public health

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West Nile Outbreak Now Second-Worst Year Ever

Also: Meningitis death toll hits 19

(Newser) - Two developments of note on the West Nile and meningitis outbreaks:
  • West Nile: Nearly 300 new cases surfaced last week, bringing this year's total to 4,531 and making it the second-worst year ever. The death toll rose by 15 to 183. It's the highest number of cases
...

US Cholesterol Levels On the Decline

They're down 10 points in last two decades

(Newser) - Americans don't often get good news collectively when it comes to health, so enjoy: The nation's cholesterol levels show genuine long-range improvement. Federal researchers say that over the last two decades:
  • Total cholesterol levels dropped 10 points (206 to 196 mg/dL)
  • Bad cholesterol levels (LDL) dropped from 129
...

Meningitis Toll at 14
 Meningitis Toll at 14 
Oct 11, 2012 4:15 PM CDT

Meningitis Toll at 14

But most of the 14K at risk have now been notified

(Newser) - Maybe a glimmer of hope that the meningitis numbers will stop rising in the near future: Federal health officials said they've tracked down more than 90% of the roughly 14,000 people who may have received contaminated steroid shots. Of the 170 people sickened in the outbreak, all but...

Next-Gen Diagnostic Tool: Your Breath

High-tech tests can detect growing number of illnesses

(Newser) - Doctors since ancient times have been able to detect ailments from the smell of a patient's breath, and the practice is now getting a boost from 21st-century technology, the Wall Street Journal finds. Researchers are identifying thousands of compounds that leave traces in exhaled breath and developing tools that...

HIV Kit's Other Use: Testing Partners

If people start screening before sex, it could cut down on infections

(Newser) - An HIV home-testing kit now being sold is marketed toward people who want to test themselves in the privacy of their homes and learn the results in about 20 minutes. But the New York Times today reports on another use for the $40 OraQuick test that has the potential for...

Ailing? Maybe Your 'Mini-Me' Mouse Can Help

Doctors implant your disease into mice to hone treatment

(Newser) - The New York Times says it "could be the ultimate in personalized medicine," and it's hard to disagree. The idea is to give mice the same disease you have—as in, implant part of your tumor into the rodents—to help doctors zero in on a precise...

Consumer Reports: Rice Has Too Much Arsenic

It advises people to cut down

(Newser) - If rice is a big part of your diet, Consumer Reports suggests you cut down. Its testing turned up what it calls "troubling" amounts of arsenic in all types of rice and rice products. The group called on the FDA to develop better safety standards and to phase out...

Rural Residents More Likely to Get Alzheimer&#39;s
Rural Residents More Likely
to Get Alzheimer's
study says
Sep 18, 2012 3:50 PM CDT

Rural Residents More Likely to Get Alzheimer's

A new study sees double the risk for lifelong country dwellers

(Newser) - Another medical study is out knocking the rural life. After one last week said rural residents were more likely to be obese , we get one from the UK saying they're twice as likely to get Alzheimer's, too, report the Daily Mail and the Telegraph . Edinburgh University researchers came...

Anti-Tobacco Lawyers Target 'Phony' Food Labels

Heinz, PepsiCo among food producers facing legal action

(Newser) - Lawyers who once drained tobacco companies of hundreds of millions of dollars have found a new target: food companies. Their latest lawsuits accuse major industry players like Heinz and PepsiCo of deceiving consumers with misleading labels or badly listed ingredients, the New York Times reports. Listing "evaporated cane juice"...

Doctor: Lack of Exercise Is a Medical Condition

It's time to treat it as 'deconditioning,' he argues

(Newser) - Didn't exercise this week? You're not just lazy, you have a medical condition, argues one physiologist in the Journal of Physiology . Michael Joyner thinks it's time doctors made a serious push against "deconditioning," he tells NPR's Shots blog . The sedentary lives many of us...

