Environmental Health

Six Things To Know About Ticks And Lyme Disease

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This year 97 percent of blacklegged ticks, commonly known as deer ticks, survived the Connecticut winter and are hungry for blood as temperatures warm. These arachnids transmit bacteria that cause Lyme disease and are likely thriving in your backyard, according to Connecticut Chief Entomologist Kirby Stafford. About 3,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported in the state each year, the state Department of Public Health reports, but Stafford says that most cases aren’t reported. The true number is closer to 35,000, he estimates. “Under-reporting is more likely to occur in highly endemic [widespread] areas, whereas over-reporting is more likely to occur in non-endemic areas,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health Care Barriers

Cultural Hurdles Limit Medical Care For LGBTs

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Emerson Cheney has survived drug addiction, an abusive relationship, years of cutting and burning himself, and multiple suicide attempts. Now a student at Tunxis Community College, Cheney, 22, recalls how he struggled as a teenager with rejection by friends, school administrators and even doctors, after he came out as transgender. Advocates for LGBT youth say that Cheney’s story is all too common—rejection often pushes young people to risky behaviors that result in health challenges. For LGBT youth, finding health care professionals who can fully address their medical and psychological needs at a critical time in their psychosocial development can be difficult. Several recent studies have highlighted discrimination and mistreatment of sexual and gender minority individuals seeking health care. In Connecticut, a 2008 study that surveyed pediatricians to examine health barriers among LGBT adolescents found that 31 percent of doctors expressed reservations about discussing sexual orientation or gender with patients.

Treating Migraines

For Young Migraine Sufferers, Treatment Can Be Hard To Find

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Bridget Araldi’s headaches started after a concussion on the soccer field, and they became so debilitating that the Wilton girl missed 70 days of her sophomore year at high school. She spent much of that time lying in her darkened bedroom, her head covered with cold cloths. A succession of doctors Araldi’s mother took her to did not offer any relief—an experience that is not unusual, according to a new study. The study shows that most children do not get proper treatment for migraines. Many doctors who specialize in headaches say this is because children’s pain is too often dismissed.

Disparities

Home Care Challenge: Retaining Workers, Keeping Costs Low

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Debbie Hardy, a home health care aide, is the reason that Frank Geraldino, 48, a paraplegic, is able to live in his Seymour apartment – rather than in a nursing facility. Hardy, of Ansonia, is an independent worker providing in-home personal care services, such as bathing and feeding, for people with serious disability. Medicaid covers the bill, but the patients are technically the employers, hiring and scheduling their own in-home care. More than 6,000 personal care workers are listed on various registries as providing in-home care services.   The lists include home health aides, who are trained and licensed as certified nursing assistants, and personal care assistants, who are not licensed.

Disparities

As AIDS Funds Shrink, Emphasis Shifts To Testing

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Connecticut is using a shrinking pool of federal funding for HIV/AIDS prevention to focus on getting more people into treatment, particularly men whose sexual activity puts them at risk. New HIV/AIDS cases are falling in Connecticut, especially among injection drug users, but men who have sex with men make up a growing proportion of diagnoses in the state.  They are also the largest group affected by HIV nationally. Getting these men tested and into treatment is key, as medication now drastically reduces the risk of infected people passing on the virus. AIDS workers say that “men who have sex with men’’ includes gay and bisexual men and men who identify themselves as heterosexual, despite having sexual relations with other men.

Cancer Drugs

FDA Steps In To Ease Cancer Drug Shortages

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Dr. Jeffrey Gordon wants to treat a new patient with ovarian cancer with Doxil, a chemotherapy drug that’s proven highly effective against the disease. But he is unable to obtain Doxil because, like many other potentially lifesaving drugs, it is in short supply.