Month: August 2012

The Los Angeles Times reports, "Chagas affects an estimated 300,000 people in this country and about 13 million worldwide, chiefly in Latin America, where it is a leading cause of heart failure.” (more…)

Reuters reports that a study published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine finds that fewer schools now make available sweetened drinks for purchase by students that was true in 2007. (more…)

Modern Healthcare reports, "Consumer Reports has released individualized safety ratings for more than 1,100 hospitals, becoming just the latest organization to issue facility-specific marks based on measures such as readmissions, medication safety and healthcare-associated infections." (more…)

News that the Food and Drug Administration has approved an over-the-counter test for home use for the detection of HIV attracted wide interest in the print and online media. (more…)

The CNN "The Chart" blog reports that, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, "vitamin D supplements – which are often combined with calcium supplements – are associated with a lower risk of bone fracture only when taken at high doses." (more…)

The New York Times reports, "The rates of child sexual abuse in the United States, while still significant and troubling, have been decreasing steadily over the last two decades by several critical measures." (more…)

Bloomberg News reports, "Sprinting, not jogging, helps men lose harmful belly fat faster," according to a study published in the Journal of Obesity. (more…)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, "Regular to moderate coffee drinking may reduce the risk of heart failure, says a new study in the journal Circulation Heart Failure, a publication of the American Heart Association." (more…)

The New York Times "Well" blog reports, "Childhood poisonings from a new type of detergent packet have soared in recent weeks, experts say, with the total climbing to more than 1,200 this week from about 200 in late May." (more…)

Reuters reports now that FDA has approved Arena Pharmaceuticals' diet pill lorcaserin, the watchdog group Public Citizen has asked the US Food and Drug Administration to reject the experimental drug, citing concerns that it could pose a risk to heart valves. (more…)

The Indianapolis Star reports, "No one views health care sharing ministries as a solution to the problem of how to provide care for as many people as possible. But their existence represents a creative approach that has worked for a small minority for more than two decades." (more…)

The recent finding that access to active video games (AVGs) did not lead to increased physical activity among children was widely reported in the media, but often inaccurately. Here’s more detail from a press release from the Games for Life journal. (more…)

The "Health on Today" blog of MSNBC runs a MyHealthNewsDaily article that reports the American Medical Association "decided more research was needed on" if obesity is a disease, "deferring the decision to a later date." Dr. Thomas Madejski, chair of the AMA's committee on medical service, said that at "the AMA meeting, doctors pointed out that in some cases, people have underlying abnormalities that cause them to be obese." (more…)

The FDA's approval of lorcaserin received heavy coverage, appearing on all three major news broadcasts and coverage in major national newspapers. Coverage focused on it being the first weight-loss medication approved since 1999 and on safety concerns. (more…)

A surprising study out of Harvard changes the way we think about dieting. When it comes to counting calories, what kind we take in may matter as how many we take in. (more…)

The Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog reports that "even moderate levels of physical activity – during childbearing years or after menopause – may reduce breast cancer risk," according to a new study. (more…)

USA Today reports, "Even when parents and caregivers are aware of infants' food allergies and have been instructed in avoiding potentially dangerous trigger foods, allergic reactions still occur, the result of both accidental and non-accidental exposures," according to a study published in Pediatrics. (more…)

Vaccinations among school-aged children can save lives and parents should be sure their children are fully immunized as part of their back-to-school preparations, according to a pediatric infectious disease specialist. (more…)

The USA Today "Healthy Perspective" blog reported, "While most cereals marketed to children have gotten a bit healthier – lower in sugar and salt and higher in whole grains and fiber – they still typically contain a spoonful of sugar for every three spoonfuls of cereal, says a new report from watchdogs at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Meanwhile, companies are spending more money to market their least nutritious brands, researchers say." (more…)

On its front page, the New York Times examined the increasing use of attention-deficit/hyperactivity (AD/HD) disorder medications, such as Adderall (dextroamphetamine and amphetamine), by students who use them to study harder and test better in high-stress school environments. (more…)

USA Today reports, "California lawmakers are debating a bill that aims to boost the number of kids who go to school with all of their shots." The move is in reaction to "the resurgence of once-forgotten infectious diseases, including what could be the biggest epidemic of whooping cough in 50 years." (more…)

The Los Angeles Times reports, "Full-body scanners used for security screening at the nation's airports do not expose passengers to dangerous levels of radiation, according to a new independent analysis of the security devices." (more…)

USA Today reports, "The 30% of working adults who routinely sleep less than six hours a night are four times more likely to suffer a stroke, says a new study" presented at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting. (more…)

Here's a timely reminder from the CDC to us healthcare professionals about being sure we update the vaccines of our teenage patients. It's also a good reminder to those with a teen child (more…)

The CNN "The Chart" blog reports, "According to two small studies presented" the Associated Professional Sleep Societies annual meeting, "sleep deprivation appears to increase activity in areas of the brain that seek out pleasure – including that provided by junk food." (more…)

The New York Times "Well" blog reports, "In the year after" the United States Preventive Services Task Force's (USPSTF) "recommendations that women delay regular breast cancer screenings until age 50, the number of women in their 40s undergoing mammograms slightly declined," according to a study presented at a research meeting of Academy Health. (more…)

The ABC News "Medical Unit" blog reports, "More and more parents in Oregon are choosing alternative vaccination schedules for their children, a practice known as shot-limiting, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics. Experts say the practice puts children and those around them at greater risk for disease." (more…)

The CBS News "HealthPop" blog reports that a study published in Psychosomatic Medicine suggests "that being a parent may actually boosts a person's protection against the common cold." (more…)

Two studies recently published in scientific journals say that when it comes to parenting, dads really do matter to kids — and in some ways, they may have even more influence than mothers. (more…)

On the front of its Personal Journal section, the Wall Street Journal reports in "Health Journal" that although some individuals are not taking in an adequate amount of calcium, studies indicate that other people are taking in an excessive amount.” (more…)