Public Health News and Research

RSS

24% more children with progeria discovered

Spectrum, a health and science communications firm, announced the results of a global awareness campaign that "found" 24 percent more children identified with a rare, fatal, and rapid aging disease called Progeria. The findings are being shared at a Centers for Disease Control national conference on health communications.

19 Aug 2010

U.S. children and adolescents become fatter over the last decade: Study

Overweight American children and adolescents have become fatter over the last decade, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and National Institute on Aging (NIA). They examined adiposity shifts across socio-demographic groups over time and found U.S. children and adolescents had significantly increased adiposity measures such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TST).

19 Aug 2010

New 'Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database' tracks published epidemiologic and real world exposure studies

Links to pesticide exposure are being found in a growing number of studies that evaluate the causes of preventable diseases -- including asthma, autism and learning disabilities, birth defects and reproductive dysfunction, diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and several types of cancer. A new database, released today, tracks published epidemiologic and real world exposure studies.

19 Aug 2010

Researchers participate in Alzheimer's Breakthrough Ride to urge Congress make the disease a national priority

This summer, more than 55 researchers participating in the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Ride are cycling relay-style across the country, collecting petition signatures asking Congress to make Alzheimer's disease a national priority. The public response to the petition has been so overwhelming that as the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Riders hit the halfway point in their 67-day route from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. on August 18, they are already more than 80% of the way to their goal of 50,000 signatures.

18 Aug 2010

NASN encourages parents to vaccinate their children against meningococcal disease

More than half of adolescents 13 to 17 years of age have not been vaccinated against meningococcal disease, a rare but serious disease that can cause meningitis and take the life of a child in just a single day. In a recent Ipsos national survey, the majority of mothers with children in this age group had not vaccinated their children because they were not fully aware of the need for vaccination.

18 Aug 2010

Experts to discuss the problem of antibiotic resistance

The growing problem of antibiotic resistance, which compromises our ability to treat common infections, represents one of the greatest threats to public health worldwide. Researchers, politicians and representatives from public health organisations and the pharmaceutical industry will gather in Uppsala from 6-8 September to discuss global strategies.

18 Aug 2010

North Carolina Healthcare Information Exchange to be launched

The North Carolina Hospital Association (NCHA) and The North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) along with Moses Cone Health System and WakeMed Health & Hospitals, today announced they are working with Thomson Reuters and CareEvolution to develop and launch the North Carolina Healthcare Information Exchange (NCHEX).

18 Aug 2010

Consortium on Aging created at The University of Texas Health Science Center

To meet the escalating patient care, research and healthcare education needs for a rapidly aging population, a university-wide Consortium on Aging has been established at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

18 Aug 2010

Pharmacists in all states authorized to administer influenza vaccines

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is encouraging consumers to get immunized against influenza and to consider their local pharmacy as the site to receive their vaccine. Pharmacists in all 50 states including the District of Columbia are authorized to administer influenza vaccines and, as of June 30, 2010, more than 120,000 U.S. pharmacists have been trained to administer immunizations.

18 Aug 2010

Trauma center care cost-effective for all patients: Report

Trauma center care not only saves lives, it is a cost-effective way of treating major trauma, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy. Although treatment at a trauma center is more expensive, the benefits of this approach in terms of lives saved and quality of life-years gained outweigh the costs. The study finds that the added cost of treatment at a trauma center versus nontrauma center is only $36,319 for every life-year gained or $790,931 per life saved.

18 Aug 2010

Luminex donates new MAGPIX system to Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research

Luminex Corporation, the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, today announced it has donated the first commercial unit of its newly launched MAGPIX® instrument to Professor Peter Siba and his scientific team at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research. The instrument will be used onsite in Papua New Guinea to progress malaria research led by Dr. Peter Zimmerman, Professor of International Health, Genetics and Biology at the Center for Global Health and Diseases at Case Western Reserve University.

From Luminex 18 Aug 2010

NACTN receives grant to expand spinal cord injury research

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation a $5.4 million grant to support the expansion of translational research to find treatments for military men and women with spinal cord injuries.

