Epidemiology News and Research

RSS

Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns: an interview with Dr DePinho, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Dr Mohar, National Cancer Institute of Mexico

There are more than 94 million former and current smokers in the United States, and more than 21 million in Mexico, according to the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Fact Sheet.

27 Feb 2013

Advanced breast cancer increasing among younger women, study finds

An analysis of breast cancer trends in the U.S. finds a small but statistically significant increase in the incidence of advanced breast cancer for women 25 to 39 years of age, without a corresponding increase in older women, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA.

27 Feb 2013

Individual countries can eliminate malaria: Research

A researcher at the University of Southampton, working as part of a team from the UK and USA, believes the global eradication of malaria could be achieved by individual countries eliminating the disease within their own borders and coordinating efforts regionally.

27 Feb 2013

High iron and zinc intake may reduce risk of pre-menstrual syndrome in women

Women who reported eating a diet rich in iron were 30 to 40 percent less likely to develop pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) than women who consumed lower amounts, in a study reported this week by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences and Harvard.

27 Feb 2013

Study underscores burden that severe hot flashes put on women and society

Hot flashes put a damper on women's health and productivity at work and pump up the cost of health care. A study published online this month in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), has put some numbers on their impact.

25 Feb 2013

HIV epidemics and extra-couple relationships: an interview with Steve Bellan, University of Texas

The epicentre of the HIV pandemic is in sub-Saharan Africa, though prevalence of infection varies dramatically between countries for reasons not completely understood.

25 Feb 2013

Study identifies changes that could explain stability of malaria elimination

Many nations battling malaria face an economic dilemma: spend money indefinitely to control malaria transmission or commit additional resources to eliminate transmission completely. A review of malaria elimination conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and other institutions suggests stopping malaria transmission completely has longlasting benefits for many countries and that once eliminated, the disease is unlikely to reemerge over time.

24 Feb 2013

Rocket attacks in Sderot, Israel significantly increase likelihood of miscarriages

Rocket attacks in Sderot, Israel significantly increase the likelihood of miscarriages, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers.

24 Feb 2013

New drug to safeguard against epidemic and pandemic flu strains

CSIRO scientists have helped to design a new drug to safeguard against epidemic and pandemic flu strains – as published in Science today.

22 Feb 2013

People with increased genetic risk of schizophrenia more likely to have lower IQs at age 70

People who are at greater genetic risk of schizophrenia are more likely to see a fall in IQ as they age, even if they do not develop the condition. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh say the findings could lead to new research into how different genes for schizophrenia affect brain function over time.

22 Feb 2013

Rising epidemic of obesity in the Asia Pacific region

Over eating, sedentary lifestyles, cultural attitudes, and lack of prevention programmes are to blame for the rising epidemic of obesity in the Asia Pacific region. Overweight and obesity has quadrupled in China and societies still label people of healthy weight as poor.

21 Feb 2013

Selenium supplements and heart disease risk: an interview with Dr Saverio Stranges, University of Warwick

Selenium is a micronutrient which has antioxidant properties by means of selenoproteins which play many important functions in the body. They actually are contained in many different foods. The amount of selenium we get from diet is closely linked to the amount of selenium in the soil.

21 Feb 2013

Four genetic variations may increase risk of colorectal cancer

An international research team co-led by cancer prevention researcher Ulrike "Riki" Peters, Ph.D., M.P.H., and biostatistician Hsu Li, Ph.D., at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified variations in four genes that are linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

21 Feb 2013

Air pollution associated with increased deaths after heart attacks

Air pollution contributes to an increased number of deaths among patients who have been admitted to hospital with heart attacks, according to a study published online in the European Heart Journal

20 Feb 2013

CCR1 and CCR5 receptors play a crucial role in atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is one of the commonest causes of death in modern societies. The condition is characterized by the build-up of fatty deposits called atherosclerotic plaques on the inner surfaces of arteries, which restrict, and may eventually cut off, blood flow. The deposits can also be dislodged from their site of origin and may then block major vessels in the heart or the brain, leading to life-threatening myocardial infarction or stroke.

20 Feb 2013

Women appear to have increased risk of implant failure following total hip replacement

Women appear to have a higher risk of implant failure than men following total hip replacement after considering patient-, surgery-, surgeon-, volume- and implant-specific risk factors, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

19 Feb 2013

Fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany

Researchers have determined that fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany. Results appearing in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that fibromyalgia is a spectrum disorder rather than a categorical illness. Additionally, a number of fibromyalgia cases in the general population satisfy proposed criteria for physical symptom disorder—the presence of one or more physical symptoms that impair function, which cannot be explained by another clinical or psychiatric illness.

19 Feb 2013

Briefing examines relationships between high-levels of air pollution exposure and health effects

Lance Waller, PhD, chair of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, will present preliminary work that explores relationships between high-levels of air pollution exposure and health effects at a press briefing hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science on February 17, at 2 p.m. EST, in Boston.

18 Feb 2013

Better risk models needed for estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer

A breast cancer risk prediction model developed for African Americans tends to underestimate risk in certain subgroups, according to a new study from the Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC) at Boston University.

16 Feb 2013

More people meeting recommended goals in three key markers of diabetes control

More people are meeting recommended goals in the three key markers of diabetes control, according to a study conducted and funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

16 Feb 2013