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New SAMHSA report on mental health statistics

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today released Mental Health, United States, 2010, the latest in a series of publications issued biannually by SAMHSA since 1980. This new report includes mental health statistics at the National and State levels from 35 different data sources.

26 Apr 2012

Gender differences in musculoskeletal health are not solely due to hormones

Osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, fractures, and spinal disorders are among the most common reasons for doctor visits. These conditions have more than one thing in common: they are all musculoskeletal problems and are more prevalent in women.

26 Apr 2012

Text-message intervention may help boost flu vaccination rates in children

Text message reminders to parents about flu vaccinations may help boost the number of children vaccinated, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Full study findings are reported in the April 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

26 Apr 2012

Laws against cousin marriage are not supported by science: New book

The health risks of marrying a cousin have been grossly overstated, says a new book. A better understanding of the health effects of cousin marriage could mean more appropriate marriage laws and better medical care for cousin couples and their children.

26 Apr 2012

Researchers discover two new genetic loci for obesity

Obesity is influenced environmental and genetic factors. The genetic predisposition accounts for more than 50 percent of the variance in body weight. Roughly three dozen genes are known to have an influence on body weight regulation. Together with international colleagues, a group of scientists of the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) has identified two new genetic loci for obesity. The results are part of a large international study.

26 Apr 2012

Rise of eating disorders among men and boys

There is an alarming rise of eating disorders among men and boys. Psychologist Deanne Jade, founder of the National Centre For Eating Disorders, says while the route into eating disorders may be different for boys and girls, the underlying causes are all the same.

25 Apr 2012

Kids who are abused or bullied may age faster

The study finds that violence-related stress in children affects telomeres - special DNA sequences found at the tips of chromosomes. Telomeres, which prevent DNA from unravelling, get shorter each time cells divide, which limits the number of times cells can divide. Shorter telomeres have been linked to poorer survival and chronic diseases. Previous research has shown that smoking, obesity, mental-health disorders and stress may accelerate the process of telomere loss. This suggests that telomere length may reflect a person's biological age as well as their chronological age.

25 Apr 2012

World Malaria Day observed

The 25th of April was observed as World Malaria Day. According to Ray Chambers, the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy for malaria, there has been a marked progress in reducing malaria deaths using bed nets, insecticide spray and drugs. He cited a World Health Organization report in December which used figures from 2010, saying malaria deaths had decreased by over one-third. Since then, he said at a news conference Monday, the world has delivered 160 million additional bed nets “so we expect the number of deaths to be much less now.”

25 Apr 2012

Teenagers guzzling hand sanitizer to get drunk

A disturbing trend of teenagers showing up in Los Angeles emergency rooms after drinking inexpensive liquid hand sanitizers to get drunk, has concerned health experts.

25 Apr 2012

Clinical and Translational Science Institute-Children's National awards pilot grant to GW researchers

GW researchers in the School of Medicine, Jeffrey M. Bethony, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine and David Diemert, M.D., FRCP(C), Associate Research Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine and Director of Clinical Trials for the Sabin Vaccine Institute's Product Development Partnership (PDP), have been awarded a Pilot Grant from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute-Children's National.

25 Apr 2012

Childhood obesity prevention programs should start very early and involve peers

Kids can be really mean - especially to other kids - and school-yard bullying can have serious immediate and long-term effects. One area of increasing concern in this regard is the possibility that overweight or obese children shoulder the brunt of bullying. With childhood obesity rates reaching unprecedented levels, this may translate into even more negative behavior being experienced by today's kids.

25 Apr 2012

New microfluidic device can harvest rare circulating tumor cells from blood

A research collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston has created a microfluidic device that can harvest rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood to enable their expansion in culture for analysis.

25 Apr 2012

Researchers examine whether fast foods impact body's reaction to stress in married couples

Today's busy families often rely on fast food and take-out to keep everyone fed and on schedule. Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center want to know whether those types of food, which are often high in saturated fat, impact the body's reaction to stress.

25 Apr 2012

Blog posts comment on launch of USAID's 'Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday' campaign

The following is a summary of several blog posts commenting on the launch of USAID's "Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday" social media campaign by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah at an event at the Kaiser Family Foundation on Monday.

25 Apr 2012

New paper provides examples of cost-effective NCD policies and programs

As childhood and adolescent deaths from infectious diseases have declined worldwide, policymakers are shifting attention to preventing deaths from noncommunicable causes, such as drug and alcohol use, mental health problems, obesity, traffic crashes, violence and unsafe sex practices.

25 Apr 2012

U.N. SG Ban speaks about need for reproductive health care for young people, releases UNFPA report

In remarks to the U.N. Commission on Population and Development, which on Monday opened a week-long session in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "stressed the need to provide reproductive health care for young people, as well as give them access to the necessary information and the means to protect themselves from sexual abuse and violence," the U.N. News Centre reports.

25 Apr 2012

USAID Administrator Shah launches social media campaign to garner support to improve child health, survival

Under the slogan "Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday," USAID on Monday launched a social media campaign featuring childhood photos of celebrities, global health leaders and lawmakers, with the aim of "building support to fight preventable deaths of children," CQ HealthBeat reports.

25 Apr 2012

ASH report urges federal agencies to invest in 7 distinct areas of research

The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world's largest professional society committed to the study and treatment of blood disorders, today issued a report urging federal agencies to coordinate hematology research funding around seven specific high-need areas that would produce the greatest impact and translate into improvements in patient care in the United States.

25 Apr 2012

State roundup: GOP Attorneys General wield health care clout; N.Y. insurance settlement costing patients?

Like the Supreme Court challenge to the Obama-sponsored healthcare law heard last month, the Arizona case is part of a larger story about an escalating battle between Republican-led states and the federal government. All but one of the 16 states that have filed "friend of the court" briefs on the Arizona side have Republican governors. Meanwhile, all of the 11 states lining up with the Obama administration are led by Democrats.

25 Apr 2012

Weakened malaria control programs linked to majority of global resurgences

Funding cuts for malaria control are the single most common reason for the resurgence of the deadly disease, according to a new study that has linked overall weakened malaria control programs to the majority of global resurgences since 1930.

25 Apr 2012