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High blood pressure: only systolic blood pressure matters for patients over fifty

Measuring and diagnosis of high blood pressure (hypertension) should be done using systolic blood pressure only in patients aged over 50 years, rather than using both systolic and diastolic as is current practice. The proposal is put forward by three hypertension experts in a Viewpoint published early Online and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet. All three experts are attending this week's International Society of Hypertension meeting in Berlin.

17 Jun 2008

40% of gay men with HIV don't know they are infected

A survey of gay men questioned at gay venues in cities across the UK has found that most of those with undiagnosed HIV infection assumed they were HIV negative. Most of them had previously tested negative and thought they were in the clear. It's feared these men could unknowingly be putting others at risk. These are the findings of a study led by Dr Lisa Williamson at the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow and published in the journal, AIDS.

17 Jun 2008

Drink up that coffee to reduce your risk of a heart attack!

According to new research drinking coffee on a long-term basis does not increase the risk of early death and may in fact reduce the risk of dying from heart disease.

17 Jun 2008

Largest ever Canadian study on osteoporosis informs health policy

Dr David Goltzman and his team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) and McGill University - along with colleagues from across Canada - have issued new recommendations to public health authorities about how to best cope with osteoporosis, a bone disease which leads to increased risk of fracture, particularly in the elderly.

16 Jun 2008

Alcohol and drug misuse fuels Scottish suicide and homicide rates

Alcohol and drug misuse mean Scots are almost twice as likely to kill or take their own life compared to people living in England and Wales, research published Monday, June 16 reveals.

From The University of Manchester 16 Jun 2008

University of California, San Francisco embraces web 2.0 for health information

YouTube and The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) today launched a comprehensive Internet video channel dedicated to the improved understanding of incurable neurodegenerative brain diseases.

16 Jun 2008

Hearing loss twice as common in adults with diabetes

Hearing loss is about twice as common in adults with diabetes compared to those who do not have the disease, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

16 Jun 2008

Presidential candidates comment on causes of autism - Association says evidence-based approach should guide national autism

Noting that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are often the first group of professionals to recognize that a child has autism and are central to providing treatment, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) sent letters this month to Presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama that advise taking an evidence-based approach to the vaccine controversy surrounding what causes autism and to policy development related to care.

16 Jun 2008

Racial disparities reduced in injury related mortality

When it comes to injury-related deaths, the gap between black and white American youths is narrowing, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

16 Jun 2008

Fluoride toothpaste too pricey for world's poorest people

Fluoride toothpaste is prohibitively expensive for the world's poorest people, according to a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Globalization and Health. Researchers revealed that the poorest populations of developing countries have the least access to affordable toothpaste.

15 Jun 2008

How to reduce obesity and cardiovascular disease risk

Changes in society are leading to a sedentary lifestyle and are causing a rise in the number of people with obesity and cardiovascular disease. This is consequently having a large impact on the health of the nation.

15 Jun 2008

Women, Latinos face higher brain aneurysm risk

A type of stroke that can strike at any age, and kills one-third of its victims, appears to be more common in women and Mexican-Americans than in non-Hispanic white men, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Stroke Program.

15 Jun 2008

U.N. Secretary-General calls for end of discrimination against, travel restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the U.N. 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS on Tuesday called on the international community to end discrimination against HIV-positive people, including travel restrictions, describing such practices as "an affront to our common humanity," Xinhuanet reports.

11 Jun 2008

Public health agencies call on G8 leaders to allocate increased resources to health programs worldwide

The heads of several organizations involved in public health issues worldwide on Tuesday called on the Group of Eight industrialized nations to invest more resources in health and disease programs, the AP/USA Today reports.

11 Jun 2008

Good sleep patterns paramount to health in older men

It appears that disrupted rest and activity rhythms are associated with increased mortality rates among older men, according to new University of Minnesota research.

11 Jun 2008

European businesses not properly advised on how to prepare for flu pandemic

A new report entitled Business Continuity Planning and Pandemic Influenza in Europe, published by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has found huge gaps and differences across Europe in the level of advice given to businesses to prepare for a possible influenza pandemic.

11 Jun 2008

Without increased funding, California's dominance and public health are threatened, according to new report

The California Healthcare Institute (CHI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) today released a report, "The National Institutes of Health: Fueling Healthcare Innovation in California," urging legislators to support increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - the backbone of the biomedical industry in California, which employs more than 267,000 people in high wage jobs.

11 Jun 2008

Decline in cigarette smoking offset by increase in cigars and other tobacco products

While trends in cigarette smoking and sales have declined in the U.S. for the past decade, sales of non-cigarette tobacco products have been on the rise.

11 Jun 2008

Heart Failure 2008 - Congress to address a heart condition whose prevalence is increasing with 'exponential growth'

Heart failure is by far the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission. Around 30 million people in Europe have heart failure and its incidence is still increasing: more cases are being identified, more people are living to an old age, and more are surviving a heart attack but with damage to the heart muscle.

11 Jun 2008

Quick responses to influenza outbreaks reduces illness and death

Influenza outbreaks were shorter and resulted in fewer cases and fewer deaths at long-term care facilities that started residents on preventive antiviral medications within five days of the first case, compared to those that started later, according to a new study in the July 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

11 Jun 2008