Public Health News and Research

RSS

Reports of patients’ deaths linked to heart devices lurk below radar

The Food and Drug Administration continues to file thousands of reports of patients' deaths related to medical devices through a reporting system that keeps the safety data out of the public eye.

26 Dec 2019

Study helps explain why previous attempts to develop a staph vaccine have failed

Staph bacteria, the leading cause of potentially dangerous skin infections, are most feared for the drug-resistant strains that have become a serious threat to public health.

26 Dec 2019

CD4 T cells are not to be blamed for pushing dengue fever from bad to worse

No one knows what makes a mild dengue viral infection morph into a severe and sometimes deadly dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome.

26 Dec 2019

California's vaccine policy improved immunization coverage

In 2016, California removed vaccine exemptions for non-medical reasons, such as parental hesitancy, to requirements for school entry. In other words, California children needed to have a medical reason to refuse vaccination if they wanted to join kindergarten. In so doing, the state may have paved the way for a higher percentage of vaccination recipients at both county and state level, says a new study published this week in the journal PLOS Medicine.

23 Dec 2019

Plant-rich diet protects against foodborne pathogens, mice study shows

Mice fed a plant-rich diet are less susceptible to gastrointestinal infection from a pathogen such as the one currently under investigation for a widespread E. coli outbreak tied to romaine lettuce, UT Southwestern researchers report.

23 Dec 2019

Behavioral intervention and risk education can improve parents' prompt disposal of leftover opioids

Leftover prescription opioids pose big risks to kids, yet most parents keep their own and their child's unused painkillers even after they're no longer medically necessary for pain.

23 Dec 2019

Electronic health records creating a ‘new era’ of health care fraud, officials say

Derek Lewis was working as an electronic health records specialist for the nation's largest hospital chain when he heard about software defects that might even "kill a patient."

23 Dec 2019

Texas law highlights dilemma over care for patients with no hope of survival

Critically ill Tinslee Lewis - a Fort Worth baby embroiled in a dispute between her family and a hospital over whether to continue life-sustaining treatment - is the most recent public face of the heartbreaking and intractable dilemmas often confronted quietly in intensive care units.

23 Dec 2019

Working for long hours tied to increased blood pressure

Those who clock up long hours working may endanger their health, increasing their risk of high blood pressure, a new study found.

22 Dec 2019

Gender-tailored treatment methods may help alleviate opioid crisis

Gender-tailored methods to address the harmful mental health effects of childhood adversity may help alleviate the current opioid crisis and make treatment more effective, concludes University of Massachusetts Amherst epidemiology researcher Elizabeth Evans in her latest research about opioid use disorder.

22 Dec 2019

Freestanding emergency departments associated with increase in spending for care

With emergency department visits spiking around the holidays, patients may be inclined to seek care at freestanding emergency departments in an urgent situation.

22 Dec 2019

Large gym chains offer tanning beds that undermine public health

The end of 2019 brings with it holiday gatherings, school vacations, and the annual tradition of New Year's resolutions - with some of the most common resolutions being to exercise more and lose weight.

21 Dec 2019

Researchers take first step to find causes of sarcopenia

Researchers have gained new insight into the mechanisms involved in how skeletal muscles lose their mass and strength as people age, called sarcopenia.

20 Dec 2019

A veteran started vaping THC to cope with chronic pain. Then he got very sick.

As vaping has grown more popular in recent years, the trend has been fueled by the habit’s pleasurable allure: Compared with smoking cigarettes or pot, vaping is discreet and less smelly. Vaping fluids come in hundreds of flavors. There’s no tar or other byproducts of burning. And vape pens are high-tech, customizable and sleek.

20 Dec 2019

California attempts to revive compassionate cannabis programs

For years, Richard Manning knew what he needed to cope with his physical pain, rage and PTSD — much of which he traced to a career-ending knee injury he suffered while on a domestic security detail with the Marines.

20 Dec 2019

Yang and Sanders use maternal mortality stats to talk about race

In an exchange about racial inequality at December's Democratic presidential primary debate, businessman Andrew Yang highlighted jaw-droppingly different health outcomes between black and white women, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders picked up that thread.

20 Dec 2019

Study: Number of e-cigarette users who began vaping at age 14 or younger has tripled

The number of e-cigarette users who began vaping at age 14 or younger has more than tripled in the last five years, say University of Michigan researchers.

20 Dec 2019

NIAID to fund VTEU program and its companion leadership group

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health, today announced the establishment of the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium, a clinical trials network that will encompass the Institute's long-standing Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs) and create a new consortium leadership group

20 Dec 2019

Worksite intervention can help address lung cancer disparity in rural Kentucky

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among all Kentuckians. Male Kentuckians have higher rates than females, with a disproportionate number residing in rural and medically underserved parts of the state.

20 Dec 2019

Almost one in two Americans will be obese by 2030

A shocking new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reveals that by 2030, just a decade away, almost half of all Americans will be suffering from obesity – making this the biggest epidemic ever in history. And that’s not all – half of these obese individuals will be severely obese, or, to put it in simple terms, they will be over their expected weight by more than 100 pounds.

19 Dec 2019