Health News

Physical Inactivity Causes As Many Deaths As Smoking

Date: Jul-17-2012
People failing to be physically active, not spending at least 150 minutes a week doing moderate exercise (walking for 30 minutes 5 times a week), is causing from approximately 6% to 10% of deaths in four serious non-communicable diseases: coronary heart disease (CHD), type 2 diabetes, and colon and breast cancer worldwide. In 2008, this lack of exercise was responsible for the deaths of 5.3 million of the 57 million lives that were taken that year globally...

What Is Rapid Eye Movement Sleep? What Is REM?

Date: Jul-17-2012
Rapid eye movement sleep, or REM, is one of the five stages of sleep that most people experience nightly. It is characterized by quick, random movements of the eyes and paralysis of the muscles. The amount of time spent in REM sleep varies significantly with age; it normally makes up around 20-25% of an adult humans total time spent asleep (on average about 90-120 minutes), and approximately 80% of a newborn's...

Fighting Malaria By Modifying Friendly Bacteria In Mosquito Gut

Date: Jul-17-2012
By genetically modifying gut bacteria in the malaria mosquito, US researchers have found a potentially powerful way to fight malaria. The modified "friendly" bacteria, which live in the midgut of the mosquito alongside the malaria parasite, produce toxins that are deadly to the parasite but do not harm humans or mosquitoes. Writing in a paper published online on 16 July in PNAS, the researchers suggest their findings provide a "foundation for the use of genetically modified symbiotic bacteria as a powerful tool to combat malaria"...

Does Weight Loss Surgery Reduce Long-Term Health Costs? Seems Not

Date: Jul-17-2012
Weight loss surgery does not reduce long-term health costs - at least among older men, says a new study published in Archives of Surgery. Although bariatric surgery is the most effective way to induce weight loss in individuals who are severely obese, the related health care expenditure trends have not been thoroughly investigated, say the researchers. They highlight that investigating these trends are important, because as demand for weight loss surgery increases, so does the number of non-white, older and male patients with obesity-related diseases...

Appearance Of Burn Scars Improved With Pulsed-Dye Laser

Date: Jul-17-2012
A recent study by burn and skin specialists from the University of Cincinnati, Shriners Hospital for Children-Cincinnati and Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center, found that use of a pulsed-dye laser tool improves the appearance, elasticity, and texture of burn scars. During the study, researchers compared combination therapy of the pulsed-dye laser and compression compared to just compression therapy on pediatric burn patients. The study has been published online in Dermatological Surgery. Lead author J...

Safety-Net Hospitals Have Lower Satisfaction Rates

Date: Jul-17-2012
According to a nationwide study published online in Archives of Internal Medicine, patients at safety-net hospitals (SNHs), which usually care for poor patients, are significantly less satisfied with their hospital experience than patients at other hospitals. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) currently runs a value-based purchasing (VBP) program that holds 1-3% of each hospital's total Medicare payments. A portion of that money is then reimbursed to the hospitals, depending on how well they perform on a set of quality measures...

Antibiotic Resistance Taken Head On With ICT Technology

Date: Jul-17-2012
Researchers in Europe have developed a new system which could help in the war on resistance to antibiotics. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 440,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis emerge each year, resulting in at least 150,000 deaths. In addition, hospital-acquired infections caused by highly resistant bacteria, such as 'Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus' (MRSA) are also on the rise...

Psychotic Depression - A Valid Psychiatric Syndrome?

Date: Jul-17-2012
The number of studies reporting significant and clinically relevant differences between psychotic depression (PD) and non-PD has increased considerably over the past decades. This summary of the current evidence suggests that psychotic depression now fulfills the criteria for a valid psychiatric syndrome. The suggested redefinition of psychotic depression in the ICD-11 is merited, and such a revision will be of benefit to both research and clinical practice...

Trans Fat Ban Has Led To Healthier Fast Food Meals In NYC

Date: Jul-17-2012
The ban that New York City authorities introduced in 2006 to restrict use of trans fats in fast-food restaurants has led to residents eating healthier fast food meals that are substantially and significantly lower in trans fats. Also, those meals have not increased their saturated fat content to compensate.  These are the findings of a new study published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Tuesday...

FDA Approves First Drug To Reduce Risk Of HIV Infection

Date: Jul-17-2012
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced on Monday that it has approved a existing drug, Truvada for reducing risk of infection by sexually transmitted HIV-1 in adults. This is the first drug the FDA has indicated for uninfected adults at high risk of acquiring HIV through sex. HIV-1 is the most common form of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Agency experts say Truvada, produced by Gilead Sciences Inc, should be used in combination with safe sex practices...