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Nationwide survey reports a high rate of concern about body image in both boys and girls

A nationwide survey of more than 10,000 adolescents, published in the August issue of Pediatrics, reports a high rate of concern about body image in both boys and girls, and finds that adolescents with such concerns are much more likely to use hormones and dietary supplements to enhance their physique.

1 Aug 2005

Birth control pill increases risks of cervical and breast cancer

Scientists are now saying that women who take the birth control pill could be increasing their risk of cervical and breast cancer.

31 Jul 2005

FDA bans antibiotic use for poultry

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the use of a poultry antibiotic made by Bayer.

31 Jul 2005

Combination antiretroviral drug therapy may reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

Two new studies support the hypothesis that combination antiretroviral drug therapy may reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission through breastfeeding, findings that could have significant implications in the developing world.

29 Jul 2005

Students and school employees are being poisoned by pesticide use at schools and from drift off of neighboring farmlands

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that students and school employees are being poisoned by pesticide use at schools and from drift off of neighboring farmlands. The public health advocacy organization Beyond Pesticides has called on Congress to respond by passing the School Environment Protection Act (SEPA).

27 Jul 2005

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health. Today, experts addressed key developments to the current and future outlook of infectious diseases, highlighting adolescent immunizations, outbreaks and epidemics of infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and new developments in HIV medicine, at a press conference sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

27 Jul 2005

Controlling high blood pressure in individuals age 80 years and older has become a major national health problem

The study found that almost three fourths of those 80 years and older have hypertension -- blood pressure greater than 140 systolic over greater than 90 diastolic. Fewer than 10 percent have "normal" blood pressure levels -- less than 120 systolic over less than 80 diastolic.

26 Jul 2005

Exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy can be just as detrimental to a developing fetus as primary exposure through maternal smoking

In a study published in the online journal BMC Pediatrics, Stephen G. Grant, Ph.D., associate professor of environmental and occupational health, reports that both active maternal smoking and secondary maternal exposure result in similarly increased rates of genetic mutation that are basically indistinguishable.

26 Jul 2005

Unprecedented industry-backed laws limit public safety

Two laws recently passed by Congress with strong industry backing have had a chilling effect on government efforts to protect public health, according to a UCSF study.

26 Jul 2005

Working class twins fare worse than their professional sibs on blood pressure, cholesterol and self-rated health

Nancy Krieger, professor of society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues, compared the health status, education levels and adult occupational class among women who were identical twins and who lived together through adolescence, to demonstrate that adult socioeconomic conditions affect adult health, above and beyond genetics and early life conditions.

26 Jul 2005

First large-scale effort to sequence the flu genome

Multiple strains of the flu virus, circulating in a population at the same time, can reshuffle their genes and create a new virus, one capable of infecting many more people, according to a new study in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.

26 Jul 2005

Immigrants in the United States receive less than half the health-care services than do native-born Americans

Immigrant children get even lower levels of care, receiving 84 percent less than U.S.-born children, according to researchers at Harvard and Columbia universities and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

26 Jul 2005

Models may risk making overly optimistic predictions about the levels of public health interventions needed to bring a disease under control

Mathematical models have become invaluable decision-making tools for public health officials. As demonstrated during the United Kingdom's foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001, models can be useful in two ways: they can reveal the underlying characteristics of an infection and they can allow the comparison of alternative control measures.

26 Jul 2005

U-M Health System study finds patient education video is excellent teaching tool but doctors are better at calming fears

In an age when people often learn health information from surfing the Web and watching television shows set in hospitals, researchers have found that showing patients an educational video about their condition teaches them the facts about their disease even better than when their doctor tells them about the condition.

26 Jul 2005

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders, according to data from a national performance measurement project released today in New York City at the American Medical Association Media Briefing, Alcohol Dependence: From Science to Solutions.

24 Jul 2005

Public Health News and Research

Nationwide survey reports a high rate of concern about body image in both boys and girls

Birth control pill increases risks of cervical and breast cancer

FDA bans antibiotic use for poultry

Combination antiretroviral drug therapy may reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

Students and school employees are being poisoned by pesticide use at schools and from drift off of neighboring farmlands

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health

Controlling high blood pressure in individuals age 80 years and older has become a major national health problem

Exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy can be just as detrimental to a developing fetus as primary exposure through maternal smoking

Unprecedented industry-backed laws limit public safety

Working class twins fare worse than their professional sibs on blood pressure, cholesterol and self-rated health

First large-scale effort to sequence the flu genome

Immigrants in the United States receive less than half the health-care services than do native-born Americans

Models may risk making overly optimistic predictions about the levels of public health interventions needed to bring a disease under control

U-M Health System study finds patient education video is excellent teaching tool but doctors are better at calming fears

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders

Spousal violence affects one in three Albanian wives

Food subsidies in Poland has led to a drastic drop in deaths from coronary heart disease

Wealth doesn't always equal health

Brits stockpiling bird flu vaccine

High rates of cervical cancer are indicators of larger problems in access to health care

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