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Landmark study pinpoints the birthplace of modern humans

A landmark study led by Sydney researchers pinpoints the birthplace of modern humans in southern Africa and suggests how climate change may have driven the first migrations.

29 Oct 2019

Study sheds new light on mechanism behind evolution of antibiotic resistance

Researchers have provided new insight into a mechanism behind the evolution of antibiotic resistance in a type of bacterium that causes severe infections in humans.

29 Oct 2019

Gabapentinoid medications increasingly prescribed off-label for adults with cancer

Between 2005 and 2015, as the opioid crisis in America came into focus, prescriptions for gabapentinoid medications -- gabapentin and pregabalin -- to adults with cancer saw a two-fold increase, a University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center study has found.

29 Oct 2019

Researchers develop new genomic analysis method for identifying Yersinia strains

The Yersinia genus covers a vast range of bacteria that are distinguished by criteria such as whether or not they are able to cause disease (their pathogenicity).

29 Oct 2019

Medicare fraud and abuse associated with patient mortality, hospitalizations

Patients treated by health care professionals later excluded from the Medicare program for committing fraud and abuse were between 14 to 17 percent more likely to die than similar patients treated by non-excluded physicians, nurses, and other professionals, according to a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

29 Oct 2019

Wisconsin study: 3 in 5 people with Down syndrome diagnosed with dementia by age 55

Not so many years ago, people with Down syndrome rarely survived to middle age. Many died young due to heart problems associated with the congenital condition.

29 Oct 2019

Lack of leisure time is not a barrier to more physical activity among Americans

Americans may not be too busy to exercise after all. A new RAND Corporation study finds that Americans average more than 5 hours of free time each day, with men generally having a bit more free time than women.

29 Oct 2019

Study uses whole-genome sequencing for early identification and containment of AMR pathogens

A study published today in PNAS examines the evolutionary and epidemiologic history of an epidemic strain of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) - called LAM4/KZN- in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

29 Oct 2019

Moved overseas for school, stayed for insulin

Every now and then, Katie West considers returning to the United States. She moved to Germany for graduate school three years ago and now works as a health systems researcher in Hamburg. Her family is an ocean away. Then she remembers why she stays.

29 Oct 2019

Hospitals take shot at opioid makers over cost of treating uninsured for addiction

While thousands of cities and counties have banded together to sue opioid makers and distributors in a federal court, another group of plaintiffs has started to sue on their own: hospitals.

29 Oct 2019

Pro-inflammatory protein could play key role in protecting against herpes virus

Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix have discovered a function in a pro-inflammatory protein that could play an important part in improving current and future therapeutics for the herpes virus.

29 Oct 2019

Snooze you can use: California legislates more sleep for better health

Teenagers don’t get enough sleep, and California's effort to fix the problem may serve as a wake-up call to other states' lawmakers.

29 Oct 2019

Farmworkers face daunting health risks in California’s wildfires

Farm laborers in yellow safety vests walked through neatly arranged rows of grapes Friday, harvesting the last of the deep purple bundles that hung from the vines, even as the sky behind them was dark with soot.

29 Oct 2019

WHO expert panel discusses digital technology in public health

For the first time ever, the World Health Organization (WHO) has brought together experts in the domain of public health to discuss how digital health technologies can help achieve its goals of global health. The panel, called the Digital Health Technical Advisory Group, discussed a wide range of topics from how data is dealt with, through issues of cost-effectiveness and evidence-based decision making, to making digital health a widely available and ethically bound solution.

28 Oct 2019