public health

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Record 50.7M Americans Have No Insurance

It's the first time the figure has risen above 50M

(Newser) - The number of Americans without health insurance topped 50 million for the first time last year, according to new Census Bureau data. (The poverty aspect of the report generated the most headlines.) The number of uninsured surged 16.7% to 50.7 million in 2009 as workers lost their...

America Still Smoking Up a Storm: CDC

(Newser) - The smoking rate in the United States has stalled after 40 years of steady declines, according to a report by the CDC. The Los Angeles Times reports that 1 in 5 people are regular smokers, a figure that has remained constant for the last 5 years. The CDC says more...

Cities With Worst Bedbug Infestations

Ohio has three in the top 10

(Newser) - The bedbug problem continues to spread across the US, with 95% of pest companies reporting encounters. But which cities are the hardest hit? The Daily Beast consulted exterminator Orkin for information—and found that it's not a good time to be in Ohio. The biggest infestations are in:

HIV Drugs May Fight Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Researchers identify new virus in majority of patients

(Newser) - There may be hope for the 4 million Americans suffering from the baffling ailment known as chronic fatigue syndrome: A new study firms up the theory that it's caused by a virus, raising the prospect of the first effective treatment. Researchers say they've identified a mouse-related retrovirus in the vast...

Lack of Sunshine Linked to MS, Arthritis

Vitamin D affects 229 disease-linked genes

(Newser) - A lack of sunshine makes people more likely to contract diseases including arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, and some cancers, according to scientists exploring the genetic link between disease and low levels of vitamin D. Genetic researchers found that the vitamin—which the body makes when the skin is...

Squeezed Officials Sorry About Girl's Lemonade Stand

County chair: 7-year-old is free to open shop

(Newser) - The top elected official of the Oregon county that closed a 7-year-old girl's lemonade stand says he's sorry inspectors soured her business, and she won't be asked to produce a $120 permit next time. Running a lemonade stand "is a classic, iconic American kid thing to do," and...

County Closes 7-Year-Old's Lemonade Stand

Inspectors give her lemons, say she needed $120 license

(Newser) - Ah, the plight of a small business owner, always bullied by unfair government regulation. Take it from 7-year-old Julie Murphy. Inspired by a cartoon show, Murphy decided to set up a lemonade stand at a monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. People were drinking down the 50-cent cups of Kool-Aid...

Government Shouldn't Moralize About Our Food
Government Shouldn't Moralize About Our Food
opinion
Jul 29, 2010 1:08 PM CDT

Government Shouldn't Moralize About Our Food

Leave that to the private marketplace

(Newser) - The government has a wide range of choices when it comes to encouraging public health, from hands-off (the preference of libertarians) to so-called sin taxes to outright bans on, say, junk food in schools. Here's one option they need to stop: paying for ad campaigns that vilify certain foods, writes...

Genetically Modified Mosquito May End Malaria

Disease-resistant insect could be new tool

(Newser) - Researchers from the University of Arizona have developed a genetically modified mosquito that is immune to the malaria parasite and thus unable to transmit the illness to people. The new mosquito could eventually help control or even eliminate the disease. Malaria infects more than 250 million yearly, resulting in a...

Dengue Fever Reaches Florida
 Dengue Fever Reaches Florida 
Jul 14, 2010 4:25 AM CDT

Dengue Fever Reaches Florida

Tropical disease threatens to spread north

(Newser) - Dengue fever, the most prevalent virus spread by mosquitoes globally, poses a growing threat across the world's tropical zones, from Southeast Asia to Central America—and now, Florida. Dengue virus is showing up in the Florida Keys, the CDC reported yesterday, with 5 percent of Key West residents exposed to...

Viagra Poppers Have Higher STD Risk

Men on Viagra, Cialis may be more likely to engage in unsafe sex

(Newser) - Viagra and Cialis users are far more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases than men who don't take ED meds, BusinessWeek reports . Using analysis of insurance records for 1.4 million men over 40, researchers found patients on ED drugs were 2.8 times more likely to be treated for...

