Online-only: Public health extras: News roundup on blood pressure, shingles, air pollution and more
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* Donya Currie

## About 19 percent of young adults may have high blood pressure

Indicating an almost fivefold higher risk for young adults than previously believed, a recent study estimated 19 percent of people ages 24–32 have high blood pressure.

Published online May 25 in Epidemiology, the study was based on blood pressure readings of more than 14,000 men and women ages 24–32 who were enrolled in the long-running National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The findings different from those of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, which reported high blood pressure in 4 percent of adults ages 20–39.

“We explored several possible explanations for the difference between this study and (the earlier NHANES survey), including participant characteristics, where they were examined and the types of devices for measuring their blood pressure,” said study lead author Kathleen Mullan Harris, PhD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “None of these factors could account for the differences in estimates between the two studies.”

High blood pressure is a serious condition that can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and other health problems.

## Shingles increases risk of multiple sclerosis

There can be a significantly higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis in the year following a shingles, or herpes zoster, attack, a recent study found.

Published online June 7 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the study looked at more than 315,000 adults with herpes zoster and a control group of almost 1 million people who were tracked and then evaluated for multiple sclerosis during a one-year follow-up period. After adjusting for monthly income and geographic region, the study authors found the group with herpes zoster had an almost four times higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis than the control group.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord and has been linked to environmental, genetic and viral factors. One virus that has been associated with multiple sclerosis is varicella zoster, which is the cause of herpes zoster.

## Distrust of system means missed tests

Women with high levels of distrust in the health care system are less likely to have Pap tests and breast exams, according to a study in the July issue of APHA's American Journal of Public Health.

The study analyzed data from about 5,300 women ages 18 and older in Philadelphia and found that the more they distrusted the health care system, the less likely they were to have one or both of the diagnostic tests.

The odds of having a Pap test was also related to age, race or ethnicity, marital status, employment status, education, health care resources and personal health. Having a regular source of care was associated with a 68 percent to 77 percent increase in the odds of having a Pap test. The determinants of having a clinical breast examination were similar.

Researchers said one of the potentially modifiable factors was insurance status.

“The odds of having received a breast examination among insured women were almost triple those of women without insurance,” they wrote.

Every year, 192,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer. In 2009, more than 40,000 women died of breast cancer and 4,000 died of cervical cancer, researchers said.

They suggested that, “rebuilding confidence in the health care system may improve personal and public health by increasing the utilization of preventive health services.” (Page 1,297)

## APHA tells Barton of dangers of air pollution

APHA refuted a hypothesis put forth by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, that air pollution, in particular mercury and particulate matter, does not cause health problems.

In a May 10 letter to Barton, APHA, the American Lung Association and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, among others, wrote, “we are doctors and we see in the patients we treat what…the scientific literature lets us know to expect: that air pollution makes people sick and cuts lives short.”

The American Lung Association initiated the letter.

Barton suggested during an April 15 Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing that air pollution does not cause illness and that there was no science to back up the health benefits that the Environmental Protection Agency expects to achieve as air toxics from power plants are reduced.

The letter's signers provided a list of published studies that support the groups’ observations about the danger of mercury and particulate matter.

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association