More children than ever before are being diagnosed with autism, a developmental disorder that impairs the brain’s ability to build communication and social skills, according to a report released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism has been detected in about one in 88 children, a 23 percent increase from the CDC’s last count in 2006 and almost double the number of diagnoses found ten years ago.
Even though many Californians think of tuberculosis as a foreign problem, experts say the cough and sneeze-surfing bacteria remains a risk in the state. In tight times the natural inclination is to cut budgets and look at other priorities,” said Dr. Kathy Moser, director of San Diego County’s TB control program. “But we’ve seen if there’s very little focus on an infectious, airborne disease like TB, it can come back.”
Getting a community to start exercising involves a lot more than posting up fliers and hosting some aerobics classes. It takes community buy-in. A recent study from the University of Missouri found that exercise programs aimed at minority adults are doing some short-term good, but most come across as culturally tone-deaf and are by and large failing to connect with the communities they intend to help.