Public Health News and Research

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Using public transit may help you keep fit

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, finds that people who take public transit are three times more likely than those who don't to meet the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's suggested daily minimum of physical activity.

29 Mar 2009

Link between sleeping medicine use and driving impairment

A new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows a positive link between the amount of the hypnotic (sleeping medicine) zopiclone in the blood and the chance of being assessed as impaired in a clinical examination.

29 Mar 2009

Climate change and its adverse effects on health needs more research funding

Climate change will seriously impact public health, but the United States has yet to allocate adequate research funding to understand and prepare for these impacts, according to a report published in Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

29 Mar 2009

Mutations in a gene may stunt lung development in children

Mutations in a gene may cause poor lung development in children, making them more vulnerable to diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) later in life, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and the German Research Center for Environmental Health.

29 Mar 2009

Male circumcision reduces risk of herpes simplex virus type 2 and human papillomavirus

Heterosexual men who undergo medical circumcision can significantly reduce their risk of acquiring two common sexually transmitted infections - herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the cause of genital herpes, and human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cancer and genital warts, according to a report in the March 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

26 Mar 2009

Should all women be screened for domestic violence?

A screening programme which would require doctors and nurses to ask all women whether they have experienced domestic violence, whatever their reason for seeking medical attention, is not justified, according to a new report by researchers at the University of Bristol, funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme.

26 Mar 2009

Sebelius, DeParle discuss health care reform with congressional lawmakers

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), President Obama's nominee for HHS secretary, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, the director of the White House Office for Health Reform, each met with congressional lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss plans for health care overhaul, CQ Today reports. Sebelius said she met with nearly 40 senators who expressed "a lot of interest in health reform."

25 Mar 2009

Effect of neighborhood context and smoking prevalence among Asian Americans

Does the neighborhood where you live play a role in whether you become a smoker?

24 Mar 2009

Sodas increase risk for coronary heart disease

Regular consumption of sugary beverages such as soda put women at a higher risk for coronary heart disease.

24 Mar 2009

Fit women much less likely to die from breast cancer

Physically fit women are less likely to die from breast cancer, according to a study by researchers at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health.

24 Mar 2009

Trial looks at intensive insulin therapy risks

Intensive insulin therapy is used in many intensive care units around the world as a means to tightly regulate blood sugar.

24 Mar 2009

Childhood soy consumption may reduce breast cancer among Asian women

American women who ate higher amounts of soy during childhood had a 58 percent reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

24 Mar 2009

Codeine users more at risk for traffic accidents

The risk of being involved in a traffic accident with personal injury is significantly higher among codeine users than non-users.

24 Mar 2009

Do socioeconomic gradients in BMI vary by race-ethnicity, gender and birthplace?

Socioeconomic status alone might not be as reliable a predictor of body mass index (BMI) in U.S. residents as previously thought, according to a new study.

24 Mar 2009

Staggering new data shows TB-HIV co-infection a bigger threat

The World Health Organization released staggering new data about the threat of tuberculosis and the toll it takes on people with HIV/AIDS today, in recognition of World TB Day.

24 Mar 2009

Local, state health departments forced to cut services for undocumented immigrants amid economic recession

Reductions to public health and nonemergency services by state and county health departments in response to the economic recession have resulted in limited access to care for undocumented immigrants, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

24 Mar 2009

Speakers at White House-sponsored forum discuss possibility of public health coverage option, preventive care

Congressional Democrats intend to pass health care reform legislation by "August or September" that could include an option allowing uninsured U.S. residents to buy into a government-run health care plan, Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said on Monday, Kansas Health Institute News reports.

24 Mar 2009

New HIV/AIDS data released in Latvia

Latvia's Public Health Agency recently released data about HIV/AIDS in the country in 2008, indicating that the spread of the virus through heterosexual contact is increasing, the Baltic Times reports.

24 Mar 2009

Ownership of electronic health information must be addressed

The recently passed 'Stimulus' funding will create a huge amount of electronic medical information in the next few years, but legal uncertainty about who owns the information "presents a major obstacle to integrating and using" it to improve public health and health care, according to a national commentary co-authored by a Wake Forest University and a Duke University faculty member.

24 Mar 2009

Smoking linked to greater risk for pancreatitis

Smoking appears to be associated with an increased risk of acute and chronic pancreatitis, according to a report in the March 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Mar 2009