A large scale study of Kaiser Permanente health policy holders in Northern California shows that hospital admissions for heart attack dropped significantly between 1999 and 2008 — coinciding with the implementation of public health efforts such as smoking bans, lowered target levels for blood pressure and cholesterol and more
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In response to an investigation published last week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) which pointed to affiliations between World Health Organization (WHO) advisers and pharmaceutical companies manufacturing H1N1 flu vaccines, WHO inspector general Margaret Chan said that industry ties had no impact on the global health agency’s
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Infection control is often inconsistent and ill-enforced at outpatient surgical centers, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the study, researchers examined the results of inspections of 68 different ambulatory surgical centers in three different U.S. states between
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In a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, researchers are working to develop a new breed of “low allergy” peanut. By cross breeding existing types of peanuts, researchers are working to develop a new variety of peanut that lacks the three proteins associated with most peanut allergies, the Telegraph reports. To
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Recent increases in the number of youth hockey players suffering concussions after collisions on the ice prompted a team of Canadian researchers to investigate how body-checking rules in Pee Wee hockey leagues factors into injury incidence. In a study of more than 2,000 youth hockey players from Alberta and Quebec — roughly half of
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Young children who have consistent, early bedtimes may perform better academically than peers who get less routine rest, according to new research presented this week at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in San Antonio. The analysis, conducted by investigators at the independent, non-profit research
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A new report released today by the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council suggests that lack of resources, less than optimal organization and a reactive instead of preventive approach are undermining the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to effectively regulate food safety.
Roughly one in ten soldiers returning from Iraq faces ongoing struggles due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and other conditions, according to a new study published in the June issue of the Archives of Psychiatry. In the study, a team of researchers led by Dr. Jeffrey L. Thomas, chief of military psychiatry at the
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A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health finds that children and adolescents who don’t live with smokers experience substantial health benefits from no smoking laws. Yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, researchers also found that kids who live in counties with public smoking bans but are exposed to secondhand
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A novel program in India that pays impoverished women to give birth in medical institutions may be reducing infant mortality and the risk of stillbirth, according to new research published last week in the British medical journal The Lancet.
In this latest study, which was sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, researchers
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Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are taking preliminary steps toward developing a “tattoo” that could enable diabetics to constantly monitor blood sugar levels — without having to routinely change equipment or perform routine finger pricks to test blood. The experimental technology being developed by MIT
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Almost exactly one year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the swine flu outbreak had reached global pandemic proportions. The announcement, made on June 11, 2009, spurred governments to order huge stocks of vaccines and prompted broad public health initiatives around the globe. And while we can all be grateful that
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has, for the second time, lashed out against exaggerated marketing claims made by Rice Krispies’ manufacturer Kellogg’s. Last year the FTC ordered the company reached a settlement with the FTC, which criticized its unfounded claims that Frosted Mini Wheats cereal was “clinically shown to improve kids’
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