Facts on File Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

fluoride continues to interact with the enamel through its presence in the saliva. Dentists also may apply topical fluoride to t ...

H hand washing Frequent hand washing with soap and warm water is one of the most effective means of preventing the spread of inf ...

health-care services and in health-care treatment decisions. In 2004, about 250 million Americans had health insurance, just ove ...

begin to deteriorate. Age further carries with it the specter of lifestyle choices and their health conse- quences, often compou ...

to eat fewer processed and fried foods and more fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products to meet the nutritional needs of th ...

health organizations form the Healthy People Consortium. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010 LEADING HEALTH INDICATORS access to health care env ...

a diet of other fish. Methylmercury levels in the flesh of these kinds of fish are higher than in other kinds of fish. The advis ...

Hepatitis C is particularly insidious because the infection can take 20 to 30 years to progress enough to generate symptoms. A b ...

to symptoms is about 10 years, during which time the person may not know he or she has HIV and can spread the infection to other ...

I indoor air quality The average American spends 20 hours or more of each day in various indoor environments such as work, schoo ...

that causes epidemics (widespread outbreaks of disease) every year. In the United States each year about 20 percent of the popul ...

children between the ages of six months and 2 years as well as their household members people age 50 and older people who live ...

L life expectancy A statistical calculation repre- senting how many years a person might expect to live. Simple life expectancy ...

respect to the disease-fighting potential of antioxi- dants. Cancer researchers have made connections between the body’s ability ...

N–P neural tube defects BIRTH DEFECTSin which the neural tube, the precursor to the SPINAL CORDand BRAIN, fails to develop prope ...

state laws mandate appropriate protective mea- sures for workers in high-risk occupations. Occu- pational and industry standards ...

lifestyle factors such as smoking, EATING HABITS, physical exercise, and occupational health risks It also is helpful to know ...

emergency medical assistance (911, a hospital emergency room, or the national poison control hotline at 1-800-222-1222) and foll ...

Q–R quality of life The extent to which health sup- ports, and disease or injury prevents, a person’s ability to participate in ...

even more. Outdoor air typically contains about 0.4 pCi/L of radon. There is no determined safe level of radon. The public healt ...