Health
CDC launches online journal of chronic diseases
■ The free journal aims to put the latest science on prevention into the hands of physicians.
By Susan J. Landers — Posted Jan. 26, 2004
Washington -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a free, peer-reviewed electronic journal that focuses on chronic disease, a leading cause of death and disability in the United States.
Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy is available at the CDC's Web site (link).
"Many chronic diseases are largely preventable, and we have the science needed to help Americans lead healthier, longer lives," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. "This free online journal will make the latest prevention research accessible to doctors, public health professionals and others who can put it to work and improve America's health."
The first issue includes a video about tobacco control programs as well as studies indicating that many individuals with diabetes do not receive flu or pneumonia vaccinations and that people with osteoporosis have a greatly reduced quality of life.
An essay by S. Leonard Syme, PhD, emeritus professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, addresses the challenges and rewards of working with communities on public health issues.
"Our only hope is to develop better proactive strategies for preventing disease and promoting health rather than waiting to fix the problems after they occur," he writes.
Chronic diseases are responsible for seven of 10 deaths in the United States or more than 1.7 million deaths each year. The treatment of chronic diseases takes 75% of the $1.3 trillion spent nationally each year on health care.
"Public health is at a crucial turning point -- we have never had more challenges, but we have also never had more opportunities to make such a difference in the health and well-being of every American," said Lynne Wilcox, MD, MPH, editor-in-chief of the journal. "This e-journal provides a unique opportunity to share results and ideas with public health professionals and promote the idea of preventing, rather than simply treating, chronic disease."
