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New study suggests that family meals may be protective against obesity

Increasing rates of adolescent obesity and the likelihood that obesity will carry forward into adulthood, have led to various preventive initiatives. It has been suggested that family meals, which tend to include fruits, vegetables, calcium, and whole grains, could be protective against obesity.

5 Oct 2014

MU researcher gets $1 million from CDC to enhance FASDs prevention efforts

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), like Autism Spectrum Disorders, manifest in childhood as physical abnormalities along with social, attention and learning difficulties that range in severity and continue into adulthood.

5 Oct 2014

Genetic history of HIV finally unravelled

Research, published today, shows that the HIV pandemic almost certainly began its global spread in the 1920s in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

3 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Another troubled website rollout; insurers fight consumer measures in Calif.

If the federal government's new Open Payments website were a consumer product, it would be returned to the manufacturer for a full refund. Open Payments is the government's site for publishing payments made to doctors and teaching hospitals by drug and medical device manufacturers. It includes 4.4 million payments, worth $3.5 billion, to more than half a million doctors and almost 1,360 teaching hospitals (Charles Ornstein, 10/1).

3 Oct 2014

Researchers analyze incidence of childhood brain tumors

Older parents, birth defects, maternal nutrition and childhood exposure to CT scans and pesticides are increasingly being associated with brain tumors in children, according to new research from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

3 Oct 2014

Study: Expanding Medicaid boosts health care access and use in rural populations

A new study in Health Services Research reveals that expanding Medicaid to cover more adults boosts health care access and use in rural populations.

3 Oct 2014

Cultural, historical forces contribute to rise in cases of melanoma

A century's worth of cultural and historical forces have contributed to the rise in the incidence of melanoma, including changes in fashion and clothing design, according to an intriguing, retrospective research study conducted by investigators in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Langone Medical Center.

3 Oct 2014

Longer looks: Dying at home; losing religion; Obamacare 2.0

He was still her handsome father, the song-and-dance man of her childhood, with a full head of wavy hair and blue eyes that lit up when he talked. But he was gaunt now, warped like a weathered plank, perhaps by late effects of an old stroke, certainly by muscle atrophy and bad circulation in his legs. Now she was determined to fulfill her father's dearest wish, the wish so common among frail, elderly people: to die at home. But it seemed as if all the forces of the health care system were against her -; hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, insurance companies, and the shifting crosscurrents of public health care spending (Nina Bernstein, 9/25).

3 Oct 2014

Animal study suggests ibuprofen can reduce lung inflammation in elderly

New research shows that the lungs become more inflammatory with age and that ibuprofen can lower that inflammation.

3 Oct 2014

Researchers identify biomarker that can predict GS7 prostate cancer patients

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a biomarker living next door to the KLK3 gene that can predict which GS7 prostate cancer patients will have a more aggressive form of cancer.

3 Oct 2014

Recommendations for nutritional rickets announced

New consensus recommendations for the management of nutritional rickets include universal vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life.

2 Oct 2014

Open payments database debuts, detailing financial connections between physicians and drug makers

Consumer advocates have pushed for years for this kind of government database in an effort to protect against physicians' conflicts of interest, to safeguard patient care and to prevent unnecessary costs to public health programs.

1 Oct 2014

First U.S. case of Ebola diagnosed in Texas

The patient, who reportedly took a Sept. 20 commercial flight from Liberia to Dallas, represents the first case in the current outbreak diagnosed outside of Africa.

1 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Mergers causing health costs to rise; reauthorize CHIP; Obamacare's influence on politics

Health care costs are going up, and there's a lot of debate about why. Is it the high cost of drugs or our aging population?

1 Oct 2014

Managing diabetes and intensive exercise: an interview with Dr Rafael Castol, Team Novo Nordisk

Team Novo Nordisk is a professional cycling team that races at UCI Pro Continental level. It's the first ever team to be made up of athletes diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The team was created three years ago, and is part of the Changing Diabetes initiative developed by Novo Nordisk.

From Novo Nordisk 1 Oct 2014

Rapid and coordinated response helps control Ebola outbreak in Nigeria

The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria appears to be nearing a possible end thanks to a rapid response coordinated by Nigeria's Emergency Operations Center with assistance from international partners, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

1 Oct 2014

Virginia Tech professor wins Paul L. Busch Award for outstanding work in water quality research

Amy Pruden, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, is the 2014 recipient of the Paul L. Busch Award, including a $100,000 research grant.

1 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Shop around for health coverage; 'gaming' Obamacare; FDA and painkillers

My colleagues Margot Sanger-Katz and Amanda Cox wrote recently that shopping around for the best price can be crucial for people renewing their coverage on the health insurance exchanges this fall.

1 Oct 2014

Pitt researchers awarded $11.8 million NIH grant to explore genetic roots of cleft lip, palate

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine have been awarded a $11.8 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, to continue their exploration of the genetic roots of cleft lip and cleft palate and to expand the effort to include populations in Colombia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Pennsylvania.

30 Sep 2014

Federal database on physician quality ratings comes up short, experts say

The database, which was created by the health law, offers only the most basic information, according to USA Today.

30 Sep 2014

Public Health News and Research

New study suggests that family meals may be protective against obesity

MU researcher gets $1 million from CDC to enhance FASDs prevention efforts

Genetic history of HIV finally unravelled

Viewpoints: Another troubled website rollout; insurers fight consumer measures in Calif.

Researchers analyze incidence of childhood brain tumors

Study: Expanding Medicaid boosts health care access and use in rural populations

Cultural, historical forces contribute to rise in cases of melanoma

Longer looks: Dying at home; losing religion; Obamacare 2.0

Animal study suggests ibuprofen can reduce lung inflammation in elderly

Researchers identify biomarker that can predict GS7 prostate cancer patients

Recommendations for nutritional rickets announced

Open payments database debuts, detailing financial connections between physicians and drug makers

First U.S. case of Ebola diagnosed in Texas

Viewpoints: Mergers causing health costs to rise; reauthorize CHIP; Obamacare's influence on politics

Managing diabetes and intensive exercise: an interview with Dr Rafael Castol, Team Novo Nordisk

Rapid and coordinated response helps control Ebola outbreak in Nigeria

Virginia Tech professor wins Paul L. Busch Award for outstanding work in water quality research

Viewpoints: Shop around for health coverage; 'gaming' Obamacare; FDA and painkillers

Pitt researchers awarded $11.8 million NIH grant to explore genetic roots of cleft lip, palate

Federal database on physician quality ratings comes up short, experts say

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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