public health – News Stories About public health - Page 10

Government must inform us of cell phone risk

opinion

Apr 28, 2010 1:55 PM CDT

Cell Phones Are the New Cigarettes

Government must issue warning, as it did with smokes in the '60s

(Newser) - It's time for the government to warn the public about the potential dangers of cell phones, much as it did with cigarettes in the 1960s, writes Joel Moskowitz. We don't have definitive proof yet, but quality studies point to a "harmful association between phone use and tumor risk,"...

Porn Stars, It's
Time to Wear Rubbers

Porn Stars, It's Time to Wear Rubbers

Condom move would humanize stars, help public health

(Newser) - Put on the condom already, porn industry, writes Kent Sepkowitz. Sheathing up will be a positive public health move, and could even humanize actors we can’t seem to consider as the same species as us. California is considering a request to force the industry to rubber up in the...

San Francisco
Druggies
Unionize

Mar 18, 2010 11:34 AM CDT

San Francisco Druggies Unionize

Drug-Users Union aims to give marginalized a political voice

(Newser) - San Francisco is a union town, so why not a union for…drug users? The San Francisco Drug-Users Union has been formed with $35,000 from the Drug Policy Alliance to give the addled a say in local government, a move that has also been taken in other big cities...

An Aspirin a Day
May Be Too Much: Docs

Feb 23, 2010 12:29 PM CST

An Aspirin a Day May Be Too Much: Docs

Side effects may outweigh benefits for some

(Newser) - The blanket advice that middle-aged people should take low-dose aspirin every day to ward off a heart attack or stroke is too broad, warn medical experts. For those who have a history of heart disease or have already suffered an ischemic stroke, the advice is sound. But for others in...

FDA: Don't Stick
Burning Candles
In Your Ears

Feb 20, 2010 5:16 AM CST

FDA: Don't Stick Burning Candles In Your Ears

FDA issues alert, launches crackdown on ear candles

(Newser) - Putting a paraffin or beeswax-soaked tube in your ear and lighting it is a bad idea despite what the makers of ear candles may tell you, the FDA warns. The candles—sold as treatments for ear wax buildup, sinus problems, and headaches—can be hazardous and the FDA believes there...

Swine Flu Not Gone Yet

H1N1 OUTBREAK

Feb 5, 2010 5:45 PM CST

Swine Flu Not Gone Yet

US is 'not at all out of the woods,' CDC chief says

(Newser) - H1N1 continues to spread, albeit at a subdued pace. The chances of a third outbreak this season seem slight, but even though swine flu is not mounting a major offensive, it seems unusually resilient—most influenza outbreaks would've dissipated by now. Deaths from pneumonia and influenza are up, for the...

EPA to Toughen Smog Rules

Jan 7, 2010 2:15 PM CST

EPA to Toughen Smog Rules

Measure would be costly but yield huge health savings

(Newser) - The EPA wants to ramp up smog standards in a significant way from the Bush administration. Assuming today's proposal goes through after a 60-day period for public comment, the agency projects the new standards would prevent 12,000 premature deaths and yield huge savings in health costs. The rules limit...

Santa's a Terrible
Role Model for Kids

Dec 17, 2009 4:00 PM CST

Santa's a Terrible Role Model for Kids

He's obese, doesn't wear a helmet, and could be spreading swine flu

(Newser) - There really is a Santa Claus—and he's a public health menace, warns a light-hearted new study in a British medical journal. It identifies a "very high Santa awareness" among children and determines that he's a reckless role model with his frequent cookie snacks, occasional cigars, and refusal to...

South Africa
Will Expand AIDS Fight

Dec 1, 2009 11:25 AM CST

South Africa Will Expand AIDS Fight

In policy shift, country will ramp up testing and drugs for babies

(Newser) - South Africa said today it will expand HIV testing and treatment for pregnant women and babies, an eagerly awaited shift in a country that has more people living with HIV than any other. Today's speech by President Jacob Zuma on World AIDS Day was viewed as a turning point for...

Wal-Mart Sick Policy Creates Flu 'Threat,' Say Critics

H1N1 OUTBREAK

Nov 5, 2009 5:59 PM CST

Wal-Mart Sick Policy Creates Flu 'Threat,' Say Critics

Report: Ill workers are pressured to report for duty

(Newser) - WalMart is taking heat for a restrictive policy that critics say pressures sick workers to go to work, swine flu be damned. Employees who take absences for an illness or a child’s illness rack up “points," and four points within a certain period can lead to termination....

