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Analyzing potential TB vaccine

When results from a landmark tuberculosis vaccine trial in Cape Town, South Africa were published in The Lancet in February 2013, the headlines were grim, despite hopes that the trial would point toward a successful way to thwart one of the globe's biggest public health threats.

13 Nov 2015

Reproductive history associated with cognitive impairment risk in postmenopausal women

Researchers led by Professor Jun-Fen Lin at Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention have found that reproductive history, an important modifier of estrogen exposure across women's lifetime, is associated with risk of cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women.

13 Nov 2015

Johns Hopkins researchers present new healthcare tips from American Heart Association Meeting

Linking digital activity trackers to smartphones and periodically pinging users with personalized texts that urge them to walk more can significantly increase physical activity levels and spark healthy behavior changes, according to findings of a pilot study conducted at Johns Hopkins.

13 Nov 2015

Lead exposure in early childhood increases risk for sleep problems in later childhood

A new research study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing shows that lead exposure in early childhood are associated with increased risk for sleep problems and excessive daytime sleepiness in later childhood.

13 Nov 2015

Researchers demonstrate new screening model to identify drug targets for the most lethal strain of malaria

A University of South Florida Center for Global Health & Infectious Diseases Research team has demonstrated a new screening model to classify antimalarial drugs and to identify drug targets for the most lethal strain of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum.

12 Nov 2015

Montefiore and Einstein researchers awarded $14 million PCORI grant for hepatitis C research

A research team at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine led by Alain Litwin, M.D., was awarded $14 million by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to determine how best to treat hepatitis C among people who inject drugs (PWID), a group with a high rate of infection.

11 Nov 2015

Low energy sweeteners lead to reduced calorie intake, body weight

Use of low energy sweeteners (LES) in place of sugar, in children and adults, leads to reduced calorie intake and body weight - and possibly also when comparing LES beverages to water - according to a review led by researchers at the University of Bristol published in the International Journal of Obesity today.

11 Nov 2015

Small behavioral changes can improve heart health

Improving your heart health may be as simple as making small behavioral changes - a new study of behavioral health interventions suggests that they are effective at helping people alter their lifestyles and lead to physical changes that could improve overall health.

11 Nov 2015

Lowering blood pressure below currently recommended targets reduces risk of stroke, heart attack

Using intensive treatment to lower blood pressure below currently recommended targets significantly reduces rates of major cardiovascular events like stroke and heart attack among a wide range of high-risk patients, according to a large meta-analysis involving almost 45000 individuals, published in The Lancet.

11 Nov 2015

Cotellic (cobimetinib) approved to be used in combination with vemurafenib for melanoma treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Cotellic (cobimetinib) to be used in combination with vemurafenib to treat advanced melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body or can't be removed by surgery, and that has a certain type of abnormal gene (BRAF V600E or V600K mutation).

10 Nov 2015

Meat-rich diet may increase kidney cancer risk

A new study indicates that a meat-rich diet may increase the risk of developing kidney cancer through mechanisms related to particular cooking compounds. Also, these associations may be modified by genetic susceptibility to kidney cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study illustrates how diet and genetics may interact to impact cancer risk.

10 Nov 2015

Self-weighing may have negative psychological outcomes for young women

Self-weighing can be a useful tool to help adults control their weight, but for adolescents and young adults this behavior may have negative psychological outcomes. Researchers from the University of Minnesota tracked the self-weighing behaviors of more than 1,900 young adults as part of Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults) and found increases in self-weighing to be significantly related to increases in weight concern and depression and decreases in body satisfaction and self-esteem among females.

10 Nov 2015

Negative body image significantly increases obesity risk among adolescents

Negative body image significantly increases the risk of obesity regardless of whether youth have depression, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health.

10 Nov 2015

New review finds scant scientific evidence supporting use of cannabinoids in rheumatic diseases

Although there are anecdotal reports indicating that cannabinoids, especially marijuana (or herbal cannabis), may be of therapeutic benefit for some patients with rheumatic complaints, a new review published in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology, finds scant scientific evidence supporting any use of cannabinoids in rheumatic diseases. Furthermore, not a single controlled study has examined herbal cannabis in the rheumatology patient population.

10 Nov 2015

New funding for Centenary's life saving research

The Centenary Institute has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of funding for 9 new and innovative medical research projects via the latest round of NHMRC grant rounds funding, officially confirmed today.

9 Nov 2015

WHO praises Sierra Leone for stopping Ebola transmission

The World Health Organization declares that Ebola virus transmission has been stopped in Sierra Leone. Forty-two days, that is two Ebola virus incubation cycles, have now passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease had a second negative blood test.

9 Nov 2015

Study explores prevalence of myocardial scars in middle-aged and older population

In a multiethnic, middle-aged and older study population, the prevalence of myocardial scars (evidence of a heart attack) was nearly 8 percent, of which nearly 80 percent were unrecognized by electrocardiography or clinical evaluation, according to a study in the November 10 issue of JAMA.

9 Nov 2015

Combatting viral and bacterial lung infections with volatile anesthetics: an interview with Dr Chakravarthy

Inhaled anesthetics are fairly common all over the world for minor and extensive surgical procedures in patients of all age groups. In the olden days when anesthesia was first developed, ether was the first inhaled anesthetic. That has been replaced, with the more recent discoveries of sevoflurane, isoflurane, and desflurane.

9 Nov 2015

Isolation of infectious cases was key to eliminating Ebola in Sierra Leone

Tomorrow, Sierra Leone is expected to be declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation. But what was key to eliminating the disease? A mathematical model published in the Journal of Biological Dynamics describes the reasons as complex, but confirms that increased identification and isolation of infectious cases played the major role.

6 Nov 2015

MPP announces expansion of mandate to hepatitis C and TB medicines

The Medicines Patent Pool, the world's only voluntary licensing mechanism in public health, announced an expansion of its mandate today to hepatitis C and tuberculosis medicines. The UNITAID Executive Board, meeting November 4-5 in Geneva, approved the MPP's proposals to improve access to both life-saving direct acting antivirals (DAAs) to treat hepatitis C and new and re-purposed medicines for tuberculosis.

6 Nov 2015

Public Health News and Research

Analyzing potential TB vaccine

Reproductive history associated with cognitive impairment risk in postmenopausal women

Johns Hopkins researchers present new healthcare tips from American Heart Association Meeting

Lead exposure in early childhood increases risk for sleep problems in later childhood

Researchers demonstrate new screening model to identify drug targets for the most lethal strain of malaria

Montefiore and Einstein researchers awarded $14 million PCORI grant for hepatitis C research

Low energy sweeteners lead to reduced calorie intake, body weight

Small behavioral changes can improve heart health

Lowering blood pressure below currently recommended targets reduces risk of stroke, heart attack

Cotellic (cobimetinib) approved to be used in combination with vemurafenib for melanoma treatment

Meat-rich diet may increase kidney cancer risk

Self-weighing may have negative psychological outcomes for young women

Negative body image significantly increases obesity risk among adolescents

New review finds scant scientific evidence supporting use of cannabinoids in rheumatic diseases

New funding for Centenary's life saving research

WHO praises Sierra Leone for stopping Ebola transmission

Study explores prevalence of myocardial scars in middle-aged and older population

Combatting viral and bacterial lung infections with volatile anesthetics: an interview with Dr Chakravarthy

Isolation of infectious cases was key to eliminating Ebola in Sierra Leone

MPP announces expansion of mandate to hepatitis C and TB medicines

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