public health

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Hand-Washing Might Not Help Much Against Flu

Some scientist say it's airborne, not spread by touch

(Newser) - Everyone from Elmo to President Obama is telling people to wash their hands to avoid getting the swine flu, and Disney could make a killing on “Musical Hand Wash Timers” featuring its stable of characters. But Newsweek talks to scientists skeptical of the approach: Hand-washing might be great for...

In War on STDs, NC Tries New Weapon: Bribery

Syphilis outbreak sparks offer of gift card in exchange for test

(Newser) - The incidence of syphilis is spiking in the economically hard-hit South, and health officials have lit on a novel preventative measure, MSNBC reports: Wal-Mart gift cards. Syphilis tends to rebound in tough times, and a program in North Carolina induces patients to submit to a test in exchange for the...

Swine Flu Can Burrow Deep Into Lungs: Docs

H1N1 can infect cells where seasonal flu can't: study

(Newser) - Swine flu can worm its way deeper into the body than seasonal flu, a dangerous capability that could result in increased fatalities if the virus mutates, AFP reports. Seasonal influenza is able to bind only to the tissues in the nose, throat, and upper airway—that’s why it causes...

Time-Starved Working Parents Eat Poorly: Study

Low-income work schedules make healthy eating difficult

(Newser) - The nature of low-income employment promotes unhealthy eating, Time reports. Over half of working parents in low-to-moderate income communities relied on dietary “coping” measures when their schedules couldn’t accommodate a full meal, according to a new Cornell University study. Those strategies included skipping breakfast or family meals, and...

To Cut Health Costs, Fix the Food Industry

Obesity 'accounts for nearly a tenth' of health-care spending

(Newser) - There’s an “elephant in the room” when it comes to health care reform: American health care costs a bundle in large part because we’re so fat, writes Michael Pollan for the New York Times. President Obama has touched on the issue, but the country hasn’t, and...

Road Noise Drives Blood Pressure Up

Stress, sleep interruptions may be at fault: researchers

(Newser) - People who live close to noisy roads may face a greater threat of developing high blood pressure than residents of quieter areas, researchers in Sweden say. People experiencing average daily noise exposure above 60 decibels have a more than 25% higher risk of hypertension, a study shows. The researchers link...

Thick Thighs Decrease Heart Disease Risk

Researchers suggest beefing up skinny legs with exercise

(Newser) - Take off the skinny jeans and beef up those thighs, or you could be bound for an early grave. People whose thighs had a circumference less than 23.6 inches were more likely to suffer from heart disease and premature death than those with more sizable gams, according to a...

Aspirin Harmful for Healthy People: Study

(Newser) - Healthy people shouldn’t be taking aspirin, according to a new study. The drug doesn’t actually reduce the risk of heart attack, as many of the “worried well” have long believed, British scientists told a medical conference, but it does nearly double the risk they’ll be hospitalized...

Website Predicts Your Odds of Dying

Risk based on age, gender

(Newser) - Feeling morbid? A new website will give you your odds of dying in the next year, LiveScience reports. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon came up with DeathRiskRanking.com. Input some basic info—age, gender, place of residence—and the site spits out when and of what you're likely to die. "...

Surgeon General Nominee Consults for Burger King

Benjamin served on fast-food company's nutritional advisory panel

(Newser) - Burger King has paid Regina Benjamin, President Obama’s pick for surgeon general, $10,000 this year for serving on an advisory panel to the fast-food giant, the Washington Times reports. Administration reps say the Alabama physician used her position on Burger King’s nutritional advisory board to advocate for...

Chocolate Cuts Risk of 2nd Heart Attack

(Newser) - Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate after recovering are much less likely to suffer a recurrence than people who abstain, AFP reports. People who eat at least two servings a week are three times less likely to die from heart disease than those who don’t consume chocolate. And the...

Latest Hipster Fad: A Potbelly
 Latest Hipster Fad: A Potbelly 
Aug 13, 2009 12:01 PM CDT

Latest Hipster Fad: A Potbelly

Have men given up? Or is the president somehow to blame?

(Newser) - A new trend is emerging among hipster males. No, not the Hanes V-neck or the straw fedora—the potbelly. The protruding guts are too prominent to write off, so what accounts for the fad? Well, hipsters love nonconformism, so some blame President Obama, a magazine editor tells Guy Trebay of...

High Cholesterol in 40s Tied to Dementia Later

Lowering it won't necessarily help, studies suggest

(Newser) - High cholesterol in middle age may increase a person’s future risk of Alzheimer’s disease, NPR reports. “Our study shows that even moderately high cholesterol levels in your 40s puts people at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia in later life,” says one researcher, who...

US Braces for Round 2 of Swine Flu

(Newser) - The US and other northern nations are steeling for a possible explosion in swine flu cases as the weather cools, the Washington Post reports. Experts believe the second round of H1N1 cases could cause a major disruption and strain the health care system. "The virus is still around and...

Dearth of Patient Volunteers Cripples Cancer Research

Just 3% of adult patients take part in studies

(Newser) - Cancer death rates have changed little in the past 40 years, and one big reason often goes unremarked on, experts say: only 3% of adult cancer patients participate in studies of treatments, the New York Times reports. More than a fifth of trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute couldn’...

Pregnant Women Win Priority for Swine Flu Vaccine

(Newser) - Pregnant women and people who care for infants will be first in line for the swine flu vaccine this fall, the Washington Post reports. Infants, children and young adults under 24, chronically ill adults aged 25 to 64, and health care workers are the other top priority groups under guidelines...

Divorce May Permanently Damage Health

(Newser) - The end of a marriage means the end of good health for many people, a new study finds. Researchers discovered that people who lost a spouse, whether through divorce or death, were roughly 20% more likely to suffer chronic health problems even if they later remarried, HealthDay reports. The scientists...

Swine Flu Leads to Unhappy Campers
Swine Flu Leads to Unhappy Campers
Jul 23, 2009 11:25 AM CDT

Swine Flu Leads to Unhappy Campers

As outbreaks spread like wildfire, counselors quarantine kids

(Newser) - H1N1 may not have ended civilization as we know it, but it’s ruined a lot of stays at summer camp, the New York Times reports. Camps are dry tinder for flu outbreaks, and many have canceled or postponed this year's sessions. Others have been split nearly in half to...

Docs Weigh Longer Chemo in Cancer Battle

Experts say tumors could be treated as chronic diseases

(Newser) - Instead of waiting for cancer to return, some doctors are keeping up patients’ chemotherapy even when the threat has lessened, the New York Times reports. With maintenance therapy, some in the medical and drug industries say, it may be possible to treat cancer as a chronic disease, with tumors kept...

Health Care by Computer Has Failed in the UK
Health Care by Computer
Has Failed in the UK
OPINION
Jul 18, 2009 6:19 PM CDT

Health Care by Computer Has Failed in the UK

(Newser) - Like all liberals, President Obama likes big, controlling systems. Like British politicians, he hopes to manage health care with a nationwide supercomputer. As Britain failed, so too will the United States, Fraser Nelson and Irwin M. Stelzer write in the Weekly Standard. Not only has Britain's medical database failed after...

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