Cell Phones May Raise Risk of Tumors: WHO Study

Oct 24, 2009 1:01 PM CDT

Cell Phones May Raise Risk of Tumors: WHO Study

Lead researcher says kids' use should be restricted

(Newser) - One of the most thorough reviews yet of the health risks of cell phones suggests that longtime users face a higher risk of brain tumors. The World Health Organization study is not definitive, but it bolsters the case that precautions make sense. The lead researcher tells the Telegraph she thinks...

US Declares Swine Flu Emergency

h1n1 outbreak

Oct 24, 2009 10:56 AM CDT

US Declares Swine Flu Emergency

Move will eliminate red tape, allow for speedier vaccinations

(Newser) - President Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency and empowered his health secretary to suspend federal requirements and speed treatment for thousands of infected people. Despite the language, the White House emphasized the declaration is bureaucratic in nature and should not signal cause for alarm. The goal is...

Vaccine Scarier
Than Swine Flu: Poll

H1N1 OUTBREAK

Oct 22, 2009 2:05 PM CDT

Vaccine Scarier Than Swine Flu: Poll

Concern high and building, but 60+% don't plan to get a shot

(Newser) - Americans are spooked by the growing threat of swine flu but even warier of the vaccine. Half of respondents in a recent Washington Post poll are a “great deal” or “somewhat” worried they or a family member will catch H1N1, up from 39% in August. But more than...

Anti-Vaccine Push
Threatens Kid Health

ANALYSIS

Oct 20, 2009 1:40 AM CDT

Anti-Vaccine Push Threatens Kid Health

'Pseudo-science' campaign blamed for rising rates of child illnesses

(Newser) - A flourishing anti-vaccination movement based on bad science and distrust of Big Pharma is pressing the rewind button on decades of advances in reducing child illness, writes Amy Wallace. Parents who believe—despite the lack of credible evidence—that vaccines harm children are endangering other people's children as well as...

If Swine Flu Is a Test,
America Is Failing

opinion

Oct 10, 2009 9:57 AM CDT

If Swine Flu Is a Test, America Is Failing

States' herky-jerky responses show problems with system

(Newser) - Take a good look at how states are dispensing swine flu shots—if they're dispensing them at all yet—and there's no escaping one conclusion: What a mess. Despite federal guidelines, each state seems to have its own ideas on who should get them first, and when—yet another example...

10% of Babies Are Premature,
Taxing World's Health System

Oct 4, 2009 5:29 PM CDT

10% of Babies Are Premature, Taxing World's Health System

Of 13 million preemies, 1 million die before surviving 1 month

(Newser) - Nearly 10% of babies born each year worldwide arrive prematurely, and the stress of caring for them "is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically and financially on families, medical systems and economies," the March of Dimes said today. Some 13 million babies are preemies, and more than 1...

Little Kids Still Need
2 Swine Flu Shots

Sep 21, 2009 3:41 PM CDT

Little Kids Still Need 2 Swine Flu Shots

Older kids, like adults, get effective H1N1 inoculation from just 1 dose

(Newser) - Kids over age 9 can safely join adults in receiving just one shot of swine flu vaccine, the Washington Post reports. A test of 650 subjects showed 76% of children between 10 and 17 had a response to a vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur, and it was strong enough that...

Global Rates of Alzheimer's Disease Soar

Sep 21, 2009 2:40 PM CDT

Global Rates of Alzheimer's Disease Soar

Aging populations drive increase; developing world will be hit hard

(Newser) - Rising life expectancy in the developing world will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of people stricken by Alzheimer’s disease, HealthDay News reports. The number of dementia cases worldwide will reach 35.6 million in 2010, a 10% increase over the total in 2005. That number is...

Egypt Kills All Pigs—
But Pigs Eat All Trash

Sep 20, 2009 12:48 PM CDT

Egypt Kills All Pigs— But Pigs Eat All Trash

With no swine to eat garbage, waste piles up on city streets

(Newser) - When the Egyptian government decided to kill all of Cairo’s pigs last spring in a pre-emptive measure to combat swine flu, they apparently forgot that the pigs performed a vital function in a city with poor public services: eating trash, the New York Times reports. The zabaleen, Cairo’s...

Health Experts
Call for Soda Tax

Sep 17, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

Health Experts Call for Soda Tax

Critics say it won't reduce obesity

(Newser) - Health experts say a tax on sugary sodas would take a big bite out of the obesity epidemic, ABC News reports. Taxing "sugar-sweetened beverages is really a double-win," said the co-author of a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "We can raise much-needed...