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Adolescents who spend a lot of time watching TV tend to be at higher risk for engaging in risky behaviors

New research out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds that physically active adolescents are not only improving their health - they also are decreasing the chance that they will get into trouble.

4 Apr 2006

Obese youngsters unable to use child safety seats

An increasing number of obese youngsters are unable to use child safety seats intended for use while riding cars, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research and Policy.

4 Apr 2006

Obese children in danger in cars because they don't fit safety seats

According to new research many young children in the U.S. are in added danger in a car crash because obesity prevents them fitting into a child car safety seat.

3 Apr 2006

Couch potato? no just motivational deficiency disordered!

According to Australian scientists, being a couch potato may actually be an illness.

3 Apr 2006

High prevalence of mumps in Iowa

The Department of Public Health in Iowa says 245 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of mumps have been reported there since mid-January.

3 Apr 2006

HIV infection rates down one-third in south India

A University of Toronto Indo-Canadian study reports a remarkable one-third decline in new HIV infections in the worst hit regions of India, indicating that with condom use and awareness programs, the country's AIDS epidemic is far from hopeless.

3 Apr 2006

Special education data provide misleading trends of changing autism prevalence

If statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Education are to be believed, in 1992 the state of Illinois had only 322 diagnosed cases of autism among school children. In 2003, according to the same statistical source, Illinois had more than 6,000 children diagnosed as autistic.

3 Apr 2006

Child safety seat types and obese children

Childhood obesity is a critical health issue. And the use of child safety seats is required by law. But how many child safety seat types are available for the increasing number of obese children?

3 Apr 2006

Nigeria approves misoprostol for use in hospitals and clinics

An old drug will gain a new use in Nigeria when misoprostol will be distributed for prevention and control of post-partum hemorrhage, the life-threatening bleeding after childbirth that commonly occurs in developing countries.

3 Apr 2006

Expecting enough bird flu vaccine for everyone is a big ask

According to researchers an experimental vaccine produced to offer protection against the H5N1 strain of bird flu presently causing havoc across the world, only appears to work at the very highest doses.

31 Mar 2006

Health experts meet in Asia to discuss preventing deadly childhood diseases

The deadly diseases pneumonia and meningitis kill an estimated 1.8 million children under the age of 5 years across the globe every year. Of these, more than 700,000 occur in the countries in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions of the World Health Organization (WHO).

30 Mar 2006

GlaxoSmithKline announces start of clinical trials to test two pandemic vaccines against the H5N1

GlaxoSmithKline has announced the start of an international clinical trial program to test two pandemic vaccines against the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus in humans. This dual approach reflects the company's commitment to provide health authorities with concrete options to face the threat of a pandemic.

30 Mar 2006

Being old and lonely ups the blood pressure

Being lonely is not good for the health and now researchers say it is a factor in raised blood pressure.

29 Mar 2006

Clinton calls for mandatory AIDS testing while UN discourages Goa

Bill Clinton is suggesting that mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS be used in countries with high infection rates and the means to provide lifesaving drugs.

29 Mar 2006

Increase in variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease predicted

According to the latest research far more people may be at risk of contracting variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD) than previously thought.

28 Mar 2006

Clear evidence that elephantiasis can be eliminated

Clear evidence that Lymphatic Filariasis (LF, commonly known as elephantiasis) can be eliminated is reported in The Lancet. LF is one of the world's most disfiguring and disabling parasitic diseases, and the target of one of the largest global public health programs using mass drug administration (MDA).

28 Mar 2006

Cholesterol: the public policy implications of not doing enough

A major new report by think tank, The Stockholm Network, shows policy makers are not doing enough to tackle rising cholesterol levels.

28 Mar 2006

Research released this week supports the House of Commons vote to make all workplaces smoke free

A team of researchers visited 64 pubs across the north west of England. They measured air quality using a portable monitor for at least 30 minutes in an area of the pub where smoking was allowed.

From The University of Manchester 28 Mar 2006

Smokers assume false sense of safety from ads for low nicotine cigarettes

A study by researchers at the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that many smokers make false inferences about the safety of new low nicotine Quest cigarettes.

28 Mar 2006

AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and bird flu spread unchecked in Burma

Government policies in Burma that restrict public health and humanitarian aid have created an environment where AIDS, drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria and bird flu (H5N1) are spreading unchecked, according to a report by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

28 Mar 2006