The gentleman I spoke with was Mr. Tony Emison, M.D. He is
the chief medical officer for West Tennessee and over Madison County Regional
Health Office. The top five public health trends are typical to the south,
although some are particularly hot for this year.
The first issue that came to mind was obesity. He said that
this is common for the United States as whole but that it is increasingly occurring
in the south and in younger and younger aged people. His goal was to cut out
candies and sugary beverages out of the schools to reduce instances of
childhood obesity and increase physical activity.
As far as chronic disease trends for the area, closely
related to obesity was that of hypertension. Mr. Emison said that Tennessee has
an average rate of hypertension that exceeds the national average and is
something to be addressed, although he himself is more about the preventative
nature of these trends so he does not deal directly with the faces of those
affected by hypertension.
The next trend that is hot in Tennessee is contamination of
medication. Several medications that are injected into the spine have been
found to be infected with fungal bacteria. This bacteria has been shown to lead
to several cases of meningitis and has caused some serious concern for those
with arthritis who might be getting injections for treatment.
Another uptick in the south is the instance of West Nile
Virus. Mr. Emison said that they had seen a significant increase in cases of
the virus as compared to other years and that they are having to take some measures
to control the mosquito population to a greater degree. This has been affecting
people in many areas of the south but especially those in his area because of
the river and stagnant water surrounding it.
Finally, although the control of sexually transmitted
diseases has been generally constant, there have been an increase of cases of
syphilis in that area of the country. He says that this is due to unprotected
sex and should be combated with more education and ready access to protective
equipment. He also says that he expects this trend to lose momentum within the
next 10 months as that is the usual rate of uptick.
Samuel Woodall
Health 100
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