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Hospitals’ best-laid plans upended by disaster

It was 3:35 a.m. and flames from a massive Northern California wildfire licked at the back of a Santa Rosa hospital.

24 Jan 2018

Researchers report impact of fluoride overdose on children’s teeth

Children are fluoride overdosed, from all sources, at levels once thought to protect against dental fluorosis (discolored teeth), researchers report in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry, (December 2017), reports the Fluoride Action Network.

24 Jan 2018

International study estimates treatment gap in anxiety disorders

The director of the Epidemiology and Public Health programme at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute and CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health researcher, Jordi Alonso, was commissioned by the World Mental Health to lead an international study into the adequacy of anxiety disorder treatment across the globe.

23 Jan 2018

New report takes comprehensive look at health effects of e-cigarettes

A new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine takes a comprehensive look at evidence on the human health effects of e-cigarettes.

23 Jan 2018

EPI report reveals air quality as major environmental threat to public health

The 2018 Environmental Performance Index finds that air quality is the leading environmental threat to public health.

23 Jan 2018

University under fire for off-the-grid herpes vaccine experiments

Southern Illinois University's medical school has halted all herpes research, one of its most high-profile projects, amid growing controversy over a researcher's unauthorized methods offshore and in the U.S.

23 Jan 2018

States face costly conundrum: How to treat inmates with hepatitis C

In a corner of Jymie Jimerson’s house in the town of Sparta, in southwestern Missouri, she has set up a kind of shrine. It has Native American art representing her Cherokee heritage alongside Willie Nelson albums, books and photos in remembrance of her late husband.

23 Jan 2018

In Trump’s first year, anti-abortion forces make strides despite setbacks

As a candidate, President Donald Trump promised abortion opponents four specific actions to "advance the rights of unborn children and their mothers."

23 Jan 2018

‘Depression literacy’ program encourages many teens to seek adult help

In an assessment of their "depression literacy" program, which has already been taught to tens of thousands, Johns Hopkins researchers say the Adolescent Depression Awareness Program achieved its intended effect of encouraging many teenagers to speak up and seek adult help for themselves or a peer.

23 Jan 2018

Tracing social and risk networks can help identify undiagnosed cases of HIV

Conducting HIV testing among the social and risk networks of those recently diagnosed with HIV helps identify undiagnosed cases of HIV at significantly higher rates and at a lower cost than other testing approaches, finds a new study conducted in Ukraine by an international research team.

23 Jan 2018

Housing instability increases risk of poor health outcomes and material hardships

When families don't have stable housing, their risk of struggling with poor health outcomes and material hardships, such as food insecurity, increases, according to a new study from Children's HealthWatch.

23 Jan 2018

Marijuana use does not lower probability of conception, study shows

Marijuana use--by either men or women--does not appear to lower a couple's chances of getting pregnant, according to a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers.

22 Jan 2018

Powerful anti-oxidant can stop progression of fatty liver disease in young mice

As obesity continues to rise in the U.S., non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a major public health issue, increasingly leading to cancer and liver transplants.

22 Jan 2018

$Study finds considerable variation in hip fracture rates across nursing homes$

Study finds considerable variation in hip fracture rates across nursing homes

In a nationally representative study, researchers found considerable variation in the rates of hip fractures across US nursing home facilities.

22 Jan 2018

Researchers identify virus as likely cause of mystery polio-like paralysis

A major review by UNSW Sydney medical researchers has identified strong evidence that a virus called Enterovirus D68 is the cause of a mystery polio-like illness that has paralysed children in the US, Canada and Europe.

22 Jan 2018

Rise in infants with physical abnormalities is linked to opioid exposure during pregnancy, finds study

New research finds a dramatic increase in physical abnormalities in newborns caused by opioid exposure during pregnancy.

22 Jan 2018

Drinking during late adolescence could be first step to liver problems in adulthood

Alcohol is the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and liver-related deaths. Results of a large long-term study in Sweden have confirmed that drinking during late adolescence could be the first step towards liver problems in adulthood and that guidelines for safe alcohol intake in men might have to be revised downwards, reports the Journal of Hepatology.

22 Jan 2018

Reminders can improve immunization rates

Rates of immunization against infectious diseases in children and adults are improving, but under-vaccination remains a problem that results in vaccine-preventable deaths and illnesses. In Europe, 11,316 cases of measles were reported during 2012, and an estimated four to 50 million symptomatic cases of flu occur each year.

19 Jan 2018

Study provides more evidence for link between increased cancer risk and advanced gum disease

Data collected during a long-term health study provides additional evidence for a link between increased risk of cancer in individuals with advanced gum disease, according to a new collaborative study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and Tufts University School of Medicine and Cancer Center.

19 Jan 2018