Vital Signs

Vital Signs issues are listed by date of publication, with the most recent at the top of the list. Some issues may have multiple related topics.

• Prescription Drug Overdoses
  Stopping Risky Use of Methadone as a Painkiller
  July 2012 [PDF - 1.10 MB]
• Child Injury
  Child injuries are preventable, yet more than 9,000 children died from injuries in the US in 2009.
  April 2012 [PDF - 1.10 MB]
• Making Health Care Safer
  People getting medical care can catch serious infections called health care-associated infections (HAIs).
  March 2012 [PDF - 1.25 MB]
• Where's the Sodium?
  About 90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet.
  February 2012 [PDF - 2.51 MB]
• Binge Drinking
  Binge Drinking is common and a dangerous behavior for all ages.
  January 2012 [PDF - 1.50 MB]
• New Hope for Stopping HIV
  About 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the US but about 240,000 don't know they are infected.
  December 2011 [PDF - 1.27 MB]
• Prescription Painkiller Overdoses in the US
  Deaths from prescription painkillers* have reached epidemic levels in the past decade.
  November 2011 [PDF - 1.62 MB]
• Drinking and Driving: A Threat to Everyone
  US adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010.
  October 2011 [PDF - 1.06 MB]
• Adult Smoking in the US
  Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the US.
  September 2011 [PDF - 1.14 MB]
• Hospital Support for Breastfeeding
  Breastfeeding helps protect against childhood obesity.
  August 2011 [PDF - 1.24 MB]
• Colorectal Cancer
  Colorectal cancer is the #2 cancer killer in the US among cancers that affect both men and women.
  July 2011 [PDF - 3.40 MB]
• Making Food Safer to Eat
  Each year, roughly 1 in 6 people in the US gets sick from eating contaminated food.
  June 2011 [PDF - 3.49 MB]
• Asthma in the US
  Asthma is a lifelong disease that causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. It can limit a person's quality of life.
  May 2011 [PDF - 1.45 MB]
• Preventing Teen Pregnancy in the US
  Having a child during the teen years carries high costs—emotional, physical, and financial—to the mother, father, child, and community.
  April 2011 [PDF - 1.57 MB]
• Making Health Care Safer: Reducing Bloodstream Infections
  Bloodstream infections in patients with central lines are largely preventable when healthcare providers use CDC-recommended infection control steps.
  March 2011 [PDF - 2.44 MB]
• High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
  Heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular (blood vessel) diseases are among the leading cause of death and now kill more than 800,000 adults in the US each year.
  February 2011 [PDF - 750 KB]
• Adult Seat Belt Use in the US
  Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 5 – 34. Adult seat belt use is the single most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes.
  January 2011 [PDF - 2.80 MB]
• HIV Testing in the U.S.
  Of an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV, as many as 1 in 5 don't know they are infected.
  December 2010 [PDF - 1.81 MB]
• Access to Health Care
  A record number of Americans are uninsured or underinsured.
  November 2010 [PDF - 536 KB]
• Binge Drinking
  A dangerous behavior for all ages.
  October 2010 [PDF - 636 KB]
• Tobacco Use
  Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death, disease, and disability in the US.
  September 2010 [PDF - 4.43 MB]
  • Secondhand Smoke
  • Smoking
• Adult Obesity
  More than 72 million US adults are obese.
  August 2010 [PDF - 1.99 MB]
• Cancer Screening
  CDC report points out why more people need to get tested.
  July 2010 [PDF - 5.61 MB]