Plague Fears Close California Campground

Squirrel tests positive, raising fears of outbreak

(Newser) - A campground northeast of Los Angeles will be closed until at least next week after a squirrel tested positive for plague, the LA Times reports. Officials are dusting squirrel burrows in the surrounding national forest in an attempt to kill fleas, which can transmit the disease to humans."It...

To Fight Fat, Make Junk Food as Taboo as Tobacco

US must get a handle on public health crisis

(Newser) - A widespread vice has a negative effect on Americans' health, and it's up to the government to do something about it. That approach worked for tobacco, David Lazarus writes for the LA Times , and it can work for obesity, too. "The answer seems obvious," he argues. "If...

Anti-Bleeding Drug Could Save Lives in the ER

100,000 trauma patients could benefit

(Newser) - A drug used to slow bleeding during surgery could save the lives of scores of trauma patients if used in emergency rooms, a new study suggests. UK researchers found that the drug tranexamic acid reduced bleeding deaths among trauma patients by a sixth, HealthDay reports. As 600,000 such patients...

Being Short May Raise Risk of Heart Trouble

Height seems to play a role in cardiovascular health

(Newser) - A new health survey has a simple conclusion: ''The shorter you are, the higher risk you have of developing cardiovascular disease," says the lead researcher. Specifically, men 5-5 or shorter and women 5 feet or shorter are 1.5 times more likely to get heart disease and die from...

Smallpox Vaccine Slows HIV
 Smallpox Vaccine Slows HIV 
May 19, 2010 2:29 PM CDT

Smallpox Vaccine Slows HIV

Study raises hope for a new tool against pandemic

(Newser) - People exposed with the smallpox vaccine may gain a measure of protection against the HIV virus. Researchers from George Washington University exposed white blood cells taken from vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals and exposed them to HIV. In the smallpox-vaccinated cells, HIV replicated itself significantly slower than in those from non-vaccinated...

Sleeping for less than six hours can cause early death, study finds | Society | guardian.co.uk
 Not Sleeping Enough 
 Can Kill You 
in case you missed it
May 8, 2010 9:34 AM CDT

Not Sleeping Enough Can Kill You

Those who get less than 6 hours a night die earlier, says study

(Newser) - If you consistently get less than six hours of sleep, you'd better have your affairs in order. A group of researchers in the UK and Italy say that, by examining 16 separate studies, they've proven that not sleeping enough can lead to an early demise, the Guardian reports. The studies...

Water Main Break Leaves 2 Million Parched

Massachusetts governor declares state of emergency

(Newser) - Tap water in most of eastern Massachusetts is unsafe to drink following a water main break yesterday in a suburb west of Boston. Some 2 million residents must boil water for at least 1 minute before drinking it, making baby formula, or brushing their teeth, a situation one official described...

US Lags in Preventing Early Death

 US Lags in 
 Preventing 
 Early Death 
iceland is tops
Apr 30, 2010 5:00 AM CDT

US Lags in Preventing Early Death

Obesity, smoking blamed as US falls behind in death rate before 60

(Newser) - America is lagging far behind other countries in preventing premature death among adults and now ranks behind Chile, Tunisia, and Peru, warn the authors of a new study. The researchers analyzed data on deaths before age 60 and found that over the last 20 years, the US has tumbled from...

Tone Done These Gross Anti-Smoking Ads
 Tone Down These Gross 
 Anti-Smoking Ads 
OPINION
Apr 29, 2010 6:26 PM CDT

Tone Down These Gross Anti-Smoking Ads

Making smokers into lepers won't improve public health

(Newser) - Reports that Australia plans to strip cigarette packages of company logos and instead feature graphic images of diseased lungs and assorted organs has Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon less than thrilled. These smug, "scoldy" campaigns are getting out of control—what's next, "photos of blocked arteries on every...

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