Health Story Of The Decade: Submit Your Nominations

The past decade (2001- 2010) has been defined by health news stories that have jolted us, for better or worse, into the 21st century. From the completion of the Human Genome Project to the rising obesity rates, it has been an era filled with significant stories in the world of health. In honor of the new year, we're asking HuffPost readers, what was the most important health news story of the first 10 years of the 21st century?

Please submit your nominations below, or tweet them using the hashtag #storyofthedecade or email them to [e-mail].

We will soon post the most nominated entries, and then you can vote on the story of the decade.

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U.S. Obesity And Child Obesity Epidemic

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Obesity in the United States has increased dramatically over the last decade -- and with it a new growing problem: obesity in children. Today, nearly one third of America's youth is overweight or obese. Diseases associated with obesity such as heart disease and diabetes have risen significantly over the last 10 years.

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Obesity in the United States has increased dramatically over the last decade -- and with it a new growing problem: obesity in children. Today, nearly one third of America's youth is overweight or obese. Diseases associated with obesity such as heart disease and diabetes have risen significantly over the last 10 years.

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Comments

[Name Not In Use]

04:16 AM on 12/21/2010

If you walk through the door of a fast-food chain you have ALREADY made an unhealthy diet choice.

Don't blame McDonald's because the tasty fries and burgers are high in fat and salt.

[Name Not In Use]

04:13 AM on 12/21/2010

Smoking cigarettes is bad for you.

[Bizroot1]

01:51 AM on 12/21/2010

Childhood obesity will be the one that we are still talking about in 20 years. This will either be seen as the decade we decided to do something about it or the decade we watched the boat sail away from dock. Because obese adults are going to dramatical­ly worsen the healthcare crisis in the next 20-30 years.
http://www.articlesmoz.com/extenze-male-enhancement

[Waterphoneman]

08:19 PM on 12/20/2010

Raise the minimal standard for quality food. Cheap food makes people fat. Better quality food equals better health. Include herbal remedies that work, in Medicare. Tighten the restrictions on chemical supplements. Ban smoking totally or take all of the chemicals out of tobacco. Charge tobacco companies for fires that are started with cigarettes. Make those who are healthy on Welfare do some sort of community service (work) which will improve their mental and physical being.

[Gillian Broughton]

08:10 AM on 12/20/2010

The new AIDS is here , a Retro virus XMRV was descovered last oct 09 at the Whittmore Peterson Insitute , Nevada US. This Retro virus as been foyund in 86% patients suffering ME/CFS CFIDS,
also in Prostrate cancer.This is a major breakthrough in science as 17 million people suffer from CFS/ME CIFIDS thats more than AIDS, and Cancer put together , The retro virus is allready in the blood supply, and only few countrys have banned pateints for life from donating blood .This will be a major Pandemic welcome to the 21st cent aids pandemic , your Goverment are keeping under wraps ., not one $$ ££ as gone to any Biomedical research into CFS/ME which is a scandal leaving people without any health care !!!

[caringstd66]

10:27 PM on 12/19/2010

Health Story for hiv cure. hiv cured? many people discuss this on the largest and most trusted HIV health support and safe dating community Positivemate,,com. exciting news.

[schatsie]

07:13 PM on 12/19/2010

Brain Plasticity.... 30 years ago we thought that heart disease was irreversible and then along came Dr Ornish....... up until 10 years ago, we had glimmerings about brain plasticity, but recent developments have confirmed it.......

Then there is the book The China Study comparing US and CHINESE health.... and then there is the STATUS SYNDROME quantifying the impact of status on health....

All 3 of these are major accomplishments in the last 10 years.....

[singermuse]

07:25 PM on 12/18/2010

The biggest Health Story of the Decade, no, maybe even the Century is that we have been lied to. Calories in do not equal calories out. Processed Junk foods ARE NOT just as healthy as good REAL Food. There is no pill or panacea that will make you younger/fitter/thinner/healthier, except commitment, hard WORK, and YOUR MIND. Anti-depressants will not take the place of having supportive family and real, flesh-and-blood-not-just-on-the-internet-Friends. And contrary to the common wisdom, we all DO HAVE ENOUGH TIME for daily exercise, cooking REAL food, and fresh air...IF WE WANT IT.

