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New alliance formed to address domestic child sex trafficking

The Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the bipartisan Advisory Council on Child Trafficking (ACCT) announce a new, formal alliance, building on the May 2013 symposium highlighting the need for more rigorous research addressing domestic child sex trafficking.

28 Nov 2013

Pre-existing diabetes in pregnant women doubles risk of death of infants

New research shows that pre-existing diabetes in pregnant women greatly increases the risk of death of their unborn fetus by around four-and-a-half times compared with pregnant women without diabetes, and also almost doubles the risk of death of infants after birth.

28 Nov 2013

PLOS and DNDi to launch collection of neglected tropical diseases at 10-year anniversary of DNDi

As part of a collaborative initiative, PLOS and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) are delighted to be launching a special Collection-PLOS & DNDi: a decade of Open Access and Neglected Tropical Diseases R&D (Research and Development)-to coincide with a joint event at the Institut Pasteur in Paris celebrating the 10-year anniversary of DNDi.

28 Nov 2013

Findings highlight possible new approach to combat malaria

An international team of scientists, including researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, has identified a key metabolic enzyme that common malaria parasites require for survival at each stage of infection in humans. The findings raise the possibility of a new approach to combating malaria, one of the world's deadliest diseases. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Nature.

27 Nov 2013

RSNA and Regenstrief Institute partner to standardize radiology procedure names

Under a contract awarded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the developers of two advanced medical terminologies have begun work to harmonize and unify terms for radiology procedures. Creating standardized radiology procedure names will improve the quality, consistency and interoperability of radiology test results in electronic medical record systems and health information exchange.

27 Nov 2013

Study highlights unique barriers for African Americans with hypertension

For African-Americans who have hypertension, controlling their high blood pressure is critical to avoid serious complications. However, a history of racial discrimination and/or mistrust in their physicians often causes them to skip taking their necessary medication, finds a new study in the American Journal of Public Health.

27 Nov 2013

Graphic warnings would lead to decrease in smoking rates

A research paper published in the scientific journal Tobacco Control, "Cigarette graphic warning labels and smoking prevalence in Canada: a critical examination and reformulation of the FDA regulatory impact analysis", shows that graphic warning labels on cigarette packs led to a decrease in smoking rates in Canada of between 12% and 20% from 2000 to 2009. The authors estimate that if the same model was applied to the United States, the introduction of graphic warnings would potentially lead to a decrease of between 5.3 and 8.6 million smokers.

27 Nov 2013

Mass urbanisation brings great health risks in China’s major cities

At the third plenum held earlier this month, the Chinese government announced reforms to further drive urbanisation in China. After already experiencing the largest human migration in history, what are the public health consequences of this mass movement from rural towns to cities?

27 Nov 2013

UCLA study shows nearly 70% of Latino children, eat fast food regularly

A surprisingly large percentage of very young children in California, including 70 percent of Latino children, eat fast food regularly, according to a new policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

27 Nov 2013

H1N1 virus killed more people globally than originally believed, confirms study

A research team consisting of more than 60 collaborators in 26 countries has estimated the global death toll from the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 virus to be 10 times higher than the World Health Organization's count, which was based on laboratory-confirmed cases of this flu. The study, which appears online in PLOS Medicine, suggests that the pandemic virus caused up to 203,000 respiratory deaths around the world.

27 Nov 2013

Alcohol use disorders contribute more significantly to disease burden

Disorders related to the abuse of alcohol contribute significantly to the burden of disease in the U.S., finds a new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Researchers estimated that in 2005, about 53,000 men and 12,000 women died from issues related to alcohol use disorders.

27 Nov 2013

Health law coverage bringing changes to an array of consumers

News outlets explore some of these issues, including new costs for people with "Cadillac" coverage, "narrow networks" of doctors and other health providers, new options for part-time workers and unexpected effects on smokers.

27 Nov 2013

Survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplant benefit from expressive helping

A new study finds that survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplant, an aggressive treatment for blood cancers, benefited from a two-part peer support process the authors call expressive helping.

27 Nov 2013

BUSM & BMC win GCE grant to develop next-generation condom using nanotechnology

The department of radiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

26 Nov 2013

MSF launches film series to counterbalance rhetoric presenting the fight against HIV/AIDS as almost won

The fight against HIV/AIDS has been hailed as one of the most successful public health projects in human history, but teams from the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) see the revolution as unfulfilled for millions of people excluded from treatment.

26 Nov 2013

USF is among top 10 organizations worldwide with Fellows named this year

Six faculty members at the University of South Florida in Tampa have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

26 Nov 2013

Researchers receive $2.5M grant to study telephone-based approach to improve diabetes treatment outcomes

More than 25 million Americans have diabetes, yet as many as 60 percent of type 2 diabetes patients do not follow treatment plans prescribed by their healthcare provider and about 50 percent fail to meet treatment recommendations for control of blood glucose levels.

26 Nov 2013

Global health organizations join forces to raise awareness on dangers of fake medicines

Fake medicines increasingly put patients and the general public at risk across the world. In response to this challenge, ten partners who represent healthcare professionals, disease-specific organizations, product-development partnerships, foundations, international financing institutions, as well as the research-based pharmaceutical industry have joined forces to raise awareness about the dangers of fake medicines.

26 Nov 2013

Study: One in 10 high school youth physically hurt by dating partner

One in 10 high school youth in the U.S. reports having been hit or physically hurt by a dating partner in the past year, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health researcher.

26 Nov 2013

UV radiation: A central factor behind Queensland’s record rates of Merkel cell carcinoma

Queensland has at least double the rates of the world’s deadliest skin cancer on record – yet much of the state are unaware the rare cancer even exists.

25 Nov 2013