Public Health in the News – June 14, 2015

Global

• Africans are increasingly turning to indigenous, rather than exotic, vegetables, which often contain more nutrients and are more environmentally friendly.
• Several African scientists recently published a report that provides evidence to contradict the many arguments being used by governments to criminalize homosexuality.
• An article in the Atlantic ponders how contagious MERS (the Middle Eastern Respiratory Virus) is and wonders whether it is as easily contracted as SARS.
• Esther Gokhale, an acupuncturist, has developed a method to help alleviate back pain after studying indigenous populations where back pain is uncommon.

National

• New research shows that balance training may help prevent falls in older adults.
• Does massage aid in recovery following exercise, or does it just feel good? Most likely, the former: research done with rabbits indicates that massage likely helps build more muscle.
• Scientists have developed a mesh implanted with electrodes that, when implanted in the brain, can measure and stimulate individual neurons.
• Although the bird flu has not been transmitted to humans – at least not yet – it is destroying our country’s poultry supply and may have the potential to jump species if we’re not careful.
• An aspirin a day may keep breast cancer away.

Illinois/Chicago

• Roxanne Jackson, a former employee of the Illinois Department of Public Health, was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing grant money from public health programs.
• After a patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis flew through the O’Hare airport, the Illinois Department of Public Health has been trying to identify other people who may have been in contact with the patient.
• A study of Chicago schoolchildren showed that students with higher exposures to lead paint often had lower test scores.

Northwestern

• The Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern recently hosted a program that helped educate physicians, researchers, and patients about women’s health issues.
• NU scientists uncovered new information about a gene known to play a role in psychiatric disorders – mutations in this gene lead to abnormalities in the processes that neurons use to communicate with each other.
• Northwestern student Samantha Montag interviewed Dr. Teresa Woodruff about the intersection of chemistry and biology.