The proportion of U.S. adults who self report they are obese increased nearly 2% between 2005 and 2007, according to a report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. An estimated 25.6% of U.S. adults reported being obese in 2007 compared to 23.9% in 2005, an increase of 1.7%. The report also finds that none of the 50 states or the District of Columbia has achieved the Healthy People 2010 goal to reduce obesity prevalence to 15% or less.

In three states — Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee — the prevalence of self-reported obesity among adults age 18 or older was above 30%. Colorado had the lowest obesity prevalence reported at 18.7%.

"The epidemic of adult obesity continues to rise in the U.S., indicating that we need to step up our efforts at the national, state and local levels," said William Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta). "We need to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables, engage in more physical activity and reduce the consumption of high calorie foods and sugar sweetened beverages in order to maintain a healthy weight."

The study found that obesity is more prominent in the South, where 27% of respondents were classified as obese. The percentage of obese adults was 25.3% in the Midwest, 23.3% in the Northeast and 22.1% in the West.

Ongoing access to ESRD information

NxStage Medical (Lawrence, Massachusetts), a maker of dialysis products, reported ongoing public access to current summary information derived from a registry of NxStage patients with end-stage renal-disease (ESRD) who undergo hemodialysis at home on a more frequent, or daily, basis as an alternative to the conventional regimen of therapy received three times a week at a dialysis center.

This portrait of key characteristics of ESRD patients who have been receiving daily home hemodialysis, which includes correlation with survival and kidney transplant relative to that observed with conventional hemodialysis, reflects more than 1,000 patient years of experience and more than 1 million treatments, NxStage said, and is believed to be the largest known database of home hemodialysis patients.

Key statistics from the registry:

Survival and transplant rates are notably higher among the NxStage patient population undergoing daily therapy vs. reported figures for conventional, less frequent dialysis treatment.

Patients of varied size, age, vascular access type, and geographic location are participating in home daily hemodialysis, indicating its broad applicability.

92% of the U.S. dialysis population resides within 60 miles of a center offering NxStage home hemodialysis training, and nearly 80% are within 30 miles.

American Bio Medica ships OralStat

American Bio Medica (Kinderhook, New York) said that they have shipped their first order of its OralStat oral fluid drug tests to Save Mart Supermarkets of Modesto, California, a privately held food store chain. Save Mart has already implemented ABMC's OralStat into their employee drug testing program.

The OralStat is a patented, innovative point of collection testing system for the detection of drugs of abuse in oral fluids. The technology of OralStat provides test results within minutes with enhanced sensitivity and detection comparable to laboratory based oral fluids tests. OralStat can simultaneously test for six drugs in each device.

"We are confident that the OralStat will enhance Save Mart's existing drug testing program and allow them to continue to see the practical and economic advantages of point of collection drug testing," said ABMC CEO Stan Cipkowski. "Our OralStat continues to be unrivaled in the market for its superior sensitivity and accuracy; allowing employers like Save Mart to optimize their drug testing program and identify drug usage."

American Bio Medica is a biotechnology company that makes immunoassay diagnostic test kits.

Amerinet continues GS1 standards

Amerinet (St. Louis) has affirmed its commitment to partner with its customers – both providers and suppliers – to adopt and continue to implement GS1 healthcare standards with a focus on driving costs out of the supply chain. GS1 is an organization that is responsible for the design and implementation of global standards to improve efficiency and visibility in supply and demand chains.

This commitment comes on the heels of the recent Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) conference in San Antonio, where GS1 Healthcare US experts expounded on how such standards as Global Location Number (GLN), Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) will dramatically improve the group purchasing industry.

Amerinet partners with healthcare providers to improve operating margins by creating efficiencies, reducing costs and identifying new revenue streams.