Drowsy Driving: Asleep at the Wheel

"Drive alert and stay unhurt. Learn the risks of drowsy driving and how to protect yourself.

The Drowsy Driving Problem

Drowsy driving is a major problem in the United States. The risk, danger, and often tragic results of drowsy driving are alarming. Drowsy driving is the dangerous combination of driving and sleepiness or fatigue. This usually happens when a driver has not slept enough, but it can also happen due to untreated sleep disorders, medications, drinking alcohol, or shift work.

No one knows the exact moment when sleep comes over their body. Falling asleep at the wheel is clearly dangerous, but being sleepy affects your ability to drive safely even if you don’t fall asleep. Drowsiness—

• Makes drivers less able to pay attention to the road.
• Slows reaction time if you have to brake or steer suddenly.
• Affects a driver’s ability to make good decisions.

Did You Know?

• An estimated 1 in 25 adult drivers (aged 18 years or older) report having fallen asleep while driving in the previous 30 days.^1,2
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy driving was responsible for 72,000 crashes, 44,000 injuries, and 800 deaths in 2013.³ However, these numbers are underestimated and up to 6,000 fatal crashes each year may be caused by drowsy drivers.^..."
  Drowsy driving

Traveling Abroad for the Holidays

"Tis the season to visit loved ones abroad or take a vacation with your family. Whether you’re seeking a winter wonderland or escaping subzero temperatures, follow these travel tips to get prepared for a healthy and safe holiday travel season.

Before You Go

• Learn about health concerns at your destination. Even if you’re familiar with the place, there may be new and important health risks that could make or break your trip.
• Make an appointment with a travel medicine specialist or your health care provider at least a month before you leave to learn about health concerns and vaccines needed at your destination.
  • Even if you are leaving soon, a visit to a travel medicine provider is still valuable.
  • If possible, children should complete their routine childhood vaccines on the normal schedule before traveling. Coordinate with a travel medicine doctor and your child’s pediatrician as soon as possible before travel regarding any needed travel vaccines.
• Pack a travel health kit. Include prescription and over-the-counter medicines (enough to last your whole trip, plus a little extra), sunscreen, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, first aid supplies, health insurance card, insect repellent, and condoms.
• Monitor travel warnings and alerts at your destination through the US State Department website.
  • You also can enroll with the nearest US embassy or consulate through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to get the latest safety updates and help in an emergency..."
    Holiday travel abroad

2017 Hate Crime Statistics

"The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program serves as the national repository for crime data collected by law enforcement. Its primary objective is to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement, operation, and management. Reported yearly, the 2017 data, submitted by 16,149 law enforcement agencies (up 5.9% from 15,254 agencies in 2016), provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and location of hate crimes.  Of these agencies, 2,040 reported 7,175 hate crime incidents involvig 8,437 offenses.

The table and graphs below provide a high-level overview of some of the data. The full report can be viewed here: https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2017..."
Hate crime

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans

"Physical activity is key to improving the health of the Nation. Based on the latest science, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans is an essential resource for health professionals and policy makers that provides recommendations on how everyone can improve their health through regular physical activity. Learn ways to help people understand the benefits of physical activity and how to make it a part of their regular routine..."
Physical activity

Tobacco Product Use Among Adults — United States, 2017

"Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and causes adverse health consequences, including heart disease, stroke, and multiple types of cancer (1). Although cigarette smoking among U.S. adults has declined considerably, tobacco products have evolved in recent years to include various combustible, noncombustible, and electronic products (1,2). To assess recent national estimates of tobacco product use among U.S. adults aged ≥18 years, CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute analyzed data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). In 2017, an estimated 47.4 million U.S. adults (19.3%) currently used any tobacco product, including cigarettes (14.0%; 34.3 million); cigars, cigarillos, or filtered little cigars (3.8%; 9.3 million); electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) (2.8%; 6.9 million); smokeless tobacco (2.1%; 5.1 million); and pipes, water pipes, or hookahs (1.0%; 2.6 million). Among current tobacco product users, 86.7% (41.1 million) smoked combustible tobacco products, and 19.0% (9.0 million) used ≥2 tobacco products..."
Tobacco use

Trends in Current Cigarette Smoking Among High School Students and Adults, United States, 1965–2014

View data on cigarettee smoking among high schoolers and adults from 1965 to 2014.
Cigarette smoking

DOJ and DHS Issue New Asylum Rule: Applies President’s authority to suspend entry to asylum

"Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen today announced an Interim Final Rule declaring that those aliens who contravene a presidential suspension or limitation on entry into the United States through the southern border with Mexico issued under section 212(f) or 215(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) will be rendered ineligible for asylum. 

