Epidemiology News and Research

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$Fragility fractures predicted to more than double in Latin America$

Fragility fractures predicted to more than double in Latin America

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), in cooperation with medical and patient societies from throughout Latin America, has today published a landmark report which compiles osteoporosis-related data on 14 countries and the region as a whole. The report shows that fragility fractures due to osteoporosis are predicted to more than double in some countries in the coming decades.

25 May 2012

Scars, disfigurement and hair loss from childhood cancer can affect adult quality of life

Scars left behind by childhood cancer treatments are more than skin-deep. The increased risk of disfigurement and persistent hair loss caused by childhood cancer and treatment are associated with emotional distress and reduced quality of life in adulthood, according to a new study led by a Northwestern Medicine advanced practice nurse, Karen Kinahan, and based on data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

25 May 2012

ICS may prevent parapneumonic effusion in patients with CAP

Prior treatment with inhaled corticosteroids in patients with respiratory disorders who develop community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with a lower incidence and severity of parapneumonic effusion, according to a new study from researchers in Spain.

24 May 2012

Brains that maintain healthy nerve connections as we age help keep us sharp in later life

Brains that maintain healthy nerve connections as we age help keep us sharp in later life, new research funded by the charity Age UK has found.

24 May 2012

No link between viral infections during infancy and wheezing in childhood

The number of viral infections during infancy is not associated with wheezing later in childhood, according to a new study from researchers in the Netherlands. While viral illnesses with wheezing in infancy predicted wheezing later in childhood, this association was due in part to decreased neonatal lung function.

24 May 2012

Children with obesity more likely to have idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Children who are overweight or obese -- particularly older, non-Hispanic white girls -- are more likely to have a neurological disorder known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a rare condition that can result in blindness, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

24 May 2012

Children of mothers with low vitamin D status in pregnancy more likely to have body fat

Children are more likely to have more body fat during childhood if their mother has low levels of Vitamin D during pregnancy, according to scientists at the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU), University of Southampton.

24 May 2012

VCU Center on Health Disparities to research into preterm birth

The Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Health Disparities has been awarded a five-year grant renewal totaling $6.2 million from the National Institute of Health's Institute on Minority Health Disparities for research, research training and community outreach in the area of preterm birth.

23 May 2012

Sarcoidosis accounts for 25% of all deaths in African-American women

A new study conducted by researchers from Boston University has found that sarcoidosis accounts for 25 percent of all deaths among women in the Black Women's Health Study who have the disease. The study is the largest epidemiologic study to date to specifically address mortality in black females with sarcoidosis.

23 May 2012

Folic acid fortification may reduce incidence of some childhood cancers

Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Washington University in St. Louis have found folic acid fortification of grain products in the United States may have an impact on lowering some childhood cancers.

23 May 2012

Excessive alcohol intake may increase of cognitive dysfunction, dementia in the elderly

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other types of dementia are most common in the very elderly, and are associated with huge health costs. With a rapidly ageing population throughout the world, factors that affect the risk of cognitive decline and dementia are of great importance. A review paper by Kim JW et al published in Psychiatry Investig 2012;9:8-16 on the association between alcohol consumption and cognition in the elderly provides an excellent summary of the potential ways in which alcohol may affect cognitive function and the risk of dementia, both adversely and favourably as alcohol may have both a neuro toxic and neuro protective effect, depending on the dose and drinking pattern.

23 May 2012

Mexico and HHS Secretary announce series of new steps to strengthen health security cooperation

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Mexico Secretary of Health Salomón Chertorivski today announced a series of new steps to strengthen health security cooperation between the two countries.

22 May 2012

Studies of technological innovations presented at DDW annual meeting

Studies of technological innovations being presented for the first time at Digestive Disease Week- (DDW) showed increased accuracy coupled with decreased cost, time or invasiveness of gastrointestinal procedures. Use of a new high-definition colonoscope, for example, improved physician confidence in diagnosing small polyps, potentially reducing the amount of polyps sent for pathology analysis and the associated costs.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 22 May 2012

Heart disease risk assessment tools often underestimate CVD danger faced by RA patients

Heart disease risk assessment tools commonly used by physicians often underestimate the cardiovascular disease danger faced by rheumatoid arthritis patients, a Mayo Clinic study has found. Inflammation plays a key role in putting those with rheumatoid arthritis in greater jeopardy for heart disease, yet many cardiovascular disease risk assessment methods do not factor it in, the researchers note.

22 May 2012

Tuberculosis independently predicts death from lung cancer in the elderly

Tuberculosis independently predicts death from lung cancer in the elderly, according to a new study from researchers in Hong Kong.

21 May 2012

Folic acid fortification may reduce incidence of Wilms' tumor, PNET in children

Folic acid fortification of foods may reduce the incidence of the most common type of kidney cancer and a type of brain tumors in children, finds a new study by Kimberly J. Johnson, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, and Amy Linabery, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota.

21 May 2012

Prenatal exposure to air pollution can be serious for children with asthma

The link between prenatal exposure to air pollution and childhood lung growth and respiratory ailments has been established by several studies in recent years, and now a new study suggests that these prenatal exposures can be especially serious for children with asthma.

21 May 2012

Sleep-disordered breathing may increase risk of cancer mortality

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), commonly known as sleep apnea, is associated with an increased risk of cancer mortality, according to a new study.

21 May 2012

New directions and challenges in viral hepatitis care and research

The editors of Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, are pleased to announce the publication of this year's highly anticipated special 13th issue. Published each May, the 13th issue is devoted to a particular gastroenterological topic of broad interest; this year's topic is viral hepatitis.

16 May 2012

Older, high-risk prostate cancer patients get better results in larger hospitals

Older, sicker, high-risk patients who undergo one of the most common treatments for prostate cancer get better results in larger, busier hospitals, according to new research by Henry Ford Hospital.

16 May 2012