http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Policies aimed specifically at men are urgently needed to improve the health of Europe's men, say experts in the British Medical Journal today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-action-men-health-europe.html Health Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:46:39 EST news241843576 The federally funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides free and reduced-price meals to more than 31 million children every school day, according to its website (http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/). And a recent study by current and former Iowa State University researchers confirmed that school lunches improve the health outcomes of children who reside in low-income households. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-iowa-state-health-children-national.html Health Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:27:47 EST news240157658 Bisexual women are more likely than their male counterparts to suffer from depression and stress and to binge-drink, according to a new national study led by George Mason University researcher Lisa Lindley. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-bisexual-women-men-depressed-abuse.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:38:23 EST news239967483 Research commissioned by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and carried out by research teams from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) and the Universities of Exeter (Sport and Health Sciences) and Brunel (Health Economics Research Group), has called into question the effectiveness of exercise referral schemes as they are delivered at present. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-weak-evidence-referrals.html Health Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:01:26 EST news239860861 Around 4,000 deaths could be prevented every year if the UK population adopted the average diet eaten in England, concludes research published in BMJ Open. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-thousands-rest-uk-average-diet.html Health Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:20:29 EST news239516419 Assessing the quality of life experienced by cancer survivors is becoming increasingly important, say researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Such an assessment has a number of important applications when doing research on cancer survivorship, but just how to measure quality of life for cancer survivors is still being developed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-cancer-survivorship-quality-life.html Cancer Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:13:20 EST news239019185 The current classification system for kidney complications in patients with lupus is too detailed, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results should make it easier for physicians to classify and treat kidney problems in patients with the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-lupus-classification-complicated.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:33:39 EST news238955600 Ethnic differences in appointment keeping may be an important factor in poor health outcomes among some minority patients with diabetes, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ethnic-differences-affect-health-diabetes.html Health Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:50:01 EST news238922051 Previous studies have found that health outcomes improve during an economic downturn. Job loss means less money available for potentially unhealthy behaviors such as excessive drinking, according to existing literature on employment and alcohol consumption. A new study by health economist Michael T. French from the University of Miami and his collaborators has concluded just the opposite--heavy drinking and alcohol abuse/dependence significantly increase as macroeconomic conditions deteriorate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-economy-alcohol-consumption.html Health Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:58:39 EST news237718521 There are signs that health outcomes in Greece have worsened during the financial crisis, especially in vulnerable groups. These concerns are detailed in Correspondence published Online First by The Lancet, written by Alexander Kentikelenis and Dr David Stuckler, University of Cambridge, UK, and Professor Martin McKee, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-health-effects-financial-crisis-omens.html Health Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:30:01 EST news237383696 People with frequent mental distress are markedly more likely that than those with frequent physical distress to lack health insurance, according to research appearing the October issue of Psychiatric Services, a journal of the American Psychiatric Association. Uninsured adults have less access to recommended care, receive poorer quality care, and experience worse health outcomes than insured adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-people-experiencing-mental-distress-health.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:50:38 EST news236947777 Confirming many elderly patients' worst fears, a national study has shown that being hospitalized for an acute event, such as a stroke or hip fracture, can lead to long-term institutionalization in a nursing home. Equally alarming, researchers found that direct discharge to a skilled nursing facility -- a common practice designed to reduce hospital stays -- put patients at "extremely high risk" of needing long-term nursing home care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-medicare-patients-long-term-institutionalization-hospital.html Health Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:09:19 EST news236880550 Ben Franklin was right, at least on the healthy part. "Early to bed and early to rise" appears to have helped a cross-section of early-bird Australian youths keep slimmer and more physically active than their night-owl peers, even though both groups got the same amount of sleep. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-early-bed-kids-leaner.html Health Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:40:01 EST news236579166 Do pharmaceutical ads educate patients and improve health -- or merely spur drug sales? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-direct-to-consumer-drug-ads-tv.html Health Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:31:46 EST news235236697 The risk of death increases with higher levels of overweight and obesity among African American women, according to a new study led by researchers from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University. In addition, a larger waist size was associated with a higher risk of death among women who were not obese. The relationship between body size and risk of death was strongest for deaths from cardiovascular disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-obesity-large-waist-size-linked.html Health Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:26:48 EST news234635139 Children who live in households that own at least one insecticide-treated bed net are less likely to be infected with malaria and less likely to die from the disease, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-insecticide-treated-bed-nets-lowers-child.