Gaining more than the recommended weight during pregnancy can put women at increased risk of becoming obese and developing related health problems, including high blood pressure, later in life.
These are the latest findings from researchers at the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)/Children of the 90s at the University of Bristol.
In the opening editorial to the latest edition of the Journal of Radiological Protection, published today, Wednesday 18 May, radiological protection expert Professor Richard Wakeford of the Dalton Nuclear Institute, The University of Manchester, gives a detailed account of events at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station, and poses several questions that remain unanswered, several weeks on from the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.
A new international Task Force has been set up to promote 'a fair day's work for a fair day's pay' for workers and to develop organisational capacity in lower income countries. The research which found discrepancies between the salaries earned by local and those earned by expatriate aid workers was instrumental in setting up the task force.
ITHACA, N.Y. - Victims of third-degree burns and other traumatic injuries endure pain, disfigurement, invasive surgeries and a long time waiting for skin to grow back. Improved tissue grafts designed by Cornell scientists that promote vascular growth could hasten healing, encourage healthy skin to invade the wounded area and reduce the need for surgeries.
Scientists are reporting detection of potentially toxic flame retardants in car seats, bassinet mattresses, nursing pillows, high chairs, strollers, and other products that contain polyurethane foam and are designed for newborns, infants and toddlers. In a study in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, they describe hints that one flame retardant, banned years ago in some areas, actually remains in use. "To the authors knowledge, this is the first study to report on flame retardants in baby products," the report states.
Every 30 seconds, infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis kill as many people as Jack the Ripper did in his entire career. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal International Journal of Health Geographics demonstrates how the mathematical model of geographic profiling, used in the hunt for serial killers, can help combat infectious diseases.
During the last thirty years there has been an increase in the number of babies born by Caesarean section. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health shows that there has also been a change in the social and economic status of the mothers involved and that advantaged mothers are more likely to have their babies by Caesarean section than mothers living in more difficult circumstances.
As public sector prisons move towards the thin staffing level model of profit-making institutions, with their high turnover of personnel who are less connected to their occupation, a study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) warns of a potentially detrimental impact on prison quality.
In this week's PLoS Medicine, Groesbeck Parham from the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, and colleagues describe their Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, which has provided services to over 58,000 women over the past five years. The authors share lessons learned from the program's implementation and its integration with existing HIV/AIDS programs, aiming to help other cervical cancer prevention initiatives succeed in the developing world and avoid placing additional burdens on health systems.
ATS 2011, DENVER –Face masks worn by patients infected with tuberculosis (TB) may be able to significantly cut transmission rates to non-infected patients, according to a new study by researchers from the U.S. and South Africa. The study was conducted in a specialized airborne infections research facility in South Africa, which was designed to allow study of methods to control the spread of TB. Transmission rates were measured using healthy guinea pigs exposed to infected patients.
The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.
Although some evidence suggests that prevention of vitamin A deficiency among women in developing countries may improve maternal and infant survival, pregnant women in rural Bangladesh who received vitamin A or beta carotene supplementation in a randomized trial did not have a lower rate of all-cause maternal, fetal, or infant death, compared to women who received placebo, according to a study in the May 18 issue of JAMA.
Boston, MA – Men who regularly drink coffee appear to have a lower risk of developing a lethal form of prostate cancer, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. What's more, the lower risk was evident among men who drank either regular or decaffeinated coffee.
The study will be published May 17, 2011, in an online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine have published a study that offers a new understanding of a protein critical to physiological processes involved in major diseases such as diabetes and cancer. This work could help scientists design drugs to battle these disorders.
The article was deemed a "Paper of the Week" by and will be on the cover of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. It is scheduled for publication May 20 and now available online.
New findings show that treatment with a specific alpha blocker helps reduce symptoms and improve quality of life for men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS).
The alpha-blocker, known as silodosin, works by selectively relaxing the muscles in the bladder neck and prostate. The treatment is already approved in Canada, the United States, the EU and Japan to treat painful symptoms of another prostate gland condition, benign prostatic hyperplasia, commonly referred to as an enlarged prostate.
May 17, 2011 -- In New York City, the prevalence of asthma among children entering school varies by neighborhood anywhere from 3% to 19%, and children growing up within walking distance of each other can have 2-3 fold differences in risk for having asthma. In the first comprehensive effort to understand what drives these localized differences, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health compared the household presence of cockroach, mouse, cat, dust mite and other allergens in neighborhoods with a high prevalence of asthma to that in low-prevalence neighborhoods.