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Simple molecular sensor color test to determine safe fluoride levels

Used in the proper amounts, it can make teeth stronger and aid in the treatment of osteoporosis. When excessive amounts are consumed, however, it can be a killer - a carcinogen that causes bone, lung and bladder cancers. The "it" is fluoride, a common additive in most American communities' drinking water and an ingredient in the vast majority of commercially produced adult toothpastes.

10 Dec 2010

Obesity is associated with worse outcomes in patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative disease

Obesity was associated with worse overall and disease-free survival in women with operable breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, but for the first time, researchers observed this finding in only a specific subset of patients - those with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/HER2-negative disease.

10 Dec 2010

Haitian cholera pathogen closely related to 'El Tor O1' variant from South Asia

Scientists from Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. and Harvard Medical School have successfully employed single molecule, real-time (SMRT™) DNA sequencing technology to rapidly characterize the pathogen responsible for the recent deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. Published online Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the results provide the first whole genome sequence analysis and most detailed genetic profile to date of the Haitian Vibrio cholerae outbreak strain.

10 Dec 2010

Opinions: Questioning WHO's relevance; Reforming foreign aid; Efforts to prevent child marriage

"The WHO - for 62 years the world's go-to agency on all public health matters - is today outmoded, underfunded, and overly politicized," Jack Chow, former assistant director-general on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria at WHO, writes in a Foreign Policy Argument where he outlines some of the major issues facing the WHO, including personnel challenges, the agency's "archaic" governance system and a "new atmosphere, where [other] organizations are taking health into their own hands."

10 Dec 2010

News outlets report on polio outbreaks in Central, East Africa

"Bad immunisation strategy has been blamed for an outbreak of polio, which has killed nearly 200 and is believed to have caused paralysis in more than 2,000 others across Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the Mail & Guardian writes in a story examining the emergence of the disease in the three countries and efforts to control it.

10 Dec 2010

Older people living in racially segregated neighborhoods have higher chance of developing cancer: Study

Older people who live in racially segregated neighborhoods with high crime rates have a much higher chance of developing cancer than do older people with similar health histories and income levels who live in safer, less segregated neighborhoods.

10 Dec 2010

Tobacco-cessation expert receives 2011 ASPO Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award tobacco research

Behavioral scientist and tobacco-cessation expert, Alexander V. Prokhorov, M.D., Ph.D., at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is the recipient of the 2011 American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO) Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award for Excellence in Tobacco Research.

10 Dec 2010

Research looks at early exposure to mobile phone risk

There has been plenty of speculation that mobile phones are not good for pregnant mums but a new study sheds light on the actual connection. It finds that pregnant women who regularly use mobile phones may be more likely to have children with behavioral problems, particularly if their children start using mobile phones in their first seven years. American researchers said that the risk of behavioral problems rose by 30% if such exposure was present. Those exposed before birth and in early childhood were at 50% higher risk than those who were not exposed they said.

9 Dec 2010

Pelosi issues statement following House passage of food safety legislation

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this evening following House passage of H.R. 3082, Making Further Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011 and the Food Safety Enhancement Act. The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 212 to 206, funds the government for fiscal year 2011 and includes a sweeping overhaul of the nation's food safety system. It now goes to the Senate.

9 Dec 2010

School-based intervention program helps students with asthma better manage symptoms

A school-based intervention program helped New York City high school students with moderate to severe asthma better manage their symptoms, dramatically reducing the need for urgent care, including hospitalizations and emergency room visits, according to a study published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

9 Dec 2010

Childhood maltreatment more strongly associated with current psychiatric symptoms than military sexual stressors

A study of long-term, active duty military personnel who used Department of Veterans Affairs' health services showed that childhood maltreatment and other high magnitude stressors, such as being in a serious accident or a natural disaster, were more strongly associated with participants' current psychiatric symptoms than were their military sexual experiences, such as sexual harassment.

