http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. People with disabilities are at a greater risk of being the victims of violence and of suffering mental ill health when victimized, according to research published February 20 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Hind Khalifeh and colleagues from University College London and King's College London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-people-disabilities-greater-violence-subsequent.html Health Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:00:05 EST news280601722 (HealthDay)—States with a Stand-Your-Ground (SYG) law have significantly more pediatric assault injuries due to firearms, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, held from Jan. 15 to 19 in Scottsdale, Ariz. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-east-stand-your-ground-law-linked-gun.html Health Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:59:25 EST news277736306 About 60% of infectious diseases are caused by viruses, bacteria and other pathogens that make the jump to humans from other species. This includes some of the most devastating disease outbreaks of the past 30 years, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and SARS. Despite the huge and rising toll of such diseases, many gaps remain in our understanding of how these "zoonoses" evolve, develop, and spread—gaps that must be filled if we are to succeed in preventing or at least reducing the impact of a next pandemic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pandemics-case-strategic-action.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:41:32 EST news273850882 A study of postdischarge (PD) complications after general surgery procedures found that overall, 16.7 percent of patients experienced a complication and 41.5 percent of complications occurred PD, according to a report published in the November issue of Archives of Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-postdischarge-complications-surgery.html Surgery Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:00:05 EST news272562292 The U.S. preterm birth rate dropped for the fifth consecutive year in 2011 to 11.7 percent, the lowest in a decade, giving thousands more babies a healthy start in life and saving billions in health and social costs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-preterm-birth-year.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:20:01 EST news271955966 Mental health experts from Meharry Medical College School of Medicine have released the first comprehensive report on the correlation between the incarceration of African American males and substance abuse and other health problems in the United States. Published in Frontiers in Psychology on the 12th of November, the report looks at decades of data concerning the African American population rates of incarceration and subsequent health issues. The authors conclude that the moral and economic costs of current racial disparities in the judicial system are fundamentally avoidable, especially if more resources are spent on education and treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-systematic-incarceration-african-american-males.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 11 Nov 2012 18:00:01 EST news271871305 Deliberately inflicting carefully controlled painful stimuli on human volunteers and seeing how well specific drugs reduce the feeling of pain can be an effective way of testing new drugs. So conclude two researchers who reviewed the available literature on these types of tests in a paper published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-pain-killers-humans-money-drugs.html Medications Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:55:57 EST news271601744 The cost of lung cancer to the UK economy is £2.4 billion each year, far higher than the cost of any other cancer. This highlights the urgent need to continue to reduce the number of young people who become addicted to tobacco – as smoking causes more than eight in 10 lung cancers in the UK. The research is presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool today (Wednesday). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-lung-cancer-uk-price-tag.html Cancer Wed, 07 Nov 2012 07:23:11 EST news271495382 Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have found new links between a protein that controls our urge to eat and brain cells involved in the development of alcoholism. The discovery points to new possibilities for designing drugs to treat alcoholism and other addictions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-scientists-protein-linked-hunger-implicated.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:49:40 EST news266834974 An international research group has identified four new gene loci predisposing people to the most common subtype of migraine, migraine without aura. About two-thirds of migraine sufferers belong to this group. The study will be published in Nature Genetics on June 10, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-gene-loci-predispose-people-common.html Genetics Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:00:12 EST news258548619 New Zealand announced plans Thursday to force cigarette firms to sell their products in plain packaging, following world-first laws passed in Australia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-zealand-cigarette-branding.html Health Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:25:37 EST news254024731 The global obesity epidemic has been escalating for decades, yet long-term prevention efforts have barely begun and are inadequate, according to a new paper from international public health experts published in the August 25, 2011 edition of the journal The Lancet. Noting that many countries lack basic population-wide data on children's weight and height, the authors call on governments around the world to launch a coordinated effort to monitor, prevent, and control obesity, and the long-term health, social and economic costs associated with it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-government-led-efforts-habits-children-curb.html Health Fri, 26 Aug 2011 04:39:27 EST news233552351 Every year, at least 116 million adult Americans experience chronic pain, a condition that costs the nation between $560 billion and $635 billion annually, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Much of this pain is preventable or could be better managed, added the committee that wrote the report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-iom-cultural-attitudes-pain.html Health Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:38:27 EST news228569896