Public Health
There are claims by some that many diseases we now get more frequently are "lifestyle" diseases, caused by decadent Western problems like plentiful food and too much science. Instead, it has also been posited, we simply are not killed by lots of other things young (organic food, lack of medicine. unheated homes) and that makes diseases of age look like diseases of lifestyle.
A new study adds to that, using using modern imaging techniques on hearts more than 400 years old found at an archaeological site. Archaeologists with the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research…
Today, the NYT reported that Coca-Cola's Chief Scientist is stepping down in the midst of a controversy regarding Coke's support of researchers who emphasize exercise for weight control. Dr. Rhona Applebaum was working with established scientists to position the obesity discussion as a question of energy balance rather than demonizing particular food groups.
In the middle of this somewhat silly controversy are emails from Jim Hill, a smart, good guy from the University of Colorado (which is my college and Med School Alma Mater). I've met him briefly on numerous occasions and he's the…
Neural tube defects in Europe remain too high for the past 20 years, despite a long-standing medical recommendation that would prevent them, according to a paper in The BMJ today.
Each year, around 5,000 pregnancies in Europe are affected by neural tube defects like spina bifida and anencephaly (problems with brain and skull formation), with serious consequences for newborns and their families. Taking folic acid supplements before and during early pregnancy can greatly reduce the risk, but evidence suggests that only a small minority of women do so.
Scholars analyzed data for more than…
Gil Ross |
Well, don't this beat all! An article in The Guardian announcing the 17 newly-honored Presidential Medal of Freedom awardees was entitled, "First EPA chief accuses Republicans of ignoring science for political gain."
The President and his coterie somehow determined that William Ruckelshaus was a worthy recipient of the nation's highest civilian honor. This, despite the fact that as the first EPA Administrator (established Dec. 1970), he single-handedly banned almost all uses of DDT. His own science panel deliberated and reviewed thousands of documents and studies from Jan. 1972 through…
A new study brings good news, a significant reduction in diabetes-related amputations since the mid-1990s, thanks to improvements in diabetes care over this period.
Amputations of the lower limbs are one of the most serious and disabling complications of diabetes, and become necessary when the nerve and blood vessel damage caused by the condition affects the blood supply to the lower limbs, especially the feet. Serious problems with the feet (including ulceration) are a frequent reason for hospitalization amongst patients who have diabetes.
This new study analyzed amputation rates…
Pedestrian wheelchair users in the US are a third more likely to be killed in road traffic collisions than the general public, and men's risk is five times higher than women's, according to a paper in BMJ Open.
Every year nearly 5,000 pedestrians are killed and another 76,000 injured in road traffic collisions on public roads in the US. An analysis of two independent but incomplete data sources (capture-recapture) to estimate the total number of pedestrian deaths caused by car crashes between 2006 and 2012, using the LexisNexis US newspaper database and the National Highway Traffic Safety…
Tasers, created to save lives by subduing criminals and others without shooting them, are now the target of health papers. They are used by over 16,000 police forces in 107 countries and use compressed nitrogen to fire two barbed electrical probes that deliver a pulsed 50,000 volt shock, causing intense skeletal muscle contractions and pain.
Writing in BMJ, journalist Owen Dyer says the health risks are greater than previously thought. Of recent concern is the police use of Tasers against mentally ill patients, which has prompted the UK home secretary, Theresa May, to order a review…
Like with emissions control and human rights, the Chinese government will publicly say one thing and then do another. Reducing cigarette smoking is in that same camp.
China is the world's largest producer and consumer of cigarettes, with more than 300 million smokers. The annual cigarette related death toll of 1.4 million (which includes approximately 100,000 deaths blamed on second-hand smoke) is expected to triple by 2050.
Ten articles just published in a supplement of the journal Tobacco Control report findings from research conducted in China by the University of Waterloo's…
People who drink three to five cups of coffee per day are less likely to die prematurely from some illnesses than those who don't drink or drink less coffee, according to a new study. Drinkers of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee saw benefits, including a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, type 2 diabetes, and suicide.
Researchers analyzed health data gathered from participants in three large ongoing studies: 74,890 women in the Nurses' Health Study; 93,054 women in the Nurses' Health Study 2; and 40,557 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up…
A new analysis of maternal mortality worldwide conducted by the United Nations found that the maternal mortality ratio saw a relative decline of 43.9 percent during the 25-year period of 1990-2015. Details appear in an early online issue of The Lancet.
The study analyzed levels and trends in maternal mortality in 183 countries and found that the maternal mortality ratio declined from 385 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 216 in 2015. They also saw great variability in progress toward reducing mortality.
Estimation of maternal mortality and associated uncertainty is challenging…