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UK study highlights importance of breathing tests in the assessment of COPD

A UK study of patients participating in low-dose CT lung cancer screening highlights the importance of spirometry (breathing tests) in the assessment of possible chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and demonstrates that over-reliance on radiological changes alone may result in detection of clinically insignificant disease.

13 Mar 2020

Estimated 10,000 people in UK may have COVID-19

Around the globe, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has sparked a major health crisis as many countries grapple with increasing confirmed infections and deaths. Italy, Iran, and South Korea struggle as they are the countries with the highest number of cases outside mainland China. But, health expert fears that there may be about 10,000 people infected with the coronavirus in the United Kingdom.

13 Mar 2020

'Flattening the curve' - why is it important for coronavirus?

With the emergence of the novel coronavirus and the propagation of the infectious disease COVID-19 around the world, everyone is talking about 'flattening the curve'. But what does this mean, and why is it so important?

12 Mar 2020

Weather modeling data helps predict potential spread and seasonality for COVID-19

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute of Human Virology (IHV), which is part of the Global Virus Network, predict that COVID-19 will follow a seasonal pattern similar to other respiratory viruses like seasonal flu.

12 Mar 2020

Coronavirus puts prisons in tight spot amid staff shortages, threats of lockdown

Federal prison union officials and inmate advocates warn that the combination of chronic understaffing, a new leave policy and the realities of coronavirus quarantines could lead to the first nationwide federal prison lockdown since 1995.

12 Mar 2020

Hackensack Meridian Health's CDI launches rapid response coronavirus test

Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive health network, is pleased to announce that the Center for Discovery and Innovation has created a test to dramatically reduce the time it takes for diagnosing COVID-19.

12 Mar 2020

Donald Trump’s wrong claim that ‘anybody’ can get tested for coronavirus

To show that his administration has been fast and effective in its response to the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump claimed that anybody who wants to get tested for the respiratory disease caused by the virus can do so.

12 Mar 2020

ZSL scientists call for investment in wildlife health research to prevent future pandemics

The UK should invest in better understanding of diseases in wildlife populations, and the routes to these becoming human diseases to drastically reduce the risk of future - possibly even worse - global pandemics like COVID-19.

12 Mar 2020

Study details first locally-transmitted case of severe SARS-CoV-2 in the USA

Person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred between two people with prolonged, unprotected exposure while the first patient was symptomatic. Despite active monitoring and testing of 372 contacts of both cases, no further transmission was detected

12 Mar 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Coronavirus goes viral

This was the week the coronavirus hit the U.S. in general and Washington, D.C., in particular in a big way.

12 Mar 2020

Tampons, pads and politics mesh in new push for access to menstrual supplies

Geoff Davis' gray Kia sedan is chock-full of tampons and maxi pads.

12 Mar 2020

Alcoholics Anonymous the best way to abstain

Researchers from the Stanford School of Medicine have found that utilizing the help of a support group like Alcoholics Anonymous could be the best possible way for those with alcohol dependence to abstain. This finding came from a review article titled "Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12‐step programs for alcohol use disorder," published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review.

11 Mar 2020

Nepal is highly prone to climate-sensitive infectious disease outbreaks

Nepal can greatly reduce its vulnerability to climate-sensitive infectious diseases by improving its public health surveillance and prediction capabilities, says a paper due to be published April in Acta Tropica.

11 Mar 2020

Involuntary job loss causes dramatic increase in criminal behavior

Everyone knows that losing your job hurts, but the negative effects are not solely experienced by the displaced worker and his or her family. Newly published research by a Case Western Reserve University economist finds that involuntary job loss also causes a dramatic increase in criminal behavior.

11 Mar 2020

BIN1 deficit leads to impaired spatial learning and memory

Bridging integrator 1, known as BIN1, is the second most common risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, according to genome-wide studies of genetic variants. Yet, scientists know little about what this protein does in the brain.

11 Mar 2020

Striking health inequities between dually enrolled and nondually enrolled older Medicare beneficiaries

In the United States, income inequality has steadily increased over the last several decades. Given widening inequities, health care leaders have been concerned about the health outcomes of older Americans who experience poverty, particularly because prior studies have shown a strong link between socioeconomic status and health.

11 Mar 2020

City dwellers, children and seniors take more antibiotics

City dwellers take more antibiotics than people in rural areas; children and the elderly use them more often than middle-aged people; the use of antibiotics decreases as education increases, but only in rich countries: These are three of the more striking trends identified by researchers of the NRW Forschungskolleg "One Health and Urban Transformation" at the University of Bonn in a recent study.

11 Mar 2020

Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-step programs help people with AUD achieve sobriety

Newly updated evidence published in the Cochrane Library today compares Alcoholics Anonymous and clinically-related Twelve-Step Facilitation programs with other treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, to see if they help people who suffer from alcohol use disorders achieve sobriety or reduce the amount of alcohol that they consume.

11 Mar 2020

How to avoid coronavirus? Lessons from people whose lives depend on it

Andrea Amelse knows hand-washing.

11 Mar 2020

UK reports 6th death, Health Minister tests positive for COVID-19

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues to spread across the globe, with more than 100 countries affected. Now, the United Kingdom has reported its sixth death related to the viral infection.

11 Mar 2020