Health Disparities News and Research

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Health disparities (also called healthcare inequality in some countries) refer to gaps in the quality of health and health care across racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups.

Scientists find several common findings on diabetes management

Diabetes is on the rise. The seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. today, it affects 24 million people, nearly 3 times the number in 1980. Another 57 million have a condition that puts them at heightened risk of the illness.

3 Oct 2010

Vitamin D deficiency in African-American women can increase risk of aggressive breast cancer: Study

African-American women had lower vitamin D levels than white women, and vitamin D deficiency was associated with a greater likelihood for aggressive breast cancer, according to data presented at the Third AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities.

3 Oct 2010

Study shows low DRC level may increase risk for non-melanoma skin cancer

DNA repair capacity (DRC) measurements effectively identified individuals who were at high risk for non-melanoma skin cancer, and may be a useful method to evaluate the efficacy of preventive therapies, according to study results presented at the Third AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities.

3 Oct 2010

BUSM to create Center for Health Insurance Reform, Cardiovascular Outcomes and Disparities

Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been awarded a four year, $5.7 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for investigators from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) to create the Center for Health Insurance Reform, Cardiovascular Outcomes and Disparities.

1 Oct 2010

Lawsuit seeks to stop Blue Cross from limiting provider networks and restricting members' access to health care

A lawsuit filed against Anthem Blue Cross, on behalf of thousands of California doctors, is asking the court to stop Blue Cross from limiting their provider networks and restricting plan members' access to health care, solely for the sake of increasing profits. The lawsuit seeks to enjoin Blue Cross from preventing any physician who is willing to accept the terms of Blue Cross contracts, and meets Blue Cross' eligibility criteria, from becoming a Blue Cross provider.

29 Sep 2010

New computer program to help young adults manage mental illness

While many young adults will share the details of their daily lives with dozens - sometimes hundreds - of friends on Facebook, communicating with their health care providers about mental illness is another story.

29 Sep 2010

AACR to host Third Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities

The American Association for Cancer Research will host its Third Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities at the Loews Hotel in Miami from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, 2010.

29 Sep 2010

Researchers find no correlation between genetic ancestry and cancer stage

Head and neck cancer outcomes associated with race may be more closely linked to social and behavioral factors than biological differences, especially for African Americans, according to a new Henry Ford Hospital study.

27 Sep 2010

Research Roundup: Medical homes; Drug samples and prescribing; The health law and disparities; Women's health; CBO projections

Institute of Medicine: Women's Health Research: Progress, Pitfalls, and Promise -"Substantial progress has been made since the expansion of investment in women's health research. Research findings have changed the practice of medicine and public-health recommendations in several prominent contexts, including changes in standards of care for women. There have also been decreases in mortality in women from breast cancer, heart disease, and cervical cancer. In other contexts, however, there has been less progress..."

24 Sep 2010

Concerted effort yields significant progress in reducing depression, HIV/AIDS, and osteoporosis in women

A concerted effort to boost research on women's health over the last two decades has lessened the burden of disease and reduced deaths among women due to cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and cervical cancer, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The effort has yielded less but still significant progress in reducing the effects of depression, HIV/AIDS, and osteoporosis on women, added the committee that wrote the report.

24 Sep 2010

Research suggests race plays a factor in accident survival

African-American victims of motorcycle crashes were 1.5 times more likely to die from their injuries than similarly injured whites, even though many more of the African-American victims were wearing helmets at the time of injury, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

23 Sep 2010

Negative childhood experiences impacting in the brains of Indigenous kids

Australia will not Close the Gap on Aboriginal health unless more is done to reverse the early life stress and trauma experienced by Indigenous children, new research suggests.

23 Sep 2010

JHS conference focuses on future research directions to eliminate health disparities

The tenth anniversary of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) will be observed on Sept. 23-24 in Jackson, Mississippi. The JHS is the largest study in history to investigate genetic factors that affect high blood pressure, heart and lung disease, stroke, diabetes, and other important diseases in African-Americans.

22 Sep 2010

NIH awards Georgia State University $6.7M to commence new Center for Excellence in Health Disparities Research

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Georgia State University with a five-year grant to start a new Center for Excellence in Health Disparities Research, which will investigate health disparity issues in Atlanta's urban environment.

22 Sep 2010

Phosphorus additives leads to health disparities in chronic kidney disease

Processed and fast foods enriched with phosphorus additives may play a role in health disparities in chronic kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

17 Sep 2010

HHS awards grant to develop patient-centered outcomes research

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health, Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH, today announced the award of more than $14 million to develop, implement, and test strategies to increase the adoption and dissemination of interventions based on patient-centered outcomes research among racial and ethnic minority populations.

16 Sep 2010

A.C.T.S. of F.A.I.T.H. calls for partnerships to address childhood obesity

Partnering in an innovative health initiative, the City Produce Project and the participating churches of the Actions Connected to Spirituality Forming Alliances in Transforming Health (A.C.T.S. of F.A.I.T.H.) are calling for more public and private partnerships to create programming that directly addresses obesity and its associated co-morbidities in underserved communities.

15 Sep 2010

Educational intervention likely to probe for contextual issues in standardized patient encounters

Fourth-year medical students who participated in an educational intervention were more likely to seek, identify and incorporate into care patient circumstances that may require variation from standard care, compared to students in a control group, according to a study in the September 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.

15 Sep 2010

AAPCHO launches campaign to raise chronic hepatitis B awareness

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) today launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the epidemic of chronic hepatitis B among Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage.

15 Sep 2010

Minister for Indigenous Health reinstated

As Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced her ministry this weekend, surprises came forth. Australian Medical Association and Aboriginal medical groups initially were dismayed when she decided to axe the Indigenous Health portfolio. Federal Labor MP Warren Snowdon was moved into Veterans' Affairs initially from where he was reinstated to his earlier position as Indigenous Health Minister. He assured that this reinstatement is not in response to the reaction from Indigenous and rural health groups.

13 Sep 2010

Health Disparities News and Research

Further Reading

Scientists find several common findings on diabetes management

Vitamin D deficiency in African-American women can increase risk of aggressive breast cancer: Study

Study shows low DRC level may increase risk for non-melanoma skin cancer

BUSM to create Center for Health Insurance Reform, Cardiovascular Outcomes and Disparities

Lawsuit seeks to stop Blue Cross from limiting provider networks and restricting members' access to health care

New computer program to help young adults manage mental illness

AACR to host Third Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities

Researchers find no correlation between genetic ancestry and cancer stage

Research Roundup: Medical homes; Drug samples and prescribing; The health law and disparities; Women's health; CBO projections

Concerted effort yields significant progress in reducing depression, HIV/AIDS, and osteoporosis in women

Research suggests race plays a factor in accident survival

Negative childhood experiences impacting in the brains of Indigenous kids

JHS conference focuses on future research directions to eliminate health disparities

NIH awards Georgia State University $6.7M to commence new Center for Excellence in Health Disparities Research

Phosphorus additives leads to health disparities in chronic kidney disease

HHS awards grant to develop patient-centered outcomes research

A.C.T.S. of F.A.I.T.H. calls for partnerships to address childhood obesity

Educational intervention likely to probe for contextual issues in standardized patient encounters

AAPCHO launches campaign to raise chronic hepatitis B awareness

Minister for Indigenous Health reinstated

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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