Feature Channels: Public Health

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Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have identified the genetic underpinnings of a rare disorder that causes children to be born with deafness, blindness, albinism and fragile bones.

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Solving complex social and health issues through arts and culture is the goal of a collaboration between University of Louisville’s Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky (CIK) and IDEAS xLab.

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Researchers have discovered unique amyloid fibers used by the highly drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacterium (which causes MRSA). The findings could lead to new types of antibiotics with a novel mechanism of action for attacking bacterial toxins.

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The second annual ACTRIMS Forum gets underway today. This year, the forum was preceded by the Neurology Resident Summit in Neuroimmunology, which drew 47 residents from the United States and Canada.

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Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. citizens gets food poisoning every year, but very few report it. Twitter communications between the public and the proper government authorities could improve foodborne illness reporting as well as the steps that follow, according to a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

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If you’re sick, stay home. Wash your hands before preparing food. When preparing food, always wear gloves or do not touch the ready-to-eat food with bare hands. For food service workers, following this simple advice, which is part of the FDA Food Code, could drastically reduce the spread of norovirus, the most common type of foodborne illness. These results come from a new U.S. Food and Drug Administration study published in the latest issue of Risk Analysis, the scholarly journal of the Society for Risk Analysis.

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It may be difficult to remember now, but when SARS was first recognized in February 2003, people were scared. This heretofore unknown disease was killing people—nearly 10 percent of those infected with what came to be recognized as the SARS-associated coronavirus. Before the end of the year, cases were reported in 29 countries.

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Cardiologist Alex Garton, MD discusses knowing your cholesterol numbers and the new American Heart Association guidelines.

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More than two in five people receiving buprenorphine, a drug commonly used to treat opioid addiction, are also given prescriptions for other opioid painkillers – and two-thirds are prescribed opioids after their treatment is complete, a new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study suggests.

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Researchers at Whitehead Institute have now uncovered a role for the protein-folding chaperone HSP90 in humans, not only as a modifier of the effects of mutations, but as a mediator of the impact of the environment on the function of mutant proteins. And these effects of HSP90 can alter the course of human diseases.

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Scientists at the Wayne State University School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology at the Kresge Eye Institute have shown that the Zika virus can replicate in the eye’s retinal cells, causing severe tissue damage and even blindness. The research is supported in part by Research to Prevent Blindness.

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Thanks to recent scientific advances and plunging costs in genetic sequencing, consumers now can order inexpensive, mail-in genetic tests to learn more about health risks, inherited traits and ancestry. But, is it a good idea to bypass your doctor’s office when it comes to interpreting health risks?

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PinnacleHealth Hospitals have been unanimously granted Magnet® status – the highest institutional honor awarded for nursing excellence.

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New Study First to Link Internal Clock to What and When People Eat

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Intensive treatment to lower systolic (top number) blood pressure to below 120 would prevent 107,500 deaths per year in the United States, according to a study by researchers at Loyola University Chicago and other centers.

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Mount Sinai researcher who treats hereditary angioedema says the drug, a potential game changer, is being studied in larger clinical trial

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Professor of sociology Matt G. Mutchler’s research over the past 20 years into HIV prevention and treatment issues, especially within the African American community, has garnered him more than 15 external research awards and respect as an expert in the field.

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As a medically underserved, rural and impoverished state, New Mexico has many health care issues. One area is public health issues associated with mother and child health care. Four women sitting in row New Mexico Maternal and Child Health Public Health Training Institute first graduates are, from left, Olowan De Herrera, Pamela Sedillo, Robin Hayter and Savannah Gene. Also receiving a graduate certificate in public health, but not pictured, are Gail Salas, Laura Shattuck and Miriam Sosa. (NMSU photo by Jane Moorman) The public health programs at New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico are working together to increase the capacity of mother and child health professionals to directly address the public health issues in the communities where they live, which is essen

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It may seem obvious, but the key to confirming whether someone is suffering from a cold or flu virus might lie at the misery’s source -- the inflamed passages of the nose and throat. Duke Health scientists have identified a group of proteins that, when detected in specific quantities in the mucous, are 86 percent accurate in confirming the infection is from a cold or flu virus, according to a small, proof-of-concept trial published online in the journal EBioMedicine.

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Scientists propose in Nature blocking a molecule that drives inflammation and organ damage in Gaucher and maybe other lysosomal storage diseases as a possible treatment with fewer risks and lower costs than current therapies. Reporting their data Feb. 22, the international research team conducted the study in mouse models of lysosomal storage disease and in cells from blood samples donated by people with Gaucher disease.

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Two drugs used to treat asthma and allergies may offer a way to prevent a form of pneumonia that can kill up to 40 percent of people who contract it, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have found.

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About the size of a tablet, a portable device that could be used in a host of environments like a busy airport or even a remote location in South America, may hold the key to detecting the dreaded Zika virus accurately, rapidly and inexpensively using just a saliva sample. For about $2 and within 15 minutes, researchers hope to accurately determine whether or not an individual has an active infection.

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Human lungs contain many bacteria, which make up a unique microbiome. New research pinpoints just how they get there, and opens the door to more research on what happens to them – and our bodies – as a result.

