Public Health

Burdensome though it is, the $5.2 trillion national debt never killed anyone. But the national sleep debt is another story, according to Cornell University psychologist and sleep expert James Maas - the man who coined the term 'power nap.' One hundred thousand traffic accidents caused by drivers falling asleep claim some 1,500 lives each year in the United States, Maas reports, while sleep deprivation and sleep disorders cost the American economy at least $150 billion a year. "We've become a nation of walking zombies. More than half the adult population of the United States is carrying a…

A new study in the journal Atmospheric Environment by researchers at USC and the California Air Resources Board found that the average Los Angeles driver spends about six percent (1.5 hours) of his or her day on the road, yet that period of time accounts for 33 to 45 percent of total exposure to diesel and ultrafine particles (UFP). On freeways, diesel-fueled trucks are the source of the highest concentrations of harmful pollutants. High air exchange rates that occur when a vehicle is moving make roadways a major source of exposure. Ultrafine particles are of particular concern because,…

An autoimmune inflammatory disease that takes a progressive toll on the heart, kidney and liver as well as the joints, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with a high risk of early death. This sobering fact is well known. Less is known about whether longevity has improved for RA patients over the past few decades of remarkable improvements in longevity in the general population. Are earlier diagnosis, breakthrough drugs, and more aggressive antirheumatic treatment regimens paying off in terms of survival? For answers to this vital question, researchers at the Mayo Clinic conducted a…

Severely restricting calories leads to a longer life, according to research in the October issue of Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences. The study says such a diet can also maintain physical fitness into advanced age, slowing the seemingly inevitable progression to physical disability and loss of independence. Using a rat model of life-time caloric restriction, they showed that the diet reduces the amount of visceral fat, which expresses inflammatory factors that in humans cause chronic disease and a decline in physical performance and vitality across…

A new global study revealed that 40 percent of men and 30 percent of women are overweight, while 24 percent of men and 27 percent of women are obese, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the study, 168,159 people (69,409 men, 98,750 women) from 18 to 80 years old (average age 48) in 63 countries across five continents were evaluated by their primary care physicians. "This is the largest study to assess the frequency of adiposity (body fat) in the clinic, providing a snapshot of patients worldwide," said study lead author Beverley Balkau, Ph.D.,…

With the latest advances in treatment, doctors say they can successfully neutralize the HIV virus. The so-called ‘combination therapy’ prevents the HIV virus from mutating and spreading, allowing patients to rebuild their immune system to the same levels as the rest of the population. Professor Jens Lundgren from the University of Copenhagen, together with other members of the research group EuroSIDA, have conducted a study, which demonstrates that the immune system of all HIV-infected patients can be restored and normalized. The only stipulation is that patients begin and continue to follow…

Stretching has many beneficial qualities but if you are doing it to prevent later muscle soreness, it probably isn't working, a team of Cochrane Researchers has found. Many people stretch before starting to exercise, and some stretch again at the end of a period of exertion. The aim may be to prevent injury, to promote higher performance, or to limit the chances of feeling stiff in the days after the exercise. Two researchers set out to assess whether stretching could reduce stiffness. They identified 10 relevant trials, each of which involved between 10 and 30 people. Nine of the studies had…

A study of 130 middle-aged and older men in the USA found that many of the 40 to 65 year-olds were engaging in high-risk sexual practices. 38 per cent didn’t use condoms during oral sex, with 25 per cent having unprotected vaginal sex and 22 per cent having unsafe anal sex. The research also showed that men who were single and displayed fewer HIV symptoms were least likely to use condoms during sex. As many as four out of ten HIV positive African-American men could be putting their partners at risk by not using condoms, according to research in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing…

New research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) examines the motivations and practices of consumers and producers involved in ‘alternative food’ networks like organic vegetable boxes, community gardens and farm animal adoption and says consumers tended to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables, and improve their cooking skills and knowledge about food. The research also found some evidence of a ‘graduation effect’, whereby involvement in an alternative food scheme encouraged consumers to change their consumption behaviours in relation to other goods, such…

A report to be published in an upcoming issue of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin will call for urgent attention to the politically sensitive issue of border control, and the need for coherent and robust national plans in the face of a catastrophic flu pandemic . The report comes after the recent confirmation of person-to-person transmission of a strain of avian influenza A (HN51) in Northern Sumatra: although the outbreak was contained by voluntary quarantine and rapid administration of antiviral medication, scientists admitted that the world had ‘dodged a bullet’ and ‘may not…