money might not buy love...

... but it puts a hell of a ding in mortality.

Hepatitis C Surpasses HIV as Cause of Death in U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Multiple Cause of Death File. CDC WONDER Online Database: http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.html

check out some of the spending disparities here

The Growing Burden of Mortality from Viral Hepatitis in the United States, 1999-2007
Abstract:
Background: The increasing US health burden and mortality from hepatitis B and C are insufficiently appreciated.
Methods: National multiple-cause-of-death data for 1999-2007, about 22 million records, were analyzed for any mention of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and, for comparison, HIV infection. We assessed age- adjusted mortality rates, socio-demographic characteristics, and potentially preventable co-morbidities in HBV- and HCV-infected decedents in 2007.
Results: From 1999-2007, the HBV-related death rate was nearly constant while deaths with hepatitis C increased significantly (annual mortality rate change, +0.18 deaths/100,000 per year) to 15,106 deaths in 2007; by comparison, HIV deaths declined to 12,734 deaths in 2007. Of HCV-related deaths, 73.4% occurred among persons aged 45-64 years. Co-morbidities associated with increased odds of HCV-related mortality included: chronic liver disease (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj,], 32.1); HBV co-infection , alcohol-related conditions; HIV co-infection; and being a member of a minority group . Like HCV, most deaths in HBV-infected persons occurred in those aged 45- 64 years (59.4%). Factors increasing odds of HBV-related death included: Asian/Pacific Islander identity (various models, ORadj, 13.1 – 17.2); chronic liver disease); HCV co-infection ; HIV co-infection (ORadj, 4.0); and alcohol-related conditions.
Conclusions: Our analysis indicates that by 2007 HCV had overtaken HIV as a cause of mortality and that deaths in HCV-infected persons were isproportionately among middle-aged persons and minorities. To achieve declines in mortality similar to those seen with HIV will require new policy directions and commitment to detect and link chronic hepatitis patients to care and treatment.

Harder Hating Jerry

On October 9, Jerry Brown signed SB 41 & AB 604 into law.
Victories for common sense, human rights, and evidence-based policy,
these laws:
•protect needle exchange staff and volunteers from criminal prosecution
•eliminate the requirement for local authorization of syringe exchanges and pharmacy sales of syringes without a prescription
•increases the number of syringes that may be legally purchased, sold or possessed from 10 to 30

These laws are especially important in places such as Fresno and Modesto, where, despite massive need, local officials had refused to authorize syringe exchange or pharmacy sales.

what the hell was I doing when I should have been watching this movie?

hint*

On Idyllic Cape Cod, Growing Drug Problem Fuels a Rise in Property Crimes
•...Thieves have smashed the windows of dozens of cars parked at the beach, grabbing GPS devices and iPods. Flat-screen televisions have been taken from isolated summer homes. Purses snatched out of the sand have been found in the woods, missing only cash. And while not all of the thefts can be linked to drug abuse, the police say many of those arrested for the crimes admit they wanted money for pills.
“They just tell you straight up front, ‘I’m an addict, I have a really bad Percocet problem,’ ” said Sgt. Cleve Daniels of the Dennis police. Mug shots lining a bulletin board at the Police Department are mostly “people active in the local drug trade,” he added. ...•

*there is one methadone clinic in Barnstable County

cute fest.

adopt this dog!

*updated because Pascal was adopted!*
(his picture links to currently available dogs)

please.

Guess what? Kids are kids. Sure, some of these kids will grow up to be gay, trans, gender queer. Some will grow up to be straight, adhering to the most stereotypical gender roles. For now, they are kids. Last time I checked, nail polish and mohawks are means of expression, not requirements of any sex or gender identity. Good parents will be supportive, listen to their kids, and attempt not to force rigid social norms onto their boys who want to wear heels or their daughters who want mohawks.
Boys can be boys and wear nailpolish. Girls can be girls, play football and have spiked hair. ( I should know)
Let's go ahead and get over ourselves, maybe stop forcing our neuroses onto our kids.

Boys Will Be Boys? Not in These Families.
By Jan Hoffman

More Doomtree Magic: Bottom of the Hill (5/5)

yeah, you missed out. big time.
I LOVE them. As if my insane passion for their music wasn't enough, between songs, both Sims and Dessa made me laugh. They are legitimately funny. Anyway, if you are still not listening to doomtree, the time has come for you to work that shit out.

on Twitter: @SIMSdoomtree & @dessadarling

opiate overdose and more weak journalism

Neither of these articles mention naloxone, a safe, effective way to reverse opiate overdose. Naloxone should be more accessible and a much bigger part of these discussions.
Administration Wants Tighter Painkiller Rules
Ohio County Losing Its Young to Painkillers’ Grip
Maybe if we get hysterical about a drug problem, do nothing to keep people from dying, punish addicts and people who actually need pain killers, ... yeah, that's gonna work.

snuggletude

a little bit of history repeating

Condoms do not encourage sex. Condoms encourage safer sex.
Clean needles do not encourage drug use. Clean needles encourage safer drug use.
Crack pipes do not encourage crack use. Wait for it. Crack pipes encourage safer crack use.
This means smoking from glass and not plastic and not having to share crack pipes, which increases the risk of infection.
That all sounds obvious, but my beloved city seems pretty confused about the issue.
I am especially thrilled that mayoral candidates are committed to running their campaigns on the backs of crack smokers.

