What you didn’t know about Tooth Decay or Gum Disease!!

This is an example of a choropleth map. From the map we can see the percent of teeth that have been extracted due to tooth decay or gum disease for 2006, 2008 and 2010.  A large percent of teeth extractions occurred in southern states indicated by the counties in red compared to Western states indicated by the counties in yellow.

Interestingly, the South is known for having poorer health outcomes and higher rates of chronic disease. Maps like this allow for this information to be displayed in a picture.

Surveillance of Hepatitis A Outbreaks: State-by-State Counts from 2017-2018

Source

In the midst of newsworthy Hepatitis A outbreaks in Kentucky, San Diego, and Michigan, this map depicts the number of Hepatitis A incidents across the United States from 2017-2018. The number fluctuations in each state over the last year is alarming considering that there are few national regulations being put into place in the realm of food safety. Catherine Huddle from Food Safety News explains that although the CDC recommends that all children should be vaccinated at the ages of 1 and 2, ” the CDC has not recommended Hepatitis A vaccinations for food service workers” (Huddle, 2018). We can only hope that more information and awareness of Hepatitis A outbreaks can help force a decline in it’s prevalence. For more information of state reported Hepatitis A incidents you can visit the Food Safety News web page.

Tribal Health Facility Sites – Total National Loan Repayment Sites 2017

Check out this heat density map which shows the total number of tribal health facility sites health providers can work at to have some of their student loans forgiven. From the map we can see highly concentrated areas in states such as, Oklahoma, California, and Washington.

 

By Julia Watson

The Transformation From Skin Cells to Brain Cells

In the US approximately 5.1 million people have Alzheimer’s disease [1] and usually research involving the disease is done on animals. However, researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have developed a new technique allowing them to transform human skin cells into stem cells and programing them into microglial cells. This new technique will allow researchers to use human cells instead of animal cells. Microglial cells play an important role in Alzheimer’s disease so this new method will allow researchers to have a better understand of the biology behind the disease.

Check out the article here.
By Julia Watson

Years of Potential Life Lost Rate (2011 to 2013)

Check out this map that shows the years of potential life lost rate from years 2011 to 2013. The years of potential life lost rate, also known as premature mortality rate, measures the frequency in which people are dying. From the map we can see a pronounced cluster of states darkly shaded (Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia) indicating a large proportion of counties within these states had a high rate of premature deaths. In other words people who lived within these counties were dying at an early age. In contrast we can see counties within states such as, Maine, Road Island, Vermont are lightly shaded yellow/orange, indicating people who lived within these counties were dying at an older age.

For more information click here

By Julia Watson

Chlamydia Rate By County 2013

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the U.S. [1] largely affecting men and women between the ages of 20 to 24. If untreated chlamydia can cause detrimental damage to a women’s reproductive system. [2]

Check out this map which shows the incidence of chlamydia by US counties in 2013 per 100,000 population. From the map, we can see most of states have a couple counties that are shaded dark indicating a high rate of newly diagnosed cases. Overall, we can see most counties have newly diagnosed causes of chlamydia.

For more information click here.

By Julia Watson

 

The Availability of Food

These maps from 2010 show the availability of grocery store locations and also the percentage of people who had a car to get there. The topic of food availability is already an interesting conversation.. is there enough food? Is there enough food, but it just isn’t distributed evenly? Why is healthy food more expense then unhealthy? Why has food become more of a business then of a way to survive? Take a look at these maps, because they bring another problem into the mix! Transportation and accessibility.

The information for the maps was collected from the USDA Food Environment Atlas and the maps were created by Meharry Medical College.

Mapping School Meals- frac.org

I came across an interesting map that showed schools across the US that offered the National school Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program from 2014 to 2015. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially for young learners, but for some students a good first meal of the day isn’t always attainable. This program makes sure that students can start their day off right with a good meal! Across the board from 2014-2015 the US did a pretty good job with participating in both programs, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Check to see how your area measured! Thanks frac.org for the interesting information & map! Take a look at the rest of the map by clicking here.

Happy Earth Day! NYC Tree Map

Trees help city areas with reducing pollution, they help to improve health, and overall bring a sense of calm to a place known for fast-pace living. Here is a map we created on Mappler using data from the TreesCount! 2015 by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. This map is color-coded based on condition of the trees. 

Looking at the density screenshot, it is interesting to view where the best versus worst rated trees are located. The photo on the left shows where the worst rated trees are, and the right shows the trees rated as the best. Lets keep adding trees to our concrete jungle! Click here to see the site.

      

NYT Income and Life Expectancy Map

It seems logical that the more money you have, the longer you would be expected to live. This would be because you can afford better healthcare, maintain a healthier lifestyle, have access to better nutrition, and probably have less stress when it comes to day-to-day life because you are financially stable. The New York Times recently released an article that affirmed this thought, but also gave an eye-opening spin on the life expectancy of the poor based on where they live, showing that cities like LA and New York the life expectancy of those under the poverty line is higher then other cities in the US.

Health plays a significant role in the life span of a human, which seems obvious but when you look at the numbers, it can be shocking. The Journal of the American Medical Association states that the richest men live 15 years longer then the poorest 1 percent. So why do the poor living in cities like Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Dayton, and Tulsa to name a few, have lower life expectancies? David M. Cutler who is a economist at Harvard explains that a lot of cities with the lowest life expectancy for the poor fall into the “drug overdose belt”. Other explanations are just the availability to clinics and health education. Increasing health resources would slowly help to increase life expectancy in cities with the lowest life spans.

Take a look at the map from the NYT and see where your area compares. Looking at where you live, do you think your area provides enough health resources for those who can’t afford it?

All information for this post is from an article by The New York Times.