http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-early-life-traffic-related-air-pollution-exposure.html Attention deficit disorders Tue, 21 May 2013 00:10:01 EST news288291778 Women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of both obesity and gestational diabetes, in their daughters, concludes research published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. The study is by Dr Kristina Mattsson, Lund University, Sweden, and colleagues including Dr Matthew Longnecker from the National Institute on Environmental Health Sciences at the U.S.National Institutes of Health, North Carolina, USA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-women-pregnancy-obesity-gestational-diabetes.html Diabetes Mon, 20 May 2013 18:00:02 EST news288291392 When cells suffer too much DNA damage, they are usually forced to undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis. However, cancer cells often ignore these signals, flourishing even after chemotherapy drugs have ravaged their DNA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-ids-key-protein-cell-death.html Genetics Tue, 14 May 2013 06:27:15 EST news287731615 A new study appearing this week in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law catalogues community-based efforts to develop strategies and policies that – by targeting high risk housing – may hold the key to reducing lead hazards in children's homes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-local-laws-key-dangers-poisoning.html Health Mon, 06 May 2013 15:04:51 EST news287071462 A new analysis of the contents of lipstick and lip gloss may cause you to pause before puckering. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health tested 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in drugstores and department stores. They detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals, some of which were found at levels that could raise potential health concerns. Their findings will be published online Thursday, May 2, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-toxic-metals-lipstick.html Health Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:01 EST news286646035 Women who had sufficient amounts of vitamin D were 32 percent less likely to develop fibroids than women with insufficient vitamin D, according to a study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-vitamin-d-uterine-fibroids.html Health Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:32:51 EST news285244358 Exposure to tobacco smoke could negatively impact adolescent kidney function; this is according to a new study led by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. They examined the association between exposure to active smoking and kidney function among U.S. adolescents and found the effects of tobacco smoke on kidney function begin in childhood. The results are featured in the April 2013 issue of Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-negatively-impact-kidney-function-adolescents.html Pediatrics Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:28:31 EST news284657296 New research from MIT may allow scientists to develop a test that can predict the severity of side effects of some common chemotherapy agents in individual patients, allowing doctors to tailor treatments to minimize the damage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-enzyme-cancer-patients-reveal-healthy.html Genetics Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:24:11 EST news284365409 A recently published study by a researcher in the West Virginia University School of Public Health found that more than half of young worker deaths in North Carolina resulted from employers violating the child labor laws. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-adolescents-dangerous-environments-child-labor.html Health Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:18:11 EST news282907069 Researchers have discovered how oxidative stress can turn to the dark side a cellular protein that's usually benign, and make it become a powerful, unwanted accomplice in neuronal death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-discovery-door-drug-options-diseases.html Medical research Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:14 EST news281615911 Female mice exposed to Bisphenol A through their mother's diet during gestation and lactation were found to be hyperactive, exhibit spontaneous activity and had leaner body mass than those not exposed to the chemical, researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health have discovered. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-female-mice-exposed-bpa-mothers.html Medical research Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:02:22 EST news278254919 Norwegian pregnant women who received a vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus showed no increased risk of pregnancy loss, while pregnant women who experienced influenza during pregnancy had an increased risk of miscarriages and still births, a study has found. The study suggests that influenza infection may increase the risk of fetal loss. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-h1n1-flu-shots-safe-pregnant.html Medications Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:00:04 EST news277577976 New research from the University of Michigan School of Public Health found BPA, or bisphenol A, in fetal liver tissue, demonstrating that there is considerable exposure to the chemical during pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-bpa-exposure-fetal-livers.html Health Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:30:01 EST news273762613 Scientists have developed a system to predict the timing and severity of seasonal influenza outbreaks that could one day help health officials and the general public better prepare for them. The system adapts techniques used in modern weather prediction to turn real-time, Web-based estimates of influenza infection into local forecasts of seasonal flu. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-page-weather-regional-peaks-influenza.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:24:34 EST news273165849 (Medical Xpress)—Squeezed among tractor-trailers creeping through the Callahan Tunnel on the way to East Boston, you know those nasty-smelling diesel fumes can't be good for you. Now a landmark study has found that prolonged exposure to that noxious exhaust increases the risk of developing lung cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-lethal-exhaust-diesel-fumes-carcinogen.html Health Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:58:27 EST news270107899 Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers may have discovered why people exposed to war are at increased risk to develop chronic problems like heart disease years later. And the culprit that links the two is surprising. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-link-mental-health-disorders-chronic.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:14:05 EST news269525633 A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, according to research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Duke University. The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-bacterial-protein-house-spurs-asthma.