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A new survey by Mayo Clinic revealed that more than two-thirds of African-Americans are concerned about their heart health (71 percent), which is significantly more than Caucasian (41 percent) or Hispanic (37 percent) respondents. Respondents from the South (51 percent) were also significantly more likely to express concern than those in the Northeast (39 percent) or West (35 percent).

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Johns Hopkins researchers say that in early pregnancy in mice with complete immune systems, Zika virus can cross the placenta – intended to protect the developing fetus – and appears to lead to a high percentage of miscarriages and to babies born with thin brain tissue and inflammation in brain cells.

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As public health officials warn that spring’s warmer temperatures may herald another increase of Zika virus infections in the Caribbean and North and South America, researchers around the world are racing to develop safe and effective measures to prevent the disease. In a review paper published today in the journal Immunity, a group of leading vaccine scientists – including Dan H. Barouch, MD, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) – outline advances in the hunt for a Zika vaccine and the challenges that still lie ahead. “The pace of preclinical and early clinical development for Zika vaccines is unprecedented,” said Barouch, corresponding author and director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at BIDMC. “In less than a year, our group and others have demonstrated that multiple vaccine platforms can provide robust protection against Zika virus challenge in animal models. However, unique challenges will need to be addressed in the clinical development of a Zi

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Stroke is the leading cause of disability in older adults in the United States, but research by Clarkson University Physical Therapy Professor George Fulk and his colleagues is pointing the way to recovery for people who are relearning how to walk.

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A team has found a way to identify the small population of circulating helper T cells present in the blood after an annual flu vaccine to monitor their contribution to antibody strength. A technique that identifies these helper immune cells could inform future vaccine design, especially for vulnerable populations.

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Only 25% of patients respond to sorafenib treatment, so researchers have endeavored to understand its mechanism of action and discover a way to boost its effectiveness.

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An international research team, led by principal investigator Elizabeth A. Winzeler, PhD, professor in the pediatric division of host-microbe systems and therapeutics at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues have received a three-year, $4.7 million supplemental grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance their development of improved therapies for malaria eradication and elimination.

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Of all racial minorities, Native Americans have the most dramatic health inequalities in the U.S., including significantly higher rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and substance abuse. Melissa Lewis, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the MU School of Medicine, led the first project in the nation to develop a mandatory medical school curriculum about indigenous health.

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Researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Kentucky College of Public Health create bilingual safety guides for horse farm workers.

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A new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has found that lower levels of vitamin D in the blood increase the risk of clinical relapse in patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC), an inflammatory bowel disease that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in the colon. The study was published in the February issue of the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

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Luis Martinez, Ph.D., is an infectious disease researcher selected as a Fellow in the second cohort of the AAAS Alan I. Leshner Leadership Institute for Public Engagement with Science.

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A study by researchers at the University of Southampton shows that antibiotics may be an effective treatment for acute non-complicated appendicitis in children, instead of surgery. The systematic review of existing literature is published in Pediatrics.

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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterial scourge that is resistant to most common antibiotics and thus difficult to treat, particularly in children where it commonly causes complicated skin and skin structure infections. In a randomized, controlled clinical trial — the first of its kind — a multi-institution research team reports that daptomycin, part of a new class of antibiotics currently approved only for use in adults, is effective and well-tolerated in children.

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In this month’s release, find new embargoed research about: Affordable Care Act television news content; housing assistance’s link to resident health; and the effect of CVS ending tobacco sales on cigarette purchasing.

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Future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) can be controlled effectively and quickly with vaccinations – saving millions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of livestock – according to research by the University of Warwick.

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Saint Louis University pharmacologist Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., will use a $363,000 grant from The Mayday Fund to advance her work to understand pain in order to develop new painkillers, partnering with physicians who treat four debilitating conditions.

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A UAB study shows specialized treatment sites contribute to better survival rates for those with acute leukemia.

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Genomic testing of biopsies from patients with deadly, treatment-resistant cancerous blood syndromes called histiocytoses allowed doctors to identify genes fueling the ailments and use targeted molecular drugs to successfully treat them. Researchers report their data in Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight (JCI Insight). They recommend the regular use of comprehensive genomic profiling at diagnosis to positively impact clinical care,

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A review of worldwide studies has found that add-on treatment with high-dose b-vitamins - including B6, B8 and B12 - can significantly reduce symptoms of schizophrenia more than standard treatments alone.

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More than 17.5 million people die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) each year – making it the number one cause of death worldwide and rates of CVD in low- and middle-income countries have been climbing at an alarming rate.

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New UF/IFAS Extension program aims to help people around Florida maintain healthy blood pressure.

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Rather than inciting fear, anti-smoking campaigns should tap into smokers’ memories and tug at their heartstrings, finds a new study by Michigan State University researchers.

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Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have discovered why a lethal superbug is so resistant to the last line antibiotic meaning potential treatments could now be developed to fight the killer infection.

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More than six decades after Castleman disease (CD) was first described, a group of experts from Penn Medicine and other institutions around the world has established the first set of diagnostic criteria for a life-threatening subtype of the condition, idiopathic multicentric CD (iMCD), which is often misdiagnosed as other illnesses.