http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A study from investigators at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) found that African-American or Hispanic children diagnosed with autism were significantly less likely than white children to have received subspecialty care or procedures related to conditions that often accompany autism spectrum disorders. While previous studies have documented that minority children with autism tend to be diagnosed at a later age than white children, this report – which will appear in the July issue of Pediatrics and has been released online – is the first to describe disparities in the use of specialty services in gastroenterology, psychiatry or psychology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-racial-ethnic-disparities-usage-specialty.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:20:01 EST news290626277 Allowing all employees access to paid sick days would reduce influenza infections in the workplace, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health modeling experts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-universal-paid-sick-flu-simulation.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:00:02 EST news290354810 Remember Mom's advice about washing your hands thoroughly after using the restroom? Apparently not. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-percent-correctly.html Health Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:54:37 EST news290083084 (HealthDay)—Behavioral support with or without bupropion is effective at achieving smoking cessation in patients with suspected tuberculosis, according to a study published in the May 7 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-tb-behavioral-curbs.html Health Sat, 11 May 2013 05:20:01 EST news287461084 Brazil launched a campaign Tuesday to combat the ballooning waistlines of its population—a trend it said costs nearly $250 million each year in treatment of obesity-related diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-brazil-combat-obesity.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:37:38 EST news282933452 (AP)—The Philippine Supreme Court temporarily halted the implementation of a law that provides state funding for contraceptives, legislation opposed by the dominant Roman Catholic Church but supported by reproductive health activists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-philippine-court-halts-contraceptives-law.html Health Tue, 19 Mar 2013 05:00:02 EST news282887448 A report released today by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) and the RCHN Community Health Foundation offers the first-ever in-depth examination of health centers' role in access to family planning. The report finds that virtually all health centers furnish family planning services to some extent but for both financial and non-financial reasons, only 1 in 5 is able to offer access to the full range of contraceptive services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-in-depth-health-centers-role-family.html Health Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:39:02 EST news281878733 A new report by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) examines the potential impact of sequestration on community health centers and their patients and communities. "Assessing the Potential Impact of Sequestration on Community Health Centers, Patients, and Medically Underserved Communities" estimates that the nation's 1,200 federally funded health centers will lose $120 million in grant funding, and that this funding drop can be expected to translate into 900,000 fewer patients served and 3 million fewer visits. Furthermore, the authors find that because of its timing, sequestration's impact will be concentrated in the second half of FY 2013, thereby necessitating dramatic and immediate programmatic reductions that in turn will affect the local economies in which health centers operate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-potential-impact-sequestration-chcs-underserved.html Health Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:49:03 EST news281612934 The Microsoft Kinect game controller could cut the US healthcare bill by up to $30 billion by allowing physicians and other medics to interact with patients remotely so reducing the number of hospital visits and the associated risk of infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-kinect-teleport-remote-medicine.html Other Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:24:54 EST news279977069 (AP)—More than 300 directors of some 140 health centers in Madrid resigned from their posts Tuesday to protest plans to partly privatize the region's public health service. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-madrid-health-center-directors-en.html Health Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:47:06 EST news276867970 Argentina plans to give out 82 million condoms nationwide in 2013 in a campaign against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, the health ministry said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-argentina-mln-free-condoms.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:20:01 EST news276527407 Workers earning the lowest wages have a higher risk of hypertension than workers with the highest wages, according to new research from UC Davis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-links-wages-hypertension-women-younger.html Health Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:25:55 EST news276441852 (AP)—Several thousand Spanish public health workers and other people marched from four main hospitals in Madrid to converge on a main square in the capital Sunday, protesting the regional government's plans to restructure and part-privatize the sector. