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Targeted drug therapy prevents exercise-induced arrhythmias

A 12-year-old Dutch boy - bedridden for three years because of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome - can now join his friends on the soccer field thanks to a discovery made by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers.

30 Mar 2009

Researchers examine relationship between multiple births and maternal depressive symptoms

Mothers of multiples have 43 percent increased odds of having moderate to severe depressive symptoms nine months after giving birth compared to mothers of single-born children, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

30 Mar 2009

Gene linked to lupus might explain why females are 10 times more susceptible to the disease

In an international human genetic study, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a gene linked to the autoimmune disease lupus, and its location on the X chromosome might help explain why females are 10 times more susceptible to the disease than males

30 Mar 2009

Childhood obesity may begin in early infancy

As childhood obesity continues its thirty-year advance from occasional curiosity to cultural epidemic, health care providers are struggling to find out why-and the reasons are many. Increasingly sedentary environments for both adults and children, as well as cheap and ubiquitous processed foods no doubt play a role, but researchers are finding more evidence that the first clues for childhood obesity may begin as far back as early infancy.

30 Mar 2009

Tanzania hopes to eradicate Malaria by 2015, health official says following release of global malaria map

The Tanzanian government has expressed hope that the country will be able to eradicate malaria by 2015, Aisha Kigoda, deputy minister for health and social welfare, said Tuesday following the release of a global malaria map that identifies areas at high risk of malaria, the Guardian/IPP Media reports.

30 Mar 2009

Education sector faces severe impact from HIV/AIDS, Ugandan official says

A senior official at Uganda's Ministry of Education said recently that the impact of HIV/AIDS on the country's education sector would be severe if measures are not taken to address the situation, Uganda's Daily Monitor reports.

30 Mar 2009

Boston Globe examines center that provides services to children living with HIV, other conditions

The Boston Globe on Thursday examined the SPARK Center, which opened in 1988 as a residential program for children living with HIV.

30 Mar 2009

Reps. introduce bill to expand Medicaid coverage to some HIV-positive people

Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have introduced a bill (H.R. 1616) to allow states to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income HIV-positive people, CQ HealthBeat reports.

30 Mar 2009

New survey tracks behavioral health treatment trends

Behavioral healthcare systems are playing a major role in responding to the needs of the millions of Americans of all ages who experience psychiatric and substance use conditions each year, according to the latest annual survey from the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) released.

30 Mar 2009

Autism skews developing brain with synchronous motion and sound

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to stare at people's mouths rather than their eyes.

29 Mar 2009

Don't hold back: five is the right age to start school

Children markedly older in their year group tend to be less motivated in high school and academically behind children who are age appropriate, new research from the University of Sydney shows.

29 Mar 2009

Discovery of protein that reactivates latent herpes simplex virus

Research in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens appears to solve a long standing medical mystery by identifying a viral protein, VP16, as the molecular key that prompts herpes simplex virus (HSV) to exit latency and cause recurrent disease.

29 Mar 2009

Genetic variations may determine lung function and susceptibility to maternal smoking

A tiny variation within a single gene can determine not only how quickly and well lungs grow and function in children and adolescents, but how susceptible those children will be to exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, even in utero, according to researchers from the University of Southern California.

29 Mar 2009

Do Americans have an identity crisis when it comes to race and ethnicity?

Say goodbye to Italian-Americans and German-Americans and say hello to Vietnamese-Americans, Salvadoran-Americans and a bunch of other hyphenated Americans.

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

Psychiatric disorders common in adults who have had anorexia

Many adults who were diagnosed as teenagers to be suffering from anorexia nervosa cannot work due to psychiatric disorders. A follow-up 18 years after the onset of anorexia has shown that one in four are on disability benefit or have been signed off sick. The long-term follow-up by the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, does, however, show some encouraging results.

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

China to open malaria control center in Cameroon

Chinese officials plan to open a malaria research center in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, Shen Yi, a Chinese embassy official, said recently ahead of an opening ceremony for the center, Xinhuanet reports. The center is expected to cost three million Chinese yuan, or about $440,000, Xinhuanet reports.

25 Mar 2009

Nearly 11% of Utah residents uninsured

About 10.7% or 298,200 Utah residents did not have health insurance in 2008, compared with 10.6% in 2007, according to the annual Utah Healthcare Access Survey, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

25 Mar 2009

Employers increase use of eligibility audits for workers' dependents to reduce health care costs, survey finds

Employers are becoming more aggressive about checking the health coverage eligibility of workers' dependents as a way to reduce health care costs, according to a recent Watson Wyatt survey, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

25 Mar 2009