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Declining biodiversity may contribute to rise in asthma, allergies

Declining biodiversity may be contributing to the rise of asthma, allergies, and other chronic inflammatory diseases among people living in cities worldwide, a Finnish study suggests. Emerging evidence indicates that commensal microbes inhabiting the skin, airway, and gut protect against inflammatory disorders. However, little is known about the environmental determinants of the microbiome.

8 May 2012

Low weight gain reported among women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy

In one of the largest studies of its kind, clinicians and researchers with Carolinas HealthCare System found that nearly 25% of women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) reported weight gain below recommended levels for their pre-pregnancy body mass index (PPBMI).

7 May 2012

Scientific American examines worldwide spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea

Scientific American examines how strains of cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea have "been emerging in Japan, and moving east and west from there, for at least a decade." The magazine writes, "Rapid international travel allowed the resistance mutation to hopscotch the globe," noting antibiotic-resistant strains that have been identified in Sweden, England, Norway, the Philippines, Spain, and France.

7 May 2012

Stay safe and out of ER during Memorial Day Weekend

The unofficial "kickoff" to summer is only a few weeks away. While we hope everyone has fun this coming Memorial Day weekend, the nation's emergency physicians want everyone to stay safe and out of the ER.

7 May 2012

New instrument to measure Facebook addiction

Are you a social media enthusiast or simply a Facebook addict? Researchers from Norway have developed a new instrument to measure Facebook addiction, the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale.

7 May 2012

People continue to make unhealthy choices despite best intentions

Humana Inc., one of the nation's leading health and well-being companies, and Reader's Digest, one of America's most recognized brands, today announced results of a nationwide survey that highlights an intriguing fact about health in America - despite our best intentions, Americans continue to make unhealthy choices.

7 May 2012

Drug-related morbidity perceived to affect half of all patients attending healthcare

It is well known that drug-related morbidity is common among hospitalized patients, and is to some extent preventable, but less is known about drug-related morbidity outside hospitals. Two new studies conducted at the Nordic School of Public Health NHV, show that healthcare professionals perceive drug-related morbidity to affect half of all patients attending healthcare.

7 May 2012

NFID to host 15th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research from May 7–9

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases will host the 15th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research, May 7–9, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD.

5 May 2012

Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium to enhance collaboration among three universities

Stem cell research laboratories at the University of California, Riverside, Loma Linda University and the California State University at San Bernardino have formed the "Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium" to enhance collaboration among the three universities and bring focus to stem cell work being done in inland Southern California.

5 May 2012

Primary-care physicians hard to find in low-income Hispanic metropolitan neighborhoods

New research into "health care deserts" finds that primary-care physicians are especially hard to find in predominantly Black and/or low-income Hispanic metropolitan neighborhoods.

5 May 2012

Johns Hopkins receives $15 million NIH grant to establish CFAR

Johns Hopkins University has been awarded $15 million over the next five years from the National Institutes of Health to establish the new Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). CFAR will support more than 180 HIV investigators from the University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and other schools. A major priority for CFAR will be to address Baltimore's HIV epidemic in addition to training new investigators and conducting international research.

5 May 2012

Growing role of body image drugs

In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Kanayama et al. analyse the growing role of body image drugs.

4 May 2012

New light on many biological differences between individual breast cancers

New findings presented at Europe's leading breast cancer translational research conference this year shed new light on the many biological differences between individual breast cancers.

4 May 2012

Nature publishes first of two controversial studies on H5N1 avian flu

"In a long-awaited study that helped prompt a contentious debate over the wisdom of conducting research that has the potential to help as well as harm, scientists reported Wednesday that they had engineered a mutant strain of [H5N1] bird flu that can spread easily between ferrets -- a laboratory animal that responds to flu viruses much as people do," the Los Angeles Times (Brown, 5/3).

4 May 2012

One of the controversial avian flu studies published in full finally

After endless debates and controversies on whether two studies that demonstrated how bird flu, also known as avian H5N1 influenza, or avian flu, should be published, one of them has appeared in the latest issue of the journal Nature in its entirety. The two studies aimed for publication in journals Nature and Science show how the bird flu virus could become transmissible from mammal-to-mammal; as humans are mammals, the same would apply to humans.

4 May 2012

Bionic eye helps two blind men see for the first time in 20 years

In a medical breakthrough two blind men have regained partial sight for the first time in more than 20 years after receiving a “bionic eye”. Scientists said the first clinical trials of the microchip eye implant, which measures just 3mm across and is fitted behind the eyeball, have proved successful and “exceeded expectations”.

4 May 2012

Removing email from workers' lives reduces stress and boosts productivity

Being cut off from work email significantly reduces stress and allows employees to focus far better, according to a new study by UC Irvine and U.S. Army researchers.

4 May 2012

MSF official discusses WHO Working Group final report on R&D

The Results for Development Institute's Center for Global Health R&D Policy Assessment blog features an interview with Judit Rius Sanjuan, U.S. manager of the Access Campaign of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), who discusses the final report of the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination.

4 May 2012

Hispanics more likely to develop precancerous colorectal polyps

Blacks and Hispanics have a significantly higher risk of developing precancerous colorectal polyps compared with whites, according to a study by researchers at NewYork - Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

4 May 2012

Regular jogging increases life expectancy

Undertaking regular jogging increases the life expectancy of men by 6.2 years and women by 5.6 years, reveals the latest data from the Copenhagen City Heart study presented at the EuroPRevent2012 meeting.

4 May 2012