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Medica Foundation awards grants totaling $604,940 in second cycle of funding

The Medica Foundation wrapped up its 2009 giving with 17 program grants totaling $473,690 in its second cycle of funding in 2009. The Medica Foundation also awarded 19 General Health Improvement Grants totaling $131,250. Funding by the Medica Foundation totaled $604,940 in its second cycle; for all of 2009, its total funding was $1,353,000.

11 Feb 2010

Raising New Jersey's cigarette tax by $1 would bring in $80M in new annual revenue

Raising New Jersey's cigarette tax by $1 per pack would bring in $80 million in new annual revenue to help close the state's budget shortfall, while also reducing smoking and saving lives, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.

11 Feb 2010

NCCID to host consultation with national and international experts to discuss ways to fight superbugs

The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID) is hosting a consultation with national and international experts in Winnipeg on February 10th and 11th, 2010 to discuss ways to fight the threat posed by "superbugs," or bacteria that are increasingly resistant to conventional treatment with antibiotics.

11 Feb 2010

UC experts recommend binational prevention efforts for TB and HIV infections

The results of an innovative study to understand what factors may influence who contracts tuberculosis (TB)/HIV co-infection in San Diego show a significant shift in the ethnic makeup of the disease, with the majority of cases now coming from the Hispanic community.

11 Feb 2010

Preterm birth: Pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain increase risk

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) Slone Epidemiology Center and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) have found that pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain are associated with an increased risk of preterm birth in African American participants from the Black Women's Health Study. This study currently appears on-line in Epidemiology.

11 Feb 2010

Research finds Mexican-Americans as most physically active group in U.S.

When it comes to meeting national health goals for physical activity, Mexican-Americans are the most active group in America and may benefit from exercise that researchers typically have not measured, according to research by scholars at the University of Chicago and Arizona State University.

11 Feb 2010

10th Annual Spring Meeting of ESC on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals

Geneva, situated at the heart of Europe, provides a fitting setting for the 10th Annual Spring Meeting of the European Society of Cardiology Council (ESC) on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals (CCNAP), 12 - 13 March 2010, with its special theme: "Uniting to Improve Cardiovascular Practice".

11 Feb 2010

Catalysis Foundation for Health to discover new TB biomarkers with $5M Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant

The Catalysis Foundation for Health (Catalysis), a 501 (c) (3) non-profit entity dedicated to developing sustainable diagnostics for the developing world, announced today that it has received a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant money will be used to discover new tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers that can be used to improve diagnostic tests and potentially develop more effective TB treatments.

10 Feb 2010

Alcohol and energy drinks may create a dangerous mix

Energy drinks, favored among young people for the beverages' caffeine jolt, also play a lead role in several popular alcoholic drinks, such as Red Bull and vodka. But combining alcohol and energy drinks may create a dangerous mix, according to University of Florida research.

10 Feb 2010

Majority of parents worry about safety of H1N1 vaccine

Ask any health professional who cares for children and they will tell you: When H1N1 flu hits, it can be very severe. In the last four months of 2009, nearly 240 children died in the United States from H1N1 flu—more than three times as many child deaths as in a typical non-H1N1 flu season.

10 Feb 2010

STDUniversity.org launches interactive, personalized STD test recommendation

STDUniversity.org is the first website to provide an interactive, personalized STD test recommendation developed by academic and medical experts. This expert-based tool incorporates screening guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF).

10 Feb 2010

Avrio Biopharmaceuticals receives Cal FDB approval to manufacture and ship pharmaceutical products

Avrio Biopharmaceuticals, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Irvine Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., received approval to manufacture and ship pharmaceutical products by the California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch (Cal FDB), completing the organization's portfolio of product development services in support of its pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device clients.

10 Feb 2010

Rating of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease: Low IQ follows cigarette smoking

While lower intelligence scores - as reflected by low results on written or oral tests of IQ - have been associated with a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, no study has so far compared the relative strength of this association with other established risk factors such as obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Now, a large study funded by Britain's Medical Research Council, which set out to gauge the relative importance of IQ alongside other risk factors, has found that lower intelligence scores were associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and total mortality at a greater level of magnitude than found with any other risk factor except smoking.

10 Feb 2010

Study explores link between HBV genotype C and liver cirrhosis

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes have distinct geographical distributions, and have been shown to differ with regard to clinical outcome and prognosis. However, the relationship between HBV genotypes and liver cirrhosis remains controversial and no study on exploring the association between HBV genotypes and subclinical cirrhosis in community-based population has been reported.

10 Feb 2010

Eating reptile meat can cause varying degrees of illness

Reptiles are bred in captivity primarily for their skins, but some restaurants and population groups also want them for their meat. A study shows that eating these animals can have side effects that call into question the wisdom of eating this 'delicacy.'

10 Feb 2010

Unassisted cessation proves to be most successful in quitting smoking

Health authorities should emphasize the positive message that the most successful method used by most ex-smokers is unassisted cessation, despite the promotion of cessation drugs by pharmaceutical companies and many tobacco control advocates.

10 Feb 2010

Report shows 3.4% of adult Minnesotans suffer from COPD

The nation's fourth leading cause of death, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is now being measured by the Minnesota Department of Health's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program. The program focuses on three major causes of hospitalizations in Minnesota that can be triggered or made worse by environmental factors such as secondhand smoke or outdoor air pollution — asthma, heart attacks and COPD.

10 Feb 2010

Exposure to unhealthy food commercials linked to childhood obesity

The association between television viewing and childhood obesity is directly related to children's exposure to commercials that advertise unhealthy foods, according to a new UCLA School of Public Health study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

10 Feb 2010

Researchers find link between prevalence of diabetes and neighborhood socioeconomic status

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found a direct link between neighborhood socioeconomic status and risk for type 2 diabetes in African American women.

10 Feb 2010

Soft drinks increase risk of developing pancreatic cancer

Consuming two or more soft drinks per week increased the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by nearly two-fold compared with individuals who did not consume soft drinks, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

10 Feb 2010