Public Health News and Research

RSS

Study suggests guidelines to enhance content of educational videos on chronic conditions

Many people with chronic health conditions search social media, including YouTube videos, to learn more about how to manage their diagnoses. But these videos differ in how well they communicate information and hold viewers' attention.

3 Mar 2020

UAB research reveals hydrogen sulfide as new culprit for deadly tuberculosis

A new culprit -- hydrogen sulfide -- has been found for the deadly infectious disease tuberculosis. Hydrogen sulfide gas is known for its rotten egg smell, yet it has normal physiological roles in the human body to communicate among cells.

3 Mar 2020

Cannabis use more prevalent among pregnant women with depression

Cannabis use is much more common among pregnant women with depression and pregnant women with depression are more than 3 times more likely to use cannabis than those without depression, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

3 Mar 2020

Obesity could increase severity of influenza study shows

A new study has revealed that those who are obese or overweight tend to get more severe bouts of influenza than those who are a healthy weight. The reason behind this could be the altered immune system of those who are obese. The study outlining this finding is published in the latest issue of the journal mBio from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The study was titled, "Obesity-Related Microenvironment Promotes Emergence of Virulent Influenza Virus Strains."

3 Mar 2020

UT Extension leads new effort to combat opioid crisis in rural Tennessee

University of Tennessee Extension will lead a new effort to combat the opioid crisis in rural Tennessee. PROMPT TN (Preventing Rural Opioid Misuse Through Partnerships and Training) will combine the expertise of multiple institutions to develop opioid-specific resources designed to increase understanding of underlying causes of opioid misuse with the goal of preventing addiction.

3 Mar 2020

Research opens up new prospects for prevention and treatment of bacterial pneumonia

Researchers from the Lille Centre for Infection and Immunity, INRAE and from Brazilian (Belo Horizonte), Scottish (Glasgow) and Danish (Copenhagen) laboratories have shown for the first time in mice that perturbation of the gut microbiota caused by the influenza virus favors secondary bacterial superinfection.

3 Mar 2020

Australia reports first human-to-human coronavirus transmission, total cases now 39

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has started to gain momentum over the past week, spreading to 77 countries, including Australia. The number of confirmed cases in the country has reached 41, with ten new cases reported in Queensland.

3 Mar 2020

Reitman Foundation funds pilot study to investigate outcomes of neonates treated for opioid withdrawal

Researchers at Kessler Foundation will collaborate with Children's Specialized Hospital to study the outcomes of neonates treated for opioid withdrawal in the Hospital's Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Program.

3 Mar 2020

Study: Five-year survival rate for adolescents and young adults with cancer has improved

The five-year survival rate for adolescents and young adults with cancer has significantly improved from 1975 to 2005 in the United States overall, but this was not the case for all cancers, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 Mar 2020

Study finds big drop in drowning deaths

James Cook University researcher Associate Professor Richard Franklin says drownings globally have dropped by half over the last 30 years, with rates reducing in all regions except Oceania.

3 Mar 2020

Maine voters consider U-turn on vaccine exemptions

As Mainers head to the polls on Super Tuesday for the presidential primary, they also will decide another issue: vaccine requirements. A statewide referendum asks if voters want to overturn a new law that eliminates religious and philosophical exemptions for childhood vaccines.

3 Mar 2020

Analysis: One sure thing about COVID-19: No telling how many people have it

It has been nearly three months since the first cases of a new coronavirus pneumonia appeared in Wuhan, China, and it is now a global outbreak. And yet, despite nearly 90,000 infections worldwide (most of them in China), the world still doesn't have a clear picture of some basic information about this outbreak.

3 Mar 2020

New Pressure Injury Prevention Scanner from BBI

BBI (Europe) Ltd, the pioneer in biometric-sensor based medical devices, launches its ProvizioTM SEM Scanner: the first hand-held, wireless PI/PU risk assessment device with data transfer capabilities.

3 Mar 2020

Alcohol Consumption Weakens Bones of People Living with HIV

For people living with HIV, any level of alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of a protein involved in bone formation, raising the risk of osteoporosis, according to a new study by researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health.

3 Mar 2020

Health effects of the Australian bushfires

A viewpoint published in the journal JAMA internal Medicine February 28, 2020, discusses the lessons learned from the recent Australian bushfires in regards to climate change and public health.

2 Mar 2020

The changing face of the COVID-19 epidemic

The SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) virus, which hit China with the disease now named COVID-19 in December 2019 and has since spread to over 70 countries, has caused over 90,000 cases, and 3,117 fatalities, with 95% or more of both being in China.

2 Mar 2020

Irregular sleep could be linked to poor cardiovascular health

A new study from the researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital has revealed that irregular sleep patterns could be adversely affecting the cardiovascular health of an individual. Their study titled, "Actigraphy-measured Sleep Regularity and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis," was published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

2 Mar 2020