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People who live in urban areas tend to have higher blood pressure: Researchers

People who live in urban areas where particulate air pollution is high tend to have higher blood pressure than those who live in less polluted areas, according to researchers from the University of Dusiburg-Essen in Germany.

17 May 2010

Carcinogenic potential of mobile phone use not clear cut

The most comprehensive international study to date on the association between mobile phone use and brain cancers has not shown a strong causal link between the two but research on their relationship needs to continue, Professor Bruce Armstrong from the School of Public Health says.

17 May 2010

No increase in risk of glioma or meningioma with use of mobile phones: INTERPHONE project

The International Journal of Epidemiology today published a combined data analysis from a multi national population-based case-control study of glioma and meningioma, the most common types of brain tumour. This is the first in a series of combined data analyses of head and neck tumours published as part of the internationally coordinated INTERPHONE project.

17 May 2010

Scientists to discuss opportunities and challenges for combating HIV, TB

As alarms sound about a weakening international commitment to global AIDS, scientists will gather in Washington, DC to report on potentially transformative new tools in the battle against this deadly epidemic. US policy is moving backwards at a time when the science is more promising than ever.

14 May 2010

Local ordinances in Appalachian states do not offer protection against second-hand smoke: Study

Local ordinances in Appalachian states with weak statewide smoking regulations do not offer most residents adequate protection against second-hand smoke, according to a new study.

14 May 2010

Interleukin Genetics reports 166% increase in overall genetic test revenue for first-quarter 2010

Interleukin Genetics, Inc. announced today financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

14 May 2010

Two LSU researchers tackle incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults in the U.S.

In a paper published in the May 2010 issue of the scholarly journal Annals of Epidemiology, two LSU researchers tackle a problem seldom acknowledged in the United States - the incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults

13 May 2010

Two-thirds of child deaths in 2008 due to infectious diseases, report finds

Pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and other infectious diseases accounted for two-thirds of the 8.8 million deaths in 2008 among children under age 5 around the world, according to a Lancet study published on Wednesday, HealthDay News/Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports. The highest numbers of childhood deaths were in Africa (4.2 million) and Southeast Asia (2.39 million), according to the news service (5/11).

13 May 2010

Preventable infectious diseases cause two-thirds of child deaths: The Lancet

Preventable infectious diseases cause two-thirds of child deaths, according to a new study published today by The Lancet. Experts from the World Health Organization and UNICEF's Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group assessed data from 193 countries to produce estimates by country, region and the world.

12 May 2010

Computerized bilingual decision aid can prompt Hispanic smokers to quit: Study

A computerized bilingual decision aid - placed in safety-net clinics and health fairs - can prompt Hispanic and other smokers to set a quit date and choose effective treatments.

12 May 2010

Overtime workers at 60% higher risk of heart-related problems

Working overtime is bad for the heart according to results from a long-running study following more than 10,000 civil servants in London (UK): the Whitehall II study.

11 May 2010

More genetic sites associated with increase in breast cancer risk discovered

Scientists have found five new regions of the genome that increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer by between six and 16 per cent, according to a study in Nature Genetics today (Sunday)1.

10 May 2010

Socioeconomic status, social context more important than race when analyzing obesity disparities: Study

When analyzing obesity disparities among women, socioeconomic status and social context may be more important than race, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions.

7 May 2010

Challenges and limitations faced in avian influenza

Over the past decade, substantial resources have been spent on tackling avian influenza and building a global capacity for a pandemic response. The catastrophic costs of the 1918 influenza pandemic are well documented, and the swine flu pandemic of 2009-10 has raised the alarm yet again.

7 May 2010

Lifegene project launched to study origin of disease

The unique resources available in the Nordic region, such as civic registration numbers and the registries of genetically informative populations and health outcomes, make it an epidemiological goldmine. The LifeGene project is being coordinated by the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet to take advantage of Sweden's competitive edge in this field.

7 May 2010

HealthMap's H1N1 survey identifies disparities in international public health systems

As H1N1 began to emerge in April 2009, HealthMap - an automated online disease tracking and mapping tool created by researchers in the Informatics Program at Children's Hospital Boston - was already collecting information about the virus and plotting that information on a map of the globe, creating a freely available, real-time, digestible display of the outbreak.

7 May 2010

Study analyzes epidemiology of falls among elderly men

Falls and fall prevention are a major concern for the elderly and people with osteoporosis, a common chronic disease which causes weak and fragile bones. People with osteoporosis are at increased risk of fracture, even after a minor fall from standing height.

7 May 2010

Vitamin A supplements shown not to reduce maternal mortality

A new trial undertaken in Ghana has shown that vitamin A supplements do not reduce maternal mortality-contradicting previous findings from a trial in Nepal which showed a 44% decrease.

6 May 2010

Annual heart disease and stroke rates in China to rise up to 73% by 2030: Research

Annual heart disease and stroke rates in China will rise by up to 73 percent by 2030, given an aging population and other increased risk factors, without policies and prevention efforts aimed at controlling blood pressure and smoking, according to research from Columbia University Medical Center published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

6 May 2010

Milk consumption does not cause renal cell cancer

While previous research had suggested that drinking milk was related to factors that may increase the risk of renal cell cancer, results of a recent study exploiting the genetic contribution to variation in milk consumption suggest that this may not be the case.

6 May 2010