The Health News USA December 15 2017

• In one of their last acts of the year, Ohio lawmakers moved Wednesday to ban abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome and sent the measure to Republican Governor John Kasich, who is likely to sign it. Two states, Indiana and North Dakota, already have passed laws like the one that Ohio is advancing, touching off an emotional debate over women’s rights, parental love and the relationship between doctor and patient. It would make performing an abortion in such cases a fourth-degree felony and require the state medical board to revoke the physician’s license if convicted. Women involved in such procedures wouldn’t be penalized.
• Mortality rates are rising across the U.S. and more Americans are dying earlier because of drugs and heart disease, despite vast differences in health quality across state lines, according to an annual ranking of the healthiest states. The United Health Foundation, which has compiled its 28th annual report, said that the uptick in the premature death rate and increases in cardiovascular and drug-related deaths continue to be a concern. Drug overdoses rose 7% within the past year, and deaths from cardiovascular disease increased by 2% since 2015.
• Massachusetts is the healthiest state in the nation, according to a new report from the United Health Foundation that looks at the healthy and not-so-healthy habits of people across the United States. The top 10 healthiest states are Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, Utah, Connecticut, Minnesota, Colorado, New Hampshire, Washington and New York while the 10 least healthy states are Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Georgia.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 15th of December 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/bill-banning-syndrome-abortions-heads-ohio-governor-51774833

In one of their last acts of the year, Ohio lawmakers moved Wednesday to ban abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome and sent the measure to Republican Governor John Kasich, who is likely to sign it. Two states, Indiana and North Dakota, already have passed laws like the one that Ohio is advancing, touching off an emotional debate over women’s rights, parental love and the relationship between doctor and patient. The Indiana measure, enacted in two thousand sixteen, has been blocked by a federal judge, who ruled the state has no authority to limit a woman’s reasons for ending a pregnancy. An appeal by state officials is pending.

The two thousand thirteen North Dakota law has not been challenged. The state’s sole abortion clinic, in Fargo, says the issue hasn’t arisen under its policy of not performing abortions after sixteen weeks into a pregnancy. The Ohio bill, which cleared the GOP-led Senate with some Republican opposition, would make it a crime for a doctor to terminate a pregnancy based on knowledge of Down syndrome, a genetic abnormality that causes developmental delays and medical conditions such as heart defects and respiratory and hearing problems.

It would make performing an abortion in such cases a fourth-degree felony and require the state medical board to revoke the physician’s license if convicted. Women involved in such procedures wouldn’t be penalized. It was a key policy victory for Ohio Right to Life, the state’s oldest and largest anti-abortion group, which fashioned it as an anti-discrimination effort.
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A group of abortion-rights activists staged a silent protest in the Senate chamber after the bill’s approval, standing in a row wearing T-shirts that spelled out “Stop the Bans.” Planned Parenthood planned a Statehouse protest rally on Thursday.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/13/americans-dying-earlier-mortality-rates-increasing/

Mortality rates are rising across the U.S. and more Americans are dying earlier because of drugs and heart disease, despite vast differences in health quality across state lines, according to an annual ranking of the healthiest states. The United Health Foundation, which has compiled its twenty eighth annual report, said that the uptick in the premature death rate and increases in cardiovascular and drug-related deaths continue to be a concern. Drug overdoses rose seven percent within the past year, and deaths from cardiovascular disease increased by two percent since two thousand fifteen. Overall, more Americans are dying before the age of seventy five, with that figure increasing by three percent since two thousand fifteen.

The report, “America’s Health Rankings,” is one of the longest-running health analyses and provides a snapshot of dozens of health-related factors on at the state and national levels.
For the first year ever, Massachusetts is the number one healthiest state, pushing Hawaii to number two after five years in the top spot. They were followed by Vermont, Utah and Connecticut. The Bay State ranked high for having the most residents with health insurance relative to the population, a low prevalence of obesity and a high number of physicians and mental health professionals.
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Infant mortality rates are also much higher in the U.S. than other developed countries, with five point nine deaths per one hundred thousand live births in the U.S. compared to five or fewer deaths per one hundred thousand in the majority of developed countries.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-healthiest-and-least-healthy-states-in-the-u-s/

Massachusetts is the healthiest state in the nation, according to a new report from the United Health Foundation that looks at the healthy and not-so-healthy habits of people across the United States. The two thousand seventeen annual report looks at thirty five different factors affecting people’s health including rates of smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, low birth weight, drug deaths, environmental conditions like air pollution, and the number of doctors, dentists, and mental health providers per one hundred thousand people in their state.
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For example, Massachusetts has the highest concentration of mental health providers with more than five hundred forty seven per one hundred thousand residents. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Alabama – one of the lowest ranking states on the list – has just eighty five mental health care providers per one hundred thousand people. Massachusetts also ranks among the states with the highest numbers of primary care physicians and dentists.
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The top ten healthiest states are Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, Utah, Connecticut, Minnesota, Colorado, New Hampshire, Washington and New York. The ten least healthy states are Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina,
Oklahoma, Kentucky and Georgia.

Florida and Utah experienced the largest improvements in the rankings since last year, rising four places each to number thirty two and number four, respectively. Florida’s improvements include positive changes in the percentage of children living in poverty and the frequency of mental distress in the past year. Utah improved its rankings in air pollution and immunization rates among young children.