9 Dec 2010

Trauma surgeon co-authors call to action to establish pediatric trauma research network

Jeffrey S. Upperman, MD, director of the Trauma Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, has co-authored a call to action for filling a significant gap in pediatric public health care and seeks federal oversight to establish the framework for a pediatric applied trauma research network (PATRN). This call to action was published simultaneously in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery and the Journal of Trauma.

9 Dec 2010

Health care systems inadequate for managing acute GI hemorrhage outside of normal hours

Patients treated by Welsh hospitals for upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding were 41% more likely to die if they were admitted on a public holiday and 13% more likely if it was at the weekend, according to research in the January issue of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

9 Dec 2010

Water-based lubricants cause fewer genital problems

A new study by sexual health researchers at Indiana University found that women who used lubricant during sex reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction and pleasure.

9 Dec 2010

Researchers to address HRQOL issues for pediatric patients with IBD at annual conference

The management of children with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis has evolved significantly over the past decade. With a surge of pediatric research in the field, quality of life has become an important focus of study, as indicated by the number of related abstracts that will be presented at the 2010 Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's Clinical & Research Conference beginning tomorrow in Hollywood, Florida.

9 Dec 2010

Mortality is higher in for-profit than non-profit dialysis centers, says study

If you need dialysis for advanced kidney disease, where you get it could make a big difference. A large study found that patients in certain large chain facilities are significantly more likely to die than those treated elsewhere. Mortality was also higher in for-profit than non-profit dialysis centers.

9 Dec 2010

EULAR welcomes EPSCO Council's decision on tackling chronic diseases in Europe

The European League Against Rheumatism welcomes the outcomes of yesterday's Council of the European Union. In its meeting on 7 December, ministers for health adopted Council Conclusions on chronic diseases, in which the Council calls on Member States and the European Commission to adopt concrete, coordinated measures to tackle chronic diseases in Europe.

9 Dec 2010

Winners of 2010 Quality and Innovation Awards announced

The Cancer Quality Council of Ontario, Cancer Care Ontario, and the Ontario Division of the Canadian Cancer Society today announced the winners of the 2010 Quality and Innovation Awards.

9 Dec 2010

Haitian health ministry says more than 2,000 have died from cholera; Report identifies outbreak's source, some dispute findings

More than 2,000 people have died of cholera in Haiti since late October, Haitian officials said on Monday, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (12/6). According to Haitian health ministry figures, a total of "2,013 people have died from the water-borne bacterial infection and 88,789 cases have been recorded," Agence France-Presse writes (12/6).

9 Dec 2010

Urgent reform of Medicaid-financed community care for ADHD children needed

The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 expands Medicare benefits to scores of previously uninsured individuals including many of our nation's children. While access to treatment is laudable, the quality of such treatment is the subject of an article in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

9 Dec 2010

Public Health News and Research

Simple molecular sensor color test to determine safe fluoride levels

Obesity is associated with worse outcomes in patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative disease

Haitian cholera pathogen closely related to 'El Tor O1' variant from South Asia

Opinions: Questioning WHO's relevance; Reforming foreign aid; Efforts to prevent child marriage

News outlets report on polio outbreaks in Central, East Africa

Older people living in racially segregated neighborhoods have higher chance of developing cancer: Study

Tobacco-cessation expert receives 2011 ASPO Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award tobacco research

Research looks at early exposure to mobile phone risk

Pelosi issues statement following House passage of food safety legislation

School-based intervention program helps students with asthma better manage symptoms

Childhood maltreatment more strongly associated with current psychiatric symptoms than military sexual stressors

Trauma surgeon co-authors call to action to establish pediatric trauma research network

Health care systems inadequate for managing acute GI hemorrhage outside of normal hours

Water-based lubricants cause fewer genital problems

Researchers to address HRQOL issues for pediatric patients with IBD at annual conference

Mortality is higher in for-profit than non-profit dialysis centers, says study

EULAR welcomes EPSCO Council's decision on tackling chronic diseases in Europe

Winners of 2010 Quality and Innovation Awards announced

Haitian health ministry says more than 2,000 have died from cholera; Report identifies outbreak's source, some dispute findings

Urgent reform of Medicaid-financed community care for ADHD children needed

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