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Teenagers guzzling hand sanitizer to get drunk

A disturbing trend of teenagers showing up in Los Angeles emergency rooms after drinking inexpensive liquid hand sanitizers to get drunk, has concerned health experts.

25 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 25, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that Medicare is proposing a change in how it decides hospital reimbursements and the latest on the GOP Capitol Hill budget strategy.

25 Apr 2012

Providers can and should work toward 'sustainable anesthesia'

Anesthesia providers can and should begin taking steps toward practicing "sustainable anesthesia," according to the May special issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

25 Apr 2012

Opinion pieces marking World Malaria Day urge sustainability in prevention, treatment programs

Thursday, April 25, marks World Malaria Day, which this year has the theme "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria." The following opinion pieces address the fight against malaria.

25 Apr 2012

ASH report urges federal agencies to invest in 7 distinct areas of research

The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world's largest professional society committed to the study and treatment of blood disorders, today issued a report urging federal agencies to coordinate hematology research funding around seven specific high-need areas that would produce the greatest impact and translate into improvements in patient care in the United States.

25 Apr 2012

State roundup: GOP Attorneys General wield health care clout; N.Y. insurance settlement costing patients?

Like the Supreme Court challenge to the Obama-sponsored healthcare law heard last month, the Arizona case is part of a larger story about an escalating battle between Republican-led states and the federal government. All but one of the 16 states that have filed "friend of the court" briefs on the Arizona side have Republican governors. Meanwhile, all of the 11 states lining up with the Obama administration are led by Democrats.

25 Apr 2012

Weakened malaria control programs linked to majority of global resurgences

Funding cuts for malaria control are the single most common reason for the resurgence of the deadly disease, according to a new study that has linked overall weakened malaria control programs to the majority of global resurgences since 1930.

25 Apr 2012

MSU report: Rate of workplace deaths in Michigan remained steady in 2011

The rate of workplace deaths in Michigan remained steady in 2011, as 141 workers died on the job compared with 145 in 2010, according to an annual report from Michigan State University.

25 Apr 2012

Eating disorders can be triggered by lack of support following traumatic events

Eating disorders can be triggered by lack of support following traumatic events such as bereavement, relationship problems, abuse and sexual assault, according to research published in the May issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. Even changing school or moving home can prove too much for some young people and lead to conditions such as anorexia or bulimia.

25 Apr 2012

Despite progress in reducing measles deaths, international community falls short of 90% reduction target, study says

The number of deaths from measles fell about 74 percent between 2000 and 2010, from slightly more than 535,000 in 2000 to an estimated 139,200 people worldwide in 2010, "missing an internationally agreed target for a 90 percent fall mainly because of low vaccine coverage in India and Africa where the virus kills tens of thousands a year," Reuters reports.

25 Apr 2012

Study points to positive health benefits of fibers

For years, fiber intake among the global population has been extremely low, setting the stage for potentially serious, long-term public health implications. New research commissioned by Tate & Lyle and presented at the 2012 Experimental Biology conference in San Diego adds to the body of emerging research on fibers, including additional support for the role of soluble corn fiber in bone health.

24 Apr 2012

Novel strategy to reduce urban youth violence

Briana and Damon could be the kids up the block. Briana does well in school and wants to follow in her sister's footsteps to college. Damon works hard at an after-school job in a local barbershop. They hang out with friends and try to stay out of trouble.

24 Apr 2012

Nigeria's first-ever national Vaccine Summit addresses child mortality burden

Nigeria's top government officials, civil society leaders and leaders of private industry resolved today to join forces to expand vaccine access nationwide, a major step in the fight to reduce child mortality in a country with the world's second highest number of child deaths.

24 Apr 2012

CRG to host EuroStemCell meeting on April 27

Stem cells are in the news quite a bit, but it can be difficult to pick out the true science from the hype. How can patients, school students and members of the public make sense of this fast-changing area of research? EuroStemCell aims to meet this challenge and engage the public in developments in this complex area of science.

24 Apr 2012

Report calls on BRICS nations to invest more in global health

In this post on Foreign Policy Association's "Foreign Policy Blogs Network," writer Julia Robinson discusses a recent report showing "the rising profile of BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- in health and development assistance and call[ing] upon the group to further their cooperation for better global health in the developing world."

24 Apr 2012

Former Planned Parenthood spokesman to join HHS public affairs shop

If the Obama administration was already on bad terms with abortion opponents, it's not going to improve relations by hiring Planned Parenthood's former spokesman for a job at the Department of Health and Human Services. Tait Sye, Planned Parenthood's former media director, has joined HHS as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, HHS made public Friday. He'll have the public health portfolio -; an area where you can be pretty sure abortion and contraception issues will come up.

24 Apr 2012

Chronic cocaine abuse accelerates process of brain ageing

New research by scientists at the University of Cambridge suggests that chronic cocaine abuse accelerates the process of brain ageing. The study, published today 25 April in Molecular Psychiatry, found that age-related loss of grey matter in the brain is greater in people who are dependent on cocaine than in the healthy population.

24 Apr 2012

Text messaging increases flu vaccination coverage in low-income children

A text messaging intervention with education-related messages sent to parents increased influenza vaccination coverage compared with usual care in a traditionally hard-to-reach, low-income, urban, minority population of children and adolescents, although coverage overall remained low, according to a study in the April 25 issue of JAMA.

24 Apr 2012

Process of reviewing controversial experiments for publication must be streamlined in future

"We can worry less that a newly created bird flu virus might kill tens or hundreds of millions of people if it escaped from the laboratory," a New York Times editorial states. "But there is still some residual danger. And we remain appalled at the slipshod way in which this research was authorized despite its potential dangers to public health and national security," the editorial continues.

24 Apr 2012

New report presents FDA's focus on global cooperation for product safety

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. today released the agency's "Global Engagement Report," detailing the many activities and strategies FDA is using to transform from a domestic to a global public health agency. The report describes the steps the agency is taking to ensure that imported food, drugs, medical devices, and other regulated products meet the same rigorous standards for safety and quality as those manufactured domestically.

24 Apr 2012