Every year around this time, I think about my health. Yes, it\u2019s the holidays and everything is festive and bright, but it\u2019s also the season when I typically schedule my annual health visits. And, to be honest, the news from these visits hasn\u2019t always been something to celebrate. I\u2019ve learned that health – and conversely ill-health \u2013 are deeply personal attributes, uniquely different for each and every one of us. I\u2019ve found, too, that my family health history can influence everything from the health screenings my doctor orders to the diseases or conditions I\u2019m susceptible to, as well as the preventive health measures recommended to me.<\/p>\n
Where I live can also influence my health. I\u2019m happy to say I\u2019ve moved in the past year from a home next to a cherry orchard that, while beautiful, was sprayed each spring with toxic chemicals, (as evidenced by the farm hands\u2019 haz-mat suits). I fear I may have yet to feel the full health effects of that annual exposure.<\/p>\n
Lifestyle is the other part of my health triad \u2013 determined by the choices I\u2019ve made and continue to make daily. Did hiking the entire Appalachian Trail in my 20\u2019s do a number on my knees which vexes me more each day as I grow older? Does my periodic \u201chealthful eating plan,\u201d which I use to manage my yo-yo-ing weight, support or conversely hinder my overall health? I could go into a lot more detail about my past choices, or the ones I make today, from riding my stationary bike each morning to savoring a glass of good red wine on the weekend, but let that suffice.<\/p>\n
When all is said and done, my family health history \u2013 my DNA, environment and daily lifestyle choices all contribute to my health or ill-health. For each of us, the combination of these attributes uniquely influences our health and well-being. And science is paying attention.<\/p>\n
The National Institutes of Health\u2019s All of Us<\/em> Research Project, officially launched last May, is a longitudinal study to safely and securely gather one million or more participants\u2019 data on their biology, environment and lifestyle. With personal identities removed, the All of Us<\/em> Research Project will make this \u201cde-identified\u201d data available to ethical researchers, with the goal of advancing scientific discoveries to improve medical diagnosis, treatment and preventive care for all of us. It\u2019s an ambitious project, but it gives me hope for a better future \u2013 one with healthcare that is as unique as each one of us.<\/p>\n For more information on the All of Us<\/em> Research Program, please visit: Joinallofus.org<\/a><\/p>\n For information on how we can support your library’s participation in All of Us<\/em>, visit the NNLM’s Community Engagement Network web page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every year around this time, I think about my health. Yes, it\u2019s the holidays and everything is festive and bright, but it\u2019s also the season when I typically schedule my annual health visits. And, to be honest, the news from these visits hasn\u2019t always been something to celebrate. I\u2019ve learned that health – and conversely… Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[94,52,9,11],"tags":[95,57],"class_list":["post-16690","post","type-post","status-archive","format-standard","hentry","category-all-of-us","category-blog","category-health-literacy","category-public-libraries","tag-all-of-us","tag-health-literacy"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16690"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16723,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16690\/revisions\/16723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}