Feature Channels: Public Health

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In early December, the Center of Disease Control officials warned that the year's flu season could result in more fatalities than in other years. CDC Director Tom Frieden noted that the dominant flu strain circulating this season, H3N2, tends to lead to a greater number of hospitalizations and fatalities than other strains. About half of the flu samples tested in the early stages of this year's flu season were a new H3 subtype of the virus that this year's vaccine is not well prepared to fight.

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A study of nearly a half-million Americans has found that following cancer prevention guidelines from the American Cancer Society may modestly reduce your overall risk of developing cancer and have a greater impact on reducing your overall risk of dying. Having a healthy body weight and staying active appeared to have the most positive impact.

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While many smokers may make quitting part of their New Year’s resolution – a new study may give some yet another reason to stop – the negative impact cigarette smoke has on chronic wounds. Despite the fact that chronic wounds cost up to $25 billion to treat annually, healthcare providers often don’t discuss smoking with their chronic wound patients. New research explores the connection between non-healing wounds and smoking – and the missed opportunities to help patients understand how their habit is hurting their ability to heal.

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Women who have adequate levels of B vitamins in their bodies are more likely to get and stay pregnant even when they also have high levels of a common pesticide known to have detrimental reproductive effects, according to new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research.

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Low alcohol consumption and a plant-based diet, both healthy habits aligning with current cancer prevention guidelines, are associated with reducing the risk of obesity-related cancers, a New York University study shows.

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“Our data reveal that incontrollable urges to smoke are stronger at the beginning of the follicular phase that begins after menstruation. Hormonal decreases of oestrogen and progesterone possibly deepen the withdrawal syndrome and increase activity of neural circuits associated with craving” - Adrianna Mendrek

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Two new reports from researchers at Tufts University show fast food portion sizes and product formulation, including sodium content and fat, stayed relatively the same between 1996 and 2013. The exception was a consistent decline in trans fat of fries between 2000 and 2009. Nevertheless, calorie and sodium contents remain high suggesting emphasis needs to be shifted from portion size to additional factors such as total calories and number of items ordered.

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While an effective treatment is available for combating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, it carries serious side effects for patients. New research conducted at the Center for Tuberculosis Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine shows that lower doses of the toxic drug bedaquiline — given together with verapamil, a medication that’s used to treat various heart conditions — can lead to the same antibacterial effects as higher toxic doses of bedaquiline.

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An international research team has shown how changes in a flu virus that has plagued Chinese poultry farms for decades helped create the novel avian H7N9 influenza A virus that has sickened more than 375 people since 2013. The research appears in the current online early edition of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Each year on January 1st, Americans make goals for the New Year, ranging from getting in shape and spending more time with their families to decreasing debt. This year, make a resolution that will not only improve your health, but also save you money— quit smoking. According to the Surgeon General’s most recent tobacco-related report, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and premature death worldwide.

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New study shows the even parents who are not "vaccine refusers", and usually comply with the routine vaccination programs , may hesitate or refuse to vaccinate their children based on poor communication from the relevant healthcare provider, as well as concerns about the safety of the vaccine.

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A multivitamin given daily to pregnant women in rural Bangladesh reduced pre-term births, increased infant birth weight and resulted in healthier babies overall, according to the large randomized trial conducted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers.

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Loyola University Health System has now expanded free HIV testing to patients at the Loyola Center for Health at River Forest. “HIV affects people of all ages, all races and all economic backgrounds; it is not just an urban phenomenon but exists in the suburbs,” says Jerry Goldstein, research coordinator, Loyola University Health System. ”The more people tested, the earlier the detection and the faster treatment is offered to save lives and prevent the spread of infection.”

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WebQuit is an online quit-smoking program and research study being conducted by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The WebQuit study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, is testing two online quit-smoking programs to learn which one is most useful to help people quit.

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Shopping, traveling, and spending time with the family—the holiday season is an overwhelming combination of joy and stress. For many former tobacco smokers, stress is a trigger to reach for a cigarette. Stay smoke-free during the holidays with these tips.

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State and local enforcement of federal immigration laws can have an adverse impact on the use of health care services by immigrant Hispanics, according to a North Carolina-based study by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers.

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A common over-the-counter drug that tackles pain and fever may also hold keys to a longer, healthier life, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist. Regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species, according to research published in the journal Public Library of Science-Genetics.

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Cigarettes have been convicted of many crimes over the years. But the jury's still out on whether their younger, more fashionable cousins – electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes – will meet the same fate.

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Children's Hospital Los Angeles infectious diseases specialist Pia Pannaraj, MD, discusses the importance of getting an annual flu vaccine and why opting out should not be an option.

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Officials must use policy, tax and other regulatory tools to stem youth smoking and health effects of tobacco use

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In 2014, more teens use e-cigarettes than traditional, tobacco cigarettes or any other tobacco product—the first time a U.S. national study shows that teen use of e-cigarettes surpasses use of tobacco cigarettes.

