http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay) -- Increasing time spent outdoors may reduce the development or progression of myopia in children and adolescents, according to a study published online July 20 in Ophthalmology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-outdoors-myopia-children.html Ophthalmology Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:10:10 EST news262872594 As the "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act moves forward, debate and speculation continue as to whether universal health insurance coverage will lead to significant cost savings for hospitals. The assumption is that providing appropriate primary care will improve the overall health of the population, resulting in less need for hospital services and less severe illness among hospitalized patients. Findings from a recent study published in Health Care Management Review challenge that assumption. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-massachusetts-individual-mandate-decreased-hospital.html Health Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:28:24 EST news262862844 (Medical Xpress) -- The global issue of physical inactivity should be recognised as pandemic, according to a research paper published today in the prestigious Lancet medical journal and launched in a special pre-Olympics event in London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-pre-olympic-global-action-physical-inactivity.html Health Wed, 18 Jul 2012 08:16:23 EST news261818166 Giving up smoking is associated with an average weight gain of 4-5 kg after 12 months, most of which occurs within the first three months of quitting, finds a study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-weight-gain-higher-previously-thought.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:30:03 EST news261160010 New research from Norris Cotton Cancer Center estimates, for the first time, the impact of an R rating for movie smoking. James Sargent, MD, co-director of the Cancer Control Research Program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, emphasizes that an R rating for any film showing smoking could substantially reduce smoking onset in U.S. adolescents -- an effect size similar to making all parents maximally authoritative in their parenting, Sargent says. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-onset-teens.html Health Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:35:27 EST news261063307 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that the incidence of gout and hyperuricemia (high uric acid levels) in the U.S. has risen significantly over the last 20 years and is associated with major medical disorders like hypertension and chronic kidney disease. The study, which is published in the American Journal of Medicine, was led by Hyon Choi, MD, DrPH, professor of medicine in the section of rheumatology and the clinical epidemiology unit at BUSM and rheumatologist at Boston Medical Center (BMC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-gout-hyperuricemia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:56:02 EST news259941355 A decade after the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, studies have shown that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among troops is surprisingly low, and a Harvard researcher credits the drop, in part, to new efforts by the Army to prevent PTSD, and to ensure those who do develop the disorder receive the best treatment available. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-ptsd-afghanistan-iraq-soldiers.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:02 EST news256475820 Better estimates of infectious disease burden are needed for effective planning and prioritizing of limited public health resources. These are the conclusions of a new Policy Forum article in this week's PLoS Medicine, in which Mirjam Kretzschmar from the Centre for Infectious Disease Control, RIVM in Bilthoven, The Netherlands and colleagues describe the Burden of Communicable Diseases in Europe (BCoDE) study that uses a pathogen-based incidence approach to generate infectious disease burden estimates in Europe taking into full account all chronic and long-term sequelae that can be causally related to an infectious agent. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-methods-infectious-disease-burden.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:00:04 EST news253891063 The American Cancer Society estimates that 44,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed this year and that 37,000 people will die from the disease. These are not strong odds. A new drug, rigosertib, allows pancreatic cancer cells to rush through replication – and then stops them cold, killing them in in the middle of a step called M phase. Healthy cells that don't rush are unharmed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-tortoise-hare-drug-cancer-cells.html Cancer Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:49:17 EST news249904132 A new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review reveals that young people do not possess the knowledge or skills required to adhere to government guidelines for responsible alcohol consumption. This article is part of the March special themed issue of the journal on low risk drinking guidelines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-young-people-dont-constitutes-alcohol.html Health Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:44:30 EST news249050660 (AP) -- Check-ups during pregnancy tend to focus around the waist. But there's growing debate about which mothers-to-be should have a gland in their neck tested, too. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-debate-thyroid-pregnancy.html Health Mon, 02 Jan 2012 08:22:14 EST news244714896 It's lights out in Europe this weekend for old-style cigarettes that manufacturers haven't adapted to burn themselves out if left unattended. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-europe-self-extinguishing-cigarettes.html Health Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:07:59 EST news240487673 Immunizations are a valuable tool for controlling infectious diseases among populations both in the U.S. and globally. Routine immunizations and supplemental immunization activities, such as immunization campaigns, are designed to provide immunization coverage to entire populations. Current measurements used to determine the success and rates of immunization can be flawed and inconsistent. According to a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, estimates of vaccination coverage can be significantly improved by combining administrative data with survey data. The results are featured in the October 2011 issue of PLoS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-effectiveness-vaccination.html Health Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:42:27 EST news238783337 Kew pharmacist, Melanie-Jayne Howes, has been collaborating in research and reviews assessing the role of natural products in the treatment and prevention of dementia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-natural-products-dementia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:47:12 EST news237710819