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Oral contraceptives may be safe, but information gaps remain

Introduced in the 1960s, oral contraceptives have been used by about 80 percent of women in the United States at some point in their lives.

15 Jan 2009

Calories in recipes have gradually increased over time

Recent research presented at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Small Changes Summit that addresses childhood obesity shows that calories in recipes have gradually increased over time.

15 Jan 2009

Influenza vaccine helps 50-64 year olds stay at work

Workers age 50-64 who received influenza vaccine lost substantially fewer days of work and worked fewer days while ill, according to a new study in the Feb. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases , now available online.

14 Jan 2009

Study looks at how pre-existing mental health conditions affect outcomes in foster care

Of the approximately half-million children and adolescents in foster care in the U.S., experts estimate that 42 to 60 percent of them have emotional and behavioral problems.

14 Jan 2009

Economic burden of diabetes on U.S healthcare system

A new study published in Value in Health estimates the extent of hospital admissions for individuals with diabetes and its economic burden in the U.S.

14 Jan 2009

New online tool to evaluate health reform proposals

The RAND Corporation today launched an online tool to provide policymakers and interested parties with a unique way of understanding and evaluating the effects and unintended consequences of health care reform proposals certain to be introduced in the new 111th Congress and beyond.

13 Jan 2009

Potential health consequences of recession

The Bureau of Labor Statistics just announced a jump in the jobless rate, from 6.8 percent in November to 7.2 percent in December.

13 Jan 2009

Vitamin D offers widespread benefits for health

Vitamin D is quickly becoming the "it" nutrient with health benefits for diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease and now diabetes.

12 Jan 2009

Growing body of evidence supports the value of child health insurance

Congress was unable to pass legislation renewing and expanding the federal State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) last year, so it was extended long enough for the new administration and Congress to take on the issue.

12 Jan 2009

Statistical analysis of bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is much more likely to be deadly for women and African-Americans, but the reasons long believed to explain the phenomenon account for only part of the differences for such patients compared to their white and male counterparts, according to results published in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Cancer.

9 Jan 2009

U.S. patent for NanoLantern diagnostic technology

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) has received a U.S. patent for a diagnostic technology that can rapidly and accurately screen for organisms such as bacteria and other infectious agents.

9 Jan 2009

Researchers find link between two aging pathways in mice

Two previously identified pathways associated with aging in mice are connected, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

9 Jan 2009

An explanation of how statins cause low rates of muscle symptoms

In the January 2009 issue of the American Journal of Medicine , Florida Atlantic University researcher Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., the first Sir Richard Doll Research Professor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science and a renowned expert who has revealed numerous causal, therapeutic and preventive factors in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), most notably low-dose aspirin, explains why statins cause low rates of muscle symptoms.

9 Jan 2009

10.9 million Americans under age 65 have individual health insurance

About 10.9 million Americans under age 65 purchased individual health insurance policies at some point in 2006, but only 7 million were covered by these policies for the full year, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

8 Jan 2009

Mortality rates higher for heart disease patients in neighbourhoods with poor socioeconomics status

Heart disease patients living in poorer areas of B.C. are up to twice as likely to die from chronic diseases than patients living in better-off areas, a University of British Columbia study has found.

8 Jan 2009

Study finds failure to include nurses in process of admitting errors to patients, families

Even though nurses routinely disclose nursing errors to their patients, a new study published in the January 2009 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety shows that nurses often are not included when physicians tell patients about more serious mistakes.

7 Jan 2009

Pap test procedure facts

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center shares important information about the cervical cancer screening exam, the Pap test.

7 Jan 2009

Metabolic syndrome risk for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder

Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have metabolic syndrome than veterans without PTSD.

7 Jan 2009

Health-care providers and patients differ on views of knee replacement

Total knee replacement (TKR) is a common treatment for osteoarthritis, a disease affecting more than 20 million Americans.

7 Jan 2009

Drive toward containing health care costs could have consequences for health care delivery

The drive toward containing health care costs could have the unintended consequence of reducing physician productivity, impairing quality and perhaps even increasing costs, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians suggest in a New England Journal of Medicine "Perspective."

7 Jan 2009