Hispanic Health News and Research

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Study looks at the prevention of adolescent substance abuse

Why do young people smoke cigarettes or use alcohol or drugs? What skills do they need to avoid starting these habits? A new study by researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College shows that competence skills can reduce adolescent substance use over the long term, even when friends smoke or use alcohol.

5 Apr 2007

Men and women who wait to have babies later in life may increase their children's risk for autism

The study investigated 132,844 children born at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in its Northern California region over a five-year period (1995-1999) and identified 593 children who had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

4 Apr 2007

Triple negative breast cancers more common among women who are African American and Hispanic, under 40 years old

So-called "triple negative" breast cancers, tumors that do not contain any of three significant tumor markers, are aggressive, deadly cancers that affect young, poor minority women, according to a new study.

2 Apr 2007

SCHIP program needs substantial work

When given health insurance through the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP), teens see their doctors more often, racial disparities are eliminated and more preventive care is received.

2 Apr 2007

Diabetes and high blood pressure play a much greater role heart failure

Diabetes and high blood pressure, two conditions rooted in genetics and environmental surroundings, play a much greater role than race alone in determining who is mostly likely to develop heart failure, according to the latest study from cardiologists at Johns Hopkins.

1 Apr 2007

Study on arthritis-attributable work limitation

Arthritis, a leading cause of disability among US adults, affects 46 million people. Arthritis-attributable work limitation (AAWL) can have substantial social and economic impacts including absenteeism, reduced productivity, work loss and lower income.

29 Mar 2007

18% of young women sexually victimized

Sexual victimization can mean several things -- verbal coercion to have sex with an intimate partner, rape by a stranger, a woman fondled in a bar or forced intercourse when a woman is too intoxicated to consent or object.

13 Mar 2007

U.S. fetal death rate declines nationally, though racial/ethnic disparities remain

The rate of fetal deaths in the U.S. declined significantly from 1990 to 2003, but the rate remains higher among racial and ethnic minorities than among whites, according to a CDC report released on Wednesday, the Washington Times reports.

25 Feb 2007

Decline in atillbirths

The rate of fetal deaths, also known as stillbirths, occurring at 20 weeks of gestation or more declined substantially between 1990 and 2003, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

21 Feb 2007

Racial/ethnic disparities in symptom severity among children hospitalized with asthma

Children in this country suffer from asthma more than any other chronic illness, and new research finds African-American children with the condition have a greater risk than others of experiencing severe symptoms that escalate into an emergency.

20 Feb 2007

Minority women less aware of heart disease than white women

U.S. minority women are less aware than white women of their risk for heart problems and stroke, although they are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in the January/February issue of the Journal of Women's Health, Reuters reports.

7 Feb 2007

Variations in SORL1 gene may factor in development of Alzheimer's disease

Variations in a gene known as SORL1 may be a factor in the development of late onset Alzheimer's disease, an international team of researchers has discovered. The genetic clue, which could lead to a better understanding of one cause of Alzheimer's, is reported in Nature Genetics online, and was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

14 Jan 2007

Blood levels of vitamin folate in women of childbearing age decreasing

From 1999 through 2004 there was an 8% to 16% decline in the level of the vitamin folate in the blood of U.S. women of childbearing age, according to a study published in the Jan. 5 issue of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (Stobbe, AP/Houston Chronicle, 1/4).

7 Jan 2007

Gene therapy to treat erectile dysfunction shows promise

The first human study using gene transfer to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) shows promising results and suggests the potential for using the technology to treat overactive bladder, irritable bowel syndrome and asthma, according to the researchers.

2 Dec 2006

Cigarette smoking and high HPV concentrations associated with greater risk of cervical cancer

Cigarette smoking and concurrent infection with high levels of the virus associated with cervical cancer can increase cancer risk by as much as 27 times, according to a study published in the November 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

19 Nov 2006

Race is associated with unfavorable breast cancer tumor biology

African-American women with breast cancer were more likely to have larger, later-stage tumors that were more difficult to treat and also had lower survival rates than Hispanic and Caucasian women who received the same treatment in two independent series of clinical trials examined by researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

23 Oct 2006

Georgia health officials launch initiative to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in Hispanic community

Georgia health officials have launched a new bilingual initiative that aims to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in the state's Hispanic community and educate residents about HIV prevention and testing, the McClatchy-Tribune/Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.

22 Oct 2006

People living in highly Black concentrated neighborhoods more likely to report their health as poor

In a study examining the relationship between racial/ethnic neighborhood concentration and self-reported health, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that individuals living in neighborhoods with a high concentration of Blacks were twice as likely to report poor health when compared to their counterparts living in neighborhoods with a lower concentration of Blacks.

20 Oct 2006

Racial disparities in preventive health care persist

The racial gap in preventive health care -- such as Pap tests, mammograms, and prostate and colorectal cancer screenings -- persists and might be larger than previously thought, a study published online in BMC Heath Services Research finds, the Washington Post reports.

17 Oct 2006

Proposed changes to Ryan White CARE Act would harm treatment efforts among HIV-positive Latinos

Proposed changes to the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides funding for HIV/AIDS programs in the U.S., would result in inadequate funding for treatment efforts among HIV-positive Latinos, members of a panel held by the Latino Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic Federation said on Wednesday.

5 Oct 2006