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Does sequestration offer a budgetary bright side?

News outlets set the scene for the impact on the health care sector and the Medicare program by the sequester's scheduled cuts, which kick in March 1.

1 Mar 2013

Weekend reading: Navigating treatment; Can a robot replace your doctor?

Your pathology report indicates that you have stomach cancer. Hearing those words conveying yet another cancer-related diagnosis-;my fourth since the age of 20-;I felt, at the age of 57, as though I had been airdropped into a foreign country.

1 Mar 2013

Examining community health workers' value in saving lives, improving health

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog features "a Q&A between Julia Bluestone of Jhpiego and the Frontline Health Workers Coalition and Dr. Henry Perry of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on a recently released report examining community health workers' effectiveness in saving lives and improving health."

1 Mar 2013

Amoxicillin effectiveness: an interview with Prof Paul Little, University of Southampton

Amoxicillin is a broad spectrum penicillin, and in the UK is one of the most frequently used antibiotics. It is commonly used either on its own or, where there are particular concerns about resistance, in combination as Co-amoxiclav (as Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid) which extends its anti-bacterial spectrum.

1 Mar 2013

U.N.'s assertion of immunity in cholera outbreak is morally, legally 'right' decision

"When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invoked diplomatic immunity last week for peacekeepers who unwittingly caused the cholera outbreak that killed nearly 8,000 Haitians, his decision looked cold-hearted," but "sympathy for Haitians should not mask the necessity of the secretary-general's decision," Boston Globe correspondent Juliette Kayyem writes in an opinion piece in the newspaper.

1 Mar 2013

States take up mental health care, stricter gun control as shooting fallout continues

Fallout from recent mass killings involving the mentally ill have states scrambling to figure out how to best treat these patients as well as considering stricter gun controls -- which, in turn, is drawing the ire of the National Rifle Association.

1 Mar 2013

Close-up look at sexting practices of urban ethnic minority youths

Sexting, the use of technology to send or receive sexually explicit messages, photos, or videos, is a relatively new trend and, in many cases, has legal implications. As many as 25-50% of young people may participate in sexting.

1 Mar 2013

Exposure to BPA may increase risk of asthma in young children

Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health are the first to report an association between early childhood exposure to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) and an elevated risk for asthma in young children. BPA is a component of some plastics and is found in food can liners and store receipts.

1 Mar 2013

Researchers develop new method to study complex molecular workings of Anopheles albimanus

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have developed a new method for studying the complex molecular workings of Anopheles albimanus, an important but less studied spreader of human malaria.

1 Mar 2013

Study evaluates course of PTSD after diagnosis of breast cancer

A study by researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, has found that nearly one in four women (23 percent) newly diagnosed with breast cancer reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shortly after diagnosis, with increased risk among black and Asian women.

1 Mar 2013

IPS examines health implications of child marriage in Afghanistan

Inter Press Service examines the relationship between child marriage and the health of women and girls in Afghanistan. "In Afghanistan, the maternal mortality rate is on the rise; hospitals are filling up with anemic women and girls; and in over 200 districts, high schools are devoid of even a single female pupil," the news service writes, adding, "These issues are not unrelated -- they are all products of a grave social problem in this country of 35 million people: early child marriages."

28 Feb 2013

Sequester scare touches issues related to Medicare, Medicaid spending

The $85 billion in scheduled spending cuts to defense and discretionary accounts are scheduled to kick in Friday, and movement toward a last-ditch strategy has not been evident.

28 Feb 2013

Counting the cost of bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery for obese patients is not cost-saving relative to medical care, shows a 6-year follow-up study in JAMA Surgery.

28 Feb 2013

Article summarizes connection between Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk

This Nutrition and Cancer article summarizes the connection between a Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk in observational epidemiological studies. All studies that met the following criteria were reviewed: human cohort and case-control studies, which examined the effect of the Mediterranean diet as an entire food pattern.

28 Feb 2013

Genzyme marks 2013 International Rare Disease Day

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, today announced its support of International Rare Disease Day with a series of initiatives meant to call attention to rare diseases as an important public health issue and to improve rare disease education, research, and treatment.

28 Feb 2013

National Birth Defects Prevention Network honors BU researcher with Godfrey P. Oakley, Jr., Award

Allen A. Mitchell, MD, a professor of public health (epidemiology) and professor of pediatrics at the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine, recently received the Godfrey P. Oakley, Jr., Award at the annual meeting of the National Birth Defects Prevention Network. Mitchell, who is also the director of Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC), was recognized for his significant lifetime contributions to the field of birth defects.

28 Feb 2013

Einstein researchers to investigate consequences of soccer heading on the brain

Sports-related concussion is an increasingly recognized public health problem. At least 1.6 million sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries occur in the United States annually. While the primary focus has been on football, soccer has come under greater scrutiny.

28 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Former Sen. Gramm criticizes Obama on budget cuts; Debate on revamping Medicare needs less heat, more deliberation

While history shows that a divided government can enact significant spending cuts as an alternative to sequesters, that doesn't appear to be the path Mr. Obama intends to follow. Instead of protecting civilian defense workers, the president will continue to force the Pentagon to buy biofuels at $27 per gallon to promote his green agenda.

27 Feb 2013

Researchers to conduct review of previous studies on health and safety lessons in classrooms

A team of researchers are to examine whether learning about injury prevention in school really can help to prevent a distressing trip to the A&E department for children and their parents.

27 Feb 2013

Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns: an interview with Dr DePinho, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Dr Mohar, National Cancer Institute of Mexico

There are more than 94 million former and current smokers in the United States, and more than 21 million in Mexico, according to the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Fact Sheet.

27 Feb 2013

Public Health News and Research

Does sequestration offer a budgetary bright side?

Weekend reading: Navigating treatment; Can a robot replace your doctor?

Examining community health workers' value in saving lives, improving health

Amoxicillin effectiveness: an interview with Prof Paul Little, University of Southampton

U.N.'s assertion of immunity in cholera outbreak is morally, legally 'right' decision

States take up mental health care, stricter gun control as shooting fallout continues

Close-up look at sexting practices of urban ethnic minority youths

Exposure to BPA may increase risk of asthma in young children

Researchers develop new method to study complex molecular workings of Anopheles albimanus

Study evaluates course of PTSD after diagnosis of breast cancer

IPS examines health implications of child marriage in Afghanistan

Sequester scare touches issues related to Medicare, Medicaid spending

Counting the cost of bariatric surgery

Article summarizes connection between Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk

Genzyme marks 2013 International Rare Disease Day

National Birth Defects Prevention Network honors BU researcher with Godfrey P. Oakley, Jr., Award

Einstein researchers to investigate consequences of soccer heading on the brain

Viewpoints: Former Sen. Gramm criticizes Obama on budget cuts; Debate on revamping Medicare needs less heat, more deliberation

Researchers to conduct review of previous studies on health and safety lessons in classrooms

Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns: an interview with Dr DePinho, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Dr Mohar, National Cancer Institute of Mexico

Revolutionizing Life Science: An Interview with SCIEX on ASMS, the SCIEX 7500+ System, and AI-Driven Quantitation

From Discovery Biology to ELRIG Chair

Breathing New Life into Diagnostics: Plasmion's SICRIT Technology

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