News in brief - April 11, 2011

Task force advises against testicular cancer screens for some males - High unemployment, child poverty contribute to unhealthy communities, rankings show

Task force advises against testicular cancer screens for some males

The U.S Preventive Services Task Force has reaffirmed its recommendation against routine screening for testicular cancer among asymptomatic adolescent and adult males. The task force first advised against such screening in 2004, citing a lack of evidence that the exams result in better outcomes for patients than when the disease is detected by patients or their partners.

A review of research in the seven years since yielded no new evidence to contradict that advice, according to a task force report published in the April issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (www.annals.org/content/154/7/483).

However, physicians should continue screening males who have undescended testes because they are at higher risk for testicular cancer.

Patients who notice a lump or have pain should consult a doctor, according to the task force. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among males 15 to 34 years old. An estimated 5.4 of every 100,000 men develop the cancer annually.

High unemployment, child poverty contribute to unhealthy communities, rankings show

Various environmental factors contribute to disparities in residents' health and life expectancies in more than 3,000 counties nationwide and the District of Columbia, the latest County Health Rankings show.

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released the annual rankings on March 30 (www.countyhealthrankings.org). They examine how factors such as education, jobs and income affect people's health.

The least healthy counties have significantly lower high school graduation rates, higher unemployment, more children living in poverty and fewer grocery stores or farmer's markets.

"The rankings really show us with solid data that there is a lot more to health than health care," said Patrick Remington, MD, MPH, project director and associate dean for public health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. "Where we live, learn, work and play affect our health."

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also announced that it will award grants to a maximum of 14 communities this year to help them improve their rankings.