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World Kidney Day 2016 focuses on children

On Thursday March 10th we are celebrating the 11th edition of World Kidney Day (WKD), a joint initiative organized by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF).

10 Mar 2016

Is the global diet getting sweeter? An interview with Professor Barry Popkin

In the past, caloric sweeteners simply referred to cane sugar or beet sugar. However, over time we've created hundreds of different sugars that are all providing calories of the same amount, about four calories for every gram of the sugar. Some examples include corn syrups and more processed sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup.

10 Mar 2016

Hot weather affects health of migratory farmworkers, finds UTHealth study

Hot weather is significantly associated with clinical visits among migratory farmworkers compared to other patients, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) published recently in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

10 Mar 2016

Victims of sexual abuse stop breastfeeding early, study finds

More than two out of ten women who have been victims of sexual abuse as children are likely to stop breastfeeding before their babies reach four months, according to a new study.

10 Mar 2016

IUPUI researcher awarded $1.1 million grant to develop tools to improve care for chronic pain patients

An Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis researcher has been awarded $1.1 million to develop information-based tools to help primary care providers improve care for patients with chronic pain, a condition that affects 100 million Americans at a cost of $630 billion annually in health care costs and lost worker productivity.

10 Mar 2016

Adding ultrasound or tomosynthesis to standard mammograms can detect missed cancers in dense breasts

Adding either tomosynthesis (a form of 3D mammography) or ultrasound scans to standard mammograms can detect breast cancers that would have been missed in women with dense breasts, according to an interim analysis of a trial comparing these two additional screening technologies.

10 Mar 2016

Overprescribing of opioids leads to serious public health problems

Overprescribing of opioids and opioid addiction are serious and growing public health problems in the U.S., and are the focus of a new report by an expert panel, entitled The American Opioid Epidemic: Population Health Implications and Potential Solutions," from the National Stakeholder Panel, Jefferson College of Population Health, which is published in a special supplement to Population Health Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The supplement is available open access on the Population Health Managementwebsite

10 Mar 2016

Early childhood presents short-lived window for intervention to ensure future cardio-metabolic health

Research conducted at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health has found that exposure to poverty does not produce metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in young, healthy children. It identifies early childhood as an opportunity to prevent a known association in adults between poverty and the metabolic syndrome. The study is one of the first to characterize the timing of exposure to such stress and the emergence of the physiologic changes leading to cardio-metabolic disease and to document these relationships during this critical developmental period.

10 Mar 2016

Nearly half of African-American adults at risk of developing hypertension

The stats are too familiar: Nearly half of African-American adults are at risk of developing hypertension, a rate significantly higher than that of any other group in the United States. Hypertension-related ailments, such as strokes and end-stage renal disease, account for 20 percent of all deaths among African-Americans.

10 Mar 2016

Use of OTC medication not always a smart decision for yeast infection

Itching, burning, redness—a yeast infection can be a total pain. While they aren't life-threatening, yeast infections are irritating—both physically and mentally. So, when undesirable symptoms appear 'down there,' should you consult your physician or self diagnose and treat with over-the-counter medications?

9 Mar 2016

Startling lack of resistance genes discovered in intensively-farmed beef

In the first study to track antibiotic resistance in intensively-farmed beef, scientists discovered a "startling" lack of resistance genes in meat.Meanwhile, in soil and faeces samples from cattle pens they found genes resistant to a powerful "last resort" class of antibiotics called carpabemens that aren't used in the livestock industry. These genes may have jumped from humans or companion animals to livestock, or could even be present at low levels in the wider environment.

