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New ad campaign warns people on providing alcohol to underage drinkers

Moviegoers at some theaters this weekend will be reminded to be careful when they serve alcohol.

27 Mar 2010

SAMHSA survey: Underage drinking rates reach more than 27.6% in the past month

More than a quarter of youth aged 12-20 (27.6 percent) drank alcohol in the past month, according to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The study shows that the underage drinking rates were as high as 40 percent in some states such as North Dakota and Vermont.

27 Mar 2010

Study finds association between socioeconomic position and risk of death

An analysis of nearly 25 years of data for about 10,000 civil servants in London finds an association between socioeconomic position and risk of death, with much of this relation accounted for by health behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and physical activity, according to a study in the March 24/31 issue of JAMA.

27 Mar 2010

New interactive Web site for veterans and military family members

Geisinger recently launched www.PAVetFamilyWeb.com. This Web site is designed to serve Pennsylvania families who are coping with military separations and multiple deployments of a service member as well as caregivers, wounded warriors, service members and military veterans.

26 Mar 2010

National public service campaign launched to highlight underage drinking problems

Officials from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Ad Council will unveil a national public service campaign designed to urge parents to speak with their children about underage drinking in order to delay the onset of and ultimately reduce underage drinking.

25 Mar 2010

Hepatic encephalopathy drug XIFAXAN 550 mg tablets receives FDA marketing approval

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted marketing approval for XIFAXAN 550 mg tablets for reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy recurrence in patients 18 years of age or older. HE is a serious disorder caused by chronic liver failure, resulting in cognitive, psychiatric and motor impairments. This approval was supported by findings from the largest randomized trial of maintenance therapy in HE conducted to date, which assessed the efficacy and safety of XIFAXAN 550 mg tablets and demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in the risk of overt HE recurrence.

25 Mar 2010

Raising alcohol price shows many benefits

Raise the price of alcohol and reduce the ill effects it causes. May seem like plain common sense and yes now it has research data to support it. British researchers in the University of Sheffield have used a epidemiological, mathematical model to prove that as general price increases the alcohol consumption decreases. So the alcohol related deaths and health care costs will also decrease.

24 Mar 2010

Study indicates binge drinking does not impact students' test performance

In a first-of-its kind controlled experiment, researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Brown University have found that surprisingly, binge drinking the night before a test does not impact college students' test performance - although it can affect their moods, attention and reaction times.

24 Mar 2010

Heavy drinkers more likely to have adverse health-related practices

Women and men who engage in frequent heavy drinking report significantly worse health-related practices, according to a Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study in the journal Addiction Research & Theory.

23 Mar 2010

Intensive program helps French hospital reduce MRSA rates over 15-year period

An intensive program of surveillance, precautions, training and feedback in a large multihospital institution appears to be associated with reductions in rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) over a 15-year period, according to a report in the March 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

23 Mar 2010

Infections from Clostridium difficile on the rise in community hospitals

While prevention methods appear to be helping to lower hospital infection rates from MRSA, a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium, a new superbug is on the rise, according to research from the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.

23 Mar 2010

Study: Four risk factors estimated to reduce life expectancy in the U.S.

A study published this week in PLoS Medicine finds that four risk factors - smoking, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and obesity - explain a substantial amount of the disparity in life expectancy amongst the "Eight Americas", which are groups of the US population that can be defined by race, and location and socioeconomic features of counties they live in.

23 Mar 2010

NPR's Car Talk guys team up with University of Utah to launch Driver Distraction Center

NPR's Car Talk guys, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, may be a couple of motor mouths, but they always put a lid on using cell phones behind the wheel. The perennial jokesters confirm their serious commitment to addressing the issue of devices that take a driver's focus off the road by teaming with the University of Utah to launch the Driver Distraction Center at their web site: cartalk.com/distraction.

23 Mar 2010

Tips on healthy eating post-surgery

Good nutrition, with adequate calories and protein, is important to healing and recovery after major surgery. But the stress of surgery and follow-up care can depress the appetite, alter the taste of food and make it difficult to eat and digest food, sometimes for weeks or months.

20 Mar 2010

National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: NIAID Director issues statement

Following is a statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health on National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, March 20, 2010:

19 Mar 2010

Predominantly white, insured and sick patients frequently use ER

Frequent users of the emergency department are predominantly white, insured and at greater risk for hospitalization due to serious illness, despite public perceptions of them as abusers of the healthcare system with minor complaints and no health insurance. This is the consensus of a systematic review of two dozen published studies of so-called "frequent flyers" ("Frequent Users of Emergency Departments: The Myths, the Data, and the Policy Implications").

19 Mar 2010

French National Program finds significant decreases in the rates of HAIs since 2004

Researchers evaluating France's national infection control program for healthcare facilities found significant decreases in the rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) since 2004. The drop in HAIs, including MRSA and surgical site infections, could be attributed to important changes in the national infection control system.

18 Mar 2010

Bleach-based disinfectants more effective against noroviruses

Some 40% of commercial disinfectants used to clean surfaces are believed to be ineffective in eliminating noroviruses, a group of viruses responsible for more than half of all foodborne gastroenteritis outbreaks. According to a recent study published by Universit- Laval researchers in the Journal of Food Protection, only bleach-based disinfectants drastically reduce the concentration of these viruses.

18 Mar 2010

Loneliness can raise blood pressure

Chronic feelings of loneliness take a toll on blood pressure over time, causing a marked increase after four years, according to a new study at the University of Chicago.

18 Mar 2010

Liver cancer: Treatment with intra-arterial yttrium-90 microspheres promising

An interventional radiology treatment-the use of intra-arterial yttrium-90 microspheres for liver cancer (also known as hepatocellular carcinoma)-shows promise in prolonging life for many patients with this devastating condition, according to researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.

17 Mar 2010