Culture

Many observers see race and class as factors in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water crisis. Earlier this week Flint’s mayor, Karen Weaver, said, “It’s a minority community. It’s a poor community. And our voices were not heard.” We asked Robert D. Bullard, Dean of the School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University and a pioneering scholar in the field of environmental justice, to discuss how race and class have shaped the ongoing public health disaster in Flint.

Many different diseases and insults can injure kidneys, resulting in kidney failure. Some autoimmune diseases damage glomeruli (the 'filtering units' of the kidney), while problems with the tubules (for example, impaired blood flow to the kidney at the time of renal transplantation, radio-contrast dye or drugs) can cause acute kidney injury (AKI). A common outcome in either type of injury is that immune cells infiltrate the kidney and this inflammation can result in permanent scarring.

WASHINGTON (Jan. 22, 2016) -- New recommendations from the American College of Cardiology and American College of Radiology have established appropriate use of diagnostic imaging for patients with chest pain, one of the most common reasons for emergency department visits.

Opioids such as morphine, codeine and Tylenol 3 can be effective for treating pain, however, a new University of Alberta study finds that patients with neuropathic pain taking opioids report no improvements in physical functioning compared to those who were not prescribed opioids.

On 15 January 2016 the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published the results of a search for evidence-based guidelines on the treatment of people with chronic heart failure. The aim of the report is to identify those recommendations from current guidelines of high methodological quality that may be relevant for the potential new disease management programme (DMP) "Chronic heart failure".

On 14 January 2016 the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published the results of a search for evidence-based guidelines on the treatment of people with chronic back pain. The aim of the report is to identify those recommendations from current guidelines of high methodological quality that may be relevant for the potential new disease management programme (DMP) "Chronic back pain". According to the results of the report the recommendations cover all important health care aspects and are largely consistent.

A musician takes up his/her violin and starts to play, but rather than gripping the strings, the fingers seize up--and this happens every time he/she takes up the instrument. Such a movement disorder--the so-called focal dystonia-- is a dramatic disease for those affected, which has thus far barely been studied. In total, one in 6,600 persons will develop the disorder, whereas an estimated one in 100 musicians will succumb.

Should unqualified practitioners be trained to deliver basic patient care to alleviate India's doctor shortage, asks a special report published by The BMJ today?

Unqualified practitioners posing as qualified doctors, and who administer potentially dangerous treatments to patients -- so called quacks -- are numerous throughout India, particularly in rural areas, writes Bangalore journalist Priyanka Pulla.

Putnam Valley, NY. (January 21, 2016) - "Critical limb ischemia" (CLI) describes an advanced stage of peripheral artery disease characterized by obstruction of the arteries and a markedly reduced blood flow to the extremities. CLI identifies patients at high-risk for major amputation. The estimated annual incidence of CLI ranges between 500 and 1000 new cases out of one million people per year, with the highest rates among the elderly, smokers, and those with diabetes. CLI is considered to be a critical public health issue. Attempts at revascularization are often unsuccessful.

Nearly 60 percent of Americans, if they buy a new handgun, are willing to purchase a smart or childproof gun -- a weapon that is only operable in the hands of an authorized user -- new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.

In addition to high overall support, the survey found that four in 10 gun owners and 56 percent of political conservatives surveyed are willing to purchase a smart gun, debunking the widely used argument by gun manufacturers and gun groups that there is no market for smart guns.

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health have developed a novel method to assess how the streetscape affects the chances pedestrians will be injured by drivers. Using Google Street View the researchers assessed the pedestrian environment at more than 500 New York City street intersections. Findings show that using Google's images instead of visiting collision sites in person resulted in substantial efficiency gains in conducting research on pedestrian safety. The study is published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

DALLAS, Jan. 21, 2016 -- Intravenous clot busting may be safe and effective in patients who required daily living assistance prior to stroke, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.

A new study by researchers at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that removal of derelict fishing gear could generate millions of dollars in extra harvest value for commercial fisheries worldwide.

The study focused on a 6-year, collaborative program to remove derelict crab pots from Chesapeake Bay, showing that the effort generated more than $20 million in harvest value for area watermen.

In a nationwide study, University of Arizona sociologists Christina Diaz and Jeremy E. Fiel found that the negative effect of young motherhood on educational attainment and earnings is not limited to those from disadvantaged backgrounds and actually is most significant among better-off teenagers.

Diaz and Fiel analyzed a subset of the Child and Young Adult Cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which launched in 1986 to analyze the lives of more than 10,000 American youth.

Mums and dads are likely to sign up for parenting classes - but only if there is adequate funding, according to new research.

Academics at the University of Warwick have conducted a three year trial to evaluate the success of the classes proposed by the Government. They found that the sessions held were popular with parents, however when funding available to the providers of the classes was withdrawn there was a sharp decrease in activities and parents' participation.