Public Health News and Research

RSS

Surgical site infections appear to have significant genetic connections

An estimated 300,000 U.S. patients get surgical site infections every year, and while the causes are varied, a new University of Utah study suggests that some who get an infection can blame it partly on their genes.

27 Feb 2013

High iron and zinc intake may reduce risk of pre-menstrual syndrome in women

Women who reported eating a diet rich in iron were 30 to 40 percent less likely to develop pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) than women who consumed lower amounts, in a study reported this week by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences and Harvard.

27 Feb 2013

Protective services workers more likely to develop psychiatric disorder after traumatic events

Police, firefighters and other protective services workers who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events and are new to their profession are at greater risk of developing a psychiatric disorder, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

26 Feb 2013

Conference aims to end tobacco epidemic in developing nations

Imagine, for a moment, that a plague has ravaged the Developed World, but has not yet established its grip on the Developing Nations. If the world's leaders in public health came together for two days at Harvard to map out a campaign to prevent the plague's spread, wouldn't you want to cover that meeting?

26 Feb 2013

Surgeons told to pull the plug on robotically assisted hysterectomy

US researchers are calling for curbs on the rapidly increasing use of robotically assisted hysterectomy after an extensive study of the technique showed that it fails to improve outcomes over laparoscopy.

26 Feb 2013

Ill health more likely to be responsible for retirement in regional areas than in cities

Men and women of working age, living in regional areas are more likely to be fully retired because of ill health than their city counterparts, University of Sydney research shows.

26 Feb 2013

Complementary medicine risks: an interview with Dr Andrew Boyden, NPS MedicineWise

Complementary medicines include products containing herbs, vitamins, minerals, nutritional supplements, homoeopathic medicines, certain aromatherapy products and traditional Chinese medicines. For this reason they are also called herbal, natural or alternative medicines.

26 Feb 2013

DHA supplementation during pregnancy reduces very low birth weight and early preterm delivery

University of Kansas researchers have found that the infants of mothers who were given 600 milligrams of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA during pregnancy weighed more at birth and were less likely to be very low birth weight and born before 34 weeks gestation than infants of mothers who were given a placebo. This result greatly strengthens the case for using the dietary supplement during pregnancy.

26 Feb 2013

Research roundup: Patients hesitant to focus on costs; Increase in primary care demand is uneven

One way to contain health care spending is to get patients involved in weighing costs of treatment options with their doctors. Researchers recruited 211 medically insured participants to assess their willingness to consider costs when choosing treatments. The authors found that participants generally "preferred better care, even when the relative benefit it offered was marginal, and even when told that the second-best choice still met the threshold of 'good enough' care from a clinician's perspective.

26 Feb 2013

Low-birth-weight babies with brain abnormality are at increased risk for autism

Low-birth-weight babies with a particular brain abnormality are at greater risk for autism, according to a new study that could provide doctors a signpost for early detection of the still poorly understood disorder.

26 Feb 2013

Henry Ford Hospital scientists to research into hypertension and tissue and organ damage

A senior staff scientist and his team at Henry Ford Hospital have been awarded a five-year, $12.4 million grant by the National Institutes of Health for their research into the damaging effects of high blood pressure on various organs in the body.

26 Feb 2013

Lung cancer screening could avert 12,000 deaths each year in the US

Screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in all screening-eligible current and former smokers has the potential to avert approximately 12,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States.

25 Feb 2013

Two USC scientists develop new algorithm to help predict value of DNA sequencing

Two USC scientists have developed an algorithm that could help make DNA sequencing affordable enough for clinics - and could be useful to researchers of all stripes.

25 Feb 2013

FDA alerts patients and health care providers of voluntary recall of Omontys by Affymax

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care providers and patients of a voluntary nationwide recall of all lots of Omontys Injection by Affymax, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, of Deerfield, Ill.

25 Feb 2013

Study identifies changes that could explain stability of malaria elimination

Many nations battling malaria face an economic dilemma: spend money indefinitely to control malaria transmission or commit additional resources to eliminate transmission completely. A review of malaria elimination conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and other institutions suggests stopping malaria transmission completely has longlasting benefits for many countries and that once eliminated, the disease is unlikely to reemerge over time.

24 Feb 2013

Rocket attacks in Sderot, Israel significantly increase likelihood of miscarriages

Rocket attacks in Sderot, Israel significantly increase the likelihood of miscarriages, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers.

24 Feb 2013

Schistosome stem cells could explain how the worms survive for so many years

The parasites that cause schistosomiasis, one of the most common parasitic infections in the world, are notoriously long-lived. Researchers have now found stem cells inside the parasite that can regenerate worn-down organs, which may help explain how they can live for years or even decades inside their host.

24 Feb 2013

Stopping malaria transmission has long-lasting benefits, review shows

"A review of malaria elimination conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and other institutions and published in Science suggests stopping malaria transmission completely has long-lasting benefits for many countries and that once eliminated, the disease is unlikely to reemerge over time," a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health press release reports.

24 Feb 2013

HHS funds projects in 25 states to try to lower Medicaid costs, improve care

The Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday that it would provide 25 of the 50 states with funding to test new ways to lower costs and improve care within the national Medicaid program for the poor.

23 Feb 2013

Washington University creates new type of air-cleaning technology

Washington University engineering researchers have created a new type of air-cleaning technology that could better protect human lungs from allergens, airborne viruses and ultrafine particles in the air.

23 Feb 2013

Public Health News and Research

Surgical site infections appear to have significant genetic connections

High iron and zinc intake may reduce risk of pre-menstrual syndrome in women

Protective services workers more likely to develop psychiatric disorder after traumatic events

Conference aims to end tobacco epidemic in developing nations

Surgeons told to pull the plug on robotically assisted hysterectomy

Ill health more likely to be responsible for retirement in regional areas than in cities

Complementary medicine risks: an interview with Dr Andrew Boyden, NPS MedicineWise

DHA supplementation during pregnancy reduces very low birth weight and early preterm delivery

Research roundup: Patients hesitant to focus on costs; Increase in primary care demand is uneven

Low-birth-weight babies with brain abnormality are at increased risk for autism

Henry Ford Hospital scientists to research into hypertension and tissue and organ damage

Lung cancer screening could avert 12,000 deaths each year in the US

Two USC scientists develop new algorithm to help predict value of DNA sequencing

FDA alerts patients and health care providers of voluntary recall of Omontys by Affymax

Study identifies changes that could explain stability of malaria elimination

Rocket attacks in Sderot, Israel significantly increase likelihood of miscarriages

Schistosome stem cells could explain how the worms survive for so many years

Stopping malaria transmission has long-lasting benefits, review shows

HHS funds projects in 25 states to try to lower Medicaid costs, improve care

Washington University creates new type of air-cleaning technology

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

Latest News