Public Health News and Research

RSS

Australian kids are drinking and smoking far less than before

According to a new study, Australian school aged children are drinking less than what their parents did two decades ago. The study also finds that these kids are less likely to indulge in tobacco smoking and use of cannabis than their peers 20 years before. This study comes from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. It has been published in the latest issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Review.

11 Jan 2018

SHEA releases new guidance on contact precautions for drug-resistant infections

New expert guidance released today by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America advises hospitals on determining when they can safely discontinue contact precautions for patients with multi-drug resistant bacteria.

11 Jan 2018

Both fresh and frozen embryos provide similar IVF success rates

For women using in vitro fertilization to have a child, using either fresh or frozen embryos have similar success rates for most women, according to an international team of researchers.

11 Jan 2018

Study identifies enzyme that regulates inflammation and metabolism in fat tissue

The human body has two primary kinds of fat--white fat, which stores excess calories and is associated with obesity, and brown fat, which burns calories in order to produce heat and has garnered interest as a potential means of combating obesity.

11 Jan 2018

Sugar cravings worsened by lack of sleep

A new study has found that sugar cravings are worsened by lack of sleep and following and maintaining a good diet to maintain healthy weight would necessitate a good night’s rest.

11 Jan 2018

Men who follow Mediterranean diet have lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer, study finds

In a new study published in The Journal of Urology, researchers determined that men who followed a Mediterranean diet, rich in fish, boiled potatoes, whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil, and low consumption of juices had lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer than those who followed other dietary patterns like Prudent or Western diets.

10 Jan 2018

Efforts to reverse opioid epidemic remain beset by stigma

Efforts to reverse the nation's opioid epidemic remain beset by the stigma associated with drug use, a group of OHSU researchers write in a year-end review.

10 Jan 2018

Increased rate of language delay in girls linked to acetaminophen use by mothers during pregnancy

In the first study of its kind, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found an elevated rate of language delay in girls at 30 months old born to mothers who used acetaminophen during pregnancy, but not in boys.

10 Jan 2018

Knowledge gap about safe sex could place lesbian and bisexual girls at increased risk for STIs

Most lesbian and bisexual girls don't know they can get sexually transmitted infections (STIs) from other girls, because sex education is mostly designed for their straight peers. This knowledge gap could be placing them at increased risk for getting STIs.

10 Jan 2018

Stress accelerates development of pancreatic cancer, study shows

A new study shows that stress accelerates the development of pancreatic cancer by triggering the release of "fight-or-flight" hormones. Beta-blockers--commonly used medications that inhibit these hormones--were found to increase survival in a mouse model of the disease.

10 Jan 2018

CHOP researchers explore effective nutritional therapies for mitochondrial disease

Defects in mitochondria, the tiny structures that power our cells by functioning as biological batteries, cause an array of complex, often life-threatening disorders that can affect any and all organs and systems.

10 Jan 2018

A poor neighborhood in Chicago looks to Cuba to fight infant mortality

Over the past few months, medical professionals on Chicago's South Side have been trying a new tactic to bring down the area's infant mortality rate: find women of childbearing age and ask them about everything.

10 Jan 2018

SIDS still a threat to American babies, finds survey

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS, is still a threat to American babies finds the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control CDC in a new survey. The CDC states in its new Vital Signs report that despite the public campaigns and also the significant improvements in reducing the unsafe infant sleeping practices, there is still a threat to babies.

10 Jan 2018

Deportation fears linked to cardiovascular health risk factors in Latinas

A recent study conducted by researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley's Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health found that worry about deportations was associated with multiple cardiovascular health risk factors in Latinas from California's Salinas Valley, an area with a large immigrant community.

9 Jan 2018

Neighborhood factors may play role in influencing heart failure risk

Neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors in low-income areas may significantly predict heart failure risk beyond individual health factors and socioeconomic status, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

9 Jan 2018

Longer sedentary time linked to higher levels of internal and abdominal fat

A team of researchers from the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, UK - a partnership between Leicester's Hospitals, the University of Leicester and Loughborough University - has found new evidence to suggest that longer periods of sedentary time (defined as any sitting/reclining activity with low energy expenditure) are more strongly associated with the amount of fat deposited around internal organs.

9 Jan 2018

Researchers discover cluster of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis pathogens

Between February and November 2016, the Institute of Medical Microbiology at the University of Zurich discovered a multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in eight refugees arriving in Europe from the Horn of Africa.

9 Jan 2018

Her sister’s keeper: Caring for a sibling with mental illness

When sisters Jean and Ruby were growing up in Harlem, they invented a game of make-believe called "Eartha." The little girls would put on their prettiest dresses and shiniest shoes and sit down to tea as grown-up ladies. They discussed details of their hoped-for husbands and children, and all the exciting things they would do together.

9 Jan 2018

Study finds common contraceptive shot may increase HIV risk

A recent study found an association between HIV risk and the use of the common birth control medications DMPA, among women from sub-Saharan Africa.

9 Jan 2018

VA clears the air on talking to patients about marijuana use

"Don't ask, don't tell" is how many veterans have approached health care conversations about marijuana use with the doctors they see from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

9 Jan 2018