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Many public safety-net hospitals are likely to face financial and competitive pressures

Many public safety-net hospitals are likely to face increasing financial and competitive pressures stemming in part from the recent Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, according to researchers at Penn State and the Harvard School of Public Health.

24 Sep 2012

Gates blog series on World Contraception Day

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog continues its series, published in partnership with Women Deliver, to recognize World Contraception Day, observed annually on September 26.

21 Sep 2012

What moms eat before pregnancy affects children epigenetically

Everyone knows that what mom eats when pregnant makes a huge difference in the health of her child. Now, new research in mice suggests that what she ate before pregnancy might be important too. According to a new research report published online in The FASEB Journal, what a group of female mice ate-before pregnancy-chemically altered their DNA and these changes were passed to her offspring. These DNA alterations, called "epigenetic" changes, drastically affected the pups' metabolism of many essential fatty acids.

21 Sep 2012

Secondhand smoke continues to take a grievous toll on nonsmokers

Secondhand smoke is accountable for 42,000 deaths annually to nonsmokers in the United States, including nearly 900 infants, according to a new UCSF study.

21 Sep 2012

Free bus passes for over-60’s could encourage physical activity

Free bus passes for over-60s may be encouraging older people to be more physically active, say the authors of a study published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

21 Sep 2012

Prevalence of sexual violence against mental health patients ‘alarming’

Around a fifth of patients with mental illnesses report being the victims of sexual violence, results from a Brazilian study show.

21 Sep 2012

Death rates after surgery found to be too optimistic

National estimates of death following general surgery have been too optimistic, suggests the first large-scale study to explore surgical outcomes across Europe published in the first Article in a special Lancet theme issue on surgery.

21 Sep 2012

Strand Life Sciences to validate and commercialize Trovagene's urine-based HPV test

Trovagene, Inc. and Strand Life Sciences Pvt Ltd., of Bangalore, India, completed their agreement to validate and commercialize Trovagene's proprietary urine-based Human Papillomavirus (HPV) test for clinical diagnostic and carrier screening use.

21 Sep 2012

Mosquitoes show signs of behavior change in response to bed net use, study says

About three years after two villages in Benin began using insecticide-treated bed nets to help prevent malaria, mosquitoes in the area changed their biting habits, so their "hours of 'peak aggression' [went] from 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. to around 5 a.m." and "in one village, the proportion of mosquito bites inflicted outdoors rose," according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Reuters reports.

21 Sep 2012

Study finds nearly 50% decline in child mortality in Niger over the last decade

A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Niger Countdown Case Study Working Group found that child mortality in Niger-one of the world's poorest countries-declined nearly 50 percent over the last decade.

21 Sep 2012

NPR blog examines simple cervical cancer screening technique being adopted by African countries

NPR's "Shots" blog examines efforts to reduce cervical cancer deaths in Botswana, noting that "in Africa and other impoverished regions, few women get pap smears because the countries lack the laboratories and other resources necessary to offer them."

20 Sep 2012

Report: Obesity rates will continue to grow, causing increases in health care costs, disease incidence

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health concluded that, based on current trends, most Americans could be obese by 2030.

20 Sep 2012

Roundup: Ore. insurance CO-OP readies coverage; N.J. Medicaid liabilities hurt state's fiscal outlook; Wis. AG appeals collective bargaining ruling

Independent workers -- artists, journalists, information technology professionals, craftsmen and even those who earn their living buying and selling on eBay -- will soon have the ability to buy health coverage without having to dicker with a privately-run insurance company such as Regence BlueCross BlueShield. ... people can sign up when enrollment opens for the health insurance exchange in October 2013.

20 Sep 2012

RI MUHC, McGill University launch Montreal component of Canada-wide aging study

It's often referred to as the "Silver Tsunami". The aging of the Canadian population will become a public health challenge in the coming decades. By 2025, it is estimated that one in five Canadians will be over 65, and within 30 years Quebec will have one of the most elderly populations in the Western world.

20 Sep 2012

Health interest groups strategize to stop automatic cuts

Industry lobbyists hope the "shock value" of last week's White House report detailing the reach of the cuts will add momentum to efforts to persuade Congress to repeal the legislation before reductions start in January.

20 Sep 2012

IOM report: Military needs to do more to treat, prevent drug and alcohol abuse

The Institute of Medicine found that the military's programs don't keep up with standard medical practices used in civilian life and that health care providers aren't adequately trained at all levels.

19 Sep 2012

Government regulation of portion sizes can effectively prevent obesity epidemic

Addressing the obesity epidemic by preventing excess calorie consumption with government regulation of portion sizes is justifiable and could be an effective measure to help prevent obesity-related health problems and deaths, according to a Viewpoint in the September 19 issue of JAMA, and theme issue on obesity.

19 Sep 2012

Children can largely benefit from 40 minutes of daily, vigorous physical activity

Twenty minutes of daily, vigorous physical activity over just three months can reduce a child's risk of diabetes as well as his total body fat - including dangerous, deep abdominal fat - but 40 minutes works even better, researchers report.

19 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 19, 2012

Today's headlines include a series of reports detailing who makes up Romney's so-called "47 percent" who get tax breaks and what federal assistance they receive -- whether it is Medicare, Medicaid or another entitlement program.

19 Sep 2012

Self-harmers are three times as likely to die prematurely

People who have a history of self-harm are more than three times as likely to die prematurely as the general population, and not just from the obvious causes, with deaths due to natural causes at least two times greater than anticipated and the risk also much higher for individuals living in socially deprived areas, according to a UK study published Online First in The Lancet.

18 Sep 2012