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Using a molecule similar to one found in an experimental cancer drug, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health demonstrated that activation of a key component of the lung's antioxidant defense system, Nrf2, can prevent emphysema in mice. The researchers believe that activation of Nrf2 could be a novel target for therapies to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which comprises emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD is a major public health problem and it is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.

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Over the past two decades, the number of adults consuming sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, fruit drinks and punches has increased dramatically, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found evidence of a novel pathway for potential human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from intensively raised poultry"”driving behind the trucks transporting broiler chickens from farm to slaughterhouse.

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The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The New York Academy of Sciences will host a half-day symposium to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event, "Public Health and Human Rights: The Work Ahead of Us," will evaluate progress in public health and human rights over the last 60 years.

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For working parents, having grandparents as caregivers can cut the risk of childhood injury roughly in half, according to a new study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Compared to organized daycare or care by the mother or other relatives, having a grandmother watch a child was associated with a decreased risk of injury for the child.

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A new study finds that the rate of suicide in the United States is increasing for the first time in a decade. The increase in the overall suicide rate between 1999 and 2005 was due primarily to an increase in suicides among whites aged 40-64, with white middle-aged women experiencing the largest annual increase.

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Social environment may play a greater role in the disparity between the numbers of African Americans living with hypertension compared to non-Hispanic whites with the disease. A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the disparity was substantially reduced when comparing groups of African Americans and non-Hispanic whites living in similar social environments.

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HIV-infected adults taking the antiretroviral drug efavirenz were more likely to adhere to treatment and less likely to experience virologic failure and death compared to patients taking nevirapine. Nevirapine is the most frequently prescribed drug for patients undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

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A team of researchers from the United States and the Netherlands has identified mutations in three genes that are associated with high levels of uric acid in the blood, which is a risk factor for gout.

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A community-based program that reinforces basic childbirth and newborn care practices can reduce a baby's risk of death within the first month of life by as much as 54 percent, according to a study in rural India led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in collaboration with CSM Medical University in Lucknow, India.

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Newborns can be protected from seasonal flu when their mothers are vaccinated during pregnancy. Researchers observed a 63 percent reduction in proven influenza illness among infants born to vaccinated mothers while the number of serious respiratory illnesses to both mothers and infants dropped by 36 percent. The study is the first to demonstrate that the inactivated influenza vaccine provides protection to both mother and newborn.

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Scientists have, for the first time, identified variants in the gene MYH9 that are associated with increased risk for non-diabetic end stage renal disease (ESRD,) which is the near-loss of kidney function leading to either dialysis of transplant. MYH9, located on the 22 chromosome, is the first gene identified for common forms of kidney disease.

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Antioxidant defense system could be new target for potential therapies for COPD.

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On September 8, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will host the U.S. Healthcare System in Crisis: Achieving Universal Coverage panel, the first of a yearlong series examining the state of the U.S. health care system and efforts to improve coverage.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Malaria Research Institute have identified a previously unknown virus that is infectious to Anopheles gambiae"”the mosquito primarily responsible for transmitting malaria.

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Inorganic arsenic, commonly found in ground water in certain areas, may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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Most adults in the U.S. will be overweight or obese by 2030, with related health care spending projected to be as much as $956.9 billion, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

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A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that 38 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are accompanied to routine medical visits. These accompanied beneficiaries tended to be older, sicker and less educated but more satisfied with their health care provider compared to unaccompanied patients.

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A single, oral dose of vitamin A, given to infants shortly after birth in the developing world can reduce their risk of death by 15 percent, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is published in the July 2008 edition of the journal Pediatrics.

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Gun-related homicide among young men rose sharply in the United States in recent years even though the nation's overall homicide rate remained flat, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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High blood pressure in childhood is associated with higher blood pressure or hypertension in adulthood, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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When it comes to injury-related deaths, the gap between black and white American youths is narrowing, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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The results of a randomized trial led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Malawi College of Medicine found that extending the routine antiretroviral regimen can significantly reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission.

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Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Lehman College, CUNY have developed geographic risk models, which indicate that as many as 3.2 million people in Burma (also known as Myanmar) are estimated to be affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have conducted the largest nationwide study on the acute health effects of coarse particle pollution. Coarse particles are airborne pollutants that fall between 2.5 and 10 microns in diameter.

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Obesity may increase adults' risk for having dementia, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's color-coded system for warning the public of the risk of a terrorist attack does not appear to cause undue stress among law enforcement officers. The study is among the first to examine the psychological impact of the alert system on first responders.

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A household study, conducted in 31 countries, found that 82 percent of parents who smoked reported smoking around their children. Nicotine levels from household air and hair samples also indicated high exposure to secondhand smoke among those living with a smoker.

