Public Health in the News – April 27, 2014

Posted on April 27, 2014 by NPHR Blog in News // 0 Comments

Global

The Gates Foundation will be refocusing its global health efforts on funding strategies to find new drugs and vaccines.
Saudi Arabia has confirmed more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and the outbreak has also spread to Egypt.
High rates of mental disorders are seen in communities that continue to experience violence following war, according to a new study.
Bleach is alive, bleach is a connection, bleach is a gift. How bleach helps one Nicaraguan community be healthy.

National

The FDA is going to start regulating e-cigarettes – and will prohibit their sale to anyone under 18 years old.
“Diet and cancer has turned out to be more complex and challenging than any of us expected,” said Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Walter C. Willet at the AACR meeting.
As debate increases surrounding the ultra-powerful new painkiller Zohydro, science writer Maia Szalavitz wonders, can we build painkillers that are less likely to be addictive?
The New York Times discusses McDowell County in West Virginia, which has a poverty rate of around 40%, where many people rely on government assistance and drug abuse is everywhere.
How games might help patients heal and doctors find new therapies.
You have a cold. Who did you get it from, and how long are you contagious? The answer is more complicated than most people assume.
The target number of people signed up for the Affordable Care Act. Why didn’t some people enroll? Cost and ideological objections topped the list.
Climate change is making it harder to produce enough food, reports NPR’s Science Friday. Compare with our post on eating sustainably.
30 years ago, it was discovered that the HIV virus caused AIDS. Our biggest problem today may be apathy and continued stigma.

Illinois

Our state is experiencing a mumps outbreak in several areas, including Chicago. The number of cases so far in 2014 is double the number of cases in Illinois in a typical year.

Northwestern

Babies who are breastfed are less likely to have disease-linked chronic inflammation as adults, a Northwestern study finds.
Next week is National Women’s Health Week, and NU’s Women’s Health Research Institute is holding an event this Thursday.
NMH highlights the work of Candice Krill, quality director of Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, whose research on patient handling showed that nurses should be included in the decision process.
Combining three medications into one pill can help fight cardiovascular disease, according to a new study from Northwestern researchers.

Cover Photo by Tookapic via Pexels: creative commons