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The availability of healthy food choices and your quality of diet is associated with where you live

Researchers examined healthy food availability and diet quality among Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Md., residents and found that availability of healthy foods was associated with quality of diet and 46 percent of lower-income neighborhoods had a low availability of healthy foods.

25 Feb 2009

Supermarkets should offer free flu shots rather than free antibiotics

As influenza season shifts into high gear, with 24 states now reporting widespread activity, the nation's infectious diseases experts are urging supermarket pharmacies with free-antibiotics promotions to educate their customers on when antibiotics are the right prescription-and when they can do more harm than good.

25 Feb 2009

Increasing number of women suffer from post-birth bleeding

Post-partum haemorrhage (PPH) immediately after giving birth is the largest threat to new mothers in high-income countries.

25 Feb 2009

Discovery of gene that modifies severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease

Researchers have discovered a gene that modifies the severity of lung disease in people with the lethal genetic condition, cystic fibrosis, pointing to possible new targets for treatment, according to a new study in Nature.

25 Feb 2009

Removal of gallbladder through vagina offers minimally invasive alternative

Physicians at Northwestern Memorial Hospital successfully removed a patient's gallbladder through the vagina, making them the first in the Midwest and the third in the country to perform the innovative procedure.

25 Feb 2009

Ethnic differences found for fatty liver disease and insulin resistance

A new study suggests that the metabolic response to obesity and insulin resistance, particularly as it pertains to the liver, differs among ethnic groups in the U.S. African-Americans are more resistant to the buildup of fat in the abdominal adipose tissue and liver, and to high triglyceride levels associated with insulin resistance.

25 Feb 2009

For psychiatric services, wait for the beep

Two-thirds of patients referred for psychiatric services following an emergency room visit are likely to reach only an answering machine when they call for help, compared to about 20 percent of patients calling medical clinics with physical symptoms.

25 Feb 2009

Comparison of popular diets

Many popular diets emphasize either carbohydrate, protein or fat as the best way to lose weight.

25 Feb 2009

Genital piercings can cause serious health complications

While men can rely on that little, blue pill to improve things in the bedroom, women are turning to more extreme measures to enhance sexual intercourse.

25 Feb 2009

Crab claws pack strengthening bromide-rich biomaterial

Next time you have an unlucky encounter with a crab's pinchers, consider that the claw tips may be reinforced with bromine-rich biomaterial 1.5 times harder than acrylic glass and extremely fracture resistant, says a University of Oregon scientist.

25 Feb 2009

Compounds that trigger beta cell replication identified

Researchers at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified a set of compounds that can trigger the proliferation of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, using sophisticated high-throughput screening techniques.

25 Feb 2009

Doors open soon at new $360 million hospital with all-private rooms

When the doors to the new Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital open March 15, patients, their families and the community will find a health care experience unlike any other, offering the latest in medicine, technology and patient safety, integrated with wellness and prevention programs all under one roof.

25 Feb 2009

Researchers find evidence for precise communication across brain areas during sleep

By listening in on the chatter between neurons in various parts of the brain, researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have taken steps toward fully understanding just how memories are formed, transferred, and ultimately stored in the brain--and how that process varies throughout the various stages of sleep.

25 Feb 2009

Use of potassium iodide encouraged by BUSM researchers

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) are strongly encouraging prenatal vitamin manufacturers to use only potassium iodide and not other sources of iodine in their products.

25 Feb 2009

Brain mechanism recruited to reduce noise during challenging tasks

New research reveals a sophisticated brain mechanism that is critical for filtering out irrelevant signals during demanding cognitive tasks.

25 Feb 2009

Being overweight just as bad for health as smoking

Obese adolescents have the same risk of premature death in adulthood as people who smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day, while those who are overweight have the same risk as less heavy smokers, according to research published on bmj.com.

25 Feb 2009

Aton Pharma acquires Timoptic product line from Merck & Co

Aton Pharma, Inc., a diversified specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced it has acquired the U.S. marketing rights to the Timoptic product line from Merck & Co., Inc. Timoptic (timolol maleate) is a non-selective beta-adrenergic receptor blocking agent indicated for the treatment of elevated intraocular pressure in patients with ocular hypertension or open-angle glaucoma.

25 Feb 2009

Anti-cancer gene discovered

Starting with the tiny fruit fly, and then moving into mouse and human patients, researchers at VIB connected to the Center for Human Genetics (K.U. Leuven) showed that the same gene suppresses cancer in all three.

25 Feb 2009

An angry heart can lead to sudden death

Before flying off the handle the next time someone cuts you off in traffic, consider the latest research from Yale School of Medicine researchers that links changes brought on by anger or other strong emotions to future arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrests, which are blamed for 400,000 deaths annually.

25 Feb 2009

New insights into addiction

A new comprehensive review by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and the University of Cambridge, England provides vital insights into the neurological basis of addiction by investigating Parkinson's disease patients, who in some instances develop various addictions when undergoing medical treatment.

25 Feb 2009