It s no secret that staph infections resistant to multiple antibiotics have become a major problem in hospitals over the past few decades. But such infections contracted outside of a medical setting have also been problematic: The rate of community-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) peaked at 62 percent of the population in 2006. However, the increased awareness of this problem may finally have had some impact.
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n a recent Op-Ed for Reuters, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg boasted about the success of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The news would be quite welcome if only it were true.
Josh Bloom, Forbes August 9, 2012, "The Contraction Of Pharma Means Innovation Goes Out With a Bang"
Given all the analyses and post-mortems of America s pharmaceutical industry, it is impossible to avoid the notion that a lack of innovation has left the industry in its current, sorry state.
Radiation therapy appears to be a good choice for older women with early-stage breast cancer, according to a recent study published in Cancer. In fact, the retrospective, observational study found that women ages 70 to 79 reduced their risk of a follow-up mastectomy by two thirds if they received radiation therapy after their lumpectomy.
We ve been following the increasingly promising anti-HIV drug Truvada ever since a 2010 study showed that it was capable of reducing HIV transmission between male partners by as much as 90 percent.
And, while we re on the topic of obesity, children s obesity is getting some attention today, too. Unfortunately, it s for the wrong reasons. A study just published in Pediatrics has concluded that strict laws in some states restricting school sales of junk food and sweetened drinks may contribute to lowering childhood obesity rates.
Sepsis is a dangerous bloodstream infection, one that can develop from even a minor cut yet lead to organ failure and death. It accounts for about 1.6 million hospitalizations a year (about 4,600 patients every day). Add to that a mortality rate of between 20 and 50 percent, and the FDA s approval of a new device for making more rapid and accurate identification of such bacterial infections seems like very good news indeed.
A recent study published in Current Biology finds that researchers are now able to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine a person s age with about 92 percent accuracy at least if they re between the ages of 3 and 20. But aside from simply being a neat trick, the technology can be used to detect abnormal brain development within that age range a key period of brain development.
Good news: U.S. cases of chickenpox have fallen by nearly 80 percent between 2000 and 2010, the CDC reports. And much of that decline can be attributed to vaccination.
Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. diff, is a potentially deadly infection of the colon, most often affecting hospital patients. But many now question whether hospitals are doing everything they can to prevent the infection from occurring.
Vitamin D-deficient kids may benefit from supplementation, according to the results of a new study published in the journalPediatrics. The new report found that such children had fewer colds during the winter.
A new study finds that between 1993 and 2009, antipsychotic drug prescriptions skyrocketed among U.S. children and adolescents.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients will be keeping their fingers crossed that the first oral immune-mediator treatment for the disease will be approved by the FDA.
The growing popularity of so-called energy drinks among young people has prompted an investigation into whether the companies are misleading consumers about risks associated with the beverages.
Imagine a sensor about the size of a grain of salt that, once swallowed, can transmit details about your heart rate and physical activity levels and track your adherence to a drug regimen. This technology, imagined by Proteus Digital Health, Inc., is now a reality that was approved just last month by the FDA.
As breast cancer research continues to make news, take a moment to catch up on the latest in a two-part series of op-eds by our very own Dr. Ross, featured on Examiner.com.
You can read them both in their entirety here and here.
In an op-ed in the current issue of JAMA, Dr. Howard K. Koh, assistant secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and HHS Secretary Kathleen G. Sebelius boast about the efficacy of various interventions in curbing the tobacco epidemic. Their piece specifically highlights the effectiveness of media campaigns, higher prices, and smoke-free policies in helping smokers quit. The news would be quite welcome if only it were true.
Nearly 67 million Americans are living with hypertension, according to the latest estimates from the CDC, and nearly half of those people do not have their condition under control. Those are the dismal findings published in a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that was based on 2003-2010 data obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Every year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports on state obesity rankings, and every year, a number of Southern states top the list.
In 2008, The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute both recommended that yearly screening for high blood pressure should begin as early as age three. However, according to a recent study published in Pediatrics, pediatricians are still failing to take kids blood pressure at about one-third of routine check-ups.
If you re pregnant or even contemplating it I m sure you ve heard the mantra about drinking while gestating: Just Say No. Everyone knows that there s no amount of alcohol you can safely imbibe if you re pregnant. Right?
An Inhalation Toxicology study found that very few chemicals in very low concentrations were detected.
It turns out that the stress of a demanding job, combined with having little control over it, could be a deadly combination, according to a recent UK study. In a meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies, researchers from University College London analyzed the association of job stress defined as high work demands and low decision control with the risk of heart disease.
It was no surprise to ACSH staffers and many New Yorkers yesterday when news broke that the New York City Board of Health had approved a mayoral regulation banning super-sized sugary drinks at certain restaurants, concession stands, and other eateries.
For years, breast cancer awareness campaigns have urged women not to miss their scheduled mammograms. Yet there are some women for whom a regular mammogram is not enough. The latest research shows that women whose breasts are composed mostly of dense tissue can have a mammogram year after year and still have their breast cancer go undetected.
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