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The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute is hosting its Fourth International Research Conference at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md. March 17-18. The two-day conference will explore the latest developments from many fields of malaria research, including discussions of malaria parasite genetics and strategies for controlling mosquitoes without insecticides.

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Adolescents who participate in physical education at school are more likely to maintain a normal weight as young adults. For each weekday of physical education at school the odds of being an overweight adult decreased by 5 percent. Participation in all five days of physical education decreased the odds of being an overweight adult by 28 percent.

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The number of airline mishaps attributed to pilot error significantly declined between 1983 and 2002. While the overall rate of airline mishaps remained stable during that time, the proportion of mishaps involving pilot error decreased 40 percent.

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The Johns Hopkins University received a $10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lead a consortium that will study ways to improve the treatment of trachoma and to accelerate progress towards the goal of eliminating the disease. The grant is one of the largest ever for trachoma research.

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Poultry workers in the United States are 32 times more likely to carry E. coli bacteria resistant to the commonly used antibiotic, gentamicin, than others outside the poultry industry. This is the first U.S. research to show exposure occurring at a high level among industrial poultry workers.

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The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (CCP) received a $15 million grant to develop communication strategies to prevent and treat malaria in rural Tanzania. This is the first award from the President's Malaria Initiative to focus on behavior change communication.

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Two studies found that people infected with HIV in Thailand die from the disease significantly sooner than those with HIV living in other parts of the world. The shorter survival time measured in the studies suggests that HIV subtype E, which is the most common HIV subtype in Thailand, may be more virulent than other subtypes of the virus.

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There is a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease in the U.S., which has risen over the past decade, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study found that the overall prevalence of chronic kidney disease increased from 10 percent of the population during a period from 1988-1994 to 13 percent from 1999-2004.

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Nobel laureate Peter Agre, MD, has been selected to lead the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute (JHMRI). Agre will take over as director at JHMRI and join the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on January 1, 2008.

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Gross human rights violations, including forced displacement, forced labor, attacks by soldiers on civilians, injury from landmines and destruction or theft of food supplies, have been widespread in eastern Burma (also known as Myanmar), with over half of households in displaced areas reporting incidents in the 12 months prior to a 2004 survey.

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The Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The New York Academy of Sciences present "Progress Against Malaria: Developments on the Horizon," a half-day symposium to highlight the latest research developments in the fight to combat malaria.

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Daily television viewing for 2 or more hours in early childhood can lead to behavioral problems and poor social skills, according to a study of children 2.5 to 5.5 years of age. The impact on a child's behavior varied by the age at which the TV viewing occurred. Heavy TV viewing that decreased over time was not associated with behavior or social problems.

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Fourteen to 18-year-old adolescents are at an increased risk to initiate smoking when they start to work, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Investigators found that adolescents who worked more than 10 hours per week also started smoking at an earlier age than their peers. The study authors recommend that the workplace be considered as a location for smoking prevention programs or policies.

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Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Cienfuegos, Cuba, and Loyola University had a unique opportunity to observe the impact of population-wide weight loss due to sustained reductions in caloric intake and an increase in energy output. This situation occurred during the economic crisis of Cuba in 1989-2000. As a result, obesity declined, as did deaths attributed to diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke. The study was published September 19, 2007, as an Advance Access study by the American Journal of Epidemiology.

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The United States continues to spend the most on health care when compared to other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Health care prices and higher per capita incomes are major factors for higher U.S. spending, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Princeton University.

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Researchers have identified a sugar in mosquitoes that allows the malaria parasite to attach itself to the mosquito's gut. Invasion of the midgut cell layer is an essential stage in the parasite's lifecycle and malaria transmission. Reducing the level of the sugar in the mosquito prevented 95% of the parasites in the mosquito from attaching to the gut.

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The Healthy Steps for Young Children Program, which added behavior and development services to pediatric practices, continued to benefit families more than two years after the intervention ended, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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The decreased use of cocaine in the United States over the last 20 years mostly occurred among the highly educated, while cocaine use among non-high school graduates remained constant, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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Exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in the womb is statistically associated with lower weight and head circumference at birth, according to an analysis of nearly 300 umbilical cord blood samples led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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Computer technology that provides parents with customized safety information can be an effective way to help their children avoid injury, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

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Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions report that group interpersonal psychotherapy is effective in reducing depressive symptoms among adolescent girls affected by war and displacement. However, the same treatment was not as effective in boys. The researchers also report no statistical improvement in decreasing conduct problems in either sex.

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HIV-infected children may require repeat measles vaccination for protection. Researchers found that only half of the HIV-infected children who survived without antiretroviral therapy maintained protective antibody levels 27 months after receiving measles vaccine.