The Acting Attorney General and the Secretary issued the following joint statement:

“Consistent with our immigration laws, the President has the broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens into the United States if he determines it to be in the national interest to do so. Today's rule applies this important principle to aliens who violate such a suspension or restriction regarding the southern border imposed by the President by invoking an express authority provided by Congress to restrict eligibility for asylum.  Our asylum system is overwhelmed with too many meritless asylum claims from aliens who place a tremendous burden on our resources, preventing us from being able to expeditiously grant asylum to those who truly deserve it.  Today, we are using the authority granted to us by Congress to bar aliens who violate a Presidential suspension of entry or other restriction from asylum eligibility.”

Section 212(f) of the Immigration and INA states that “[w]henever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”

Further, Section 215(a) of the INA states that it is “unlawful…for any alien to depart from or enter or attempt to depart from or enter the United States except under such reasonable rules, regulations, and orders, and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may prescribe.”..."
Asylum Rule

Antibiotic Resistance, Food, and Food-Producing Animals

"More than 400,000 Americans get sick every year from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria, according to CDC estimates. People who are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria may experience more severe illness, including hospitalization and death, because these infections can be harder to treat. Learn what CDC is doing and how you can protect yourself and your loved ones from these types of infections.

Antibiotic Resistance and Food Production

Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to resist the effects of an antibiotic. This means that bacteria are not killed by the antibiotic and can continue to grow. About one in five resistant infections are caused by germs, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, from food and animals.

Improving antibiotic use can help slow antibiotic resistance. 

Antibiotics are medicines that kill bacteria.  They are extremely important in treating serious bacterial infections in people.  However, bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics when these drugs are given unnecessarily to people or animals who don’t require them.  Improving antibiotic prescribing and use is critical to ensure that bacteria don’t become resistant to antibiotics. Prescribers should only treat people and animals with antibiotics when they need them for medically sound reasons.

All humans and animals have bacteria in their gut. When they are given antibiotics, many of these bacteria are killed, but the resistant ones may survive and multiply. This is why the responsible use of antibiotics is so important in both humans and animals..."
Antibiotic resistance

Presidential Disability Under the TwentyFifth Amendment: Constitutional Provisions and Perspectives for Congress

"Sections 3 and 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provide for presidential disability or inability.

Section 3 of the amendment sets the procedure whereby a President may declare himself or herself “unable to discharge the powers and duties” of the office by transmitting a written declaration to this effect to the President pro tempore of the Senate (President pro tem) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Speaker). For the duration of the disability, the Vice President discharges the President’s powers and duties as Acting President. When the President transmits “a written declaration to the contrary” to the President pro tem and the Speaker, he or she resumes the powers and duties of the office. Section 3 is intended to cover either unanticipated disability, such as injury or illness, or anticipated disability, such as medical treatment. It has been activated three times under circumstances in which the President underwent general anesthesia for medical treatment. It was informally implemented by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and was formally implemented twice by President George W. Bush, in 2002 and 2007, under similar circumstances.

Section 4 provides for instances of contingent presidential disability. It was intended by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment’s authors to provide for cases in which a President was unable or unwilling to declare a disability. In these circumstances, the section authorizes the Vice President and a majority of either the Cabinet, or such other body established by law (a presidential disability review body), acting jointly, to declare the President to be disabled. When they transmit a written message to this effect to the President pro tem and the Speaker, the Vice President immediately assumes the powers and duties of the office as Acting President..."
Presidential disability

A Child’s Health is the Public’s Health

"Preparing for unexpected events is an important part of keeping children safe and healthy all year long. Events like the spread of a serious infection, an explosion, an earthquake, or a weather event, such as a hurricane, may cause health problems for large numbers of people, and especially for children.

Children make up one in four people in the United States and they have special needs during and after emergencies. Although younger children are often more affected than adults during disasters, there are concerns for children of all ages during emergencies because

• Children may not be able to follow directions or make decisions to keep them away from danger during a disaster.
• Children’s bodies use energy quicker than adults’ do, and they need food and water more often. This means that they will absorb poisons or dangerous chemicals faster than adults will.
• Children have thinner skin and breathe faster than adults do, making them more likely to take in harmful substances through the skin or breathe them in.
• Children are smaller than adults, but they have more skin in relation to their overall size, compared to adults. This means they have a higher chance of being harmed by certain chemicals or very hot or cold temperatures.
• Children are more likely to put their hands in their mouths, and spend more time outdoors and on the ground, making them more likely to come into contact with dangers in the environment.
• Children maynot be able to explain how they are feeling, which can make it harder to identify a medical problem and treat them quickly.
• Children have more contact with others, and they have less developed immune systems to fight off infections. This means they are more likely to catch an illness that can spread from person to person.
• Some children have special healthcare needs. These can increase a child’s chance of getting sick during an emergency, especially if the child is separated from a parent or caregiver.."
  Children's health

Radiation in Medicine: Medical Imaging Procedures

"Medical imaging tests are non-invasive procedures that allow doctors to diagnose diseases and injuries without being intrusive. Some of these tests involve exposure to ionizing radiation, which can present risks to patients. However, if patients understand the benefits and risks, they can make the best decisions about choosing a particular medical imaging procedure.

