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Cancer Research renews call for EU to adopt plain packaging on all tobacco products

On World No Tobacco Day today Cancer Research UK has renewed its call for the European Union (EU) to adopt standardised, plain packaging with graphic pictures of health warnings on all tobacco products.

1 Jun 2011

New online tool can help detect and monitor dengue outbreaks

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Google.org have found web-based search data to be a viable source of information for early detection and monitoring of outbreaks of dengue, an emerging mosquito-borne virus found in tropical areas of the world.

1 Jun 2011

Researchers receive CTSI Award for Translational Research in Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health.

Patricia Dickson, MD, and Jennifer Yee, MD, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) researchers, will be honored on Thursday as recipients of the first UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute's (CTSI) Award for Translational Research in Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health.

1 Jun 2011

Emory University launches AIDSVu interactive online map for public

On Wednesday, June 1, the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University will launch AIDSVu, an interactive online map that, 30 years into the epidemic, provides for the most detailed publicly available view of the impact of HIV across the United States by state and county.

1 Jun 2011

Scientists find increases in rain and temperature could signal deadly cholera outbreaks months before they strike

With recent deadly cholera outbreaks in Haiti and Cameroon providing the latest indication of a menacingly resurgent disease, scientists have discovered rain and temperature fluctuations in at-risk areas could predict epidemics months in advance, according to a new study published today in the June 2011 issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

1 Jun 2011

Cell phones and cancer – link established

In its latest announcement the World Health Organization (WHO) said that radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer. According to the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), radiofrequency electromagnetic fields have been classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (group 2B) on the basis of an increased risk for glioma that some studies have associated with the use of wireless phones.

1 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Political impact of Ryan plan; would VA health system work for all?; Calif. insurance rates

Representative Paul Ryan is rebutting critics of his plan to turn Medicare into a "premium support" program, pointing to two existing programs that he says prove his approach would be better for beneficiaries. Don't believe it. The two programs he cites as prototypes — the insurance program for members of Congress and the Medicare prescription drug program — differ in critical respects from his proposal to sharply limit federal spending. The losers will be the beneficiaries who have to pay more.

1 Jun 2011

Increased stress not linked to multiple sclerosis

According to a new study that refutes earlier evidence, stress does not appear to increase a person's risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). The research is published in the May 31, 2011, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

31 May 2011

Increase breast feeding rates by extending maternity leave: Study

According to new research published in the journal Pediatrics if the United States wants to significantly increase its breast-feeding rates, extending women's maternity leave would be a good place to start.

31 May 2011

Moisturisers, hair dyes cause serious adverse effects

Permanent hair dye gives the most serious adverse effects, yet there are also many reactions to facial and body moisturisers. This comes from the first report from the National Register of Adverse Effects from Cosmetic Products published by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

31 May 2011

Annual meeting of Society for Prevention Research to be held in Washington, DC

The mass shooting in Tucson that left six people dead and many more injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, brought significant attention to availability, accessibility and quality of treatment services for serious mental, emotional and behavioral disorders and substance abuse.

31 May 2011

Stress does not appear to increase risk of developing multiple sclerosis

Contrary to earlier reports, a new study finds that stress does not appear to increase a person's risk of developing multiple sclerosis. The research is published in the May 31, 2011, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

31 May 2011

Some Veterans' health jeopardized due to poor infection control

Herman Williams came home safely after fighting in the jungles of Vietnam as a Marine. He was shocked to learn four decades later that his military service had again placed him in jeopardy — this time, because he got a tooth pulled. Williams is among 13,000 U.S. veterans who have been warned in the last two years that their blood should be tested for potentially fatal infections after possible exposures by improper hygiene practices at five VA hospitals in Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee.

31 May 2011

CPS, AAP release joint statement on early childhood caries

Early childhood caries is a serious health problem in North American Indigenous communities that needs immediate attention, say the Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics in a joint statement released today.

30 May 2011

U-M researcher receives $1.3M Gates Foundation grant to study women's menstrual practices, sanitation

University of Maryland researcher Vivian Hoffmann has studied poverty, migration, and economic development in Africa and elsewhere, and she has first-hand experience with issues facing women in the developing world.

30 May 2011

FDA scraps food pyramid for food plate

The Obama government is all set to ignore the food pyramid, that symbol of healthy eating for the last two decades. In its place officials are dishing up a simple, plate-shaped symbol, sliced into wedges for the basic food groups and half-filled with fruits and vegetables.

29 May 2011

Alcohol related hospital admissions rise sharply: Report

The number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England has exceeded one million in a year for the first time say reports. The reports reveal that the number of drink-induced hospital visits has more than doubled since 2003, with a 12 per cent year-on-year increase between April 2009 and March 2010 pushing the total to 1,057,000.

29 May 2011

U.N., U.S. re-evaluate HIV/AIDS treatment targets

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, scheduled for June 8-10 in New York, "public-health leaders face a paradox: New evidence suggests the epidemic can finally be controlled, but that would demand increased spending at a time of severe global budget restraints," the Wall Street Journal reports.

27 May 2011

NIH awards $2.4 million, five-year grant for research on dementia and delirium

Adults with dementia and delirium may soon have a way to combat their delirium, thanks to a $2.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.

27 May 2011

Senate Democrats pressure states to maintain funding for Planned Parenthood

Some Democratic senators are asking a top government health official to warn states that if they try to exclude family planning clinics like Planned Parenthood from Medicaid and Title X funding, they'll face penalties from the federal government (5/27).

27 May 2011