Infections acquired in the hospital can be a dangerous and even deadly problem for patients, yet establishing effective ways to systematically minimize exposure to harmful pathogens is a persistent problem for medical institutions. In fact, a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that roughly half of all infection-related deaths in hospitals [...]
More medical students applied for residency programs in primary care this year than last, but the future need for general practitioners still far outpaces the number of doctors opting for careers in primary care. According to data from the 2010 report from the National Residency Matching Program—the system that pairs up graduating medical students with [...]
A large scale study of children between the ages of 2 to 19 finds that a growing number of young children are extremely obese—or have a body mass index greater than 35 kg/m. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children who are in the 85th up to 95th percentile [...]
The BBC News Magazine reports this week on a growing trend of people relying on convenience foods such as pre-chopped carrots and onions, instead of buying the raw ingredients and doing the prep work themselves. As writer Finlo Rohrer reports, popular U.K. supermarket chain Waitrose released figures showing a 40% increase in the last year [...]
A recent clinical trial conducted by neurologists at Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that deep brain stimulation using implanted electrodes may help reduce seizures in epileptic patients. The results of the clinical trial, published online this week in the journal Epilepsia, showed that, patients whose brains were implanted with devices known as brain pacemakers—which [...]
Gathering round the table for dinner can sometimes be a challenge for the harried modern family, yet a growing body of evidence suggests that sitting down for sustenance and social time can have long-term health benefits—notably including a reduced risk for childhood obesity. And a recent study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and [...]
Despite its religious origins, since Boston Irish first marked the occasion with a parade in 1737, St. Patrick’s Day, for many, has evolved into a secular, and international, festival of excess. And while there’s nothing wrong with donning some green and enjoying a pint or two of Guinness in honor of the Emerald Isle, before [...]
When the emergency contraception—or the morning-after pill—became available to adult women without prescription in the U.S. in 2006, it predictably whipped up a public health controversy. Some commentators said it would encourage unprotected sex and raise the rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The Food and Drug Administration’s Deputy Operations Commissioner Janet Woodcock even expressed [...]
Rates of new HIV infection among gay men, drug users and prostitutes are increasing because laws against these practices deters people from seeking medical help, according to Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, the Associated Press reports. Sidibé said that the fact that homosexuality is still criminalized in 85 countries—and punishable by death in seven—is [...]
In laboratory tests, a chemical derived from bananas proved as effective against HIV as two currently used pharmaceuticals, according to new research published in the March 19 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Dr. David Markovitz* and colleagues at the University of Michigan found that a lectin, or protein, in bananas may be able [...]
