Health News

Frozen Fruit Blend Linked To Hepatits A Outbreak

Date: Jun-09-2013
Virginia health officials have just announced that the "Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Berry Blend" sold under the Harris Teeter brand, could be the cause of the outbreak of hepatitis A infections. The Virginia Department of Health, along with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, issued a warning to all consumers to avoid eating the product. Hepatitis A is a disease that usually occurs and spreads as a result of an infected food handler preparing food products without adequate hand hygiene...

Brain Function Stimulated Immediately After A 20-Minute Bout Of Yoga

Date: Jun-09-2013
Researchers report that a single, 20-minute session of Hatha yoga significantly improved participants' speed and accuracy on tests of working memory and inhibitory control, two measures of brain function associated with the ability to maintain focus and take in, retain and use new information. Participants performed significantly better immediately after the yoga practice than after moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for the same amount of time. The 30 study subjects were young, female, undergraduate students. The new findings appear in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health...

Correlation Between Higher Illness Absences And Lower Ventilation Rates In California Elementary Schools

Date: Jun-09-2013
If you suspect that opening windows to let in fresh air might be good for you, a new study by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has confirmed your hunch. Analyzing extensive data on ventilation rates collected from more than 150 classrooms in California over two years, the researchers found that bringing classroom ventilation rates up to the state-mandated standard may reduce student absences due to illness by approximately 3.4 percent...

Data Mining EMRs Can Detect Bad Drug Reactions

Date: Jun-09-2013
NJIT Assistant Professor Mei Liu, PhD, a computer scientist, has recently shown in a new study that electronic medical records can validate previously reported adverse drug reactions and report new ones. "Comparative Analysis of Pharmacovigilance Methods in Detection of Adverse Drug Reactions from Electronic Medical Records" (Journal of American Medical Informatics Association, May 2013) examined the use of retrospective medication orders and inpatient laboratory results documented in the medical records to identify adverse reactions...

Autism Discovery Offers Hope For Early Blood Test And Therapeutic Options

Date: Jun-09-2013
Researchers at the JC Self Research Institute of the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC), along with collaborators from Biolog, Inc. in California, have reported an important discovery in the understanding of autism which was published in Molecular Autism...

3D Thermal Imaging Picture Painted By Firefighting Robot To Aid Rescuers

Date: Jun-09-2013
Engineers in the Coordinated Robotics Lab at the University of California, San Diego, have developed new image processing techniques for rapid exploration and characterization of structural fires by small Segway-like robotic vehicles. A sophisticated on-board software system takes the thermal data recorded by the robot's small infrared camera and maps it onto a 3D scene constructed from the images taken by a pair of stereo RGB cameras...

If Health Plans Roll Back Coverage, They Could Affect Children With Developmental Disabilities

Date: Jun-09-2013
Despite their inclusion as essential health benefits, habilitative services face an uncertain future under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new analysis done at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS). Many parents of children with developmental disabilities have trouble getting insurance coverage for habilitative services which can help their children keep, learn or improve their skills and daily functioning...

Erectile Dysfunction Much More Common Among Young Men Than Previously Thought

Date: Jun-09-2013
According to a new analysis, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, the number of young men suffering from erectile dysfunction may be much higher than previously thought. Erectile dysfunction, also known as impotence or ED, occurs when a man is unable to sustain an erection which is sufficient for sexual intercourse. Prime treatment options for ED are the drugs Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. However, according to a study presented at the 28th Annual EAU Congress, despite the high prevalence of ED, most patients receive no treatment...

Link Discovered Between Formula-Feeding, Metabolic Stress And Increased Risk Of Later Disease

Date: Jun-09-2013
New evidence from research suggests that infants fed formula, rather than breast milk, experience metabolic stress that could play a part in the long-recognized link between formula-feeding and an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and other conditions in adult life. The study appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. Carolyn Slupsky and colleagues explain that past research showed a link between formula-feeding and a higher risk for chronic diseases later in life. Gaps exist, however, in the scientific understanding of the basis for that link...

Gut Bacteria Play Key Role In Vaccination

Date: Jun-09-2013
The bacteria that live in the human gut may play an important role in immune response to vaccines and infection by wild-type enteric organisms, according to two recent studies resulting from a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute for Genome Sciences and the Center for Vaccine Development. The first study, published online in PLOS ONE,* examines the impact of an oral typhoid vaccination on the microbiota, or populations of bacteria, in the human gut...