Health News

Widespread use of opioid medications found in nonsurgical hospital patients

Date: Nov-15-2013
Amid a growing climate of concern regarding the overuse of opioid pain medications, a comprehensive analysis of more than 1 million hospital admissions has found that over 50 percent of all nonsurgical patients were prescribed opioids during their hospitalizations -- often at very high doses -- and that more than half of those exposed were still receiving these medications on the day they were discharged from the hospital.Led by a research team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the findings, which examined data from 286 hospitals around the U.S.

New mechanism identified at heart of early childhood learning and social behavior

Date: Nov-15-2013
Shifting the emphasis from gaze to hand, a study by Indiana University cognitive scientists provides compelling evidence for a new and possibly dominant way for social partners -- in this case, 1-year-olds and their parents -- to coordinate the process of joint attention, a key component of parent-child communication and early language learning.Previous research involving joint visual attention between parents and toddlers has focused exclusively on the ability of each partner to follow the gaze of the other.

White and African American lesbian and bisexual women trend overweight into adulthood

Date: Nov-14-2013
New research from the American Journal of Public Health finds that compared to heterosexual women, white and African-American lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to be overweight at the age of 18 and maintain this weight through adulthood. Researchers analyzed data from the California Health Interview Survey to compare along gender lines sexual minority status, race and ethnicity, and weight status both at age 18 and as adults, at the times of the survey. The survey captures demographic information, individual health information, weight status and age.

Injuries occur more frequently among individuals with multiple jobs

Date: Nov-14-2013
According to new research from the American Journal of Public Health, individuals who work multiple jobs have a greater likelihood of injury than those with single jobs.The study analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey, which included interviews over a 15-year period from 1997 to 2011 among 268,615 participants. In-house interviews included questions about job characteristics and injuries.Results from the study indicated that 8.4 percent of employed U.S.

Closer social proximity to a gunshot victim may increase one's own risk of victimization

Date: Nov-14-2013
New research from the American Journal of Public Health finds that within a high-crime African American community, the closer an individual was to a gunshot victim socially, the greater their risk of also becoming a victim.Within a Chicago area community of approximately 82,000 residents with characteristics profiled as homicide risk factors, researchers evaluated individual's probability of becoming a victim to homicide.

Bariatric surgery in women linked to premature birth

Date: Nov-14-2013
Infants of women who have had weight loss surgery are more likely to be born premature and small in size for their gestational age, compared with babies born to women who have not had weight loss surgery. This is according to a study published in the BMJ.Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden say their findings show that pregnancies for women who have undergone weight loss (bariatric) surgery should be treated as high-risk pregnancies and that these women should receive more attentive prenatal care.

Taiwan: first human case of new bird flu virus

Date: Nov-14-2013
The world's first case of a wild avian influenza A H6N1 virus has been confirmed in a 20-year-old Taiwanese woman. Scientists who analyzed the virus found it has a genetic mutation, allowing it to get into human cells and cause infection.Results of their findings were published in a study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.The woman entered a hospital in central Taiwan in May 2013 with flu-like symptoms and difficulty breathing. Her doctors say she fully recovered after treatment with oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

Gut bacteria's fatty acid boosts immune system, reducing inflammation

Date: Nov-14-2013
Researchers in Japan have carried out a mouse study that reveals a mechanism through which gut bacteria influence the immune system's role in reducing inflammation. The mechanism works via a fatty acid known as butyrate, which results when the bacteria digest dietary fiber.The researchers, led by a group from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS-RCAI) in Kanagawa, believe their findings make a case for using butyrate to treat inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease.

Novel microbicide gel for vagina and rectum shows potential for HIV prevention

Date: Nov-14-2013
Researchers developed a first-of-its-kind microbicide gel formulation that shows promise for safe vaginal and rectal administration to prevent the sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This research is being presented at the 2013 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, in San Antonio, Nov. 10 - 14. There are 35.

Pneumonia and diarrhea continue to be the leading killers of children under the age of five

Date: Nov-14-2013
The Pneumonia and Diarrhea Progress Report 2013 published by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health highlights that India continues to have the largest pneumonia and diarrhea disease burden in the world. It also points out that many Indian children do not have access to life-saving treatment and prevention measures. India continues to lose more than 400,000 children before their fifth birthday due to these two easily preventable diseases, and many more suffer from severe illness.