Public Health

Minimal access hip arthroscopy surgery has become the treatment of choice for hip pain in young adults, but a team surgeons believe the procedure is a sham, more like acupuncture than helpful.  In North America, arthroscopic hip surgeries have replaced open surgeries as the go-to cure for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), a common source of hip pain in young adults, where abnormal femurs lead to damaged cartilage in the hip joint. The number of such procedures increased 18-fold in the U.S. within a decade, especially with athletes. To evaluate if the surgery is really helpful, the team…

A substantial proportion of women in countries around the world do not stay in health facilities for long enough after giving birth, which could result in them receiving inadequate postnatal care, according to an analysis of survey results by the London School of Hygiene&Tropical Medicine, which compiled and analyzed information from databases and health surveys to look at the length of time women stay in health facilities after childbirth in 92 countries, and found wide variation. They estimated that the average (mean) length of stay for women after they give birth to a single…

Gun deaths is a disingenuous term in the modern American political climate, because it includes suicides and assumes a lack of access to guns would eliminate the 60 percent of handgun deaths that are suicides, or guns used by criminals. Gun ownership does not seem to lead to more murders, and murders are the real concern. There, we have a Handgun Paradox, where even in states like California, which make it more difficult to get a concealed weapons permit, gun ownership has boomed but murders have plummeted.  Yet if a trickle down effect is acceptable economics, it might also work in guns…

Avoidable harm to patients is still too high in healthcare in the UK and across the globe -- making safety a top healthcare priority for providers and policy makers alike. These are the findings of two reports launched today by researchers from Imperial College London. Both reports, produced by NIHR Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (PSTRC), provide evidence on the current state of patient safety and how it could be improved the future. They urge healthcare providers to embrace a more open and transparent culture to encourage continuous learning and harm reduction.…

Formaldehyde is back in the news because a company called Lumber Liquidators has been found to have exposure levels higher than previously believed. While three times effectively zero is still zero, fundraising groups like Natural Resources Defense Council have pounced on the opportunity to promote fear and doubt and talk about EPA regulations they have conspired with lobbyists to create. While your flooring is harmless, nature has more formaldehyde than you'll get in your house, e-cigarettes are a higher level of concern because the vapor is inhaled directly into lungs. A new study shows…

There are rows upon rows of packaged snack foods in supermarkets, including snack bars made from muesli, cereal, nuts, seeds and fruit. Many of the labels on the packages shout out words such as “natural”, “protein”, “oaty”, “super-food”, “wholegrain”, “light”, “gluten-free” and “97% fat-free!”. But these words can mask unhealthy products. Many processed snack bars are high in added sugar, refined starch and fat. Knowing what is in snack bars is of particular importance to parents given nearly one in five two- to 18-year-olds consume these muesli or cereal-style bars, and one in four…

People who are searching for the best natural arthritis pain relief remedies generally have a few traits in common. For one, people who are looking for the best natural arthritis pain relief remedies tend to be interested in finding supplements that not only will immediately stop the pain of arthritis, but which also will continue to lessen pain and make it easier to live life regularly and to participate in life in all of the ways they are used to. It also is true that people who are looking for the best natural arthritis pain relief remedies also tend to be concerned with the substances…

You might think your options for arthritis hip exercise are limited due to range of motion problems, as well as your pain. However, you might be surprised at just how many choices you have. Of course, you need to work with your doctor to find the best combination for your situation and you may need to start small and work your way into more complicated forms of exercise. Here are some options for arthritis hip exercise. Mix and match until you find the right combination: Aerobic, low impact exercise - Movement is something that helps with hip problems. When looking for the best arthritis hip…

An analysis of scientific reports and comments on the health effects of a salty diet reveals a polarization between those supportive of the once-popular belief that population-wide reduction of salt intake is associated with better health and those that content it has been more hype than science. They used a citation analysis method of reviews, a little different from a traditional method, which basically just averages out other studies and attempts to control for differences. In all, 54 percent were supportive of the hypothesis; 33 percent, not supportive; and 13 percent inconclusive, finds…

Nine weekly sessions of acupuncture lessen perceived pain intensity, and improve functional capacity and quality of life, in people diagnosed with the blanket pain condition called fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia diagnoses are based on claims of chronic widespread pain, along with fatigue, disordered sleep patterns, and/or depression.  Surveys show that 90% of people who have fibromyalgia try some form of alternative medicine, including massage, hydrotherapy, and acupuncture. Clinical trials have shown acupuncture doesn't work but the authors of the new paper say the lack of efficacy is…