9 Mar 2016

Columbia University researchers find link between firearm-related laws and firearm homicides

A study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health looked at the associations between firearm-related laws and firearm homicides, suicides, and unintentional injuries and deaths. The paper is the first to explore the evidence from around the world on gun laws and gun violence to determine whether gun restrictions help reduce gun deaths. While the research did not conclusively prove that restrictions, or relaxation of laws, reduce gun deaths, the results indicate that gun violence tended to decline after countries passed new restrictions on gun purchasing and ownership

9 Mar 2016

Alcohol worst of all drugs that affect fetal health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set off a firestorm of controversy this month when they suggested that women stop drinking alcohol if they are trying to get pregnant, or could get pregnant. Some people took this advice as the CDC prioritizing hypothetical, yet-to-be-conceived children over real women, which has brought up a number of issues from female autonomy to access to birth control—but how clear is the science about what causes fetal alcohol syndrome and related fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

9 Mar 2016

Physicians miss opportunities for detection and management of people with prediabetes

Less than one-quarter of patients who met the criteria for prediabetes received drug or lifestyle modification treatment from their primary care physician, according to University of Florida researchers, who say the findings indicate physicians are missing opportunities for diabetes prevention.

9 Mar 2016

Study: 40% of U.S. infants from low-income families do not receive rotavirus vaccination

Rotavirus (RV) infection is the leading cause of diarrheal disease in young children worldwide, causing more than half a million deaths of children aged <5 years annually, according to the World Health Organization. There are two safe and effective RV vaccines, pentavalent Rotateq (Merck) and monovalent Rotarix (GSK), yet global coverage remains below 20% of children.

9 Mar 2016

Playing video games may have positive impact on young children's mental health, cognitive skills

Video games are a favorite activity of children, yet its affect on their health is often perceived to be negative. A study by researchers at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues at Paris Descartes University assessed the association between the amount of time spent playing video games and children's mental health and cognitive and social skills, and found that playing video games may have positive effects on young children.

9 Mar 2016

Study: 2.3 million people living with HIV co-infected with HCV

An estimated 2.3 million people living with HIV are co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) globally, a new study by the University of Bristol and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has found.

9 Mar 2016

Low levels of arsenic may influence fetal growth

Fetal growth may be impacted by low levels of arsenic that pregnant women consume in drinking water and food, a Dartmouth College study finds.

9 Mar 2016

Sleeping too much or too little increases risk of dying from heart disease

Too much or too little sleep is linked with an increased risk of certain types of cardiovascular disease. Women and the elderly are particularly at risk.Sleeping less than four hours or more than eight hours a night increases the risk of dying from some types of coronary heart disease, such as heart attacks and unstable angina pectoris, according to a study by Norwegian and Taiwanese researchers.

8 Mar 2016

Research findings may provide highly effective therapeutic strategy for treatment of Alzheimer's, AMD

For the first time, researchers at LSU Health New Orleans have shown that a protein critical to the body's ability to remove waste products from the brain and retina is diminished in age-related macular degeneration, after first making the discovery in an Alzheimer's disease brain. The research team, led by Walter Lukiw, PhD, Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center, also discovered a key reason, identifying a new treatment target.

8 Mar 2016

Public Health News and Research

World Kidney Day 2016 focuses on children

Is the global diet getting sweeter? An interview with Professor Barry Popkin

Hot weather affects health of migratory farmworkers, finds UTHealth study

Victims of sexual abuse stop breastfeeding early, study finds

IUPUI researcher awarded $1.1 million grant to develop tools to improve care for chronic pain patients

Adding ultrasound or tomosynthesis to standard mammograms can detect missed cancers in dense breasts

Overprescribing of opioids leads to serious public health problems

Early childhood presents short-lived window for intervention to ensure future cardio-metabolic health

Nearly half of African-American adults at risk of developing hypertension

Use of OTC medication not always a smart decision for yeast infection

Startling lack of resistance genes discovered in intensively-farmed beef

Columbia University researchers find link between firearm-related laws and firearm homicides

Alcohol worst of all drugs that affect fetal health

Physicians miss opportunities for detection and management of people with prediabetes

Study: 40% of U.S. infants from low-income families do not receive rotavirus vaccination

Playing video games may have positive impact on young children's mental health, cognitive skills

Study: 2.3 million people living with HIV co-infected with HCV

Low levels of arsenic may influence fetal growth

Sleeping too much or too little increases risk of dying from heart disease

Research findings may provide highly effective therapeutic strategy for treatment of Alzheimer's, AMD

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