http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Reviews that are funded by industry tend to find the evidence weak for a causal link between sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and the increasing prevalence of obesity, while other reviews consider the evidence well founded, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the European Congress on Obesity, held from May 12 to 15 in Liverpool, U.K. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-eco-industry-funded-query-sweet-obesity.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 14 May 2013 17:50:01 EST news287771296 Adding social gaming elements to a behavior tracking program led people to exercise more frequently and helped them decrease their body-mass index, according to new research from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the USC School of Social Work and the University at Buffalo, SUNY. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-social-gaming-healthy-behavior-reveals.html Health Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:57:10 EST news285497824 Emergency admissions for asthma among adults fell by just under five percent in each of the first three years after the ban on smoking in public places was introduced in England, reveals the largest study of its kind, published online in Thorax. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-england-linked-annual-percent-emergency.html Health Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:30:05 EST news285245817 The American Heart Association has released new recommendations for policy makers and public health providers to combat heart disease and stroke on a local level. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-policy-makers-cardiovascular-disease.html Cardiology Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:00:02 EST news283092289 Seventy-five percent of the world's population consumes nearly twice the daily recommended amount of sodium (salt), according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2013 Scientific Sessions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-adults-worldwide-daily-aha-amount.html Cardiology Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:41:31 EST news283081283 A study by researchers at King's College London highlights a link between lifelong exercise and improved brain function in later life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-lifelong-key-cognitive-well-being.html Health Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:50:59 EST news282383448 Many Canadians are concerned about dietary sodium and welcome government intervention to reduce sodium intake through a variety of measures, including lowering sodium in food, and education and awareness, according to a national survey. The top barriers to limiting sodium intake are a lack of lower sodium packaged and processed foods and lower sodium restaurant menu options. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-canadians-interventions-dietary-salt.html Health Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:01 EST news282333162 Patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a significantly higher risk of developing insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, placing them at greater risk for heart disease and diabetes, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Researchers say public health interventions are urgently needed to prevent PTSD-related metabolic disorder at its early, reversible stage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-ptsd-linked-insulin-resistance-metabolic.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:50:45 EST news281879438 A novel global trading system based on the cost effectiveness of health interventions, similar to the market on carbon permits to help control climate change, could provide the extra funding needed to reach the health targets in the Millennium Development Goals, argue experts writing in this week's PLOS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-fund-global-health.html Health Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:00:02 EST news280514630 Community-based efforts to change the environment are proving to be an effective way of encouraging more physical activity and nutrition among school-age children, according to findings announced today from Kaiser Permanente. Researchers examined a series of Kaiser Permanente community-based obesity prevention interventions in adults and children and found that the more effective obesity prevention interventions were those that were "high dose" – reaching large populations with greater strength – and those that focused specifically on changing child behaviors within the school environment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-kaiser-permanente-anti-obesity-interventions-schools.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:37:01 EST news279283014 A recently released report, entitled "Social and Economic Impact Review on Neglected Tropical Diseases," highlights links between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and socio-economic prosperity. Published by Hudson Institute's Center for Science in Public Policy, in partnership with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, an initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the paper found NTD control and elimination efforts to be both inexpensive and highly effective, especially when paired with other major disease treatment efforts, making NTD programs one of the most cost-effective public health interventions available. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-neglected-tropical-disease-global-health.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 17 Jan 2013 04:15:44 EST news277618537 (Medical Xpress)—A single combination pill could reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke in Latin Americans by up to 21 percent at a cost of about $35 per quality adjusted life year gained, according to a study led by a University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health research team. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-combination-pill-effective-heart-disease.html Cardiology Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:49:47 EST news277552165 New York City's limit of a maximum 16-ounce size of sugar-sweetened drinks for sale in eating establishments is a positive public health move and should be replicated in Canada, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-rationing-soft-sizes-good-health.html Health Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:00:03 EST news274958892 (Medical Xpress)—Low back pain is the highest contributor to disability in the world, according to a pivotal international study released today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pain-world-highest-contributor-disability.html Health Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:47:20 EST news274690031 Social media may be an effective tool to help children overcome obesity, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-social-media-childhood-obesity.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:00:17 EST news273758244 Why do medical research findings often fail to reach the people who could benefit from them most? And why are health programs proven to work in one setting frequently unable to achieve success in other places? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-science-links-real-world-health.html Other Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:38:17 EST news268472290 The first ever global study to examine how changes in health inequality are related to overall coverage of maternal and child health interventions has shown that the countries making the most rapid progress in increasing maternal and child health coverage are those with programmes which most effectively address the needs of the poorest women and children in a population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-equitable-approach-rapidly-maternal-child.html Health Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:30:08 EST news267291263 (Phys.org)—Mexican-Americans with an ancestral link to Amerindian tribes were found to have higher insulin resistance levels, which is an indication of several chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, according to research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-ancestral-link-mexican-americans-greater-metabolic.html Health Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:24:36 EST news265040663 Government policies that make healthy foods more affordable, improved sidewalk, street and land-use design to encourage physical activity, and bans on public, workplace or residence smoking are among 43 effective public health strategies identified in an American Heart Association statement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-evidence-based-health-interventions-policy-makers.html Cardiology Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:00:04 EST news264692604 In this week's PLoS Medicine, Joseph Tucker from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA and colleagues lay out a social entrepreneurship for sexual health (SESH) approach that focuses on decentralized community delivery, multisectoral networks, and horizontal collaboration (business, technology, and academia). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-social-entrepreneurship-sexual-health.html Health Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:00:03 EST news261757734 A cost-effectiveness analysis conducted by Edwine Barasa of the Kenya Medical Research Institute Centre for Geographic Medicine Research, Nairobi, Kenya and colleagues estimates that a complex intervention aimed at improving quality of care for sick children in district hospitals would be affordable and cost effective in Kenya. The intervention consists of a package of care delivered in the form of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines dissemination, health worker training, job aids, follow-up supervision, and local facilitation by a nurse or diploma level clinician. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-quality-sick-children-kenya-effective.html Health Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:00:32 EST news258721286 Ministers of Health from 194 countries at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly today endorsed a landmark Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a roadmap to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-world-health-endorses-global-access.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 25 May 2012 11:07:14 EST news257162814 In 2010, preventable infectious diseases were responsible for almost two-thirds of the 7.6 million deaths of children under five worldwide, according to new estimates published Online First in The Lancet. Although child deaths have declined by 26% (2 million) since 2000, and despite major reductions in some of the leading causes of death (diarrhoea, pneumonia, and measles), few countries are going to achieve international targets for improving child survival with less than 3 years before the 2015 deadline for Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4*. Indeed, only tetanus, measles, and HIV/AIDS have declined sufficiently to meet MDG4, yet they account for just a small fraction of global under 5 mortality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-infectious-diseases-two-thirds-global-child.html Health Thu, 10 May 2012 18:30:04 EST news255885775 The Millennium Villages Project aims to co-ordinate improvements across multiple sectors in health, agriculture, the environment, business, education, and infrastructure in villages in sub-Saharan Africa. New research published Online First by The Lancet shows that, three years after implementation, mortality in children aged under 5 years in Millennium Villages has fallen by a third compared with matched control sites, showing that accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is possible with improvements across a range of sectors. The research is by Professor Jeffrey D Sachs and Dr Paul M Pronyk, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-millennium-villages-efforts-mdgs.html Health Mon, 07 May 2012 18:30:01 EST news255629056 An article in this week's edition of the Lancet tracks progress towards Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, that promote maternal and child health. It finds that skilled birth attendant coverage was the least equitable intervention, while the most the most equitable intervention was early initiation of breastfeeding. The study is by Dr Aluisio J D Barros, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-countdown-early-breast-equitable-intervention.html Health Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:30:01 EST news252262286