100,000 helmets and counting
The Texas Medical Association’s Hard Hats for Little Heads program reached a major milestone in May. Thanks to TMA physicians, medical students, and TMA Alliance members, TMA has given away more than 100,000 bicycle helmets to children across the state.
During the past five years, TMA in-
creased the number of helmets given by more than 200 percent, from 8,390 in 2006 to 17,792 in 2010, to more than 8,000 helmets given at 70 events already in 2011. Hard Hats for Little Heads, created in 1994, encourages children to exercise safety by wearing a properly fitted hel- met every time they bike, skate, skate- board, or ride a scooter. The TMA Foun- dation provides funding, thanks to top donors — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Prudential, and an anonymous foundation — and gifts from physicians and their families. To find out how you can give hel- mets in your community and help TMA reach 200,000 helmets, email the TMA Outreach Coordinator at tmaoutreach
coordinator@texmed.org, or call (800) 880-1300, ext. 1470, or (512) 370-1470.
New exhibit focuses on public health
“Don’t Spit on the Side- walk,” an exhibit brought to you by the Texas Medical Association History of Med- icine Committee, focuses primarily on public health advances and initiatives during the past century.
This new exhibit, which will be displayed in the TMA History of Medicine Gallery for one year, features artifacts and images on loan from the Public Health Museum of Texas, a part of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), and from the TMA Archives and Collections. “Don’t Spit on the Sidewalk” was one of the earliest public health
High-sodium, low- potassium diet linked to risk of death
Americans who eat a diet high in sodium and low in potassium have a 50-percent increased risk of death from any cause and about twice the risk of death from heart attacks, according to a study pub- lished in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Emory University, and Harvard University con- ducted the study.
warnings. Communities displayed the message on bricks and other items to help prevent the spread of tuberculosis, influenza, and other infectious diseases. One of the items on loan is an article from Texas Health Bulletin
explaining the importance of mouth guards, required for the first time in Texas during the 1963 high school football season. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The TMA History of Medicine Gallery is on the first floor of the TMA building, 401 W. 15th St., Austin. Exhibit hours are Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. For more information or to schedule a group tour, e-mail Betsy
Tyson, TMA Knowledge Center archivist and exhibits coordinator, at
betsy.tyson@texmed.org, or contact her at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1552, or (512) 370-1552.
September 2011 TEXAS MEDICINE 41
This is the first study to examine, us- ing a nationally representative sample, the association between mortality and the intake of sodium and potassium. The study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Sur- vey (NHANES), designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults in the United States. Usual intake of so- dium and potassium is based on dietary recall.
“The study’s findings are particularly
troubling because U.S. adults consume an average of 3,300 milligrams of sodi- um per day, more than twice the current recommended limit for most Americans,” said Elena Kuklina, MD, PhD, an inves- tigator on the study and a nutritional epidemiologist with CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. “This study provides further evidence to support current public health recom- mendations to reduce sodium levels in processed foods, given that nearly 80
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