HEALTH TIPS: Watch out

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Watch out ”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Unintentional Injury Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Why court trouble? Preventing unintentional injuries takes a lot of potential pain out of life.

But it looks like pain has been growing. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researcher Daphne Moffett:

“We looked at data between the years of 1999 and 2004, and what we found was an overall 7 percent increase in unintentional injury rates.’’

Moffett says most of the increase was attributed to falls among older adults, and unintentional poisoning.

People can reduce their risks. For instance, removing throw rugs can help seniors avoid tripping at home, and keeping drugs and household chemicals safely stored can avoid some poisonings.

Moffett also says Americans have done well by things like wearing seat belts. But motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death by unintentional injury.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: February, 20 2008