Epidemiology News and Research

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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

Study finds little long-term survival advantage for women with ovarian cancer and BRCA mutations

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues in Toronto and at Yale University studied the long-term survival of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation who were diagnosed with invasive ovarian cancer. They found that the short-term benefit to having either mutation does not lead to a long-term survival benefit.

16 Feb 2013

MSU to launch levetiracetam clinical trial for treatment of African children with epilepsy

Determined to bring relief to seizure victims, a Michigan State University research team this month begins a groundbreaking clinical drug trial that could help prevent a quarter-million African children from developing epilepsy each year.

16 Feb 2013

Improving tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis: an interview with Professor Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD

TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nearly 9 million people develop TB every year, and TB kills nearly 1.4 million individuals each year. While the incidence of TB has steadily declined in the west, it remains a huge public health problem in many developing countries, with India having the highest burden.

15 Feb 2013

Marshfield Clinic’s Heart Health Mobile app wins HSS competition

Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, a division of Marshfield Clinic, announced today that its first completed mobile app has won a national competition that challenged competitors to develop a program that will help improve heart health in the U.S.

15 Feb 2013

The Atlantic examines 'paradigm shift' in global health response

"The world has an 'historic opportunity' to contain and end three of humanity's deadliest scourges by focusing on their 'hot zones,' according to Mark Dybul, the newly appointed director of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria," the Atlantic reports in an article examining a "paradigm shift" in the global health response.

14 Feb 2013

CA-MRSA on the rise in nursing homes

While most infection control measures are focused on hospitals, a new study points to the need for more targeted interventions to prevent the spread of drug-resistant bugs in nursing homes as community-associated strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are on the rise in these facilities. The study is published in the March issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

13 Feb 2013

Bedside baths and bloodstream infections in children: an interview with Aaron Milstone

Bedside baths in the hospital are nothing new. They are typically done for patient comfort and to maintain basic personal hygiene.

13 Feb 2013

Excess weight gain, obesity during pregnancy may increase risk of macrosomia

Epidemiologists at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) have found that pre-pregnancy obesity and excess weight gain during pregnancy in African-American women are associated with an increased risk of giving birth to an abnormally large baby.

13 Feb 2013

Researchers describe novel antiviral property of cholesterol-25-hydroxylase

A team of UCLA-led researchers has identified a protein with broad virus-fighting properties that potentially could be used as a weapon against deadly human pathogenic viruses such as HIV, Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, Nipah and others designated "priority pathogens" for national biosecurity purposes by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

13 Feb 2013

Dance-related injuries on the rise among children and adolescents

Dance is a beautiful form of expression, but it could be physically taxing and strenuous on the human body, particularly for children and adolescents. A new study by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital examined dance-related injuries among children and adolescents 3 to 19 years of age from 1991 to 2007.

13 Feb 2013

Research reveals no advantage in choosing cesarean births for twin pregnancies

In a study to be presented on February 14 between 8 a.m., and 10 a.m. PST, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting -, in San Francisco, researchers will report findings that suggest that planned birthing of twins at 32-38 weeks by cesarean section does not decrease perinatal or neonatal death compared to planned vaginal birth.

13 Feb 2013

Community health workers can help individuals better manage their diabetes

Newly published results from a randomized controlled clinical trial in the Pacific U.S. territory of American Samoa add clear evidence for the emerging idea that community health workers can meaningfully improve type 2 diabetes care in medically underserved communities.

12 Feb 2013