Public Health

A Mailman School of Public Health study examining the effects of institutional discrimination on the psychiatric health of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals found an increase in psychiatric disorders among the LGB population living in US states that instituted bans on same-sex marriage. The study is published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The researchers analyzed data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Participants were initially interviewed during 2001 – 2002 (Wave 1) and again during the period 2004-…

A low-cost water purification technique that uses seeds from the Moringa oleifera tree can produce a 90.00% to 99.99% bacterial reduction in previously untreated water, according to a paper published in Current Protocols in Microbiology. The method could help drastically reduce the incidence of waterborne disease in the developing world. "Moringa oleifera is a vegetable tree which is grown in Africa, Central and South America, the Indian subcontinent, and South East Asia. It could be considered to be one of the world's most useful trees," said Michael Lea, a researcher at Clearinghouse, a…

Physical fitness is associated with improved academic performance in young people, according to a study of fifth grade students presented at the American Heart Association's 2010 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism. Many people have suggested that such a relationship exists between academic performance and physical fitness, but until now researchers say there was not enough evidence to define the nature of the relationship. For the study, scientists analyzed the body mass index percentiles, fitness levels and standardized academic test scores of 725 fifth grade students…

Frequent secondhand smoke exposure among 13-year-olds is associated with an increased risk of future blood vessel hardening and greater risks of other heart disease factors, according to new research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The authors of the study say the findings indicate that children must be provided a completely smoke-free environment.   The study of 494 children showed that those with higher levels of exposure to secondhand smoke from ages 8 to 13 had, by age 13, significantly increased blood vessel wall thickness and functioning problems,…

New policies that eliminate sugary beverages and junk foods from schools may help slow childhood obesity, but the effects of such policies are unclear, according to a study in Health Affairs that compared BMI trends in California in the years preceding the enactment of such legislation with the years following enactment. Between 2003 and 2005, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 677, SB 965 and SB 12 into law, a set of statewide policies to eliminate sodas and other highly sweetened beverages and restrict the sale of junk foods in all of California's public schools. Although…

Despite research suggesting that sodium reduction would do little to improve public health, scientists writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine say  that a voluntary effort by the U.S. food service industry to reduce salt in processed foods could have far-reaching implications for the health of the U.S. population, preventing strokes and heart attacks in nearly a million Americans and saving $32.1 billion in medical costs. The team developed a computerized model that simulates the effects of reduced sodium intake on a large population of people between the ages of 40 and 85. Based on a…

Teens who spend more time watching television or using computers appear to have poorer relationships with their parents and peers, according to a report in the March issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Given the importance of healthy relationships with friends and family to adolescent development, the researchers suggest that "concern about high levels of screen time among adolescents is warranted" and that more research is needed to monitor the effects of new technologies on the well being of growing teenagers. There are several potential mechanisms underlying the…

The longer an individual uses marijuana, the more likely that person is to meet criteria for psychosis, according to a report to appear in the May print issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Previous studies have identified an association between cannabis use and psychosis, but the authors of the current study say concerns remain that earlier research has not adequately accounted for confounding variables. Researchers studied 3,801 young adults born between 1981 and 1984. At a 21-year follow-up, when participants were an average age of 20.1, they were asked about cannabis use in recent…

MEDIEVAL MEDICINE         Post-mortem examinations were rare well into the Middle Ages, largely due to religious and intellectual scruples. This early representation (c. 1300) of a dissection shows a surgeon and a monk.  Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179)  Hieronymus Fracastorius  History of Syphilis  Giordano Bruno  Avicenna  Medieval Medicine -Aliments and Cures  Medieval Hospitals - Dodd Memorial Library, Vellore (IN)  Medieval Medical Images - UCLA Digital Library  Islamic Medical Manuscripts -…

Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of experiencing an aneurysm for people who carry common gene variants, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010. In one study, researchers found that the chance of an intracranial aneurysm increased between 37 percent and 48 percent for people who carried one copy of an identified risky gene variation. However, when the gene variant was combined with smoking the equivalent of one pack a day for 20 years, the risk increased more than five-fold. People with two copies of the gene variant…