News tagged with public health
Obama yields on smog rule in face of GOP demands (Update)
(AP) -- In a dramatic reversal, President Barack Obama on Friday scrubbed a clean-air regulation that aimed to reduce health-threatening smog, yielding to bitterly protesting businesses and congressional ...
Sep 02, 2011 |
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Study shows air emissions near fracking sites may impact health
In a new study, researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health have shown that air pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing or fracking may contribute to acute and chronic health problems for those living near natural ...
Mar 19, 2012 |
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The butterfly effect in nanotech medical diagnostics
Tiny metallic nanoparticles that shimmer in the light like the scales on a butterfly's wing are set to become the color-change components of a revolutionary new approach to point-of-care medical diagnostics, according to ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Feb 06, 2012 |
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Mercury in dolphins: Study compares toxin levels in captive and wild sea mammals
Amid growing concerns about the spread of harmful mercury in plants and animals, a new study by researchers from The Johns Hopkins University and The National Aquarium has compared levels of the chemical in ...
May 21, 2012 |
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Scientists track source of Haitian cholera outbreak
Employing technology that reads the entire DNA code, researchers led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have pinpointed the source of a cholera outbreak in ...
Aug 23, 2011 |
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Radioactivity in Europe, no public risk: IAEA
The UN atomic agency said Friday "very low levels" of radioactive iodine-131 had been detected in the air in the Czech Republic and in other countries, but presented no risk to human health.
Nov 11, 2011 |
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From herd immunity and complacency to group panic: How vaccine scares unfold
Worries over vaccine risks can allow preventable contagious diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, to make a comeback. A new study, published in PLoS Computational Biology, shows how to predict ways in which popula ...
Apr 05, 2012 |
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UN: Leaded fuel to be gone by 2013
(AP) -- Leaded gasoline, once so widespread it was sold at U.S. pumps as "regular" fuel, is expected to be eradicated globally within two years, the United Nations Environment Program announced Thursday.
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
Oct 28, 2011 |
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Delaware Fire Service offers important lessons for fire prevention programs nationwide
A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy finds fire and life safety programs in Delaware offer a strategic, comprehensive and coordinated approach to fire prevention.
Nov 07, 2011 |
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Hong Kong clean air targets fail to impress
Environmentalists on Wednesday expressed disappointment at new clean-air targets for Hong Kong, as research showed pollution-related illnesses killed more than 3,000 residents a year.
Jan 18, 2012 |
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Researchers create dynamic view of city based on Foursquare check-in data
The millions of "check-ins" generated by foursquare, the location-based social networking site, can be used to create a dynamic view of a city's workings and character, Carnegie Mellon University researchers say. In contrast ...
May 01, 2012 |
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US Earth observations, science and services are critical to society but are at risk
Earth observations, science, and services (Earth OSS) inform and guide the activities of virtually all economic sectors and innumerable institutions underlying modern civilization, according to a new study by the American ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 22, 2012 |
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Frontal attack or stealth? How subverting the immune system shapes the arms race between bacteria and hosts
Why is it that Mycobacterium tuberculosis can cause tuberculosis with as little as 10 cells, whereas Vibrio cholerae requires the host to ingest up to tens of millions of cells to cause cholera? This is the ...
Feb 27, 2012 |
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Yelp prices IPO at $15 a share as questions loom
(AP) -- Yelp is set to make its stock market debut Friday after pricing its initial public offering above its targeted range, a sign of strong investor demand for a slice of the 8-year-old online reviews site ...
Mar 01, 2012 |
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How much is a Nobel worth? A lot more than the prize money
The prestigious Nobel science awards are worth far more than the $1.5 million prize money: they can pad a company's coffers with $24 million and even add two years to a laureate's life, experts say.
Oct 02, 2011 |
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Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." (1920, C.E.A. Winslow)[citation needed] It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. The population in question can be as small as a handful of people or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in the case of a pandemic). Public health is typically divided into epidemiology, biostatistics and health services. Environmental, social, behavioral, and occupational health are also important subfields.
There are 2 distinct characteristics of public health:
1. It deals with preventive rather than curative aspects of health 2. It deals with population-level, rather than individual-level health issues
The focus of public health intervention is to prevent rather than treat a disease through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. In addition to these activities, in many cases treating a disease may be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak of an infectious disease. Hand washing, vaccination programs and distribution of condoms are examples of public health measures.
The goal of public health is to improve lives through the prevention and treatment of disease. The United Nations' World Health Organization defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
For more information about Public health, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
