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Kenya implements international standards for tuberculosis care

Kenya on Monday implemented the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care, Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo said at the biennial five-day planning meeting of the health ministry's Division of Leprosy, TB and Lung Diseases in Mombasa, Kenya, the Daily Nation reports.

2 Sep 2008

Knee osteoarthritis a growing problem in U.S.

Almost half of all U.S. adults and nearly two-thirds of obese adults will develop painful osteoarthritis of the knee by age 85, a study based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests.

2 Sep 2008

Hopkins researchers piece together gene "network" linked to schizophrenia

Reporting this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have uncovered for the first time molecular circuitry associated with schizophrenia that links three previously known, yet unrelated proteins.

2 Sep 2008

Satellite imaging used to predict outbreaks of infectious disease

Scientists in the USA have established a way to predict outbreaks of cholera, making it easier to control. This finding could provide a model to predict and potentially control outbreaks of other important infectious diseases.

2 Sep 2008

Millions face undiagnosed heart risk in the UK say researchers after mass screening

One in three people with a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the next 10 years have not been diagnosed, according to a major study in the September issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

2 Sep 2008

Most vaccine-allergic children can still be safely vaccinated

With close monitoring and a few standard precautions, nearly all children with known or suspected vaccine allergies can be safely immunized, according to a team of vaccine safety experts led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Writing in the September issue of Pediatrics, the multicenter research team offers pediatricians a step-by-step tool for quickly identifying children with allergic reactions to vaccines, and a much-needed guide, they say, to safely immunize those who are allergic.

2 Sep 2008

Heavy snoring a sign of early carotid atherosclerosis

A study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that objectively measured heavy snoring is an independent risk factor for early carotid atherosclerosis, which may progress to be associated with stroke.

1 Sep 2008

Save your life by taking the stairs instead of the lift

Researchers say walking up the stairs at work instead of taking the lift could be a lifesaver.

1 Sep 2008

World Cancer Declaration sets ambitious targets for 2020

A summit of more than 60 high-level policymakers, leaders and health experts have adopted a global plan aimed at tackling the growing cancer crisis in developing countries.

1 Sep 2008

Impact of school based programs for childhood overweight

Childhood overweight and obesity are serious, large-scale, global, public health concerns and the number of children affected is still increasing every year. As the treatment of overweight and obesity is rarely effective, its prevention has priority today.

1 Sep 2008

Regulation of consumer products: The bizarre case of strawberry jam and cigarettes

While jams and other consumer products are strictly regulated and are required to pass stringent tests before they can be sold, tobacco has no restrictions and manufacturers can, and do, add anything they want into the product.

31 Aug 2008

Thiazolidinediones - diabetes drugs carry significant cardiovascular risks

A class of oral drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes may significantly increase the risk of serious cardiovascular events, according to an editorial published online in Heart Wednesday by two Wake Forest University School of Medicine faculty members.

28 Aug 2008

Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale reports WHO's Commission

A child born in a Glasgow, Scotland suburb can expect a life 28 years shorter than another living only 13 kilometres away. A girl in Lesotho is likely to live 42 years less than another in Japan. In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 17 400; in Afghanistan, the odds are 1 in 8. Biology does not explain any of this. Instead, the differences between - and within - countries result from the social environment where people are born, live, grow, work and age.

28 Aug 2008

Number, percentage of uninsured U.S. residents decreased in 2007, according to U.S. Census Bureau

The number and percentage of uninsured U.S. residents declined in 2007 to 45.7 million people, or 15.3% of the population, according to an annual U.S. Census Bureau report released Tuesday, USA Today reports (Cauchon/Appleby, USA Today, 8/27).

28 Aug 2008

Exclusive breastfeeding increases child's risk for vitamin D deficiency; black, darker-skinned children already have increased risk

Exclusive breastfeeding can increase a child's risk of developing rickets because breast milk alone does not provide adequate levels of vitamin D, a critical ingredient that helps to absorb calcium and build strong bones, the New York Times reports. Rickets develops when a child's vitamin D levels are too low and is characterized by the curving of a child's legs and the softening of other bones. Some children are asymptomatic.

28 Aug 2008

Health risk behaviors such as smoking and obesity associated with lower prostate specific antigen awareness

According to a study conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, health risk behaviors such as smoking and obesity are associated with lower awareness of the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), which could lead to a lower likelihood of undergoing actual prostate cancer screening.

27 Aug 2008

Over 10 million Americans are taking opioids

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that in a given week, over 10 million Americans are taking opioids, and more than 4 million are taking them regularly (at least five days per week, for at least four weeks). These findings appear in the August 31 issue of the journal Pain.

27 Aug 2008

Time is right to make cancer control a development priority

For public health, the complexity of cancer control has increased enormously following the shift of the disease burden from wealthy to less affluent countries. Cancer causes around 7.9 million deaths worldwide each year. Of these deaths, more than 72% are now occurring in low- and middle-income countries. This is a shocking statistic, with huge implications for human suffering, health systems, health budgets, and the drive to reduce poverty.

27 Aug 2008

Breastfeeding could reduce risk of aggressive form of breast cancer that disproportionately affects black, younger women

Breastfeeding for at least six months might lower the risk of developing so-called "triple negative" breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that is more common in black and younger women, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Cancer, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports (Paulson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/24).

26 Aug 2008

Ottawa Citizen examines campaign aimed at changing behavior in Uganda to fight HIV/AIDS

The Ottawa Citizen on Sunday examined a campaign in Uganda aimed at stopping unsafe sexual behavior -- particularly among young women and older men -- that is contributing the spread of HIV in the country.

26 Aug 2008

Public Health News and Research

Kenya implements international standards for tuberculosis care

Knee osteoarthritis a growing problem in U.S.

Hopkins researchers piece together gene "network" linked to schizophrenia

Satellite imaging used to predict outbreaks of infectious disease

Millions face undiagnosed heart risk in the UK say researchers after mass screening

Most vaccine-allergic children can still be safely vaccinated

Heavy snoring a sign of early carotid atherosclerosis

Save your life by taking the stairs instead of the lift

World Cancer Declaration sets ambitious targets for 2020

Impact of school based programs for childhood overweight

Regulation of consumer products: The bizarre case of strawberry jam and cigarettes

Thiazolidinediones - diabetes drugs carry significant cardiovascular risks

Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale reports WHO's Commission

Number, percentage of uninsured U.S. residents decreased in 2007, according to U.S. Census Bureau

Exclusive breastfeeding increases child's risk for vitamin D deficiency; black, darker-skinned children already have increased risk

Health risk behaviors such as smoking and obesity associated with lower prostate specific antigen awareness

Over 10 million Americans are taking opioids

Time is right to make cancer control a development priority

Breastfeeding could reduce risk of aggressive form of breast cancer that disproportionately affects black, younger women

Ottawa Citizen examines campaign aimed at changing behavior in Uganda to fight HIV/AIDS

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