Retail Clinics

ATLANTA — Swimmer’s ear accounts for as many as 2.4 million doctor visits and nearly $500 million in healthcare costs annually, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Thursday in its "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" found.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham found that controlling fat intake could help cut one's risk of developing diabetes.

To examine this, researchers divided 69 overweight nondiabetics, who were at risk for the disease, into two groups, placing the subjects on a diet with modest reductions in either fat or carbohydrate for eight weeks. The lower fat group received a diet comprised of 27% fat and 55% carbohydrate; the lower carbohydrate group's diet was 39% fat and 43% carbohydrate.

NEW YORK — Such mood disorders as anxiety and depression may be a precursor to diabetes in Latinos, according to a study by University of California at San Diego researchers scheduled for presentation at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in Honolulu.

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the researchers found that while Latinos have higher-than-average rates of diabetes, they also seem to have higher-than-average risk of having both diabetes and a mood disorder.

ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted an attention-grabbing page Wednesday titled: “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.”

“There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for,” the CDC stated on the Web page. “Take a zombie apocalypse for example. … You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency.”

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic division has announced a clinical collaboration with northern Virginia healthcare provider Inova Health System to enhance healthcare services provided in communities throughout Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties.

Inova operates a network of hospitals, outpatient services and healthcare centers that includes Inova Alexandria, Inova Fairfax, Inova Fair Oaks, Inova Loudoun and Inova Mount Vernon hospitals, and Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Two Food and Drug Administration advisory committees on Wednesday unanimously voted in favor of mandating weight-based dosing for children between the ages of 2 and 12 years who are being administered acetaminophen.

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa. — Adflow Health Networks announced a large-scale deployment of its consumer health platform.

Adflow Health Networks' Personal Health Center, an interactive digital media platform, provides consumers with access to trusted healthcare content and services, together with the ability to perform a wide range of Food and Drug Administration-cleared screenings, Adflow Health said. The full-scale deployment includes implementation across retail locations, worksites and high traffic areas.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor on Wednesday announced its research partnership with WellDoc — a healthcare company that develops technology solutions to improve chronic disease management outcomes and reduce healthcare costs — around integrating WellDoc services into Ford vehicles through the automaker’s SYNC voice-activated in-car connectivity system.

That SYNC system also will enable access to SDI’s Pollen.com Allergy Alert application, Ford announced Wednesday.