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Bioethics Commission releases ethical recommendations to manage incidental and secondary findings

Researchers conduct a memory study, scan a participant's brain, and find more than they bargain for: a tumor. What do the researchers owe the participant? What does the participant want to know?

13 Dec 2013

Massachusetts residents have broader health insurance coverage, greater access to primary care

In 2006, Massachusetts was on the same brink that the entire nation is on today: the brink of expanding health insurance to cover far more people than before, through government-driven, market-based reform.

13 Dec 2013

Protein in Salmonella inactivates mast cells that fight against bacteria

A protein in Salmonella inactivates mast cells -- critical players in the body's fight against bacteria and other pathogens -- rendering them unable to protect against bacterial spread in the body, according to researchers at Duke Medicine and Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS).

13 Dec 2013

Breast cancer survivors taking AIs may experience reduction in joint pain on exercising

Breast cancer survivors taking aromatase inhibitors (AIs) such as anastrozole, letrozole, and exemestane experienced a reduction in joint pain if they exercised while on treatment, according to results presented here at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 10-14.

13 Dec 2013

State highlights: States scramble to change newborn screening programs; obesity rate flat; New York hospital charges vary considerably

States across the country are making significant changes to their newborn screening programs after a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found that thousands of hospitals were sending babies' blood samples late to state labs that test for rare yet deadly genetic disorders. From keeping labs open on weekends to identifying problem hospitals and providing them with regular performance reports, dozens of health officials are reviewing and retooling their state-run programs (Gabler, 12/11).

13 Dec 2013

Unnecessary cesarean section rates rising at both rural and urban hospitals

Rates of unnecessary cesarean section and other potentially risky obstetric procedures show some significant differences between rural and urban hospitals in the United States, reports a study in the January issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

13 Dec 2013

Psychiatrists increasingly refuse to accept private insurance as payment

Access to mental health care has become a prominent issue in Congress following mass shootings around the country. But a new study in JAMA Psychiatry, led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, suggests that unless those in need of help have deep pockets, they might have a hard time finding a psychiatrist that will provide the needed services.

13 Dec 2013

Michigan to require separate abortion coverage on public and private policies

Michigan will join more conservative states in requiring residents who want health insurance coverage for abortions to buy an extra policy, after Republican legislators passed the law Wednesday over the objections of Democrats who pleaded for them to take the issue to voters instead.

13 Dec 2013

Vaccines for whooping cough contain 3 to 5 protective antigens

Vaccines for whooping cough contain three to five protective antigens, the presence of which are critical to the vaccine's effectiveness. But one of the antigens, pertactin, which had been present in almost all isolates of Bordetella pertussis in the US as late as 2010, is now absent from more than half of them, according to a paper published ahead of print in Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

13 Dec 2013

Cinnamon, nutmeg, marshmallows provide more than taste of holiday spice

Cinnamon, nutmeg and marshmallows provide more than a taste of holiday spice or a sugar rush. They are the ingredients for recipes for trendy risky games played by many to disasterous consequences.

13 Dec 2013

U.S. health care system ranks 22nd in health care spending

A new study by researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and McGill University in Montreal reveals that the United States health care system ranks 22nd out of 27 high-income nations when analyzed for its efficiency of turning dollars spent into extending lives.

13 Dec 2013

Health expenditures show stronger link with gains in life expectancy for males than for females

Health care spending is a large - and ever increasing - portion of government budgets. Improving its efficiency has therefore become critically important. In the first-ever study to estimate health spending efficiency by gender across 27 industrialized nations, researchers discovered significant disparities within countries, with stronger gains in life expectancy for men than for women in nearly every nation.

13 Dec 2013

UCSF receives $15M grant to help three dozen countries eliminate malaria

UC San Francisco's Global Health Group has received a $15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a pioneering effort to help nearly three dozen countries eliminate malaria within their borders.

13 Dec 2013

Study shows many clinicians are unfamiliar with use of e-cigarettes with their young patients

The use of electronic cigarettes, battery operated devices that often look like cigarettes and deliver vaporized nicotine, is on the rise, including among minors. In a survey between 2011 and 2012, 10 percent of high school students reported ever using an e-cigarette.

13 Dec 2013

Women who take shorter maternity leave may have increased risk of postpartum depression

The more leave time from work that a woman takes after giving birth -- up to six months -- the better protected she will be from experiencing post-partum depression, according to a study led by Dr. Rada K. Dagher, assistant professor of health services administration at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

13 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 12, 2013

Today's headlines include ongoing coverage of the health law's implementation -- from details of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' Wednesday Capitol Hill appearance and more information about the most recent enrollment numbers to analysis of policy issues related to the overhaul.

12 Dec 2013

Vast majority of women who have experienced gender-based violence remain uncounted: Study

Findings from a new global study suggest that estimates of gender-based violence prevalence based on health systems data or on police reports may underestimate the actual total prevalence by 11- to 128-fold. Led by Tia Palermo, PhD, Assistant Professor in Public Health and the Department of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, the study is soon to be published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

12 Dec 2013

Study: Majority of obese pediatric patients satisfied with telehealth appointment

For youth dealing with obesity who need extra help losing weight, experts suggest a multidisciplinary approach in which care is provided by several health specialists.

12 Dec 2013

Researchers call for innovative solutions to address road traffic injuries

Stakeholders and decision makers across health and allied sectors must play a key role in developing and implementing innovative solutions to road traffic injuries and trauma care, especially in developing nations, according to recommendations published in a new report developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The report was issued as part of an international health summit held in Doha, Qatar on December 10.

12 Dec 2013

New strategy for fighting infection targets patient's cells rather than invading pathogens

As more reports appear of a grim "post-antibiotic era" ushered in by the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, a new strategy for fighting infection is emerging that targets a patient's cells rather than those of the invading pathogens.

12 Dec 2013

Public Health News and Research

Bioethics Commission releases ethical recommendations to manage incidental and secondary findings

Massachusetts residents have broader health insurance coverage, greater access to primary care

Protein in Salmonella inactivates mast cells that fight against bacteria

Breast cancer survivors taking AIs may experience reduction in joint pain on exercising

State highlights: States scramble to change newborn screening programs; obesity rate flat; New York hospital charges vary considerably

Unnecessary cesarean section rates rising at both rural and urban hospitals

Psychiatrists increasingly refuse to accept private insurance as payment

Michigan to require separate abortion coverage on public and private policies

Vaccines for whooping cough contain 3 to 5 protective antigens

Cinnamon, nutmeg, marshmallows provide more than taste of holiday spice

U.S. health care system ranks 22nd in health care spending

Health expenditures show stronger link with gains in life expectancy for males than for females

UCSF receives $15M grant to help three dozen countries eliminate malaria

Study shows many clinicians are unfamiliar with use of e-cigarettes with their young patients

Women who take shorter maternity leave may have increased risk of postpartum depression

First Edition: December 12, 2013

Vast majority of women who have experienced gender-based violence remain uncounted: Study

Study: Majority of obese pediatric patients satisfied with telehealth appointment

Researchers call for innovative solutions to address road traffic injuries

New strategy for fighting infection targets patient's cells rather than invading pathogens

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

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