http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Could the impact of chronic stress explain why American black girls are more likely to be overweight than white girls? According to Dr. Tomiyama of the University of California, Los Angeles in the U.S., and her colleagues, higher levels of stress over 10 years predict greater increases in body weight over time in both black and white girls. However, the experience of chronic stress appears to have a greater negative effect on black girls' weight, which may explain racial disparities in obesity levels. The work is published online in Springer's journal, Annals of Behavioral Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-weight-gain-stressed-black-girls.html Health Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:06:21 EST news267275175 The largest U.S. multicenter study of living kidney transplant donor chains showed that 46 percent of recipients are minorities, a finding that allays previous fears that these groups would be disadvantaged by expansion of the donor pool through this type of exchange process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-kidney-recipients-donor-transplant-chains.html Other Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:01:59 EST news267267710 A study on the emotional and behavioural adjustments of children from inter-ethnic and mono-ethnic families in Malaysia challenges traditional assumptions about inter-ethnic families. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-children-inter-ethnic-families-adjusted-mono-ethnic.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:52:44 EST news266140357 (Medical Xpress) -- Married couples who undergo long-term separations generally appear to be those who can't afford to divorce, a new nationwide study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-marital-alternative-divorce-poor-couples.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:04:59 EST news264553352 Hospitals in areas with large minority populations are more likely to be overcrowded and to divert ambulances, delaying timely emergency care, according to a multi-institutional study focused on California. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-er-overcrowding-minorities-california.html Health Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:00:09 EST news263487362 (Medical Xpress) -- The 2-1-1 phone information and referral system could be a key partner in efforts to reduce cancer disparities affecting low-income and racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S., finds a new study by Jason Purnell, PhD, assistant professor of public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-effective-tool-cancer-disparities.html Cancer Thu, 07 Jun 2012 07:50:02 EST news258273181 African-American and Latino children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from acute asthma symptoms in their teens than asthma sufferers whose mothers did not smoke, according to a new study led by a research team at UCSF. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-pregnancy-linked-severe-asthma-teen.html Immunology Thu, 31 May 2012 14:42:52 EST news257694001 A new study that looked at the hunger trends over a 10-year period found that 14.85 percent of seniors in the United States, more than one in seven, face the threat of hunger. This translates into 8.3 million seniors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-great-recession-reflux-amounts-hunger.html Health Mon, 14 May 2012 15:50:11 EST news256229391 (HealthDay) -- Tuberculosis rates fell to an all-time low in the United States in 2011, but the disease continues to disproportionately infect racial and ethnic minorities, those who are foreign-born and people infected with HIV, federal officials reported Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-tuberculosis-cases-cdc.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:58:08 EST news251650621 Smoking, the leading preventable cause of mortality in the United States, continues to disproportionately impact lower income members of racial and ethnic minority groups. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-discrimination-impact.html Health Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:29:14 EST news251051314 (HealthDay) -- About one in four cases of tuberculosis in the United States can be attributed to recent transmission, with groups such as men and persons born in the United States at higher risk, according to a study published in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-tuberculosis-cases-due-transmission.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:50:02 EST news250517799 More than three quarters (77%) of cancer patients who first present to their family doctors (GPs) with suspicious symptoms are referred to hospital after only one or two consultations, a new study has found. However, the new research also shows a wide variation in the number of times a cancer patient sees their general practitioner before they are referred to a specialist, with the most pre-referral consultations occurring when the cancer was one of the less common types, or when the patient was either female, young, or an older person from an ethnic minority. The research was published today, 24 February, in the journal The Lancet Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-gp-cancer-patients-specialists.html Cancer Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:30:04 EST news249228248 Large disparities exist in obesity and other chronic diseases across racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Are racial differences in diet, exercise, and weight status related to better knowledge about healthy eating and awareness of food-related health risks? Or are they more closely related to differences in socioeconomic status (SES)? A new study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association finds that people with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be overweight, regardless of racial/ethnic background, and that the level of nutritional knowledge and health awareness did not lead to significant racial differences in weight and diet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-socioeconomic-status-racial-disparities-diet.html Health Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:19:18 EST news241708750 Refugees who have fled Burma to live in Oakland, Calif., are at risk of becoming a permanent, poverty-stricken underclass warns a new report released today by researchers at San Francisco State University and the Burma Refugee Family Network (BRFN). The report found that almost 60 percent of Oakland's refugees from Burma are living in extreme poverty. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-refugees-burma-life-extreme-poverty.html Health Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:26:33 EST news241694786 Since the 1970s, U.S. mortality rates due to colorectal cancer have declined overall, yet among blacks and Hispanics, the death rates rose. Evidence suggests that underuse of colonoscopy screening among these groups is one reason for the large disparities. In 2003, New York City launched a multifaceted campaign to improve colonoscopy rates among racial and ethnic minorities and women. A new study conducted by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene demonstrates the notable success of the campaign. Results show a 20-percentage point jump in colonoscopy screenings among all New Yorkers ages 50 and older and the elimination of disparities across several demographic populations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-colon-cancer-screening-campaign-erases.html Cancer Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:27:45 EST news240841658 Andrew Fuligni and his colleagues want to understand the secret life of the American teenager. Their research has examined whether stress in the teen years affects kids' health as adults (it does), whether teens maintain their religious ties and beliefs as adults (they do) and if ethnic minority–based stigmatization affects how they perform in school (it does). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-insight-secret-life-american-teen.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:31:03 EST news237130232 Two decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect, people with disabilities continue to face difficulties meeting major social needs, including obtaining appropriate access to health care facilities and services. In an article in the October issue of Health Affairs, Lisa Iezzoni, MD, director of the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, analyzes available information on disparities affecting people with disabilities and highlights barriers that continue to restrict their access to health services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-health-affairs-article-focuses-disparities.html Health Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:34:53 EST news237051286 Disparities between racial/ethnic minorities and whites cross all aspects of stroke care, according to an American Heart Association/American Stroke Association scientific statement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-disparities-prevail-racialethnic-groups.html Cardiology Thu, 26 May 2011 16:38:02 EST news225646650 Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified unhealthy substance use as a risk factor for not receiving all appropriate preventive health services. The findings, which currently appear in BMJ Open, identify unhealthy substance use as a barrier to completion of mammography screening and influenza vaccination. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-unhealthy-substance-factor-health.html Cancer Fri, 13 May 2011 13:31:24 EST news224512266 Fifty years after legalisation, the UK's betting shops are attracting a new type of customer. This widening appeal may have harmful consequences in terms of problem gambling, argues initial research findings funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-years-uk-lure-punters.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 09 May 2011 03:45:39 EST news224131446 Colorectal cancer screening rates increased for Medicare beneficiaries when coverage was expanded to average-risk individuals, but racial disparities still exist, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-colorectal-cancer-screening-medicare-beneficiaries.html Cancer Tue, 03 May 2011 13:20:01 EST news223646624