVID-19. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
refers to how overuse of tests and procedures in the Medicare program contributes to wasteful spending; Biden administration efforts to reverse policies of the previous administration; and expansion of some provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
is about the financial impact of lockdowns on colleges and universities; the effect on students of remote instead of in-class learning; and proposed legislation on student loan tax elimination. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Emergency Departments For Bicycle-Related TBIs: United States, 2009-2018
Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program Enrollment: 2020
Ventilating The Rectum To Support Respiration Opening A Window Into Alzheimer's Disease Read More
OBTAINABLE RESOURCES
Improving The Utility Of Evidence Synthesis In The Face Of Insufficient Evidence
Implementing High-Quality Primary Care
Primary Care In The COVID-19 Pandemic Read More
IMPACT OF MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, AND WIDOWHOOD ON HEALTH STATUS
indicates reasons why the so-called “golden years” associated with old age can be particularly disruptive in the lives of women in the U.S. Read More
COGNITIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY, INTELLIGENCE, HEALTH, AND DEATH
pertains to how an understanding of the association between intelligence and health/mortality has been refined with the advent of new, population-scale data and genetic tools. Read More Read More