Public Health News and Research

RSS

Children born prematurely need to be placed in a priority group for seasonal flu vaccination

Children born prematurely are at an increased risk of flu-related complications, despite not being identified as an “at risk” group in UK, USA, or WHO guidelines, and should be a priority group for the seasonal flu vaccination, new research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine suggests.

8 Dec 2014

Combination therapy benefits patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Patients who relapse in their battle with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may benefit from a phase three study of therapies that combine an existing agent, cytarabine, with a newer compound, vosaroxin.

8 Dec 2014

Weight-loss surgery may reduce lower urinary tract symptoms

Metabolic syndrome is linked with an increased frequency and severity of lower urinary tract symptoms, but weight loss surgery may lessen these symptoms. The findings, which come from two studies published in BJU International, indicate that urinary problems may be added to the list of issues that can improve with efforts that address altered metabolism.

8 Dec 2014

Subsets of cells drive spread of multiple myeloma

Although it is among the most highly metastatic of all cancers, multiple myeloma is driven to spread by only a subset of the myeloma cells within a patient's body, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found in a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

8 Dec 2014

Baylor-led researchers identify gene linked to familial glioma

An international consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine has identified for the first time a gene associated with familial glioma (brain tumors that appear in two or more members of the same family) providing new support that certain people may be genetically predisposed to the disease.

8 Dec 2014

New study finds that military culture enables use of tobacco for stress relief

Military culture perpetuates the notion that using tobacco provides stress relief, a new study in the American Journal of Health Promotion finds. But other stress relievers, such as exercise or taking meditation breaks, could be more valuable and effective than smoking breaks and avoid the health risks of tobacco.

7 Dec 2014

New treatment combinations improve outcomes for vulnerable patient with hard-to-treat disease

New treatment combinations and targeted therapies for lymphoma and multiple myeloma are improving outcomes for vulnerable patient populations with hard-to-treat disease, according to studies presented today at the 56th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.

7 Dec 2014

NIH Collaboratory provides guide to success for pragmatic clinical trials

Pragmatic clinical trials--real-life tests done in real-world settings--are increasingly important for answering pressing questions about how best to deliver health care. But these pragmatic trials require close collaboration between two professional groups who often have contrasting styles. One group is researchers, who follow structure like classical musicians. The other is and health care providers and administrators, who may need to improvise like jazz musicians.

6 Dec 2014

Study sheds light on common psychosocial barriers affecting HPV vaccination in Puerto Rico

Young Puerto Rican women and their mothers know little about the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health.

6 Dec 2014

ACSM unveils strategic plan to improve health, fitness outcomes in Cincinnati

The American College of Sports Medicine, with support from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, is expanding the ACSM American Fitness Index Technical Assistance Program to Cincinnati. Working with the Cincinnati Health Department's Creating Healthy Communities Coalition, ACSM unveiled a comprehensive strategic plan today that will guide the Cincinnati metro area toward improved health and fitness outcomes.

6 Dec 2014

FDA Advisory Committee votes in favor of Actavis' ceftazidime-avibactam

Actavis plc today announced that the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has voted to recommend approval of Actavis' New Drug Application (NDA) for ceftazidime-avibactam, an investigational antibiotic being developed to treat hospitalized patients when limited or no treatment options are available for complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) (in combination with metronidazole) and complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) (including acute pyelonephritis) caused by Gram-negative pathogens.

5 Dec 2014

New Crime Victims' Institute series explores human sex trafficking

Human sex trafficking is a serious problem both domestically and internationally and enhanced education is necessary to address the risk factors for entry into the sex trade, the physical and mental health consequences of victimization, and institutional responses to victims, according to a new series published by the Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University.

5 Dec 2014

York researcher examines male attitudes towards self-managing long-term health conditions

A researcher at the University of York, studying male attitudes towards self-managing long-term healthcare issues, has discovered that self-management support is better received by men if it does not threaten aspects of masculine identity.

5 Dec 2014

Are you eating yourself to an early grave?

A new study, published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, has shown that obesity may shorten life expectancy by ≤8 years and reduce the duration of healthy life by ≤19 years as a consequence of developing diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease.

5 Dec 2014

Primary care can help tackle mental health care disparities among ethnic minorities

Primary care that includes mental health screenings and treatments that take into account a patient's language and cultural background can help address mental health care disparities among ethnic minorities, according to psychologists, physicians and other health care experts writing in a special issue of Psychological Services, published by the American Psychological Association.

5 Dec 2014

Most parents interested in newborn genomic testing, study reveals

A study published this week in Genetics in Medicine is the first to explore new parents' attitudes toward newborn genomic testing. The findings suggest that if newborn genomic testing becomes available, there would be robust interest among new parents, regardless of their demographic background.

5 Dec 2014

Growth genes seem different in Hunger Winter children

Individuals conceived in the severe Dutch Famine, also called the Hunger Winter, may have adjusted to this horrendous period of World War II by making adaptations to how active their DNA is. Genes involved in growth and development were differentially regulated, according to researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center, Harvard University, and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

5 Dec 2014

UB researchers explore link between behavioral symptoms and chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Aggression, violence, depression, suicide. Media reports routinely link these behavioral symptoms with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the neurodegenerative brain disease, in former football players.

5 Dec 2014

New study investigates rate of HIV testing in patients with mental illnesses

People with mental illness are more likely to have been tested for HIV than those without mental illness, according to a new study from a team of researchers at Penn Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published online this week in AIDS Patient Care and STDs.

5 Dec 2014

Three IU researchers receive $2.1 million to develop computational biology models of liver toxicity

Three Indiana University professors have received $2.1 million to develop a computational model of acetaminophen-induced liver failure -- the leading cause of liver failure in the United States -- by using advanced microscopic and computational technologies that allow scientists to see into the liver of a living animal.

5 Dec 2014