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-thousands-spain-protest-health-privatization.html Health Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:09:06 EST news274957740 While thoracic surgeons are traditionally known as the experts who perform heart surgeries, a UC Davis study has found that general thoracic surgeons, especially those at academic health centers, perform the vast majority of complex noncardiac operations, including surgeries of the esophagus and lungs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-thoracic-surgeons-emerge-complex-noncardiac.html Surgery Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:30:14 EST news274030153 (HealthDay)—Health care reform presents a unique opportunity for medical health centers to integrate systems of care, such as accountable care organizations (ACOs), but not without facing several barriers to implementation, according to an academic health center profile published in the November issue of Health Affairs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-barriers-accountable.html Health Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:00:02 EST news273173039 Prenatal and childhood exposure to flame retardant compounds are linked to poorer attention, fine motor coordination and IQ in school-aged children, a finding by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, that adds to growing health concerns over a chemical prevalent in U.S. households. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-flame-retardants-linked-neurodevelopmental-children.html Health Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:00:02 EST news272129830 The Affordable Care Act will fund more community health centers, making primary care more accessible to the underserved. But this may not necessarily lead to better access to subspecialty care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-health-reform-centers-access-subspecialty.html Health Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:24:36 EST news265530265 Urban areas that are segregated by race, ethnicity or income have more Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), which provide primary care services for disadvantaged populations, despite an adequate supply of private sector physicians, according to new findings published in Health Services Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-safety-net-health-centers-urban.html Health Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:51:45 EST news261906697 The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a concept at the heart of many health care reform models that aim to both improve the quality of care and reduce wasteful spending. But a new analysis of federally qualified health centers finds that clinics with higher scores as medical homes also had higher per-patient operating costs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-price-tag-patient-centered-medical-home.html Health Mon, 25 Jun 2012 03:40:01 EST news259811926 Federally funded community health centers with higher patient-centered medical home ratings on measures such as quality improvement had higher operating costs, according to a study appearing in JAMA. This study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the Annual Research Meeting of AcademyHealth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-higher-medical-home-health-centers.html Health Mon, 25 Jun 2012 03:00:04 EST news259811555 A first-time joint publication by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and the American Journal of Public Health highlights how the two sectors of public health and primary medicine intersect and the work ahead to achieve true integration. This special supplement complements the recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) study released in late March, "Primary Care and Public Health: Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health (www.iom.edu/Reports/2012/Primary-Care-and-Public-Health.aspx)." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-physicians-health-agencies-accountability-outcomes.html Health Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:00:02 EST news258720833 Tuberculosis independently predicts death from lung cancer in the elderly, according to a new study from researchers in Hong Kong. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-tuberculosis-lung-cancer-mortality-elderly.html Cancer Mon, 21 May 2012 08:50:08 EST news256808986 New research from the University of Colorado School of Medicine shows that school-based health centers are highly effective in delivering comprehensive care, especially vaccines to adolescents. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-school-based-health-centers-boost-vaccination.html Pediatrics Mon, 07 May 2012 11:46:09 EST news255609963 The traditional separation between primary health care providers and public health professionals is impeding greater success in meeting their shared goal of ensuring the health of populations, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Integration of these fields will require national leadership as well as substantial adaptation at the local level, said the committee that wrote the report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-federal-agencies-advantage-opportunities-primary.html Health Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:35:05 EST news252160497 A program that helps obese patients improve healthy behaviors is associated with modest weight loss and improved blood pressure control in a high-risk, low-income group, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Duke University, Harvard University and other institutions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-lifestyle-obese-patients-linked-modest.html Health Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:00:05 EST news250779348 On the health front, the poor often have at least two things going against them: a lack of insurance and chronic illnesses, of which diabetes is among the most common. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-tool-health-centers-medical-home.html Health Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:00:06 EST news248541157 Children who show early signs of problem behavior are more likely to have thought of killing or harming themselves, suggests new research in the latest issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-youth-behavior-problems-thought-suicide.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:30:06 EST news242381132 Haiti's health ministry is preparing to test a cholera vaccine on a hundred people, a year after an epidemic killed over 6,500 people, officials said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-haiti-cholera-vaccine.html Medications Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:40:01 EST news238249583 Health centers and birth hospitals serving largely minority populations could do more to promote and encourage recommended breastfeeding, according to a new study of Philadelphia safety-net health clinics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-inner-city-health-centers-boost-breastfeeding.html Health Mon, 09 May 2011 10:44:24 EST news224156654