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:11:47 EST news269525500 People who live near livestock or in livestock farming communities may be at greater risk of acquiring, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to a new study led by an international team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Dutch Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. A comparison of livestock density, place of residence and existing information on risk factors found that regional density of livestock is an important risk factor for nasal carriage of livestock-associated (LA) MRSA for persons with and without direct contact with livestock. The results are featured in the November issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-livestock-mrsa.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:14:34 EST news269093643 In the first clinical trial to demonstrate an effective treatment for constant, disabling cough among people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that taking thalidomide significantly reduced the cough and improved quality of life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-thalidomide-relieves-disabling-people-deadly.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:00:01 EST news267098688 New research offers a possible strategy for treating central nervous system diseases, such as brain and spinal cord injury, brain cancer, epilepsy, and neurological complications of HIV. The experimental treatment method allows small therapeutic agents to safely cross the blood-brain barrier in laboratory rats by turning off P-glycoprotein, one of the main gatekeepers preventing medicinal drugs from reaching their intended targets in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-strategy-delivery-medicines-brain.html Medical research Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:41:10 EST news266240425 Children exposed to diethyl phthalate (DEP) and butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP)—phthalate chemicals commonly found in personal care and plastic products—have elevated risk of asthma-related airway inflammation, according to researchers at Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-children-exposed-phthalates-elevated-asthma-related.html Immunology Wed, 05 Sep 2012 12:40:38 EST news266067630 Women using fertility drugs who did not conceive a 10-plus week pregnancy were at a statistically significant reduced risk of breast cancer compared to nonusers; however, women using the drugs who conceived a 10-plus week pregnancy had a statistically significant increased risk of breast cancer compared to unsuccessfully treated women, but a comparable risk to nonusers, according to a study published July 6 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-fertility-drug-usage-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:00:01 EST news260799723 An editorial published today in the prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives calls for increased research to identify possible environmental causes of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders in America's children and presents a list of ten target chemicals including which are considered highly likely to contribute to these conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-toxic-chemicals-autism-disabilities.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:14:18 EST news254578412 Looking for an inexpensive and effective way to quickly improve the quality of your drinking water? According to a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, sunlight and a twist of lime might do the trick. Researchers found that adding lime juice to water that is treated with a solar disinfection method removed detectable levels of harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) significantly faster than solar disinfection alone. The results are featured in the April 2012 issue of American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-sunlight-lime-juice-safer.html Health Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:35 EST news253883668 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered how exposure to arsenic can turn normal stem cells into cancer stem cells and spur tumor growth. Inorganic arsenic, which affects the drinking water of millions of people worldwide, has been previously shown to be a human carcinogen. A growing body of evidence suggests that cancer is a stem-cell based disease. Normal stem cells are essential to normal tissue regeneration, and to the stability of organisms and processes. But cancer stem cells are thought to be the driving force for the formation, growth, and spread of tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-arsenic-stem-cells-cancerous-spurring.html Cancer Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:27:25 EST news252746818 Where a child lives can greatly affect his or her risk for asthma. According to a new study by scientists at Columbia University, neighborhood differences in rates of childhood asthma may be explained by varying levels of air pollution from trucks and residential heating oil. Results appear online in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-air-pollution-trucks-low-quality-oil.html Health Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:37:12 EST news252074227 A consortium of federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations has published a report proposing a set of common measures and data-collection methods for use in asthma clinical research. Asthma Outcomes in Clinical Research: Report of the Asthma Outcomes Workshop, which appears as a supplement to the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, resulted from a meeting organized by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc., with additional support for the publication from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NIH contributors were the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-standardized-outcome-asthma-clinical.html Immunology Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:38:22 EST news249914282 More than 32 million people in the United States have autoantibodies, which are proteins made by the immune system that target the body's tissues and define a condition known as autoimmunity, a study shows. The first nationally representative sample looking at the prevalence of the most common type of autoantibody, known as antinuclear antibodies (ANA), found that the frequency of ANA is highest among women, older individuals, and African-Americans. The study was conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers in Gainesville at the University of Florida also participated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-million-americans-autoantibodies-tissues.html Medical research Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:26:46 EST news245676379 A high-speed robotic screening system, aimed at protecting human health by improving how chemicals are tested in the United States, begins today to test 10,000 compounds for potential toxicity. The compounds cover a wide variety of classifications, and include consumer products, food additives, chemicals found in industrial processes, and human and veterinary drugs. A complete list of the compounds is publicly available at http://www.epa.gov/ncct/dsstox. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-tox21-screening-chemicals.html Other Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:12:48 EST news242482353 Health costs exceeding $14 billion dollars, 21,000 emergency room visits, nearly 1,700 deaths, and 9,000 hospitalizations are among the staggering impacts of six climate change-related events in the United States during the last decade, according to a first-of-its-kind study published in November 2011 edition of the journal Health Affairs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-groundbreaking-quantifies-health-climate-change-disasters.html Health Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:23:04 EST news240077486