http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Junk food, video games and a lack of exercise all have received their fair share of blame for the spiraling epidemic of obesity in the U.S. But according to a University of Illinois researcher, public health enemy No. 1 for our supersized nation may very well be the one staple of modern life most Americans can't seem to live without one (or more) of: the automobile. http://phys.org/news224335227.html Other Sciences Wed, 11 May 2011 12:20:51 EST news224335227 Alcohol advertising and marketing may lead to underage drinking. A large systematic review of more than 13,000 people, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, suggests that exposure to ads and product placements, even those supposedly not directed at young people, leads to increased alcohol consumption. http://phys.org/news153146742.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:53:40 EST news153146742 (PhysOrg.com) -- Some smokers say they just can’t quit cigarettes. But previous studies of smokers in Sweden have suggested that many have done just that, by switching to smokeless tobacco. While not without health risks, smokeless tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes. With that in mind, an international team of researchers asked the question, “Should public health officials start promoting smokeless tobacco as a way to reduce the overall harm caused by tobacco?” The answer: “Not so fast.” http://phys.org/news152209590.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:27:04 EST news152209590 Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health have released findings identifying factors that affected evacuation from the World Trade Center (WTC) Towers on September 11. A research methodology known as participatory action research (PAR) was used to identify individual, organizational, and structural (environmental) barriers to safe and rapid evacuation. http://phys.org/news152190377.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:06:43 EST news152190377 When anthrax was sent through the U.S. Postal Service in 2001, an overwhelming majority of postal workers elected not to be inoculated with the available vaccine because of confusion and distrust, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study. Although the FBI officially closed the case on the attacks this year, lingering suspicion and uncertainty remain, say study authors, which could influence the public's reactions to future emergencies. http://phys.org/news151842902.html Biology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:44:10 EST news151842902 Women with low levels of sexual desire, often as a result of menopause, are more likely to be depressed and to suffer physical symptoms such as back pain and memory problems than women who report higher levels of desire, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals. http://phys.org/news151781055.html Medicine & Health Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:24:39 EST news151781055 Children in Niger who received a daily nutritional supplement for three months had a lower rate of weight loss and a reduced risk of wasting compared to children who did not receive the supplementation, according to a study in the January 21 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news151691572.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:35:51 EST news151691572 (PhysOrg.com) -- At a time when many of us are thinking about how to get rid of a few extra pounds, research at Newcastle University has shown that even the magazine you read may affect how healthy your diet is. http://phys.org/news151593915.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:25:42 EST news151593915 The main factors influencing the amount of physical exercise people carry out are their self-perceived ability and the extent of their desire to exercise. A study of 5167 Canadians, reported in the open access journal BMC Public Health, has shown that psychological concerns are the most important barriers to an active lifestyle. http://phys.org/news151318539.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:55:39 EST news151318539 New research conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health indicates that the advertising of alcohol in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of New York City may add to problem drinking behavior among residents. Prior studies have shown that alcohol advertisements are disproportionately located in African- American neighborhoods, but the impact of such advertising on alcohol consumption has been unclear. The study is currently published online by the American Journal of Public Health. http://phys.org/news150990650.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:50:50 EST news150990650 Counselling via the phone and internet can help weight management in overweight individuals, according to a Dutch study published in the open access journal, BMC Public Health. http://phys.org/news150695972.html Medicine & Health Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:59:32 EST news150695972 Questionnaires will soon be sent to thousands of men who donated their baby teeth half a century ago to scientists seeking to learn whether radioactive fallout in milk the donors drank as children affected their health later in life. It's the latest step in a study that began in the 1950s and 1960s at Washington University, but then stalled for decades. http://phys.org/news150471812.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:43:32 EST news150471812 (PhysOrg.com) -- At the end of July 2008, major news agencies reported an outbreak of jalapeño-related salmonella that sickened more than 1,000 people in Mexico and the United States. It was the biggest outbreak of its kind in decades. http://phys.org/news149346537.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:08:57 EST news149346537 Human parechovirus is a harmless virus which is encountered by most infants and displays few symptoms. Suspected of triggering type 1 diabetes in susceptible people, research methods need to take this "silent" virus into consideration. This comes from findings in a study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. http://phys.org/news148816892.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:01:32 EST news148816892 The public's concerns about costs and increased promiscuity among teenagers appear to be hindering use of a vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV) to prevent life-threatening diseases, according to a study by researchers at Yale School of Public Health. http://phys.org/news148757988.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:39:48 EST news148757988 Researchers in this week's PLoS Medicine present a new tool called the "Dirty War Index (DWI)" based on the laws of war, a tool which identifies rates of prohibited or highly undesirable ("dirty") war outcomes, such as torture, child injury, and civilian death. http://phys.org/news148623102.