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HSPH introduces Obesity Prevention Source website

What is causing the obesity epidemic-and how can we stop and reverse this worldwide weight problem? A new website offers authoritative answers to these pressing questions and sheds light on one of the most challenging public health threats of our time.

3 May 2012

ADM hormone plays a significant role in tubal ectopic pregnancies

Tubal ectopic pregnancy (TEP) is currently the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths during the first trimester and a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) shows that the hormone adrenomedullin (ADM) may help predict this condition.

3 May 2012

Prematurity now the second-leading cause of death worldwide in children under age 5

The first-ever national, regional, and global estimates of preterm birth reveals that 15 million babies are born too soon every year and 1.1 million of those babies die shortly after birth, making premature birth the second-leading cause of death in children under age 5.

3 May 2012

Hospitals struggling to meet electronic records goals

According to the American Hospital Association, more than 80 percent of hospitals have yet to achieve the first stage of electronic health record "meaningful use" and, therefore, can't qualify for federal incentive payments.

3 May 2012

Brain imaging for stroke is still occurring too slowly at many hospitals

The mantra in stroke care is "time is brain." With each passing minute more brain cells are irretrievably lost and, because of this, timely diagnosis and treatment is essential to increase the chances for recovery. While significant strides have been made to improve the response time of caregivers, a new study shows that a critical step in the process - imaging of the brain to determine the nature of the stroke - is still occurring too slowly at too many hospitals.

3 May 2012

Georgia bans most late-term abortions

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a bill Tuesday banning most late-term abortions -- those after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The law was pushed after controversial research found a fetus can feel pain at that stage of the pregnancy.

3 May 2012

Novel stem cell transplantation holds promise for HIV prevention

UC Davis Health System researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS.

3 May 2012

WFP, Syrian government work to address food insecurity, rising prices

"Hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to feed their families in the parts of Syria hardest hit by violence, activists and aid workers say, with access to food cut off by ruined infrastructure, rocketing prices and, say some, security forces who steal and spoil food supplies," the Washington Post reports.

3 May 2012

New clues about why immune system fails to kill tumors in mice

A pioneering approach to imaging breast cancer in mice has revealed new clues about why the human immune system often fails to attack tumors and keep cancer in check. This observation, by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), may help to reveal new approaches to cancer immunotherapy.

3 May 2012

DOJ investigating Humana coding, loan practices in South Florida

Health insurer Humana said in quarterly filings Monday that the Department of Justice is investigating its coding practices by doctors in South Florida as well as loans made to doctor practices.

3 May 2012

Johnson & Johnson announces acquisition of Bioseal

Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd. today announced it has acquired Guangzhou Bioseal Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Bioseal) a privately held biopharmaceutical company specializing in the design, development and commercialization of a porcine plasma-derived biologic product for controlling bleeding during surgery.

3 May 2012

UNICEF stresses need for higher breastfeeding rates in East Asia

UNICEF "has voiced alarm at the decline of breastfeeding across East Asia, stressing the need for mothers to understand its long-term benefits for the survival and development of their children," Bernama reports.

3 May 2012

NJIT professor receives $340,000 NIH grant to investigate membrane proteins

NJIT Associate Professor Edgardo Farinas has been awarded today a three-year $340,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to investigate spores as a protein display platform for the directed evolution of membrane proteins.

3 May 2012

Europe becoming 'hotspot' for emerging infections, study suggests

"Europe is becoming a 'hotspot' for emerging infections as those typically confined to tropical climates are making their way north, according to research that links climate change to the global spread of disease," the Financial Times reports.

3 May 2012

TA during PCI provides long-term outcomes for patients with acute STEMI

New research confirms thrombus aspiration (TA) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) provides long-term outcomes similar to conventional intervention with bare-metal or drug-eluting stents.

3 May 2012

Mass., Ariz. Senate races grab national spotlight

The hotly contested race between Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic challenger, continues to involve health policy issues. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that Democrats are hoping that former Surgeon General Richard Carmona will turn Arizona "blue."

3 May 2012

Researchers to examine how climate change may affect humans, societies

A new grant to awarded George Mason University's Center for Social Complexity will allow researchers to examine how climate change may affect humans and societies over the next 100 years.

3 May 2012

Treatment as Prevention conference late breaker session presentations

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog rounds up results presented at a late breaker session at last week's 2nd International Treatment as Prevention Workshop in Vancouver. The blog notes the session "offered some interesting insights relevant to HIV treatment scale up."

3 May 2012

Study explains beneficial fat-fighting effects of black pepper

A new study provides a long-sought explanation for the beneficial fat-fighting effects of black pepper. The research, published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, pinpoints piperine - the pungent-tasting substance that gives black pepper its characteristic taste, concluding that piperine also can block the formation of new fat cells.

3 May 2012

U.S. to ask university officials how best to implement new DURC policy

"The U.S. government will soon be asking university officials to comment on how best to implement recently released dual use research rules at the university level," according to Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), who spoke Monday at a workshop sponsored by the National Academies in Washington, ScienceInsider reports.

3 May 2012