And the definition of “epidemic” is...

Wait, wait, wait. So let me get this straight. In 2005, over 652,000 people in the U.S. died of heart disease and it is estimated that over 60 million Americans have some form of heart disease—the majority of which are preventable. In 2007, over 160,000 Americans died of lung cancer, and cigarette smoking—the leading cause of cancer—accounts for about 85% of all lung cancer cases.

So with all the swine flu, sorry—H1N1 flu craziness, I have to wonder what really constitutes an epidemic in the world today. I’m not saying that I don’t comprehend the severity of a swine-to-human jumping flu strain—but I don’t quite understand how it wins vs. all of the other mass killers out there.

Sometimes I feel like I live in Jon Stewart’s brain.

Pig-flu-nanza!

Okay, maybe I’ve been watching too much Anderson Cooper, but I am totally intrigued by the swine flu craziness. One of my favorite pig-flu pieces I’ve come across is this: the Google H1N1 Swine Flu map (thanks Liz!)

Yep, that’s right—you can watch this flu spread in real time. More here: cdc.gov

Wash your hands people and as my mom would say, “For goodness sake, cover your mouth!”

HealthTube.

This video released by VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) could not be cheesier. Think new world music meets gross anatomical fly-throughs with an odd narrator’s tone and you’ll start to get the picture. However, it’s one of the best explanations I’ve seen in a while for explaining the basics of cancer, Crohn’s disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Just be sure to take a few notes re: medical terminology.

More here: vib.be

Change$.

If saving $77 billion annually doesn’t interest American health care, I don’t know what will. Check out this piece by Julia Adler-Milstein on HBR.org: Health Care Requires Big Changes to Complement New IT

To boot, electronic health records—or EHRs—are helping to save lives already. “After adopting an EHR system, Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania gave nurses additional authority to respond to medical issues they saw cropping up in the patients’ records and made better use of their skills by automating mundane tasks.”

Welcome to the journey of transformation people.

The lung stigma.

I’ve been a surfing, swimming, cross-country running, division one scholarship rowing, non-smoker my whole life, so you can imagine my shock—as well as my family’s—when I had to undergo open lung surgery last summer.

The scars from the surgery aren’t too painful anymore—it mostly just hurts to sneeze—but I often say that it is an experience that got part of my soul as well as my lungs. I can’t even imagine what a double lung transplant would feel like and really thought about that while listening to The New York Times “Patient Voices” this week. Their current theme is lung cancer—the number one cancer killer of both men and women in the US—and it is absolutely worth a listen.

More here: nytimes.com/health

To COBRA or not to COBRA.

The more I watch my friends and loved ones get laid off, the more I pay attention to—and worry about—the stipulations behind COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). Here’s a lovely rule: companies with fewer than 20 workers get quite the squeeze as a majority of the 65 percent COBRA subsidy is either not available to them or not as inclusive in many states.

The good news lies with within “mini-COBRA laws,” but be sure to check those out (per state) before it’s too late. Still confused? Check out Michelle Andrews blog, it explains a lot.

How do I love Tina Fey? Let me Tweet the ways.

(In full disclosure, my post today has nothing to do with health or style, really. Okay, now read-on...)

Lately I’ve had several lengthy discussions about Twitter — and while I am still not really sure how I feel about it — my colleague (thanks Peter!) shared the greatest thing that I have yet to discover about the site: you can follow Tina Fey (my personal hero)

So maybe this is about health after all — because I laughed so hard when I saw some of her posts that I actually felt better...especially her April 13th tweet: “I may have lost a chocolate bunny somewhere in this bed... Don't judge me.”

Nearly put me in stitches. Okay. Back to work.

Crohn’s never sounded so good.

My favorite Pearl Jammer—Mike McCready—will play the national anthem at the Seattle Mariners game on May 19.

McCready has had Crohn’s disease for over 20 years and is quite an active fighter for both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. For every ticket sold through the CCFA to the game, the Mariners plan to donate $7.00 to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

Purchase reduced price tickets here = mlb.com and play ball!

Shopping for health.

My brother John keeps (sarcastically) saying, “We're going to shop/spend our way out of this economy!” He might be right though. Want the best health care? It‘s best to shop around for your greatest bargain. You can compare hospital quality (and prices!) in your area based on surgeries performed and diseases treated on this site = hospitalcompare.nhs.gov

Not sure what else to look out for? Read more here = “Financial Prescriptions”

An ailing health system gets some much needed change.

I’m no doctor, but in my experience the doctors that are down with the changing times seem to get much further than those who uphold a (futile) resistance to change from paper to electronic health records.

So it came as no shock to me that $20 billion of the $787 billion economic stimulus package is slated for IT in health care. Turns out rural doctors in particular are seeing a tremendously positive effect from the switch to electronic health care filing. Surprised? Neither am I.

More here = nytimes.com/health

A healthy style.

My colleague always (jokingly) says, “When you look good, you are good.” And while I could argue that only hours before open lung surgery a nurse told me my hair looked amazing—I do generally believe in the theory (and practice) that looking your best can only help your overall health.

Enter StyleMeSF. This is super cool. Claire Stanly has started a business doing what my sisters and I spend countless hours watching on TV: cleansing wardrobes, styling, and helping people look their very best. She’ll even help you donate and sell your old clothes. Come on, you know you haven’t worn that work-suit in years.

More here: StyleMeSF.com

Pisani talks about “the wrath.”

You know Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are pretty hard core illnesses when this guy is complaining about the pain they elicit for even a minute.

Fernando Pisani (hellllooooo!)—who plays right wing for the Edmonton Oilers—is using his stardom and experience with ulcerative colitis to raise awareness and some dollars for both Crohn’s disease and colitis.

I think it will work. I’d listen to anything this guy said ;) More here = nhl.com

I’ll sleep when I’m dead. No seriously...

I don’t know about you, but the less sleep I get, the more I think about it.

I’ve been thinking about sleep a lot lately and while I’m no doctor (although I feel like I play one on television) I’m 100% sure it’s related to several things currently happening in my life. One in particular that I’m swallowing daily—thank you prednisone.

That said, I found this HealthDay post really intriguing: Daily Naps May Raise Older Women’s Death Risk and I also thoroughly enjoyed browsing through the National Sleep Foundation’s site.