18 Aug 2010

Study finds black patients receive fewer opoid medications than whites

Black patients are prescribed fewer pain medications than whites and few women receive medications strong enough to manage their chronic pain, according to a study in the August issue of Journal of Pain.University of Michigan Health System researchers studied nearly 200 patients with chronic pain who sought help from a specialty pain center. Researchers analyzed the number and potency of medicines they were already taking and the adequacy of pain management.

18 Aug 2010

New Superbug emphasises ill-preparedness across Europe to meet this emerging public health challenge

Research just published that identifies new highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria reinforces the frequency with which similar strains of so-called “superbugs” are being discovered across Europe, according to the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

17 Aug 2010

Rice receives Defense Threat Reduction Agency grant to develop genomic test for cultivated pathogens

Researchers at Rice University have won federal support to develop a genomic test that can quickly determine whether a disease outbreak is caused by a natural pathogen or one that was grown in a lab by terrorists.

17 Aug 2010

Chemistry Industry Association of Canada urges caution when interpreting biomonitoring studies

The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada supports the results of Health Canada's Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, released today. Biomonitoring studies such as this are useful tools for obtaining exposure information, which can be combined with other scientific approaches to advance public health. That being said, the association urges caution when interpreting biomonitoring studies.

17 Aug 2010

Effect of Presidential election outcomes on suicide rates: Study

Change and hope were central themes to the November 2008 U.S. presidential election. A new longitudinal study published in the September issue of Social Science Quarterly analyzes suicide rates at a state level from 1981-2005 and determines that presidential election outcomes directly influence suicide rates among voters.

17 Aug 2010

Study examines ways to reduce growing cancer burden in developing world

"The growing burden of cancer in developing countries could be reduced without expensive drugs and equipment, scientists said on Monday, but it requires a global effort similar to the fight against HIV/AIDS," Reuters reports in an article that examines a study published in the Lancet by a group of American scientists who have created the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries.

17 Aug 2010

IBCERCC to improve existing research programs for breast cancer

A newly formed advisory committee will develop and coordinate a strategic federal research agenda on environmental and genetic factors related to breast cancer. The 19 member Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee was established by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, to review all breast cancer research efforts conducted or supported by federal agencies.

17 Aug 2010

Bariatric surgery can result in sustained reversal of obesity, type 2 diabetes: Study

Results of a large national study show that nearly three-quarters of obese patients with type 2 diabetes who undergo weight-loss surgery are able to stop insulin and other antidiabetes drugs within six months. In the Johns Hopkins study of insured, obese, diabetic patients, researchers also found that in the third year following surgery, average annual health care costs per patient decreased by more than 70 percent. The study is published in the Archives of Surgery this month.

17 Aug 2010

Public Health News and Research

24% more children with progeria discovered

U.S. children and adolescents become fatter over the last decade: Study

New 'Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database' tracks published epidemiologic and real world exposure studies

Researchers participate in Alzheimer's Breakthrough Ride to urge Congress make the disease a national priority

NASN encourages parents to vaccinate their children against meningococcal disease

Experts to discuss the problem of antibiotic resistance

North Carolina Healthcare Information Exchange to be launched

Consortium on Aging created at The University of Texas Health Science Center

Pharmacists in all states authorized to administer influenza vaccines

Trauma center care cost-effective for all patients: Report

Luminex donates new MAGPIX system to Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research

NACTN receives grant to expand spinal cord injury research

Study finds black patients receive fewer opoid medications than whites

New Superbug emphasises ill-preparedness across Europe to meet this emerging public health challenge

Rice receives Defense Threat Reduction Agency grant to develop genomic test for cultivated pathogens

Chemistry Industry Association of Canada urges caution when interpreting biomonitoring studies

Effect of Presidential election outcomes on suicide rates: Study

Study examines ways to reduce growing cancer burden in developing world

IBCERCC to improve existing research programs for breast cancer

Bariatric surgery can result in sustained reversal of obesity, type 2 diabetes: Study

News Medical 2025: Healthcare Shifts That Mattered Most eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

Latest News