Addiction Treatment Gap Awareness Week (April 24-April 30)

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will be hosting the first ever Addiction Treatment Gap Awareness Week April 24th to 30th, 2017. This national awareness week will be dedicated to recognizing the significant gap in treatment for those with the disease of addiction.

The statistics which reflect the severity of the treatment gap are staggering. Nearly 20.5 million Americans suffer from a substance use disorder (SUD), yet only 1 in 10 people with SUD receive treatment.

"ASAM has been dedicated to helping physicians treat addiction and save lives since 1954. The first ever ABPM addiction medicine exam is the catalyst for moving addiction into mainstream medicine,” said Kelly Clark, MD, MBA, DFASAM, President of ASAM. "Certifying more addiction medicine physicians and educating the public can help close the treatment gap and ensure that patients receive the care they need."

Addiction medicine was recognized as an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) subspecialty in 2016, and the first-ever addiction medicine certification exam from the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) will certify physicians in this subspecialty and offer them the unique ability to treat those with addiction. The ABPM addiction medicine exam will allow physicians to become board-certified in addiction medicine and will help close the treatment gap. ASAM is working diligently to promote this opportunity to as many physicians as possible. For a limited time period, ABMS board-certified physicians may qualify to take the exam by either meeting practice experience requirements or completing an addiction medicine fellowship.

During Addiction Treatment Gap Awareness Week, ASAM is hosting an informational webinar on April 25th with experts from federal organizations and ABPM to help physicians learn about the process of becoming certified and treating this insidious disease. ASAM is also collaborating with other organizations to promote awareness of this chronic brain disease, diminish stigma, and help those in need receive proper treatment.

Together, we can close the treatment gap. Join us for Addiction Treatment Gap Awareness Week from April 24th to 30th and help treat addiction and save lives.

Making Melons Safer with Steam

Steam can more effectively combat E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria on cantaloupes than traditional removal methods. That's the finding of an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist in Pennsylvania.

Dike Ukuku and his colleagues at the ARS Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Unit in Wyndmoor has demonstrated that a relatively inexpensive steam cleaner designed to remove wallpaper and clean outdoor grills can rid cantaloupes of E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria more effectively than existing washes and chlorine treatments.

The ARS study involved submerging cantaloupes in a bath inoculated with E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria strains. After drying and refrigeration, the cantaloupes were cleaned with a commercially available power steamer. The technique produced sufficient heat to kill surface pathogens but not enough heat to damage the fruits.

Pathogen levels on the surfaces of the steam-treated melons were generally 1,000 times lower than those on untreated melons. Pathogens on cut-up pieces of the cantaloupes were reduced beyond detection. Pathogen levels on steam-treated cantaloupes were about 100 times lower than those found on cantaloupes sanitized with chlorine.

Processors and distributors could apply steam when cantaloupes are put into washers or as they are moved on conveyor belts during processing, Ukuku says. The technique also may effectively sanitize watermelons, honeydews, cucumbers and baby carrots.

The new technology could reduce the number of foodborne disease outbreaks from contaminated produce, which annually cause nearly one million illnesses and more than 100 deaths.

Read more about this research in the March 2017 issue of AgResearch magazine.

President Donald J. Trump Proclaims March 2017 as Women's History Month

We are proud of our Nation's achievements in promoting women's full participation in all aspects of American life and are resolute in our commitment to supporting women's continued advancement in America and around the world.

America honors the celebrated women pioneers and leaders in our history, as well as those unsung women heroes of our daily lives. We honor those outstanding women, whose contributions to our Nation's life, culture, history, economy, and families have shaped us and helped us fulfill America's promise.

We cherish the incredible accomplishments of early American women, who helped found our Nation and explore the great western frontier. Women have been steadfast throughout our battles to end slavery, as well as our battles abroad. And American women fought for the civil rights of women and others in the suffrage and civil rights movements. Millions of bold, fearless women have succeeded as entrepreneurs and in the workplace, all the while remaining the backbone of our families, our communities, and our country.

During Women's History Month, we pause to pay tribute to the remarkable women who prevailed over enormous barriers, paving the way for women of today to not only participate in but to lead and shape every facet of American life. Since our beginning, we have been blessed with courageous women like Henrietta Johnson, the first woman known to work as an artist in the colonies; Margaret Corbin, who bravely fought in the American Revolution; and Abigail Adams, First Lady of the United States and trusted advisor to President John Adams.

We also remember incredible women like Mary Walker, the first woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor; Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery in 1849 and went on to free hundreds of others through the Underground Railroad; Susan B. Anthony, the publisher and editor of The Revolution and her friend, Dr. Charlotte Lozier, one of the first women medical doctors in the United States, both of whom advocated for the dignity and equality of women, pregnant mothers, and their children; Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her seat accelerated the modern civil rights movement; Shirley Temple Black, the famous actress turned diplomat and first chief of protocol for the President of the United States; Anna Bissell, the first woman CEO in American history; Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean; Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady of Song and the Queen of Jazz; and Sally Ride, the first American woman astronaut.

America will continue to fight for women's rights and equality across the country and around the world. Though poverty holds back many women, America cannot and will not allow this to persist. We will empower all women to pursue their American dreams, to live, work and thrive in safe communities that allow them to protect and provide for themselves and their families.

America is also mindful of the fight that continues for so many women around the world, where women are often not protected and treated disgracefully as second-class citizens. America will fight for these women too, and it will fight to protect young girls who are robbed of their rights, trafficked around the world, and exploited.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2017 as Women's History Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.

December 24 is Egg Nogg Day!

We all know December 24th as Christmas Eve, but did you know that Egg Nogg Day was on this day as well?

Eggnog is historically also known as milk punch or egg milk punch when it is mixed with an alcoholic beverage. It’s a rich, chilled, creamy, and sweetened dairy drink traditionally created with milk and/or cream, sugar, whipped eggs which helps it gain it’s frothy texture, and sometimes mixed spirits. The origins of eggnog are highly debated as are the original ingredients used for it. The Oxford English Dictionary claims that nog was “a kind of strong beer brewed somewhere in East Anglia” But where and when did the term Eggnog originate from? Click HERE to learn more, and to get a delicious Egg Nogg recipe!

Happy 1st Day of Winter, 2016!

I would like to wish all of you a very happy winter season. Please stay warm, spend inside time with your family and friends, and romance that significant other in front of the fireplace. This is the perfect season to get close to your loved ones to stay warm!