CDC Unveils Latest Fat Map
 CDC Unveils Latest Fat Map 
Aug 14, 2012 2:24 AM CDT

CDC Unveils Latest Fat Map

Obesity tops 20% in every state

(Newser) - More than a fifth of adults in Colorado are fat, but it's still the skinniest state in the nation, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map that highlights the scale of America's obesity epidemic. The CDC's 2011 map, based on a continuous, wide-ranging...

Inactivity Killing More Than Smoking
 Inactivity Killing 
 More Than Smoking 
in case you missed it
Jul 21, 2012 12:59 PM CDT

Inactivity Killing More Than Smoking

Physical inactivity becoming global pandemic: Study

(Newser) - The people of the world need to get off their butts, scientists have concluded after an extensive review of global mortality statistics, which revealed that physical inactivity is killing more people than smoking. Researchers, declaring inactivity to be a pandemic, estimate that out of the 57 million or so deaths...

Whooping Cough Outbreak Worst in 50 Years

Adults should get booster shots, CDC says

(Newser) - The US is facing its worst epidemic of whooping cough since the 1950s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends that adults—especially pregnant women and those who spend time around children—get booster shots. Some 18,000 cases of the highly infectious disease have been...

Big Apple Healthier Thanks to Trans Fats Ban
 Big Apple Healthier 
 Thanks to Trans Fats Ban 
STUDY SAYS
Jul 17, 2012 3:54 AM CDT

Big Apple Healthier Thanks to Trans Fats Ban

Consumption of damaging fat is way down, researchers find

(Newser) - New Yorkers are healthier today thanks to the city's groundbreaking ban on trans fats in restaurant food, according to a new report. Researchers from the city's health department found that diners consumed an average 2.4 fewer grams of trans fat per lunch after the 2008 ban took...

Banning Big Sodas: Nanny State or Smart Move?
Banning Big Sodas:
Nanny State or Smart Move?
OPINIONs
May 31, 2012 1:44 PM CDT

Banning Big Sodas: Nanny State or Smart Move?

Mayor Bloomberg's proposal draws flak and praise

(Newser) - Mayor Bloomberg wants to ban sodas bigger than 16 ounces from being sold in New York City (with a few exceptions ), and as the AP points out, he's likely to get his way considering he appoints everyone on the city's Board of Health. A sampling of reaction:...

&#39;Bizarre&#39; Finding: Exercise May Be Bad for Some
'Bizarre' Finding: Exercise
May Be Bad for Some
study says
May 31, 2012 7:38 AM CDT

'Bizarre' Finding: Exercise May Be Bad for Some

About 1 in 10 end up with higher heart disease risks

(Newser) - Congratulations, couch potatoes: A new study might give you ammunition to rationalize your lack of exercise. The review of six studies found that 10% of regular exercisers ended up with worse levels of blood pressure or insulin, two indicators of heart disease, reports the New York Times . On the other...

NYC Moves to Ban Big, Sugary Drinks

Mayor proposes 16-ounce limit at restaurants, movie theaters

(Newser) - Michael Bloomberg wants to boot big, sugary drinks from the Big Apple. The New York City mayor has unveiled a plan to ban the sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 ounces at restaurants, arenas, movie theaters, and street carts, reports the New York Times...

Chagas Disease the 'New AIDS of the Americas'

300K in US have potentially fatal tropical disease

(Newser) - An insect-borne disease many people have never heard of is quickly becoming the "new AIDS of the Americas," researchers warn. Chagas disease, caused by parasites carried by blood-sucking insects, infects up to 8 million people in the Americas. Many carriers never show symptoms but close to a quarter...

25 California Babies May Have Been Exposed to TB

Infected person visited 2 neonatal intensive care wards

(Newser) - The parents of 25 babies in northern California have been warned that their children may have been exposed to tuberculosis in their first days of life. A person with active tuberculosis visited neonatal intensive care wards in two hospitals in Sacramento and Sutter County in March and April of this...

TB Patient Jailed for Refusing Medication

California meth user was risking public health

(Newser) - A tuberculosis patient in California who refused to take medication to stop his condition from becoming contagious has been locked up to protect the public. Armando Rodriguez, 34, missed eight out of nine doses in the space of 47 days. He told health officials who visited his home that he...

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