Public Health News and Research

RSS

Disparities in stroke outcomes between black and white patients still great

In Florida, black young adults are hospitalized for stroke at a rate three times higher than their white and Hispanic peers, a new study by University of South Florida researchers reports.

15 Mar 2009

New investigational therapy for the treatment of bladder cancer

A team of researchers, led by Columbia University Medical Center faculty, has identified a new investigational therapy for the treatment of bladder cancer.

12 Mar 2009

New project to develop blood tests for heart disease and stroke

The landmark Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is launching a major initiative to discover risk factors and markers that could lead to new blood tests to identify individuals at high risk of heart disease and stroke.

12 Mar 2009

People who sleep less than six hours nightly risk developing diabetes

To the many problems associated with lack of sleep -- moodiness, memory problems, difficulty concentrating -- add the risk of developing diabetes.

12 Mar 2009

Long-term ground ozone exposure increases risk of dying from lung disease

Long-term exposure to elevated levels of ground ozone - a major constituent of smog - significantly raises the risk of dying from lung disease, according to a new nationwide study of cities that evaluated the impact of ozone on respiratory health over an 18-year period.

11 Mar 2009

One in seven American adolescents is vitamin D deficient

One in seven American adolescents is vitamin D deficient, according to a new study by researchers in the Department of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College.

11 Mar 2009

Mandatory obstructive sleep apnea screenings could reduce risk of truck crashes

Truck crashes are a significant public health hazard causing thousands of deaths and injuries each year, with driver fatigue and sleepiness being major causes.

11 Mar 2009

Low levels of vitamin D linked to several risk factors in teenagers

Low levels of vitamin D were associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and metabolic syndrome in teenagers, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

11 Mar 2009

Health impacts of climate change require global action

The health impact of climate change is a critical issue that policy-makers should be aware of while setting priorities for action and investment to mitigate the impact of global climate change. This is the key message that WHO experts delivered at the Climate Change Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions conference in Copenhagen.

11 Mar 2009

Simple test helps predict heart attack risk

The use of common and readily available screening tests - like the ankle brachial index (ABI) - along with traditional risk scoring systems - such as the Framingham Risk Score - has the potential to prevent devastating heart attacks in thousands of individuals who are not originally thought to be at high risk (according to Framingham alone), say researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 34th Annual Scientific Meeting.

11 Mar 2009

SOX9 protein may be a potential target for melanoma treatment

In a new study released today, researchers have shown that a specific protein plays an important role in inhibiting the development and spread of melanoma tumors in mouse and in human skin models.

11 Mar 2009

Inadequacy of current guidelines for STIs

Adolescent girls reveal alarmingly high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which remain largely undetected by recommended screening guidelines.

11 Mar 2009

Diagnostic errors: The new focus of patient safety experts

Johns Hopkins patient safety experts say it's high time for diagnostic errors to get the same attention from medical institutions and caregivers as drug-prescribing errors, wrong-site surgeries and hospital-acquired infections.

11 Mar 2009

Regular family meals result in better eating habits for adolescents

Good eating habits can result when families eat together. In the March/April 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior , researchers from the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota report on one of the first studies to examine the long-term benefits of regular family meals for diet quality during the transition from early to middle adolescence.

10 Mar 2009

Color of wine makes no difference when it comes to breast-cancer

The largest study of its kind to evaluate the effect of red versus white wine on breast-cancer risk concludes that both are equal offenders when it comes to increasing breast-cancer risk.

10 Mar 2009

Insomnia often a persistent condition

About three-fourths of individuals with insomnia report experiencing the condition for at least one year and almost half experience it for three years, according to a report in the March 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Mar 2009

Study looks at yoga and fear of falling in seniors

Indiana University researchers found promising results in an exploratory study involving yoga practice by older adults who expressed a fear of falling.

10 Mar 2009

Diabetes and elevated levels of cholesterol linked to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's

A history of diabetes and elevated levels of cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol, are associated with faster cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers.

10 Mar 2009

Anger and hostility associated with higher risk for coronary heart disease

Anger and hostility are significantly associated with both a higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy individuals and poorer outcomes in patients with existing heart disease, according to the first quantitative review and meta-analysis of related studies, which appears in the March 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

10 Mar 2009

Breakthrough improves effectiveness of tuberculosis vaccine

A breakthrough strategy to improve the effectiveness of the only tuberculosis vaccine approved for humans provided superior protection against the deadly disease in a pre-clinical test, report scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in Nature Medicine 's Advance Online Publication March 1.

8 Mar 2009