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Obama administration announces plans to step up airport screening for Ebola virus

Though President Barack Obama did not say exactly how screening procedures would change, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said officials would consider a variety of options.

8 Oct 2014

RAND study: Specific state guidance can influence patient access to effective heroin treatment

State policies can influence the number of physicians licensed to prescribe buprenorphine, a drug that can treat addiction to heroin and other opioids in outpatient settings, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

8 Oct 2014

UW-Madison's Yoshihiro Kawaoka recognized for efforts to prevent pandemic influenza

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Yoshihiro Kawaoka has been recognized as a 2014 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award recipient for his efforts to understand and prevent pandemic influenza.

8 Oct 2014

Nurse-led intervention program fails to improve 30-day hospital readmission rates

Researchers at UC San Francisco have found that a nurse-led intervention program designed to reduce readmissions among ethnically and linguistically diverse older patients did not improve 30-day hospital readmission rates. Their findings suggest hospitals evaluate such programs before implementing or continuing.

8 Oct 2014

Testosterone therapy raises risk of prostate tumors in rats

A researcher who found that testosterone raised the risk of prostate tumors and exacerbated the effects of carcinogenic chemical exposure in rats is urging caution in prescribing testosterone therapy to men who have not been diagnosed with hypogonadism, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's journal Endocrinology.

7 Oct 2014

Dengue fever cases in India 282 times higher than officially reported, study says

The annual number of dengue fever cases in India is 282 times higher than officially reported, and the disease inflicts an economic burden on the country of at least US$1.11 billion each year in medical and other expenses, according to a new study published online today in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.

7 Oct 2014

Survey finds that 49% of post-menopausal women do not take bone health supplements

Make no bones about it; post-menopausal women are well aware of the risks of brittle bones and fractures; however, a national survey of women taken for AIDP, Inc., the supplier of KoACT, a patented combination of collagen and calcium, found that almost half (49%) are not taking any bone health supplement to address this major health issue.

7 Oct 2014

Study identifies six new genetic variants associated with habitual coffee drinking

A new, large-scale study has identified six new genetic variants associated with habitual coffee drinking. The genome-wide meta-analysis, led by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers, helps explain why a given amount of coffee or caffeine has different effects on different people and provides a genetic basis for future research exploring the links between coffee and health.

7 Oct 2014

CHLA reports first confirmed case of enterovirus D68 in Los Angeles

In September, Children's Hospital Los Angeles physicians predicted it was a matter of when, and not if, Los Angeles children would become infected with Enterovirus EV-D68, commonly referred to as enterovirus D68. On Oct. 1, that day came. CHLA and public health officials announced that a young patient who had been hospitalized at CHLA with a respiratory illness and later experienced partial limb paralysis had tested positive for enterovirus D68.

7 Oct 2014

U-M scientists launch $11.5 million effort to better understand cause of Parkinson's disease

Deep in the brains of the million Americans with Parkinson's disease, changes to their brain cells put them at high risk of dangerous falls -- a problem that resists even the most modern treatments.

7 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Health costs and income inequality; vital matters when approaching life's end

Government data show that health costs are the biggest driver of income inequality in America today. Most employers pay workers a combination of wages and benefits, the most important of which is health coverage. Economic theory says that when employers' costs for benefits like health coverage rise, they will hold back on salary increases to keep total compensation costs in check. That's exactly what seems to have happened: Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that from June 2004 to June 2014 compensation increased by 28 percent while employer health-insurance costs rose by 51 percent. Consequently, average wages grew by just 24 percent (Mark J. Warshawsky and Andrew G. Biggs, 10/6).

7 Oct 2014

Correcting flaws in the Ebola response

How hospital and health workers react to suspected cases of Ebola going forward is the subject of much scrutiny. But, even as public health and many elected officials urge calm, some potential 2016 presidential candidates say President Obama isn't doing enough to keep the disease out of the U.S.

6 Oct 2014

Canada announces deployment of second mobile lab team to West Africa

The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, with Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Gregory Taylor, announced the deployment of a second mobile lab team to West Africa.

6 Oct 2014

Researchers reveal 'programmable' antibiotic technique to target drug-resistant microbes

The multitude of microbes scientists have found populating the human body have good, bad and mostly mysterious implications for our health. But when something goes wrong, we defend ourselves with the undiscriminating brute force of traditional antibiotics, which wipe out everything at once, regardless of the consequences.

6 Oct 2014

Doctors prescribe more analgaesia to women than to men, study finds

Regardless of the pain type, age and social class, women are more likely to be prescribed analgaesia than men. This is confirmed by a study conducted by several members of the Research Group on Public Health at the University of Alicante and funded by the Women's Institute, which recently received the XXIV Award of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology for the best original article published in the journal Gaceta Sanitaria in 2013.

6 Oct 2014

Suicide prevention: an interview with Dr Shekhar Saxena, World Health Organization

Suicide is a serious public health problem. More than 800,000 people die from suicide every year – that’s one person every 40 seconds.

5 Oct 2014

New study suggests that family meals may be protective against obesity

Increasing rates of adolescent obesity and the likelihood that obesity will carry forward into adulthood, have led to various preventive initiatives. It has been suggested that family meals, which tend to include fruits, vegetables, calcium, and whole grains, could be protective against obesity.

5 Oct 2014

MU researcher gets $1 million from CDC to enhance FASDs prevention efforts

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), like Autism Spectrum Disorders, manifest in childhood as physical abnormalities along with social, attention and learning difficulties that range in severity and continue into adulthood.

5 Oct 2014

Genetic history of HIV finally unravelled

Research, published today, shows that the HIV pandemic almost certainly began its global spread in the 1920s in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

3 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Another troubled website rollout; insurers fight consumer measures in Calif.

If the federal government's new Open Payments website were a consumer product, it would be returned to the manufacturer for a full refund. Open Payments is the government's site for publishing payments made to doctors and teaching hospitals by drug and medical device manufacturers. It includes 4.4 million payments, worth $3.5 billion, to more than half a million doctors and almost 1,360 teaching hospitals (Charles Ornstein, 10/1).

3 Oct 2014

Public Health News and Research

Obama administration announces plans to step up airport screening for Ebola virus

RAND study: Specific state guidance can influence patient access to effective heroin treatment

UW-Madison's Yoshihiro Kawaoka recognized for efforts to prevent pandemic influenza

Nurse-led intervention program fails to improve 30-day hospital readmission rates

Testosterone therapy raises risk of prostate tumors in rats

Dengue fever cases in India 282 times higher than officially reported, study says

Survey finds that 49% of post-menopausal women do not take bone health supplements

Study identifies six new genetic variants associated with habitual coffee drinking

CHLA reports first confirmed case of enterovirus D68 in Los Angeles

U-M scientists launch $11.5 million effort to better understand cause of Parkinson's disease

Viewpoints: Health costs and income inequality; vital matters when approaching life's end

Correcting flaws in the Ebola response

Canada announces deployment of second mobile lab team to West Africa

Researchers reveal 'programmable' antibiotic technique to target drug-resistant microbes

Doctors prescribe more analgaesia to women than to men, study finds

Suicide prevention: an interview with Dr Shekhar Saxena, World Health Organization

New study suggests that family meals may be protective against obesity

MU researcher gets $1 million from CDC to enhance FASDs prevention efforts

Genetic history of HIV finally unravelled

Viewpoints: Another troubled website rollout; insurers fight consumer measures in Calif.

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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