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Six common myths about prostate cancer

When it comes to prostate cancer, there's a lot of confusion about how to prevent it, find it early and the best way - or even whether - to treat it. Below are six common prostate cancer myths along with research-based information from scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to help men separate fact from fiction.

23 Aug 2012

Power Over Pressure steering committee launches world's first hypertension online resource

The Power Over Pressure steering committee today announced the launch of the world's first online resource created to help healthcare professionals improve diagnosis and develop solutions for treatment-resistant hypertension, an urgent and growing public health issue that affects 120 million people worldwide.

23 Aug 2012

CDC-funded ACP program to increase adult immunization rates in five states

The American College of Physicians (ACP) was awarded an initial $175,000 grant for 2012-13 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a three-year, evidence-based program to increase adult immunization rates in five states.

23 Aug 2012

Link between specific weather conditions and dengue fever outbreaks

Dengue fever, transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, affects hundreds of millions of people in around one hundred tropical countries and causes 25 000 deaths per year. In the absence of a vaccine, determining the factors that influence epidemics to predict them better is a real public health challenge. One scientific study, conducted in New Caledonia, demonstrates the essential role of the local climate in epidemic dynamics. IRD researchers and their New Caledonian colleagues analysed epidemiological and climatological data gathered in Noumea over forty years.

23 Aug 2012

HIV-related stigma keeps Kenyan pregnant women from having babies in health-care facilities

The fear of being labeled HIV-positive is strong enough to keep mothers in one Kenyan province from having babies in health-care facilities, according to a study published online today in the journal PLOS Medicine. Communities there have come to see clinics and skilled care as mostly for HIV-positive women.

22 Aug 2012

UI Hospital receives Medtronic Foundation grant to coordinate Illinois Heart Rescue

The University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System has received a $2.5 million grant from the Medtronic Foundation to coordinate Illinois Heart Rescue, an ambitious statewide all-volunteer effort to more than double survival from sudden cardiac arrests in Illinois.

From Medtronic 22 Aug 2012

Corporate power presents a major threat to public health

Professor Gerard Hastings from the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling argues that marketing by multinational corporations "threatens our mental wellbeing, exacerbates inequalities, and encourages unsustainable consumption."

22 Aug 2012

CIRT to determine whether methotrexate can reduce heart attacks, strokes and CVD deaths

An international multi-site trial has launched to determine whether a common anti-inflammatory drug can reduce heart attacks, strokes, and deaths due to cardiovascular disease in people at high risk for them. This study is being supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a part of the National Institutes of Health.

22 Aug 2012

Childhood asthma link shows it is never too soon for mums to quit smoking

Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for asthma and wheezing in early childhood, even if children are not exposed to smoke after birth, a European study shows.

21 Aug 2012

Texas investigates dental Medicaid fraud; Access, cost hurting dental care in Va.

In Texas, officials are investigating dentists for applying for reimbursement for procedures they say Medicaid doesn't cover. Also, cost and a dentist shortage in Virginia is negatively affecting dental care in that state.

21 Aug 2012

Researchers examine link between zoning code reforms and physical-activity among U.S. adults

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a $1.5 million federal grant to examine the relationship between zoning code reforms, the physical environment, and physical-activity behavior in communities throughout the U.S.

21 Aug 2012

Studies raise possibility of new DBS approaches to treat obesity

Scientific advances in understanding the "addiction circuitry" of the brain may lead to effective treatment for obesity using deep brain stimulation (DBS), according to a review article in the August issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

21 Aug 2012

'Not enough exercise' cited as top children's health concern

Adults across the U.S. rate not getting enough exercise as the top health concern for children in 2012, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

20 Aug 2012

Infectious disease rates are high among homeless people

Rates of the infectious diseases HIV, Hepatitis C and tuberculosis among the world’s homeless people are many times higher than in the general population, according to a new systematic review of existing data published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

20 Aug 2012

Binge drinkers happier with their college social experience

Why do some colleges have persistently high levels of binge drinking? It may be because, at these schools, binge drinking is associated with high status and binge drinkers are happier with their college social experience than their non-binge drinking peers, suggests new research to be presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

20 Aug 2012

Secondhand smoke exposure decreases sensitivity to cough-eliciting respiratory irritants in children

New research from the Monell Center reveals that exposure to secondhand smoke decreases sensitivity to cough-eliciting respiratory irritants in otherwise healthy children and adolescents.

20 Aug 2012

New birth-control strategy for mosquitoes can combat malaria

Using information about the unique mating practices of the male malaria mosquito ― which, unlike any other insect, inserts a plug to seal its sperm inside the female ― scientists are zeroing in on a birth-control drug for Anopheles mosquitoes, deadly carriers of the disease that threatens 3 billion people, has infected more than 215 million and kills 655,000 annually.

20 Aug 2012

Analysis shows inconsistency in research incentives for prisoners

When members of the public participate in research studies, they are often given incentives - such as cash or gift cards for food - as compensation or reimbursement for their time and effort. Not so for Canada's prison population. A new analysis shows that there is inconsistency in how and when incentives are used for research participants under criminal justice supervision.

18 Aug 2012

CDC reports worst West Nile virus outbreak in the U.S.

This past year's mild winter and wet spring could be contributing to the worst West Nile virus outbreak since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more cases of the virus so far this year than any year. As of August 14, almost 700 cases had been reported across the nation, including 26 deaths. This year also marks the earliest reported case of West Nile virus in New Jersey.

18 Aug 2012

Gates blog examines global implications of Australian ruling on cigarette logo ban

"In one of the most significant victories for public health policy, the Australian High Court upheld the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act, which effectively removes the last form of advertising available to the tobacco industry in the country -- logos on cigarette packs," Cynthia Lewis, a senior program officer for the tobacco initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

18 Aug 2012

Public Health News and Research

Six common myths about prostate cancer

Power Over Pressure steering committee launches world's first hypertension online resource

CDC-funded ACP program to increase adult immunization rates in five states

Link between specific weather conditions and dengue fever outbreaks

HIV-related stigma keeps Kenyan pregnant women from having babies in health-care facilities

UI Hospital receives Medtronic Foundation grant to coordinate Illinois Heart Rescue

Corporate power presents a major threat to public health

CIRT to determine whether methotrexate can reduce heart attacks, strokes and CVD deaths

Childhood asthma link shows it is never too soon for mums to quit smoking

Texas investigates dental Medicaid fraud; Access, cost hurting dental care in Va.

Researchers examine link between zoning code reforms and physical-activity among U.S. adults

Studies raise possibility of new DBS approaches to treat obesity

'Not enough exercise' cited as top children's health concern

Infectious disease rates are high among homeless people

Binge drinkers happier with their college social experience

Secondhand smoke exposure decreases sensitivity to cough-eliciting respiratory irritants in children

New birth-control strategy for mosquitoes can combat malaria

Analysis shows inconsistency in research incentives for prisoners

CDC reports worst West Nile virus outbreak in the U.S.

Gates blog examines global implications of Australian ruling on cigarette logo ban

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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