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Depression may increase risk of stroke and death

An analysis of nearly 30 studies including more than 300,000 patients finds that depression is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing stroke and dying from stroke, according to an article in the September 21 issue of JAMA.

21 Sep 2011

Beta-blocker drugs may improve survival time for melanoma patients

Beta-blocker drugs, commonly used to treat high blood pressure, may also play a major role in slowing the progression of certain serious cancers, based on a new study.

21 Sep 2011

Autopsy study reveals earliest 1918 pandemic influenza cases

Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall.

20 Sep 2011

Global trade negotiations must consider inequalities in access to medicines

Some of the issues to be addressed at the U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) taking place this week in New York "are controversial, including those relating to intellectual property rights for new medicines, diagnostics and medical devices," James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, writes in an Al Jazeera opinion piece.

20 Sep 2011

WHO, WEF reports examine cost of treating and preventing, economic burden of NCDs

Low-income countries "could introduce measures to prevent and treat millions of cases of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease for a little as $1.20 per person per year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday" in a report released on the eve of the U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) taking place this week in New York, Reuters reports.

20 Sep 2011

Major donors should consider funding for potential malaria vaccine

When the results of a large clinical trial testing the effectiveness of the RTS,S malaria vaccine among children in Africa are made available later this year, "it will be time to start discussing what to do with the vaccine," Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece.

20 Sep 2011

Study finds high prevalence of cigar use among young adults and minorities

A new study in October issue of the American Journal of Public Health measures brand usage trends and the prevalence of cigar use among specific populations.

20 Sep 2011

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

Johnnie Esco died after a 13-day stay at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville. Her death on March 7, 2008, led to a contentious civil lawsuit, investigations by California's Department of Justice and Department of Public Health – and the exhumation of her body from Arlington National Cemetery. Last week, amid inquiries from The Bee, the state Department of Justice reopened its criminal investigation into Johnnie Esco's treatment at the facility.

20 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Controlling entitlement spending; irrationality of bashing health overhaul; need for changes to state workers' benefits; Va. abortion rules

Entitlement spending - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the rest - is the long-term problem. … But Social Security is the easy case. Medicare and Medicaid have much bigger problems. The rise in their spending is fueled by the aging population and ever-more-expensive advances in medical care. Their problems cannot be solved with taxes unless American workers want government to take an ever-increasing share of their pay.

20 Sep 2011

Chronic diseases could cost $47 trillion over the next 20 years: Report

A latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggests that the global economic impact of the five leading chronic diseases -- cancer, diabetes, mental illness, heart disease, and respiratory disease - could reach $47 trillion over the next 20 years.

19 Sep 2011

California schools bar children without whooping cough shots

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19 Sep 2011

Republican candidates are unabashed in opposition to 'Obamacare' but stay quiet on Medicare's drug plan

The Associated Press reports that, even with their emphasis on deficit reduction, most of the GOP presidential candidates don't seem to be talking about the Medicare drug program, a massive entitlement with future unfunded costs of about $7 trillion, as much as the 2010 health law.

19 Sep 2011

Mayo Clinic recruits patients in Texas; Ga. hospitals' building boom

In state hospital news, Dallas Morning News reports on an advertising campaign by Minn.'s Mayo Clinic and two Georgia news organizations report on developments in the industry there.

19 Sep 2011

Tarsa reports positive data from OSTORA Phase III ORACAL trial for postmenopausal osteoporosis

Tarsa Therapeutics today reported that it presented positive safety and efficacy data from its Phase III ORACAL trial of OSTORA, the company's oral recombinant salmon calcitonin tablet in development for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

19 Sep 2011

Eating low-fat yoghurt whilst pregnant can increase risk of asthma, hay fever in children

Eating low-fat yoghurt whilst pregnant can increase the risk of your child developing asthma and allergic rhinitis (hay fever), according to recent findings.

19 Sep 2011

Positive data from Tarsa's OSTORA Phase III trial on postmenopausal osteoporosis

Tarsa Therapeutics today presented positive safety and efficacy data from its Phase III ORACAL trial of OSTORA-, the company's oral recombinant salmon calcitonin tablet in development for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

19 Sep 2011

Roundup: San Diego launches new HIV testing effort; Study finds economy hurt by Mass. health law; Texas schools turning to safe sex curriculum

The Centers for Disease Control says 20 percent of Americans with HIV don't know they're infected, and those people are responsible for about half of all new infections. A new effort in San Diego is trying to reduce those numbers by making HIV testing more widespread.

17 Sep 2011

Emergency mosquito control operations in flood affected Pennsylvania counties

The Department of Environmental Protection announced today it will begin conducting emergency mosquito control operations in 18 counties affected by flooding.

17 Sep 2011

Prevention is global health community's greatest challenge in fight against chronic diseases

"A new pandemic has emerged and is beginning to overshadow all others," "The chronic-disease pandemic will be the 'face' of global health in the coming decades ... an insidious pandemic for those who are affected, causing slow and subtle declines in health over years."

17 Sep 2011

Bioethicists up the ante in Bachmann's HPV brouhaha

Since Monday's GOP presidential primary debate, Michele Bachmann, a Republican candidate, has been under the microscope for criticizing fellow GOP hopeful Rick Perry for his policy in Texas requiring girls to get the Gardisil vaccine against HPV. Now, two bioethicists have offered cash prizes if she can prove a claim she made about the vaccine's link to mental retardation.

17 Sep 2011

Public Health News and Research

Depression may increase risk of stroke and death

Beta-blocker drugs may improve survival time for melanoma patients

Autopsy study reveals earliest 1918 pandemic influenza cases

Global trade negotiations must consider inequalities in access to medicines

WHO, WEF reports examine cost of treating and preventing, economic burden of NCDs

Major donors should consider funding for potential malaria vaccine

Study finds high prevalence of cigar use among young adults and minorities

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

Viewpoints: Controlling entitlement spending; irrationality of bashing health overhaul; need for changes to state workers' benefits; Va. abortion rules

Chronic diseases could cost $47 trillion over the next 20 years: Report

California schools bar children without whooping cough shots

Republican candidates are unabashed in opposition to 'Obamacare' but stay quiet on Medicare's drug plan

Mayo Clinic recruits patients in Texas; Ga. hospitals' building boom

Tarsa reports positive data from OSTORA Phase III ORACAL trial for postmenopausal osteoporosis

Eating low-fat yoghurt whilst pregnant can increase risk of asthma, hay fever in children

Positive data from Tarsa's OSTORA Phase III trial on postmenopausal osteoporosis

Roundup: San Diego launches new HIV testing effort; Study finds economy hurt by Mass. health law; Texas schools turning to safe sex curriculum

Emergency mosquito control operations in flood affected Pennsylvania counties

Prevention is global health community's greatest challenge in fight against chronic diseases

Bioethicists up the ante in Bachmann's HPV brouhaha

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