Public Health

Better Sleep And Tai Chi Reduce Inflammation- Or Just Sleep And Any Exercise

Inflammatory processes sound bad, but they actually occur to promote healing after injury. However, when too active, these inflammatory processes can damage the body and perhaps contribute to heart disease. Stress is a contributor to inflammation in the b ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 5 2015 - 11:00am

Circadian Clock Controls Insulin And Blood Sugar In Pancreas

The body's circadian clocks coordinate behaviors like eating and sleeping, as well as physiological activity like metabolism, with the Earth's 24-hour light-dark cycle. There's a master clock in the brain, as well as peripheral clocks locat ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 6 2015 - 6:57am

Lower Blood Pressure Targets Sound Great- But Will They Work?

A new study finds that at least 16.8 million Americans could potentially benefit from lowering their systolic blood pressure (SBP) to 120 mmHg, much lower than current guidelines of 140 or 150 mmHg. The collaborative investigation between the University o ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 9 2015 - 3:58pm

Hospital Patients Given Anti-Heartburn Drugs Have Higher Risk Of Dying

Right now, in any American hospital, about half of the patients have a prescription for an acid-reducing drug called proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) to reduce heartburn or prevent bleeding in their stomach and gut.  But that well-intentioned drug may actual ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 10 2015 - 8:52am

12 Million Diagnostic Errors In The US Each Year

An estimated 12 million people in the United States experience diagnostic errors annually, when including a missed diagnosis, the wrong diagnosis, or a delayed one, all of which can lead to harm from delayed or inappropriate treatments and tests. In an op ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 13 2015 - 6:43am

Global Maternal Mortality Down 44 Percent Since 1990

A new analysis of maternal mortality worldwide conducted by the United Nations found that the maternal mortality ratio saw a relative decline of 43.9 percent during the 25-year period of 1990-2015. Details appear in an early online issue of The Lancet. Th ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 15 2015 - 9:14am

AMPK And MTOR Control Whole Body Energy Status

In previous posts, I've discussed the concept of protein leverage. This is an idea, put forward by two Australian scientists, Stephen Simpson and David Raubenheimer that many species, including humans, regulate appetite with a higher sensitivity to p ...

Article - Ignatius Brady - Nov 15 2015 - 10:46am

Smoking In China: Lacking In Effective Cigarette Cessation

Like with emissions control and human rights, the Chinese government will publicly say one thing and then do another. Reducing cigarette smoking is in that same camp.   China is the world's largest producer and consumer of cigarettes, with more than ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 17 2015 - 8:23am

Coffee Lowers Risk Of Premature Death

People who drink three to five cups of coffee per day are less likely to die prematurely from some illnesses than those who don't drink or drink less coffee, according to a new study. Drinkers of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee saw benefits ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 16 2015 - 6:36pm

Concern Over Health Risks Of Tasers

Tasers, created to save lives by subduing criminals and others without shooting them, are now the target of health papers. They are used by over 16,000 police forces in 107 countries and use compressed nitrogen to fire two barbed electrical probes that de ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 17 2015 - 8:00pm