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Konzo's harm goes beyond devastating physical effects

The harm done by konzo - a disease overshadowed by the war and drought it tends to accompany - goes beyond its devastating physical effects to impair children's memory, problem solving and other cognitive functions.

25 Mar 2013

Loyola's School-based Health Center at Proviso East High School holds health fair for students

Health care reform has highlighted the importance of comprehensive, culturally appropriate interventions at the community level to prevent disease and encourage healthy behaviors. Providing young people with the knowledge and skills to make healthy lifestyle choices is the best way to reduce the risk chronic disease in later life.

25 Mar 2013

Financial Times special report focuses on tuberculosis

The Financial Times has published a special report, titled "Combating Tuberculosis 2013," as World TB Day on March 24 approaches.

25 Mar 2013

Study shows physically active healthcare providers more likely to advise patients to lead active lifestyle

Physically active healthcare providers were more likely than their inactive counterparts to advise patients to lead an active lifestyle in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.

25 Mar 2013

Weill Cornell researcher suggests ways to improve patient safety, high-level care

In its 2001 report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine outlined six domains of quality in medical care: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity.

24 Mar 2013

Scientists develop novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks

A team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks several weeks before they occur.

24 Mar 2013

Scotland takes action to tackle relationship between deprivation and CVD

Deprivation represents the "elephant in the room" with regard to cardiovascular disease, and health care professionals have an important role to play in tackling the problem, delegates heard at a special plenary session opening the EuroHeart Care Congress in Glasgow, Scotland, 22 March to 23 March 2013.

22 Mar 2013

Organizations highlight World TB Day

World TB Day is commemorated each year on March 24, recognizing the discovery of the tuberculosis bacilli by Robert Koch in 1882.

22 Mar 2013

New Frontiers in Public Health journal launched

Frontiers, one of the world's fastest-growing Open Access publishers and among the largest social networking platforms for researchers, announces the launch of a new journal, Frontiers in Public Health.

22 Mar 2013

New testing technologies can help fight TB, but new treatments needed

"[F]or many low-income populations, [tuberculosis (TB)] is nothing less than a modern-day public health emergency," and "[t]o make things worse, many of these patients [a]re living with HIV," U.N. Under-Secretary General and UNITAID Chair Philippe Douste-Blazy writes in a Huffington Post "Impact" blog opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013

mHealth 'not yet living up to its potential' to transform health care systems

"mHealth can be defined as medical and public health practices supported by mobile technologies, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, tablets, personal digital assistants, and other wireless devices," Patricia Mechael, executive director of the mHealth Alliance, and Sarah Struble, a program associate at the mHealth Alliance, write in an Al Jazeera opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013

Male circumcision a 'staggeringly under-utilized tool'

"PrePex, the new nonsurgical circumcision tool experts believe could revolutionize the prevention of HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, is easier to assemble than a toy you might find in a Happy Meal," freelance journalist Patrick Adams writes in the New York Times' "Opinionator" blog.

22 Mar 2013

Blog describes efforts to fight NTDs in Brazil

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End The Neglect" blog reports on the Brazilian Ministry of Health's launch of "a public health campaign to diagnose and treat soil-transmitted helminths (or intestinal parasites) and leprosy in school-aged children" and says it will feature stories related to the fight against NTDs in Brazil over the coming days.

22 Mar 2013

Last few meals before surgery may affect recovery after surgery, study says

According to a new study, the last few meals before surgery might make a difference in recovery after surgery. Fat tissue is one of the most dominant components that make up the body, and fat tissue is always traumatized during major surgery.

22 Mar 2013

Fralin Life Science Institute researchers use TALENS to alter mosquito genome

Virginia Tech researchers successfully used a gene disruption technique to change the eye color of a mosquito - a critical step toward new genetic strategies aimed at disrupting the transmission of diseases such as dengue fever.

22 Mar 2013

New hope for treating, preventing malaria

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland VA Medical Center have developed a drug that may represent one of the world's best hopes for treating and preventing malaria - a disease that kills more than one million people each year.

22 Mar 2013

Research: 75% of world's population consumes daily recommended amount of sodium nearly twice

Seventy-five percent of the world's population consumes nearly twice the daily recommended amount of sodium (salt), according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2013 Scientific Sessions.

22 Mar 2013

Homeless people have disproportionately higher risk for TBI compared to general population

Homeless people and their health care providers need to know more about traumatic brain injuries to help prevent and treat such injuries, a new study has found.

22 Mar 2013

Common test may overestimate exposure to mercury vapor from dental amalgams

A common test used to determine mercury exposure from dental amalgam fillings may significantly overestimate the amount of the toxic metal released from fillings, according to University of Michigan researchers.

21 Mar 2013

Genes play a significant role in children's eating behavior

Parents may plead, cajole or entice their children to try new foods, but some kids just won't budge. Now, new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reveals that the reason these kids fear new foods has less to do with what's on their plate and more to do with their genes.

21 Mar 2013