Epidemiology News and Research

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Connection between Musashi1 and HuR proteins can lead to glioblastoma

Most research on glioblastoma development, a complicated tumor of the brain with a poor prognosis, has focused on the gene transcription level, but scientists suggest that post-transcriptional regulation could be equally or even more important.

18 Jan 2012

Risk factors associated with increased likelihood of long-term disability in older people

Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that the likelihood of becoming disabled with age increases with the following factors: having a chronic condition or cognitive impairment; low physical activity; slower gross motor coordination; having poor lower-extremity function; and being hospitalized. Women are also more likely than men to become disabled in their later years.

17 Jan 2012

FRAX tool now available as version 3.5 in 18 languages

FRAX, which is available free online at http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/, is being used by an increasing number of physicians around the world - the online version alone is used to calculate 10-year probability of fracture in approximately 2.8 million patients annually, with numbers growing steadily.

17 Jan 2012

Interdisciplinary panel reviews U.S. nitrogen pollution trends, risks and mitigation strategies

Nitrogen is both an essential nutrient and a pollutant, a byproduct of fossil fuel combustion and a fertilizer that feeds billions, a benefit and a hazard, depending on form, location, and quantity. Agriculture, industry and transportation have spread nitrogen liberally around the planet, say sixteen scientists in the latest edition of ESA's Issues in Ecology series, "Excess Nitrogen in the U.S. Environment: Trends, Risks, and Solutions," with complex and interrelated consequences for ecological communities and our dependence upon the resources they provide, as well as human health.

17 Jan 2012

Wiley-Blackwell launches Cancer Medicine journal

Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced the launch of Cancer Medicine, a new Wiley Open Access journal.

16 Jan 2012

Links between deodorants and breast cancer refuted but more information needed: Study

A chemical present in cosmetics, food products and pharmaceuticals has been found in tissue samples from 40 women with breast cancer. A number of studies since 1998 have raised concerns about the potential role of these chemicals called parabens in breast cancer as they possess estrogenic properties. Estrogen is known to play a central role in the development, growth and progression of breast cancer.

16 Jan 2012

Smoking during pregnancy does not cause ASD in children

A large population-based study in Sweden indicates that there is no link between smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children.

13 Jan 2012

New ACS guidelines stress importance of social and physical environments

Updated guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention from the American Cancer Society stress the importance of creating social and physical environments that support healthy behaviors. The report includes updated recommendations for individual choices regarding diet and physical activity patterns, but emphasizes that those choices occur within a community context that can either help or hinder healthy behaviors.

12 Jan 2012

Study confirms condom use reduces risk of HIV infection by 78%

The level of HIV-1 in the blood of an HIV-infected partner is the single most important factor influencing risk of sexual transmission to an uninfected partner, according to a multinational study of heterosexual couples in sub-Saharan Africa.

12 Jan 2012

Breast fed babies versus formula fed babies: Who is crankier?

A new study finds that breastfed babies cry more, laugh less, and generally have “more challenging temperaments” than formula-fed infants. However such behavior is normal, and mothers should learn to cope with it rather than reach for the bottle, according to researchers.

11 Jan 2012

1 in 6 U.S. adults binge drinks: CDC report

According to a new CDC report around 1 in 6 U.S. adults binge drinks. This comes to 38 million people who overindulge. They do so an average of about four times a month, sometimes downing eight drinks at a sitting.

11 Jan 2012

Brief adherence programs improve diabetes test results and depression symptoms

Patients simultaneously treated for both Type 2 diabetes and depression improve medication compliance and significantly improve blood sugar and depression levels compared to patients receiving usual care, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

11 Jan 2012

Tobacco more harmful to lungs than marijuana

A large-scale national study suggests low to moderate use of marijuana is less harmful to users' lungs than exposure to tobacco, even though the two substances contain many of the same components. This comprehensive study, led by UCSF and University of Alabama at Birmingham, collected data from more than 5,000 U.S. adults for more than 20 years.

11 Jan 2012

Decorative fountain in hospital linked to 2010 Wisconsin outbreak of Legionnaires' disease

A 2010 outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Wisconsin has been linked to a decorative fountain in a hospital lobby, according to a study published in the February issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

11 Jan 2012

Older women with significant height loss at increased risk for broken bones and death

Older women who have lost more than two inches in height face an increased risk of breaking bones and dying, according to a new study published in the January issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and funded by the National Institutes of Health.

11 Jan 2012

Children delivered by caesarean section at slightly elevated risk of asthma: MoBa study

A new study supports previous findings that children delivered by caesarean section have an increased risk of developing asthma.

11 Jan 2012

Cognitive performance declines more rapidly as age increases

Increased life expectancy implies fundamental changes in the composition of populations, with a significant rise in the number of elderly people. These changes are likely to have a massive influence on the life of individuals and on society in general.

11 Jan 2012

Scientists analyze effect of nationwide tax on sweetened beverages

Every year, Americans drink 13.8 billion gallons of soda, fruit punch, sweet tea, sports drinks, and other sweetened beverages—a mass consumption of sugar that is fueling soaring obesity and diabetes rates in the United States. Now a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) and Columbia University have analyzed the effect of a nationwide tax on these sugary drinks.

10 Jan 2012

First study to investigate driving in teens with high-functioning autism disorder

In the first study to investigate driving as it relates to teens with a high-functioning autism disorder (HFASD), child development and teen driving experts at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies found that two-thirds of teenagers with a high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) who are of legal driving age in their state are currently driving or plan to drive.

9 Jan 2012

The sharpness of the brain dulls beyond 45: Study

Researchers from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London in the UK studied more than 7,000 people over a 10-year period and show the brain's capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension starts waning in middle age rather than in the 60s.

9 Jan 2012