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Two persistent organic environmental pollutants affect infant growth

Even though the levels of two environmental pollutants have declined over the last 20 years, they may still have adverse effects on children's development, according to a new study by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. This is the largest study of environmental pollutants and infant growth to date.

6 Mar 2015

Counseling married couples together may help boost their physical activity better

Your exercise regimen isn't just good for you; it may also be good for your spouse.New research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that if one spouse improves his or her exercise regimen, the other spouse is significantly more likely to follow suit.

6 Mar 2015

16th WCTOH announces new speakers, programme and scientific highlights

The World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) announced today that South Africa Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi will address conference delegates during a ministerial plenary on the linkages between tobacco use and non-communicable diseases.

5 Mar 2015

New research challenges current theories of ageing

Older brains may be more similar to younger brains than previously thought.

5 Mar 2015

Psychedelics does not increase risk of mental health problems

The use of psychedelics, such as LSD and magic mushrooms, does not increase a person's risk of developing mental health problems, according to an analysis of information from more than 135,000 randomly chosen people, including 19,000 people who had used psychedelics.

5 Mar 2015

New WHO guidelines advise lowering sugar intake

New World Health Organization guidelines recommend that people reduce their daily free sugar intake to less than 10% of their total calorie intake, with a reduction to 5% representing a further target.

5 Mar 2015

Phase III trial to test VSV-EBOV vaccine for preventing Ebola to be launched in Guinea

Based on promising data from initial clinical trials in late 2014, WHO with the Health Ministry of Guinea, Médecins Sans Frontières, Epicentre and The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, will launch a Phase III trial in Guinea on 7 March to test the VSV-EBOV vaccine for efficacy and effectiveness to prevent Ebola.

5 Mar 2015

New study assesses suicide risks in older, white males with advanced bladder cancer

Older, single white males with advanced bladder cancer have the highest suicide risk among those with other cancers of the male genitals and urinary system, researchers report.

5 Mar 2015

Researchers discover retina protein crucial for vision

Research led by Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Boyd Professor and Director of the LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence, discovered a protein in the retina that is crucial for vision. The paper reports, for the first time, the key molecular mechanisms leading to visual degeneration and blindness.

5 Mar 2015

Finding may help advance experimental approach to improving public health

Scientists have discovered a new way to manipulate how cells function, a finding that might help advance an experimental approach to improving public health: DNA vaccines, which could be more efficient, less expensive and easier to store than traditional vaccines.

5 Mar 2015

USF researchers uncover how malaria-related parasites spread at explosive rates

A University of South Florida College of Public Health professor and his team of researchers have become the first to uncover part of the mysterious process by which malaria-related parasites spread at explosive and deadly rates inside humans and other animals.

5 Mar 2015

Symbiomix Therapeutics announces positive results from SYM-1219 Phase 1 clinical program

Symbiomix Therapeutics, a late-stage, privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines for serious women's health infections, today announced results from its Phase 1 clinical program demonstrating that its lead product candidate, SYM-1219, was safe and well tolerated and had predictable pharmacokinetics (PK), and that contraceptive efficacy for birth control pills would not be altered by SYM-1219 administration.

4 Mar 2015

Reducing premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases: an interview with Dr Shanthi Mendis, WHO

The main types of NCD are cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. These have been identified as the principal conditions for three main reasons. One is that, collectively, they contribute the most to the total disease burden.

4 Mar 2015

Researchers carry out Listeria screening in Vienna’s public lavatories

Listeria monocytogenes is a so-called environmental bacterium. It is highly adaptable and resistant. Previous studies carried out at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have shown that L. monocytogenes is more prevalent in rural areas than in cities. But the situation in urban lavatories had so far not been investigated.

4 Mar 2015

Children likelier to drink sugar-sweetened beverages post parents' divorce

Children of recently separated or divorced families are likelier to drink sugar-sweetened beverages than children in families where the parents are married, putting them at higher risk for obesity later in life, according to a new study from San Francisco State University.

4 Mar 2015

NHS savings plan led to cuts in some ‘ineffective’ treatments

The drive to reduce NHS spending led to a drop in some treatments considered ‘low-value’, according to new research.

4 Mar 2015

Kansas State researchers preparing for next potential influenza strain

As seasonal influenza cases decrease across the United States, Kansas State University researchers are preparing for the next potential virulent strain of flu.

4 Mar 2015

Raising sale age for tobacco products to 21 may prevent adolescents from taking up smoking

Raising the minimum age to buy cigarettes to 21 would save lives by preventing adolescents from ever taking up smoking, a new report suggests.

4 Mar 2015

Common antidepressant medications not helpful for people with mood, anxiety disorders

Studies indicate that the majority of people with mood and anxiety disorders who receive the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressant medications, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRI's, are not helped by these medications. SSRIs are designed to increase serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that is key to maintenance of mood.

4 Mar 2015

Screening tool can help identify nations' vulnerability to Ebola

Public health experts can identify nations that are vulnerable to the occurrence and impact of future outbreaks of Ebola or other emergencies by using a screening tool that evaluates a nation's strengths across a wide range of measures such as political strength and health care capabilities, according to a new analysis from the RAND Corporation.

4 Mar 2015