Feature Channels: Public Health

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University of Miami faculty experts share ways for us to beat the hot temperatures as they continue to set records.

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John Beier, an expert in vector biology and control at the Miller School of Medicine, answers questions about climate change’s impact on mosquitoes and on the locally transmitted cases of malaria in Florida.

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People with alcohol use disorder (AUD) commonly cut back on drinking in the weeks before entering treatment, a new study has affirmed. Further, this self-driven “pretreatment change” is linked to better outcomes up to one year following treatment.

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The Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation program (TPEP) in the UNC School of Medicine has been awarded a two-year, $887,431 contract from JUUL Settlement funds received by the NC Department of Health and Human Services to better understand electronic cigarette use among our youth and young adults.

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A team led by Dr. Miquel Coll at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC), in collaboration with researchers led by Dr. Eric Krukonis at the University of Detroit Mercy in the USA, has revealed the atomic structure of the ToxR protein bound to the DNA of two promoters of the genes that cause the virulence of this bacterium.

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Researchers from Switzerland and China have studied the global trade in highly hazardous chemicals subject to a global treaty – the Rotterdam Convention. The results are sobering: Nearly half of the total trade volume of these chemicals crosses national borders illegally, calling for strong international and national action.

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Risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes, doubled in people during the growth period from adolescence to young adulthood.

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People seeking mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic were not deterred by the widespread shift to telehealth services, according to research findings published in the Journal of Counseling & Development, a journal of the American Counseling Association.

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Listening to music reduces the overall severity of insomnia, improves sleep quality and helps to initiate sleep. The effect was comparable to prescription sleep medications, such as the Z-drugs and benzodiazepines.

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Modern mosquito bed nets also come with insecticidal compounds embedded into the fibers that keep mosquito populations down. In recent years, however, insecticide-resistant mosquitoes have curtailed the nets' effectiveness.

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A new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine shows that one-third of Americans are opting for a “sleep divorce,” in which they occasionally or consistently sleep in another room to accommodate a bed partner.

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Researchers found increasing cases of the alcohol-related liver illness from 2016 through 2020, but the rise was particularly pronounced the year COVID-19 arrived in the U.S. in 2020, which saw a 12.4% increase over 2019 levels.

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As the summer migrant labor season is in full swing in the U.S., health inequities and other social disparities that affect these communities become more visible. Over 3 million people in the U.S. work temporarily or seasonally in farm fields, orchards, canneries, plant nurseries, fish/seafood/meat packing plants, and more.

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With new cases of malaria being reported in Texas and Florida, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center continue to explore compounds for more effective drug-resistant therapies and biological targets to interfere with the parasites that spread the potentially fatal disease.

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Record rain this winter wreaked havoc on Los Angeles area hiking trails, damaging roads and dumping snow at lower elevations than normal. As the weather heats up, and the last of the snow melts, day hikers should plan ahead to avoid on-trail hazards caused by the unusually heavy rainy season.

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Brief electronic intervention providing personalized feedback can help hazardous drinkers substantially reduce their drinking, according to a new study in Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research.

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A team of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, have found chemicals in sweat that indicate high stress and depression. The pilot study of firefighters in Bangkok yielded the results with 90% accuracy, so they are poised to conduct mental health screening in other high-stress, and high-risk groups of professions hoping to reduce mental health problems and violence in society.

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Now that the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, scientists are looking at ways to surveil indoor environments in real time for viruses. By combining recent advances in aerosol sampling technology and an ultrasensitive biosensing technique, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a real-time monitor that can detect any of the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants in a room in about 5 minutes.

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Even low levels of alcohol use can increase the likelihood of developing diseases like cancer and heart disease. A systematic review of studies of the relationship between alcohol use and risk of disease published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research found that disease risk increases as alcohol use increases and high levels of alcohol use have clear detrimental health effects. While lower-level alcohol use can be protective against certain diseases, it can have significant adverse health effects for many other diseases. The authors urge greater awareness that any level of alcohol use can increase a person’s risk of developing serious, even fatal, diseases.

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A novel molecular pathway to explain how a mutation in the gene ACTA2 can cause individuals in their 30s – with normal cholesterol levels and no other risk factors — to develop coronary artery disease has been identified, according to researchers with UTHealth Houston.

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People with low incomes who live in states that expanded Medicaid got more of the kind of health care that can keep them healthier in the long run, compared with similar people in non-expansion states.

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Scientists at McMaster University and India’s University of Delhi have discovered and isolated the first live culture of the drug-resistant pathogen Candida auris from an animal, specifically from the ear canals of stray dogs.

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Whether you use heavy or light weights, lifting them as many times as you can builds strength and muscle. The details of how you go about it are less important than simply making a habit of it, researchers have determined.

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This study found that not eating enough of six key foods in combination is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults. Researchers derived a diet score from PHRI’s ongoing, large-scale global Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, then replicated that in five independent studies to measure health outcomes in different world regions and in people with and without prior CVD.

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in collaboration with researchers at the National Institutes of Health, report that two new studies in mice with a humanized immune system and human cell lines have identified an enzyme that plays a critical role in the late stages of HIV replication.

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ACSM and the Elevance Health Foundation will release the 2023 Fitness Index rankings at 7 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

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Glaucoma can develop for years before you experience a symptom. A Penn State Health optometrist discusses early diagnosis and how testing can make all the difference for your vision.

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A new study conducted by researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel has shed light on the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life among different ethnic groups in the country. The study, part of a larger cohort project, highlights a significant discrepancy between Arabs and Druze, and Jews, with the two former groups experiencing a more pronounced decline in quality of life one year after infection.

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Kenyan patients who spend more than three days in the nation’s hospitals are more likely to harbor a form of bacteria resistant to one of the most widely used antibiotic classes, according to a recent study led by Washington State University.

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The most comprehensive study yet of long-term ultrafine particle exposure found that concentrations of this tiny pollutant reflect Seattle's decades-old racial and economic divides.

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Body mass index (BMI) may not increase mortality independently of other risk factors in adults, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Aayush Visaria and Soko Setoguchi of Rutgers University, US.