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Researchers determine calcium and vitamin D intakes among subpopulations of Americans

Many Americans do not meet recommended intakes of calcium and vitamin D, despite the important role these vital nutrients play in bone health during all stages of the lifecycle.

19 Feb 2014

Young adults with high blood pressure often not prescribed medication

Primary care doctors are not quick to prescribe antihypertensive medication to young people even after an average of 20 months of high blood pressure. Young adults who are white, male, not on Medicaid and not frequent clinic visitors are especially less likely to receive medication. These are the results of a study by a research team at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in the United States led by Heather Johnson.

19 Feb 2014

Exposure to family problems during childhood and early adolescence affects brain development

New research has revealed that exposure to common family problems during childhood and early adolescence affects brain development, which could lead to mental health issues in later life.

19 Feb 2014

Discrimination against transgender people need to be addressed by medical establishment

Discrimination against transgender people -as many as one million Americans identify themselves as transgender - should immediately be addressed by the medical establishment, backed by policy change at the national level to provide equal access to quality health care.

19 Feb 2014

Antibiotics prescribed for children who have URIs does not prevent complications

Antibiotics are often prescribed for young children who have upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) in order to prevent complications, such as ear infections and pneumonia, however, a new evidence review in The Cochrane Library found no evidence to support this practice.

19 Feb 2014

Specific genes and factors can lead to delays in language development in kids

Boys are at greater risk for delayed language development than girls, according to a new study using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. The researchers also found that reading and writing difficulties in the family gave an increased risk.

19 Feb 2014

New research may provide insight on how dengue virus gains entry into cells

Dengue fever, an infectious tropical disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus, afflicts millions of people each year, causing fever, headache, muscle and joint pains and a characteristic skin rash. In some people the disease progresses to a severe, often fatal, form known as dengue hemorrhagic fever.

18 Feb 2014

Samoa Island harbors a global health mystery that could predict obesity crisis

The South Pacific archipelago of Samoa and American Samoa harbors a global health mystery that may seem both remote and extreme but could foretell trends in obesity and related conditions across much of the developing world.

18 Feb 2014

UT Southwestern receives grant to establish Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

UT Southwestern Medical Center has been funded to establish a Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research that supports and conducts high-quality research comparing the outcomes and effectiveness of different strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions to improve patient care.

18 Feb 2014

Experts sound alarm about the dangers of industrial chemicals on children’s health

In a Review published in The Lancet Neurology, two of the world’s leading experts on the link between environment and children’s health are sounding the alarm on the dangers of industrial chemicals. They are calling on countries to transform their chemical risk-assessment procedures in order to protect children from everyday toxins that may be causing a global “silent epidemic” of brain development disorders.

18 Feb 2014

Study provides comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary relationships of influenza virus

A new study reconstructing the evolutionary tree of flu viruses challenges conventional wisdom and solves some of the mysteries surrounding flu outbreaks of historical significance.

17 Feb 2014

Study explains clinical, public health challenges for use of statins in treatment of heart attacks

Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., the first Sir Richard Doll professor and senior academic advisor to the dean, and Ira J. Gelb, M.D., emeritus professor of cardiology and senior advisor to the dean for pre-baccalaureate programs at FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, have published an invited editorial in the current issue of Cardiology about the clinical and public health challenges to increase utilization of statins in the treatment and prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

17 Feb 2014

Research findings may help combat MRSA

A research team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., is the first to decipher the 3-D structure of a protein that confers antibiotic resistance from one of the most worrisome disease agents: a strain of bacteria called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which can cause skin and other infections. The Vanderbilt team's findings may be an important step in combatting the MRSA public health threat over the next 5 to 10 years.

17 Feb 2014

Researcher reveals the secrets of Francisella tularensis bacterium that causes tularemia

Tularemia, aka "rabbit fever," is endemic in the northeastern United States, and is considered to be a significant risk to biosecurity -- much like anthrax or smallpox -- because it has already been weaponized in various regions of the world.

17 Feb 2014

Study: Societal pressures about vaccination has direct effect on spread of pediatric infectious diseases

Our response to societal pressures about vaccination has a direct effect on the spread of pediatric infectious diseases in areas where inoculation is not mandatory, says new research published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

17 Feb 2014

Study finds shorter life expectancy for LGB individuals living in communities

In the first study to look at the consequences of anti-gay prejudice for mortality, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals who lived in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice have a shorter life expectancy of 12 years on average compared with their peers in the least prejudiced communities. "The results of this study suggest a broadening of the consequences of prejudice to include premature death," noted the study's lead author, Mark Hatzenbuehler, PhD, assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences.

16 Feb 2014

Major gaps persist in workplace protection against TB, HIV and hepatitis in South Africa

A large-scale survey of South African healthcare workers has revealed major gaps in workplace protection against tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis, according to a University of British Columbia health researcher.

16 Feb 2014

NIAID awards Soligenix SBIR grant to further develop SGX943 for treatment of melioidosis

Soligenix, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products to treat serious inflammatory diseases where there remains an unmet medical need, as well as developing several biodefense vaccines and therapeutics, announced today that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded Soligenix a Small Business Innovation Research grant to support further preclinical development of SGX943 as a treatment for melioidosis.

14 Feb 2014

Improper handling of intravenous saline leads to rare bacteria outbreak

Improper handling of intravenous saline at a West Virginia outpatient oncology clinic was linked with the first reported outbreak of Tsukamurella spp., gram-positive bacteria that rarely cause disease in humans, in a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report was published in the March issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

14 Feb 2014

Health effects of childhood obesity may be long-lasting and profound

Childhood obesity rates have nearly tripled in the previous 30 years and researchers are asking the important question of how this epidemic will impact the future health of these obese children and public health in general. A University of Colorado Cancer Center article recently published in the journal Gerontology shows that even in cases in which obese children later lose weight, the health effects of childhood obesity may be long-lasting and profound.

14 Feb 2014

Public Health News and Research

Researchers determine calcium and vitamin D intakes among subpopulations of Americans

Young adults with high blood pressure often not prescribed medication

Exposure to family problems during childhood and early adolescence affects brain development

Discrimination against transgender people need to be addressed by medical establishment

Antibiotics prescribed for children who have URIs does not prevent complications

Specific genes and factors can lead to delays in language development in kids

New research may provide insight on how dengue virus gains entry into cells

Samoa Island harbors a global health mystery that could predict obesity crisis

UT Southwestern receives grant to establish Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

Experts sound alarm about the dangers of industrial chemicals on children’s health

Study provides comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary relationships of influenza virus

Study explains clinical, public health challenges for use of statins in treatment of heart attacks

Research findings may help combat MRSA

Researcher reveals the secrets of Francisella tularensis bacterium that causes tularemia

Study: Societal pressures about vaccination has direct effect on spread of pediatric infectious diseases

Study finds shorter life expectancy for LGB individuals living in communities

Major gaps persist in workplace protection against TB, HIV and hepatitis in South Africa

NIAID awards Soligenix SBIR grant to further develop SGX943 for treatment of melioidosis

Improper handling of intravenous saline leads to rare bacteria outbreak

Health effects of childhood obesity may be long-lasting and profound

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