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Seniors should have the flu jab this winter, say experts

Despite recent doubts about its effectiveness, the influenza vaccine does give valuable protection against illness, hospital admission and death caused by influenza, and people over 65 should have the flu jab this winter, say experts on bmj.com.

18 Nov 2008

Lower socioeconomic status decreases chances of early detection and survival of colorectal cancer

An abstract presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research shows that lower socioeconomic status reduced the chance of early stage diagnosis and survival of colorectal cancer in Colorado.

18 Nov 2008

Recent Southern California wildfires caused hospital visits for respiratory illnesses to spike

Raging wildfires that engulfed Southern California earlier this decade not only destroyed neighborhoods laying in their path, they also caused significant health problems for many who lived outside the fires' reach.

18 Nov 2008

Risk of non-AIDS cancer higher for individuals infected with HIV

The risk of non-AIDS cancer is higher for individuals infected with HIV than for the general population, according to a meta-analysis presented here at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

18 Nov 2008

CDC launches new on-line tool for violence prevention information

Who: The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control's Injury Center is launching a new web resource that provides violence prevention data from 16 funded states.

18 Nov 2008

Cruciferous vegetables may lower lung cancer risk in smokers

The cancer preventive properties of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables appear to work specifically in smokers, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

18 Nov 2008

Use of insecticide-treated bed nets increases, but 90 million African children still exposed to malaria

The use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) to protect children from malaria has risen six-fold in the past seven years, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust.

18 Nov 2008

How should we assess new antimalarial drugs?

In recent years, the use of a three-day course of an antimalarial treatment called ACT (artemisinin-based combination therapy) in over 40 countries that face endemic malaria has shown great success in curing this deadly disease.

18 Nov 2008

Study helps identify beachgoers at increased risk of skin cancer

Identifying the sun-protection practices and risk profiles of beachgoers may help determine those who would benefit from targeted interventions intended to reduce the risk of skin cancer, according to a study in the November issue of Archives of Dermatology.

17 Nov 2008

Financial incentives motivates doctors to reduce ethnic differences in heart disease treatments

Financial incentives for doctors can improve the management of coronary heart disease (CHD) and reduce ethnic differences in quality of and access to care, according to Dr. Christopher Millett, Consultant in Public Health at Imperial College Faculty of Medicine in London in the UK, and his colleagues.

17 Nov 2008

One in four Gulf war veterans suffers from illness caused by toxic exposure

At least one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness, a condition caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas, and no effective treatments have yet been found, a federal panel of scientific experts and veterans concludes in a landmark report released Monday.

17 Nov 2008

Governments urged to take broader perspective when considering whether to fund vaccines

Including quality-of-life impacts in assessments of national vaccination programs would lead to many benefits, including improved productivity and less sick leave for parents, according to an editorial co-authored by a University of New South Wales (UNSW) researcher, that has appeared in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.

17 Nov 2008

Most children still failing to eat five pieces of fruit and veg a day

Most children are still failing to eat five pieces of fruit and veg a day, though their levels of physical activity do meet current Government recommendations, according to the SPEEDY study (Sport, Physical activity and Eating behaviour: Environmental Determinants in Young people).

16 Nov 2008

Traffic pollution worsens respiratory symptoms of childhood asthma

Traffic pollution, especially in cities, adversely affects respiratory health in children with asthma.

16 Nov 2008

Pelvic girdle syndrome linked to diabetes

Diabetes appears to be linked with an increased risk of pelvic girdle syndrome. This is shown in a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Akershus University Hospital.

16 Nov 2008

Community-based physical activity interventions found to be cost-effective

Community-based physical activity interventions designed to promote more active lifestyles among adults are cost-effective in reducing heart disease, stroke, colorectal and breast cancers, and type 2 diabetes, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

16 Nov 2008

Vigabatrin offers hope for treating relapse to methamphetamine abuse

A new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory suggests that vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl-GABA, or GVG) blocks drug-seeking behavior in animals previously trained to associate methamphetamine with a particular environment.

16 Nov 2008