Chronic Disease News and Research

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Chronic diseases are the largest cause of death in the world

The rising global burden of chronic diseases needs a coordinated effort from policy makers, advocates and health professionals, according to a special communication in the June 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a theme issue on Global Health.

1 Jun 2004

Australian university offers free Chinese medicine treatment

With winter fast approaching, RMIT University is helping people to beat coughs, colds and other winter nasties with a free introductory offer for Chinese medicine treatment.

27 May 2004

Trial shows Daclizumab therapy improves multiple sclerosis outcome

A small clinical trial of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who did not respond to interferon alone found that adding the human antibody daclizumab improved patient outcome. Patients who received the combined therapy had a 78 percent reduction in new brain lesions and a 70 percent reduction in total lesions, along with other significant clinical improvements.

24 May 2004

Using gene therapy to fight rheumatoid arthritis

Guided by a similar principle, arthritis researchers at the University of Florida and Harvard University hope to use gene therapy to help joint cells pump out a harmless protein that parks in receptor sites, leaving a notorious inflammatory agent “circling the lot” and unable to cause pain, swelling and possible joint damage.

21 May 2004

CDC announces new goals and organizational structure

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Julie Gerberding announced today new goals and integrated operations that will allow the federal public health agency to have greater impact on the health of people around the world.

15 May 2004

Genetically engineered viruses may create new class of cancer therapies

A genetically engineered virus can selectively kill cancerous cells in the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, according to new research published today in Cancer Research by William Wold and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

15 May 2004

People with pre-diabetes can make changes to prevent serious illness

The Department of Health recently launched a new awareness outreach campaign about pre-diabetes, a condition that raises a person's risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

14 May 2004

Urgent need for increased awareness about lupus

The S.L.E. Lupus Foundation believes that significantly raising awareness about lupus, both among women who may be at risk, as well as physicians, whose accurate diagnosis could be a matter of life or death, is critical.

11 May 2004

Prevention and partnerships are the keys to improving health and reducing chronic disease in the United States

Prevention and partnerships are the keys to improving health and reducing chronic disease in the United States and throughout the Americas, a Pan American Health Organization official said today.

5 May 2004

Indiana awards over $220,000 across state to increase physical activity this summer

The Indiana State Department of Health is awarding grants to 24 Indiana projects in communities across the state to increase physical activity this summer.

5 May 2004

Ministers adopt new Canadian policy on doping in sport

Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for sport, recreation and fitness today adopted the new Canadian Policy Against Doping in Sport.

3 May 2004

Pre-diabetes is far more common in America than previously believed

"Pre-diabetes" -- a condition that raises a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke -- is far more common in America than previously believed, according to a new HHS estimate released today.

29 Apr 2004

Millions of poor and minority children in America's cities likely will suffer higher rates of asthma

Millions of poor and minority children in America's cities likely will suffer even higher rates of asthma as the result of a "powerful one-two punch" of higher levels of pollen and changes in the types of molds spurred by global warming, along with unhealthy urban air masses caused by the burning of fossil fuel by cars, trucks and buses, according to a warning issued today by Harvard researchers and the American Public Health Association (APHA).

29 Apr 2004

British government warns couch potatoes

The warning came as the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, published a new landmark report on physical activity and health - At Least Five A Week. Smoking and unhealthy diet have long been established as major causal factors for chronic disease but the report says that inactive living is equally important.

29 Apr 2004

Heart disease and stroke hit younger in developing countries

A new report to be released at Columbia University's Earth Institute on April 26, 2004, suggests that heart disease and stroke are far more urgent threats to global health than commonly appreciated. They are causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year in young people of productive age.

26 Apr 2004

New Saint Louis University research sheds light on how obesity occurs

Saint Louis University researchers believe they’ve won a major skirmish in the battle of the bulge, and their findings are published in the May issue of Diabetes.

26 Apr 2004

Health Canada prepares for West Nile virus

To prepare for the upcoming West Nile (WN) virus season, Health Canada, in collaboration with its many partners, is focussing its efforts in six main areas of activity

24 Apr 2004

Coalition forms to promote 75 cent tobacco tax increase

A new coalition called the Health Leaders Alliance (HLA) has been formed in Michigan to formally support HB 5632, sponsored by Representative Larry Julian (R), which includes Governor Granholm's proposal for a 75 cent tobacco tax increase.

21 Apr 2004

Link between iron regulation and the immune system

Patients with chronic inflammatory disorders, including infections, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and cancer, commonly become anemic. The anemia can make them sicker, is sometimes severe enough to require a blood transfusion, and responds only partially to current treatments.

20 Apr 2004

Gene discovery could improve anemia treatment in patients

Patients with inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, chronic infections and some types of cancer, often become anemic – a condition called anemia of chronic disease (ACD). While ACD rarely kills patients, it can make their lives miserable.

18 Apr 2004