Line by Line (procrastination)

A fun and addicting drawing tutorial:
Line by Line
by James Mcmullan

To facilitate offline use, I put together this pdf of the second through eighth entries.

What war does to our soldiers & a fundamental flaw in our healthcare:

Yes, you should read Lawrence Wright's Scientology article. This too:

The Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Effexor, Valium, Klonopin, Ativan, Restoril, Xanax, Adderall, Ritalin, Haldol, Risperdal, Seroquel, Ambien, Lunesta, Elavil, Trazodone War
By Jennifer Senior
•...20 percent of the soldiers who’ve deployed in this war report symptoms of post-traumatic stress and major depression.The number climbs to almost 30 percent if the soldiers have deployed more than twice....
So grim is the problem that this summer, the Army released a remarkably candid suicide report. “If we include accidental death, which frequently is the result of high-risk behavior (e.g., drinking and driving, drug overdose),” it concluded, “we find that less young men and women die in combat than die by their own actions. Simply stated, we are often more dangerous to ourselves than the enemy.”
In other words, nearly as many soldiers are dying at home today as are dying abroad.
...
In fact, this residential facility that Chiarelli is visiting is different. It treats alcohol and substance abuse, PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, depression, and pain management all under one roof. Stephen N. Xenakis, a psychiatrist and former commander at Eisenhower, was an early proponent of this kind of integrated program. Like many doctors, he believes that one of American medicine’s greatest failings is its fragmentation into narrow-caliber silos, with doctors seeing ailments solely in the context of their own specialties. No population, says Xenakis, suffers more outrageously from this structural deficiency than returning soldiers. Doctors seldom take the totality of their extraordinary experiences into account. “Soldiers are in an environment that has dust particles and toxins we don’t even recognize,” Xenakis tells me. “There are pressure waves and blasts. They’re carrying packs, at altitude, that weigh 90 pounds. They’re in a different sleep cycle than normal. They’re in situations that are almost always stressful, if not traumatic.” Yet when they return home, he says, they’re shunted into all those individual silos, with each specialist seeing only what he or she is trained to see: A headache. Insomnia. Paranoia and irritability. A ruined knee. “So as doctors,” Xenakis continues, “we say, ‘Okay. We’re going to track this psychological problem, and we’re going to track this immunological problem, and we’re going to track their headaches and their musculoskeletal pain and their insomnia.’ ” He slowly breathes out. Though he retired in 1998, Xenakis has been urging the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to consider integrated medicine for quite some time. “When in fact it’s a system problem we’re dealing with,” he says. “And that’s how you get this poly-drug problem.”...•

don't miss this: The Vick dogs make a comeback

This could get interesting.

This is the same man whose first 3 months as police chief focused on jailing drug addicts and blowing the sherriff's budget out of the water.

George Gascón plans volunteer community courts
Phillip Matier & Andrew Ross
..."'In many cases, we are criminalizing people we don't need to,' Gascón said, adding that the current system is financially 'unsustainable.'"...

Sorry, Ronald Rice. You are just wrong.

At least 30% of the almost 6000 people living with HIV in Newark, NJ contracted it through injection drug use. Drug treatment and pharmacy syringe sales are both important. One does not obviate the other.

N.J. Senate panel passes bill allowing over-the-counter sale of syringes to combat HIV, hepatitis
By Susan K. Livio
..."Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), who was an outspoken opponent of the needle exchange program, voted no on this bill. He argued that making it easier for drug addicts to use doesn’t help them or their communities.
'You’ve got the needles, now come here and fight for drug treatment,’ Rice told his colleagues and other supporters of the bill. 'That’s what you should be doing.'’’

when dogs show us that there is, in fact, good in the world

Yesterday:
The little dog who was left to die in a snowstorm
"OK folks, I know this is a long shot, but here goes…
This morning, as a buddy of mine drove to work via the Williamsburg Bridge, he noticed something: a small gray dog chained to the pedestrian walkway, shivering, completely drenched and half-frozen. As you probably heard, New York had a very big snow storm last night; we’re almost certain her owners left her out in it overnight to die."


Today:
She Found A New Home!!
"My girlfriend and I just got back from dropping off our unexpected pal to her new home with a very warm and loving married couple, who I have no doubt will make amazing, responsible, and caring owners. You’ll just have to trust me when I say: this dog is going to have a great, great life. Her new owners have promised to send some pictures as soon as she gets acclimated, which I will post here." ....