Most people have had one or more medical imaging tests. Imaging procedures are medical tests that allow doctors to see inside the body in order to diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions. Doctors often use medical imaging procedures to determine the best treatment options for patients. The type of imaging procedure that your doctor may suggest will depend on your health concern and the part of the body that is being examined. Some common examples of imaging tests include:

• X-rays (including dental x-rays, chest x-rays, spine x-rays)
• CT or CAT (computed tomography) scans
• Fluoroscopy

If your doctor suggests x-rays or other medical imaging tests, you should consider the following:

• Medical imaging tests should be performed only when necessary.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends discussing the benefits and risks of medical imaging procedures with your doctor..."
  Radiation in medicine

Pneumonia Can Be Prevented—Vaccines Can Help

"Each year in the United States, about 1 million people have to seek care in a hospital due to pneumonia. Unfortunately, about 50,000 people die from the disease each year in the United States. Most of the people affected by pneumonia in the United States are adults. Vaccines and appropriate treatment (like antibiotics and antivirals) could prevent many of these deaths.

Lower Your Risk with Vaccines

In the United States, vaccines can help prevent infection by some of the bacteria and viruses that can cause pneumonia:

• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
• Influenza (flu)
• Measles
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Pneumococcal
• Varicella (chickenpox)

These vaccines are safe, but side effects can occur. Most side effects are mild and go away on their own within a few days. See the vaccine information statements for each vaccine to learn more about the most common side effects.

Encourage friends and loved ones to make sure they are up to date with their vaccines..."
Pneumonia

Create a Healthy Holiday Workplace

"The holiday season is kicking off, and with it comes a marathon of office parties, potlucks, and gift exchanges. Here are a few tips for bringing healthy holidays to your workplace.

Creating Healthy Holidays at Work

Ready, get set, go. The holiday season is kicking off, and with it comes a marathon of office parties, potlucks, and gift exchanges. Help employees enjoy the holidays with their coworkers. Here are a few tips for bringing healthy holidays to your workplace.

Spotting Challenges Ahead of Time

Temptation lurking around every corner – During the holidays, it seems more sweets and homemade treats pop up in the break room, on countertops, and in coworkers’ offices than during the rest of the year. It’s enough to make your employees throw up their hands and say, “I’ll wait until after the holidays to eat healthy again!”

Stress mounting by the minute –With parties, entertaining, gift-giving, and office cookie swaps, the demands on your time and wallet may seem endless. People can feel overwhelmed and have a hard time remembering why this season is supposed to be fun.

Busy calendar leaving no time for physical activity – The extra tasks make it tempting to hold off self-care with the promise to renew it in the new year. Your employees may believe they barely have time to cram in all the holiday planning and celebrations, causing them to skip workout.."
Healthy Holiday

Helping Alzheimer’s Caregivers

"Are you caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease?

Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias can be challenging. People with dementias may stop recognizing the person who is caring for them, can have trouble sharing their desires and feelings, and may become completely dependent upon their caregiver for daily activities such as eating, using the restroom, and bathing.

How Many People Live with Alzheimer’s?

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are now the 6th leading cause of death overall and the 5th leading cause of death among those over 65 years of age. Today, close to 6 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s, and that is predicted to nearly triple by 2060. As the number of people with Alzheimer’s continues to increase so will the need for caregivers.

Caregiving for People with Alzheimer’s Disease

Recent data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System showed that those caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias have been caregivers considerably longer than caregivers of those with other health conditions. Depending on their health status, persons with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias can live for a very long time—up to 20 years following the diagnosis..."
Alzheimer caregiver

2018 National Drug Threat Assessment

"The 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA)1 is a comprehensive strategic assessment of the threat posed to the United States by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs. The report combines federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement reporting; public health data; open source reporting; and intelligence from other government agencies to determine which substances and criminal organizations represent the greatest threat to the United States.

Illicit drugs, as well as the transnational and domestic criminal organizations who traffic them, continue to represent significant threats to public health, law enforcement, and national security in the United States. Drug poisoning deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States; they are currently at their highest ever recorded level and, every year since 2011, have outnumbered deaths by firearms, motor vehicle crashes, suicide, and homicide. In 2016, approximately 174 people died every day from drug poisoning (see Figure 1). The opioid threat (controlled prescription drugs, synthetic opioids, and heroin) has reached epidemic levels and currently shows no signs of abating, affecting large portions of the United States. Meanwhile, as the ongoing opioid crisis justly receives national attention, the methamphetamine threat remains prevalent; the cocaine threat has rebounded; new psychoactive substances (NPS) are still challenging; and the domestic marijuana situation continues to evolve..."
Drug threat assessment