Feature Channels: Public Health

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Currently, more than 34 million people in the U.S. care for terminally ill love ones, but few resources are available to help them navigate the challenges they encounter. A study at the University of Missouri School of Medicine found that nearly one-quarter of caregivers were moderately or severely depressed and nearly one-third had moderate or severe anxiety. The researchers recommend that health providers remember to treat the whole family, providing ongoing screening to family caregivers to identify early signs of depression and anxiety.

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If the last blast of winter has you longing for sun-soaked beaches in tropical locales, be sure to stop at the drug store for sunscreen and insect repellant before leaving for spring vacation.

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Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. What can you do to gain the benefits of prevention?

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Recognizing a critical need to address disparities in cancer care, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has been designated as an ECHO superhub for oncology by the ECHO Institute at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center (UNMHSC). MD Anderson is one of just nine ECHO superhub sites in the world and the first focused on oncology.

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Think you have an idea that will change health care but need the means to bring your innovation to fruition? Register for UC Health Hack, a two-day interdisciplinary hackathon that will bring students, physicians, researchers, industry professionals and community members together to grapple with integrative medicine and global health issues in a fast-paced competition.

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Studies abound that point to a role for plain old aspirin in keeping deadly cancers at bay. While aspirin is not yet part of mainstream treatment for any cancer, it is recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for certain adults to help prevent colorectal cancer.

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A Penn State expert says a new report on cancer disparities invites a deeper examination by local health care organizations about the work that needs to be done.

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Experts from the Stony Brook University Trauma Center share some tips that go beyond the usual winter safety driving advice and touch upon those often overlooked inconveniences that winter storms leave behind in order to decrease injuries and major accidents.

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Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine and in London and Singapore, have conducted novel whole genome sequencing of a family in which two of four children were affected by Kawasaki disease. They have identified plausible gene variants that predispose some children to developing the disease.

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A major grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been made for a research programme to develop novel test protocols to accelerate development and bring to market, the next generation of vector control products.

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The University of Louisville School of Dentistry will collaborate with the Red Bird Clinic, Inc., to offer comprehensive, general dentistry.

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It’s time for the Medicare system to take non-medical, “social” risk factors into account when it decides how to pay or grade hospitals and other health care providers, two experts say based on a new National Academies report. Doing so could incentivize better care for all patients.

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The rise of MRSA infections is limiting the treatment options for physicians and surgeons. Now, an international team of researchers, led by Elizabeth Loboa, dean of the University of Missouri College of Engineering, has used silver ion-coated scaffolds, or biomaterials that are created to hold stem cells, which slow the spread of or kill MRSA while regenerating new bone. Scientists feel that the biodegradable and biocompatible scaffolds could be the first step in the fight against MRSA in patients.

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A new therapeutic agent tested in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) produced anti-inflammatory activity and prevented loss of cells in the optic nerve, according to a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Noveome Biotherapeutics.

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Poorer and less-educated older Americans are more like to suffer from chronic pain than those with greater wealth and more education, but the disparity between the two groups is much greater than previously thought, according to new research by a University at Buffalo medical sociologist.

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A study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has uncovered key molecular pathways behind the disruption of the gut’s delicate balance of bacteria during episodes of inflammatory disease.

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A major report led by Vanderbilt investigators found that the mere presence of even a small amount of calcified coronary plaque, more commonly referred to as coronary artery calcium (CAC), in people under age 50 — even small amounts — was strongly associated with increased risk of developing clinical coronary heart disease over the ensuing decade.

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The Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been awarded a three-year, $16 million grant from the Open Philanthropy Project to support the Center’s work on strengthening health security and public health preparedness and on preventing and preparing for the most serious global biological risks.