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Study: Lack of newborn care-seeking in low and middle-income countries

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Abdullah Baqui from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA and colleagues systematically review studies describing newborn care-seeking behaviours by caregivers in low- and middle-income countries.

8 Mar 2012

Researchers identify key molecular player in mouse model of kidney disease

In findings that may lead to clinical trials of a promising new drug for kidney disease, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and their colleagues have identified a key molecular player and shown how a targeted experimental drug can reverse kidney damage in mouse models of diabetes, high blood pressure, genetic kidney disease, and other kidney injuries.

8 Mar 2012

Study: Patients need greater access to their electronic medical data

Health care organizations need to do more to help patients realize the full benefits of electronic data from emerging health information exchange systems, according to a new study commissioned by Consumers Union that appears in the March 2012 Health Affairs.

7 Mar 2012

World Bank should re-evaluate programs to reduce maternal mortality

"The World Bank boasts that it has positioned itself as a 'global leader' in reproductive health, especially for youth and the poor," but in 2011, it dedicated "just 0.2 percent of its $43 billion budget" to reproductive health projects, and much of that money was provided as loans, which can "leave poor countries indebted and threaten to divert domestic spending away from vital public health services," Elizabeth Arend, program coordinator at Gender Action, writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

7 Mar 2012

Smoking and lung cancer notice turns fifty but 20% Britons still smoke: Report

According to health experts, it has been five decades after doctors issued their first warning about the dangers of cigarettes. Still more than 20 percent of Britons still smoke - and unless they quit, half of them will die from the habit. Smoking has killed more than six million people in Britain since 1962, when the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) published a landmark report about the health risks of tobacco.

7 Mar 2012

e-Health records don't always equal reduced costs

A study published in Health Affairs found that electronic health records don't necessary lead to reducing health care spending or fewer diagnostic tests.

7 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: Contraception politics; Better food labels; Opposing stands on ultrasounds and abortion

Between the flap at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the squall about the Obama administration's directive that health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control, contraception is shaping up as one of the year's biggest political land mines.

7 Mar 2012

State news: Several Mass. hospitals tie part of doctor pay to size of practice; Mass. officials push to alleviate crowds at ERs

Getting in to see a primary-care doctor at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's hospitals has for years been notoriously hard, with many popular practices closed to new patients. But now, reflecting dramatic shifts in health care, the prestigious hospitals are paying doctors more if they agree to accept new patients. The Harvard-affiliated hospitals are tying about 10 percent of doctors' salaries this year to the size of their practice and the complexity of their patients' illnesses.

6 Mar 2012

Leading AIDS experts issue new HIV guidelines

Leading AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions around the world have issued new guidelines to promote entry into and retention in HIV care, as well as adherence to HIV treatment, drawn from the results of 325 studies conducted with tens of thousands of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

6 Mar 2012

Study evaluates link between genetic and environmental factors and risk of drug abuse

In a national Swedish adoption study, the risk for drug abuse appears to be increased among adopted children whose biological parents had a history of drug abuse, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

6 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: Statins and diabetes; Frightening tobacco warnings; The U.S. dental crisis

We're overdosing on cholesterol-lowering statins, and the consequence could be a sharp increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes. This past week, the Food and Drug Administration raised questions about the side effects of these drugs and developed new labels for these medications that will now warn of the risk of diabetes and memory loss.

6 Mar 2012

In shift, Calif. hospitals try to keep patients out of beds

To survive the unprecedented challenges coming with federal health care reform, California hospitals are upending their bedrock financial model: They are trying to keep some patients out of their beds.

6 Mar 2012

New article examines multiple opportunities provided by ACA to improve women's health

A new article by researchers from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative in the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services examines the multiple opportunities provided by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to improve the health of low-income women through the use of community health centers.

6 Mar 2012

Rep. Sensenbrenner sends 'fact-finding letter' to White House science adviser about bird flu studies

"Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), a former head of the House committees on science and the judiciary, and currently vice chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, last week sent a 'fact-finding letter' to White House science adviser John Holdren, asking pointed questions about how the U.S. government has handled the controversy" surrounding two studies that showed how H5N1 bird flu virus could be manipulated to become transmissible among ferrets, a model for humans, "and questioning whether it should have funded the two flu studies," ScienceInsider reports.

6 Mar 2012

Children's academic achievement test scores not affected by intrauterine drug exposure

Researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine (BUSM) and Public Health along with Boston Medical Center have found children's academic achievement test scores not affected by intrauterine exposure to cocaine, tobacco or marijuana.

6 Mar 2012

Russia should abandon 'zero-tolerance' approach to drug use and implement proven prevention strategies

Why have effective, "simple tools such as Medication Assisted Therapy and clean needle-exchange services" -- methods that are "very effective in decreasing drug abuse and reducing risk of infection with HIV, hepatitis C and other diseases" – "had so little impact on the policies and programs of the Russian Federation?" Bertrand Audoin, executive director of the International AIDS Society, and Chris Beyrer, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, write in this New York Times opinion piece.

6 Mar 2012

PGen study to examine impact of consumer genomics

As genetic risk information plays an increasingly important role in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, private companies have made personal genomic testing for these risk factors widely available to the public. However, very little data has been gathered to understand the motivations and expectations of consumers of personal genomic services, the psychological and behavioral impact of these services, and the associated ethical, legal and social issues-until now.

5 Mar 2012

Health Impact Project announces awardees of 15 new grants

The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, announced the awardees of 15 new grants today. Selected following a nationwide call for proposals, the grantees will conduct health impact assessments (HIAs), a type of study that looks at potential health impacts of policies and projects in other sectors.

5 Mar 2012

Heavy DE exposure may increase risk of dying from lung cancer

Heavy diesel exhaust (DE) exposure in humans may increase the risk of dying from lung cancer, according to two papers released March 2nd by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 Mar 2012

New Brown center for evidence-based medicine and science

The difference between abundant information and useful knowledge is a problem in many fields including health care, where life and death can depend on the decision to prescribe a drug or perform a surgery. A new center at Brown University, led by a team of five experts in evidence-based medicine, will advance the study of turning heaps of data in research papers into a powerful understanding that doctors and scientists can apply.

3 Mar 2012

Public Health News and Research

Study: Lack of newborn care-seeking in low and middle-income countries

Researchers identify key molecular player in mouse model of kidney disease

Study: Patients need greater access to their electronic medical data

World Bank should re-evaluate programs to reduce maternal mortality

Smoking and lung cancer notice turns fifty but 20% Britons still smoke: Report

e-Health records don't always equal reduced costs

Viewpoints: Contraception politics; Better food labels; Opposing stands on ultrasounds and abortion

State news: Several Mass. hospitals tie part of doctor pay to size of practice; Mass. officials push to alleviate crowds at ERs

Leading AIDS experts issue new HIV guidelines

Study evaluates link between genetic and environmental factors and risk of drug abuse

Viewpoints: Statins and diabetes; Frightening tobacco warnings; The U.S. dental crisis

In shift, Calif. hospitals try to keep patients out of beds

New article examines multiple opportunities provided by ACA to improve women's health

Rep. Sensenbrenner sends 'fact-finding letter' to White House science adviser about bird flu studies

Children's academic achievement test scores not affected by intrauterine drug exposure

Russia should abandon 'zero-tolerance' approach to drug use and implement proven prevention strategies

PGen study to examine impact of consumer genomics

Health Impact Project announces awardees of 15 new grants

Heavy DE exposure may increase risk of dying from lung cancer

New Brown center for evidence-based medicine and science

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