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:11:42 EST news148623102 Representatives from NASA convened in New Orleans today to report at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting the results from a NASA-enhanced computerized system to assess environmental and health concerns for deployed U.S. forces. The Global Situational Awareness Tool (GSAT), developed and operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command, is a computerized set of linkable databases that characterizes and predicts health risks and other dangers to U.S. troops and multi-national forces in Afghanistan and other areas. http://phys.org/news148218630.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:50:30 EST news148218630 A study released by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health shows that developing antibodies to cockroach and mouse proteins is associated with a greater risk for wheeze, hay fever, and eczema in preschool urban children as young as three years of age. The study, published in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, is the first to focus on the links between antibody responses to cockroach and mouse proteins and respiratory and allergic symptoms in such a young age group. http://phys.org/news145814327.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:58:47 EST news145814327 Diabetes appears to be linked with an increased risk of pelvic girdle syndrome. This is shown in a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Akershus University Hospital. http://phys.org/news145792552.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:55:52 EST news145792552 Anyone who runs for Prime Minister or President should have an independent health examination to ensure their ability to govern, argues a doctor on bmj.com today. http://phys.org/news145716477.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:47:57 EST news145716477 With only a few days remaining before Election Day, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and the Kaiser Family Foundation, writing for the November 6, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine, find that seven in ten registered voters say major changes are needed in the U.S. health care system. http://phys.org/news144604183.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:49:43 EST news144604183 A study initiated by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands suggests that prenatal exposure to famine can lead to epigenetic changes that may affect a person's health into midlife. The findings show a trickle-down effect from pregnant women to the DNA of their unborn children and the timeframe over which such early damage can operate. While previous studies have suggested that adult disease risk may be associated with adverse environmental conditions early in development, these data are the first to show that early-life environmental conditions can cause epigenetic changes in humans that persist throughout life. The full study findings are published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. http://phys.org/news144598464.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:14:24 EST news144598464 Environmental changes implemented at 12 Dow Chemical Company worksites helped employees' there achieve modest improvements in health risks, including weight management, decreasing tobacco use and blood pressure, says Emory University public health researcher Ron Goetzel, PhD. http://phys.org/news144507656.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:00:56 EST news144507656 NASA satellite data can improve forecasts of dust storms in the American Southwest in ways that can benefit public health managers. Scientists announced the finding as a five-year NASA-funded project nears its conclusion. http://phys.org/news144431383.html Space & Earth Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:49:43 EST news144431383 Breastfeeding has a number of positive health benefits for baby: it can prevent ear infections and allergies, and lowers the risk of developing respiratory problems. It can also help prevent against obesity later in life, but the reason for this still isn't known. http://phys.org/news144393118.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:11:58 EST news144393118 Boston, MA – More than 330,000 lives were lost to HIV/AIDS in South Africa from 2000 and 2005 because a feasible and timely antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program was not implemented, assert researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in a study published online by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) (http://www.jaids.com/). In addition, an estimated 35,000 babies were born with HIV during that same period in the country because a feasible mother-to-child transmission prophylaxis program using nevirapine (an anti-AIDS drug) was not implemented, the authors write. http://phys.org/news143738794.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:26:34 EST news143738794 New evidence discovered by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus shows that patients with Type 2 diabetes may be at increased risk of contracting tuberculosis because of a compromised immune system, resulting in life-threatening lung infections that are more difficult to treat. http://phys.org/news143222282.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:58:02 EST news143222282 Gaining a fuller and more accurate picture of trends in the most important disease risk factors is now possible, thanks to a project between the NHS Information Centre and QResearch®. http://phys.org/news143198203.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:16:43 EST news143198203 Extreme heat events (EHE), or heat waves, are the most prominent cause of weather-related human mortality in the United States, responsible for more deaths annually than hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes combined. These events, and other climate-related changes in the worldwide environment that directly affect public health, are examined in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. This special issue provides a crucial state-of-the art overview of many of the issues at the intersection of climate change and health. http://phys.org/news142677024.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:30:24 EST news142677024 A study published today concludes that in the ten years since its initiation, the international effort to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) has made a large impact towards ridding the world of one of its most debilitating diseases. The analysis found that the LF elimination programme has prevented 6.6 million children from acquiring LF and stopped another 9.5 million people already infected with the disease from progressing to more debilitating stages. These efforts are the result of the most rapid scale-up of a drug administration programme in public health history, delivering what the study calls a "best buy in public health". http://phys.org/news142656435.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:47:15 EST news142656435