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Early life experiences influence risk of cognitive impairment in later life

Early life experiences, such as childhood socioeconomic status and literacy, may have greater influence on the risk of cognitive impairment late in life than such demographic characteristics as race and ethnicity, a large study by researchers with the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center and the University of Victoria, Canada, has found.

26 Jul 2014

ESMO: Proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation may impact cancer research

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the leading pan-European association representing medical oncology professionals, has expressed concern that the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation could make cancer research impossible and add a significant burden to both doctors and cancer patients.

25 Jul 2014

Mexico, US sign statement of intent to promote safety of fresh agricultural products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the government of Mexico's National Service for Agro-Alimentary Public Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) and Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) signed a statement of intent forming a partnership to promote the safety of fresh and minimally processed agricultural products.

25 Jul 2014

Cedars-Sinai launches applied research center to improve value of patient care

Cedars-Sinai has launched an applied research center to improve the value of patient care inside the medical center and beyond its walls by strengthening patient-doctor bonds and bringing greater efficiency to the delivery of clinical services.

25 Jul 2014

Longer looks: the economics of infertility; placebos as treatment raises ethical dilemmas

About a decade ago, Medicaid programs were struggling to keep up with skyrocketing prescription drug costs. Between 1997 and 2002, drug spending in the program for low-income Americans grew by about 20 percent annually. ... Medicaid directors began looking for ways to tamp down on those costs. One of the most popular policies was something called "prior authorization" for a new wave of more expensive, anti-psychotic drugs ,... These policies, in a sense, worked: they helped rein in how much Medicaid spent filling prescriptions. But in another sense, they may not have worked at all: a growing body of research has begun questioning whether restricting drug spending may have just shifted costs elsewhere -; particularly, into the prison system (Sarah Kliff, 7/22).

25 Jul 2014

Direct medical costs projected to increase to $49 billion annually by 2020

The American College of Chest Physicians announced today the Online First publication of 'Total and State-Specific Medical and Absenteeism Costs of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years in the United States for 2010 and Projections Through 2020' in the journal CHEST.

25 Jul 2014

UTHealth's Bhavani Iyer awarded grant to help Harris County residents with vision problems

Bhavani Iyer, O.D., a low vision specialist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School, has been awarded a grant to help Harris County residents whose vision problems cannot be corrected with eyeglasses, medication or surgery.

25 Jul 2014

Highlights: Texas abortion rates falls dramatically; start-up problems for Virginia's psychiatric reforms

A four-month-old psychiatric-bed registry that is supposed to provide up-to-the-minute information for Virginians who need emergency mental health treatment is being updated as seldom as once a day, state officials told a panel of lawmakers this week (Shin, 7/22).

25 Jul 2014

Blacks with depression and diabetes receive inadequate mental health treatment

A new study in General Hospital Psychiatry confirms that Blacks with depression plus another chronic medical condition, such as Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, do not receive adequate mental health treatment.

25 Jul 2014

Unemployment increases risk of death, but recessions decrease it

Being unemployed increases your risk of death, but recessions decrease it. Sound paradoxical? Researchers thought so too.

25 Jul 2014

HPV vaccination may be effective in reducing abnormal Pap test results even after sexual debut

Minority women who received the Human Papillomavirus Vaccination (HPV) even after becoming sexually active had lower rates of abnormal Pap test results than those who were never vaccinated.

25 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 24, 2014

Today's headlines include more analysis of this week's conflicting appeals courts' decisions regarding a key part of the health law.

24 Jul 2014

New methods of dectecting foodborne illness-causing Salmonella in pork meat processing

Infections caused by foodborne microorganisms are an increasing public health burden. In a PhD project at the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, new methods of characterising and dectecting foodborne illness-causing Salmonella in pork meat processing and in bacteria in water, feed and food samples were studied.

24 Jul 2014

Researchers uncover how malaria parasite becomes resistant to fosmidomycin drug

Researchers have uncovered a way the malaria parasite becomes resistant to an investigational drug. The discovery, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, also is relevant for other infectious diseases including bacterial infections and tuberculosis.

24 Jul 2014

FDA approves Targiniq ER to treat severe pain

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Targiniq ER (oxycodone hydrochloride and naloxone hydrochloride extended-release tablets), an extended-release/long-acting (ER/LA) opioid analgesic to treat pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate.

24 Jul 2014

New innovative set of recommendations to keep older adults safe during future disasters

Drawing on the lessons of Superstorm Sandy, a new report from The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), "Resilient Communities: Empowering Older Adults in Disasters and Daily Life," presents an innovative set of recommendations to strengthen and connect formal and informal support systems to keep older adults safe during future disasters.

24 Jul 2014

Columbia Nursing study looks to Massachusetts law for road map in New York

If past experience is anything to go by, nurse practitioners in New York State are about to get a lot more recognition for their contributions to primary care. In Massachusetts, laws already on the books allowing NPs to provide primary care offer nurses more recognition of their contributions to patient care and better relationships with physicians and administrators, compared with colleagues in New York, according to a study from Columbia University School of Nursing, published in Health Care Management Review.

24 Jul 2014

Zydelig gets FDA approval for treatment of patients with three types of blood cancers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Zydelig (idelalisib) to treat patients with three types of blood cancers.

24 Jul 2014

Findings highlight challenges associated with packing healthful foods to send to school

Open a child's lunch box and you're likely to find that the lunches and snacks inside fall short of federal guidelines. Those are the findings of a study conducted by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

23 Jul 2014

New momentum: WHO welcomes progress in tackling viral hepatitis

On World Hepatitis Day, 28 July, WHO welcomes new progress in tackling one of the world's most serious diseases. Viral hepatitis - a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E - affects millions of people worldwide, causing acute and chronic liver disease and killing close to 1.4 million people every year.

23 Jul 2014

Public Health News and Research

Early life experiences influence risk of cognitive impairment in later life

ESMO: Proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation may impact cancer research

Mexico, US sign statement of intent to promote safety of fresh agricultural products

Cedars-Sinai launches applied research center to improve value of patient care

Longer looks: the economics of infertility; placebos as treatment raises ethical dilemmas

Direct medical costs projected to increase to $49 billion annually by 2020

UTHealth's Bhavani Iyer awarded grant to help Harris County residents with vision problems

Highlights: Texas abortion rates falls dramatically; start-up problems for Virginia's psychiatric reforms

Blacks with depression and diabetes receive inadequate mental health treatment

Unemployment increases risk of death, but recessions decrease it

HPV vaccination may be effective in reducing abnormal Pap test results even after sexual debut

First Edition: July 24, 2014

New methods of dectecting foodborne illness-causing Salmonella in pork meat processing

Researchers uncover how malaria parasite becomes resistant to fosmidomycin drug

FDA approves Targiniq ER to treat severe pain

New innovative set of recommendations to keep older adults safe during future disasters

Columbia Nursing study looks to Massachusetts law for road map in New York

Zydelig gets FDA approval for treatment of patients with three types of blood cancers

Findings highlight challenges associated with packing healthful foods to send to school

New momentum: WHO welcomes progress in tackling viral hepatitis

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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