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:42:40 EST news234549731 Pediatric obesity ends up costing $3 billion annually in the U.S., but a significant amount of that could be saved by streamlining medical coverage to address health issues affecting young obese patients now rather than waiting to treat conditions they develop as they get older, according UCLA researchers and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-payment-pediatric-obesity-money.html Health Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:29:14 EST news234520140 An analysis of more than 1,000 research articles concluded that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines. A committee of experts convened by the Institute of Medicine to review the scientific literature on possible adverse effects of vaccines found convincing evidence of 14 health outcomes -- including seizures, inflammation of the brain, and fainting -- that can be caused by certain vaccines, although these outcomes occur rarely. It also found indicative though less clear data on associations between specific vaccines and four other effects, such as allergic reactions and temporary joint pain. In addition, the evidence shows there are no links between immunization and some serious conditions that have raised concerns, including Type 1 diabetes and autism. The data were inadequate to reach conclusions about other suggested adverse effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-health-problems-vaccines.html Health Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:05:47 EST news233496299 Older women with sleep-disordered breathing, as indicated by measures of hypoxia (oxygen deficiency), were more likely to develop cognitive impairment or dementia than women without this disorder, according to a study in the August 10 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-sleep-disordered-cognitive-impairment-dementia-older.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:30:01 EST news232163109 Children born after unplanned pregnancies tend to have a more limited vocabulary and poorer non-verbal and spatial abilities; however this is almost entirely explained by their disadvantaged circumstances, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal today. The same study reported no adverse effects of infertility treatment on the children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-children-born-unplanned-pregnancy-slower.html Health Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:30:03 EST news230919255 A positive outlook on life might lower your risk of having a stroke, according to new research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-optimism.html Cardiology Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:35:45 EST news230484935 Transferring care of HIV patients from doctors in hospitals to nurses in primary health clinics is both clinically successful and cost effective http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-hiv-patient-clinic-nurses-hospital.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:11:08 EST news230316679 (Medical Xpress) -- Few treatments exist for patients with advanced primary liver cancer, but University of Florida researchers have found a new way to broaden the range of options and potentially improve health outcomes by combining two treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-combining-therapies-safe-benefit-patients.html Cancer Wed, 06 Jul 2011 05:31:49 EST news229149022 (Medical Xpress) -- The federal government is pushing doctors and hospitals to convert to electronic medical records by 2015, touting reductions in costs, increased patient safety and greater efficiencies in the U.S. health care system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-technology-poses-nursing-home-residents.html Health Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:45:04 EST news228984265 Brigid Waldron-Perrine, Ph.D., a recent graduate from Wayne State University, and her mentor, Lisa J. Rapport, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, found that if traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims feel close to a higher power, it can help them rehabilitate. The study was recently published in Rehabilitation Psychology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-religion-benefits-traumatic-brain-injury.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:16:52 EST news228449766 There is a 17% greater risk of dying after a heart attack if you are treated in a hospital located in a U.S. territory -- i.e. the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands -- rather than in a hospital in the mainland United States, according to new findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-death-heart-higher-territories-mainland.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:00:47 EST news228393709 While people in Japan, Canada, and other nations are enjoying significant gains in life expectancy every year, most counties within the United States are falling behind, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-life-counties-falls-world-healthiest.html Health Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:23:39 EST news227330606 Despite billions of dollars spent on health care each year, the United States ranks 27th out of 33 developed countries for life expectancy at birth. Leading causes of infant mortality are complications related to pre-term birth or low birth weight-outcomes that have been linked with domestic violence. A University of Missouri researcher says a key factor in addressing this issue is preventing violence against mothers and children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-health-domestic-violence-nursing-expert.html Health Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:40:39 EST news226672807 Currently, one in five elderly patients discharged from a hospital is readmitted within a month. Seeking to address the human and substantial financial burden of revolving door hospital readmissions, the Affordable Care Act proposes a number of initiatives to improve care and health outcomes and reduce costs for the growing population of chronically ill people in the U.S. While transitional care is a central theme in these provisions, there is little information available to guide those responsible for implementing these important opportunities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-revolving-door-hospital-re-admissions.html Health Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:28:19 EST news226146487 (Medical Xpress) -- A new study from George Mason University and the Urban Institute reveals that greater spending on medical services means better overall health for Medicare participants. Health Administration and Policy Professor Jack Hadley and his co-authors, Urban Institute researchers Timothy Waidmann, Stephen Zuckerman, and Robert Berenson, analyzed data from more than 17,000 Medicare beneficiaries to draw this conclusion. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-medicare-beneficiaries-higher-medical-health.html Health Fri, 27 May 2011 11:41:43 EST news225715291