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A national survey of students in U.S. middle schools and high schools shows some important improvements in levels of substance use.

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Researchers at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and University of Hawaii Cancer Center find that one-third of Hawaiian adolescents have tried e-cigarettes, half of whom have never used another tobacco product.

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The Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) model consistently and significantly improves quality of care for patients and reduces health care costs, reports a first-of-its-kind, large-scale literature review of the PSH in the United States and abroad. The review, published online this month in Milbank Quarterly, provides further evidence to support the benefits, and encourage the adoption, of the PSH model.

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The Ebola virus travels from person to person through direct contact with infected body fluids. But how long can the virus survive on glass surfaces or countertops? How long can it live in wastewater when liquid wastes from a patient end up in the sewage system? In an article published Dec. 9 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Drexel University plot a course for future study of the virus.

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The fruits and vegetables provided at school deliver an important dietary boost to low income adolescents, according to Meghan Longacre, PhD and Madeline Dalton, PhD of Dartmouth Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center and The Hood Center for Children and Families

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When it comes to measuring teen smoking, many public health agencies rely too heavily on reports of monthly cigarette use, a broad statistic that makes it difficult to draw conclusions about current habits and historical trends, a new study finds.

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Cigarette smoking generates as much as $170 billion in annual health care spending in the United States, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and RTI International.

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Mathematical models predicted it, and now a University of Florida study confirms it: Immunizing school-aged children from flu can protect other segments of the population, as well.

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E-cigarettes appear to be less addictive than cigarettes in former smokers and this could help improve understanding of how various nicotine delivery devices lead to dependence, according to researchers.

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Nine in 10 primary care physicians say that prescription drug abuse is a moderate or big problem in their communities and nearly half say they are less likely to prescribe opioids to treat pain compared to a year ago, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

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A team of researchers at Dartmouth College and University of Pittsburgh found respondents who had smoked water pipe tobacco but not smoked cigarettes were at increased risk of cigarette smoking two years later as recently published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

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Nearly half of all children in the United States are exposed to at least one social or family experience that can lead to traumatic stress and impact their healthy development – be it having their parents divorce, a parent die or living with someone who abuses alcohol or drugs – increasing the risk of negative long-term health consequences or of falling behind in school, suggests new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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What is the impact on expectant mothers and hospitals when there are large-scale closures of maternity units? A new study provides views from hospital staff members in Philadelphia, where 13 out of 19 obstetric units closed in a 15-year period.

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An international research collaborative has determined that a promising anti-malarial compound tricks the immune system to rapidly destroy red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite but leave healthy cells unharmed. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, which appears in the current online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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People with mental illness are more likely to have been tested for HIV than those without mental illness, according to a new study from a team of researchers at Penn Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published online this week in AIDS Patient Care and STDs. The researchers also found that the most seriously ill – those with schizophrenia and bipolar disease – had the highest rate of HIV testing.

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Joy and goodwill aren’t the only things we start spreading to friends, family, colleagues -- even strangers -- this time of year. Late fall and early winter also signal the start of annual spread of the influenza virus.

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Several states and cities have and continue to propose a tax on soft drinks to curb obesity. In November, voters in Berkeley, California, were the first to approve such a tax. But Iowa State University researchers question whether it will have the desired effect.

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Quitting smoking sets off a series of changes in the brain that Penn Medicine researchers say may better identify smokers who will start smoking again—a prediction that goes above and beyond today’s clinical or behavioral tools for assessing relapse risk.

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Women and families in rural areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been beaten down physically and mentally by years of war, poverty, and violence, but a Johns Hopkins School of Nursing researcher and her team suggest that a baby pig has the power to turn despair into hope, even reducing symptoms of PTSD and depression.

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To stop the spread of HIV in Africa, researchers at UCLA, using a complex mathematical model, have developed a strategy that focuses on targeting “hot zones,” areas where the risk of HIV infection is much higher than the national average.

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Redbay ambrosia beetles can bring the laurel wilt disease to avocado trees, ravaging the trees and crop. But UF/IFAS researchers may have found a biological control for the beetles.

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Diagnosing HIV and other infectious diseases presents unique challenges in remote locations that lack electric power, refrigeration, and appropriately trained health care staff. To address these issues, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed a low-cost, electricity-free device capable of detecting the DNA of infectious pathogens, including HIV-1.

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The health departments of the nation's largest cities play a central role in developing innovative population health strategies for improving public health across the United States, according to a special January issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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The latest research from the University of Adelaide challenges current thinking on whether many people with tooth loss really need dentures.

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An award-winning study has documented how homeless, mentally ill women in India face a vicious cycle:

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Smokeless tobacco products are marketed as a way for smokers to cut back on the negative effects of tobacco, while still being able to use it. Is that really the case? A professor in the Department of Psychology at West Virginia University is investigating whether smokers are using smokeless tobacco products as a replacement, or supplement to cigarettes.