[fumes]

07:52 PM on 12/17/2010

nobrainer:

the return of qhaneh-bos to it's rightful status as an ancient and now modern panacea!

POT SHRINKS TUMORS; GOVERNMENT KNEW IN '74

Wednesday, March 28, The United States Supreme Court rules on whether marijuana use for medicinal purposes can be a valid defense on charges of marijuana possession. The following article was listed as one of the top 25 censored stories of the year 2000.

The term medical marijuana took on dramatic new meaning in February 2000, when researchers in Madrid announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

The Madrid study marks only the second time that THC has been administered to tumor-bearing animals. In 1974, researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institutes of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice -- lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia.

The DEA quickly shut down the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research. In 1976, President Gerald Ford put an end to all public cannabis research and granted exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical companies, who set out -- unsuccessfully -- to develop synthetic forms of THC that would deliver all the medical benefits without the "high."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n572/a11.html?1979

[IreneNH]

06:49 PM on 12/17/2010

There are several that I feel are immensely important but military mental health is my top choice. And this issue doesn't get anywhere near the coverage that it deserves. If a service member doesn't come home in a body bag or minus limbs, they come home with serious psychological issues from the horrors they have seen. If more attention were paid to this issue, maybe some of our fine young men and women would make other choices.

[Greg Barton]

06:21 PM on 12/17/2010

I nominate one I learned about on this website: the importance of magnesium in the human body, and how to (cheaply, easily) correct a deficiency. I'm a bit biased, I suppose: it's completely reversed my slowly declining health. :)

[Name Not In Use]

04:18 AM on 12/21/2010

Do tell ...

[rtx47]

05:53 PM on 12/17/2010

End-of-Life Care consumes a third of the healthcare cost in America which is reported at 2.5 Trillion dollars. Healthcare cost is the single biggest challenge to balance current and future federal and state budgets, which is bankrupting states and the country. Healthcare costs and end-of-life care is also a major contributor to personal bankruptcies.

End-of-Life Care is also a politically charged subject that most politicians and those in the healthcare field avoid dialoging; or do so with catchy slogans.

Here is a great educational medical dialog for all to know and understand.

Science and Art of End-of-Life Care:
http://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/blog/voices/pages/post.aspx?PostID=12

Once a physician-panel determines that care (beyond supportive care) including hospitalization is futile, then all specialized care the patient and family desires can continue be provided.
Patient, the estate and / or first degree family members will then be billed and are responsible for payment of any continuing specialized medical care in the hospital or nursing home. Insurance carriers will not be responsible to reimburse the doctors and the hospitals.

[ThyroidAdvocate]

05:30 PM on 12/17/2010

I nominate the rise of thyroid disease - the most overlooked, underdiagnosed, midiagnosed, and stigmatized disease in the US, yet one that affects more people than diabetes and breast cancer combined. You have sitcoms and comedians making fun of it, celebrities rushing around trying their best to distance themselves from their own diagnoses (as in, Oprah Winfrey, Nia Vardalos...), doctors who describe the symptoms as like "being in love" (Pete Singer, MD) or like a "frat party in your neck" (Mehmet Oz MD), and symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, high cholesterol, depression, infertility, wacky periods, and low sex drive that are more likely to land you a prescription for Prozac or a diagnosis of "fork in mouth disease" than a lab slip for appropriate thyroid tests. An estimated 50 million or more Americans have thyroid conditions, the vast majority are undiagnosed, and, no surprise, most are women. Thyroid specialists can't even agree about what is considered a "normal" thyroid test result, and millions of people are in a TSH Test Limbo, where some doctors consider them normal, some consider them to have a thyroid condition, and getting diagnosed or treated is a crapshoot depending on whether your doctor has signed on and/or is aware of the newest recommendations (most are not.) People are prescribed antidepressants, blood pressure medications, anxiety and statin drugs, estrogen and other hormones, for symptoms that may actually be caused by underlying thyroid disease.

[si8bqm]

05:29 PM on 12/17/2010

Health story of the decade. The US has spent another 10 years seeking a uniquely American solution to the healthcare problem that other countries solved 60 years ago. Stay tuned for another press release in a decade.

[Snarkyone]

05:28 PM on 12/17/2010

How about the fact that medical marijuana is now accepted in 1/3 of the country?