Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: public health

public health stories: 176 news summaries

1 - 20 of 176 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 9 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

H1N1 OUTBREAK

Wal-Mart Sick Policy Creates Flu 'Threat,' Say Critics

Report: Ill workers are pressured to report for duty

Nov 5, 09 5:59 PM CST
(Newser) - WalMart is taking heat for a restrictive policy that critics say pressures sick workers to go to work, swine flu be damned. Employees who take absences for an illness or a child’s illness rack up “points," and four points within a certain period can lead to termination.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
public health • Wal-Mart • H1N1 virus

Cell Phones May Raise Risk of Tumors: WHO Study

Lead researcher says kids' use should be restricted

Oct 24, 09 1:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - One of the most thorough reviews yet of the health risks of cell phones suggests that longtime users face a higher risk of brain tumors. The World Health Organization study is not definitive, but it bolsters the case that precautions make sense. The lead researcher tells the Telegraph she thinks... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • cell phones • public health • communication • cell phone industry • brain tumor • hands-free cell phone • women's issues

h1n1 outbreak

US Declares Swine Flu Emergency

Move will eliminate
red tape, allow for speedier vaccinations

Oct 24, 09 10:56 AM CDT
(AP) - President Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency and empowered his health secretary to suspend federal requirements and speed treatment for thousands of infected people. Despite the language, the White House emphasized the declaration is bureaucratic in nature and should not signal cause for alarm. The goal is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
public health • vaccine • Kathleen Sebelius • swine flu

H1N1 OUTBREAK

 Vaccine Scarier 
 Than Swine Flu: Poll 

Concern high and building, but 60+% don't plan to get a shot

Oct 22, 09 2:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Americans are spooked by the growing threat of swine flu but even warier of the vaccine. Half of respondents in a recent Washington Post poll are a “great deal” or “somewhat” worried they or a family member will catch H1N1, up from 39% in August. But more... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Health and Human Services • Congressional hearings • public health • children • Joe Lieberman • Inoculation • vaccination • vaccine • Kathleen Sebelius • pandemic • swine flu • H1N1 virus

ANALYSIS

 Anti-Vaccine Push  
 Threatens Kid Health 

'Pseudo-science' campaign blamed for rising rates of child illnesses

Oct 20, 09 1:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - A flourishing anti-vaccination movement based on bad science and distrust of Big Pharma is pressing the rewind button on decades of advances in reducing child illness, writes Amy Wallace. Parents who believe—despite the lack of credible evidence—that vaccines harm children are endangering other people's children as well as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
autism • public health • vaccination • vaccine • pediatrics • pediatricians • Paul Offit

opinion

If Swine Flu Is a Test,
America Is Failing

States' herky-jerky responses show problems with system

Oct 10, 09 9:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Take a good look at how states are dispensing swine flu shots—if they're dispensing them at all yet—and there's no escaping one conclusion: What a mess. Despite federal guidelines, each state seems to have its own ideas on who should get them first, and when—yet another example... More »

MORE ABOUT:
public health • US states • vaccination • flu shot • swine flu

 10% of Babies Are Premature, 
 Taxing World's Health System 

Of 13 million preemies, 1 million die before surviving 1 month

Oct 4, 09 5:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nearly 10% of babies born each year worldwide arrive prematurely, and the stress of caring for them "is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically and financially on families, medical systems and economies," the March of Dimes said today. Some 13 million babies are preemies, and more than 1... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Africa • Asia • United States • public health • birth rate • preemies • North America • March of Dimes • premature birth • premature baby • preterm birth rate

 Little Kids Still Need 
 2 Swine Flu Shots 

Older kids, like adults, get effective H1N1 inoculation from just 1 dose

Sep 21, 09 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Kids over age 9 can safely join adults in receiving just one shot of swine flu vaccine, the Washington Post reports. A test of 650 subjects showed 76% of children between 10 and 17 had a response to a vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur, and it was strong enough that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
public health • children • epidemic • vaccine • virus • influenza • swine flu • H1N1 virus

Global Rates of Alzheimer's Disease Soar

Aging populations drive increase; developing world will be hit hard

Sep 21, 09 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Rising life expectancy in the developing world will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of people stricken by Alzheimer’s disease, HealthDay News reports. The number of dementia cases worldwide will reach 35.6 million in 2010, a 10% increase over the total in 2005. That number is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Middle East • dementia • globalization • public health • aging • medical research • North Africa • developing countries • developing world • Alzheimer's Disease

 Egypt Kills All Pigs— 
 But Pigs Eat All Trash 

With no swine to eat garbage, waste piles up on city streets

Sep 20, 09 12:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - When the Egyptian government decided to kill all of Cairo’s pigs last spring in a pre-emptive measure to combat swine flu, they apparently forgot that the pigs performed a vital function in a city with poor public services: eating trash, the New York Times reports. The zabaleen, Cairo’s... More »

MORE ABOUT:
trash • garbage • public health • Egypt • Cairo • Christians • swine flu

 Health Experts 
 Call for Soda Tax 

Critics say it won't reduce obesity

Sep 17, 09 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Health experts say a tax on sugary sodas would take a big bite out of the obesity epidemic, ABC News reports. Taxing "sugar-sweetened beverages is really a double-win," said the co-author of a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "We can raise much-needed... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity epidemic • public health • beverages • sugar • healthy eating • soda tax

Hand-Washing Might Not
Help Much Against Flu

Some scientist say it's airborne, not spread by touch

Sep 16, 09 7:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Everyone from Elmo to President Obama is telling people to wash their hands to avoid getting the swine flu, and Disney could make a killing on “Musical Hand Wash Timers” featuring its stable of characters. But Newsweek talks to scientists skeptical of the approach: Hand-washing might be great for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • public health • vaccination • pandemic • airborne contaminants • swine flu • H1N1 virus

In War on STDs, NC Tries New Weapon: Bribery

Syphilis outbreak sparks offer of gift card in exchange for test

Sep 14, 09 2:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - The incidence of syphilis is spiking in the economically hard-hit South, and health officials have lit on a novel preventative measure, MSNBC reports: Wal-Mart gift cards. Syphilis tends to rebound in tough times, and a program in North Carolina induces patients to submit to a test in exchange for the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
McDonald's • public health • North Carolina • syphilis • STD • gift card • Wal-Mart • testing • Southern United States • sexually transmitted diseases • economic incentive

 Swine Flu Can Burrow 
 Deep Into Lungs: Docs 

H1N1 can infect cells where seasonal flu can't: study

Sep 10, 09 4:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Swine flu can worm its way deeper into the body than seasonal flu, a dangerous capability that could result in increased fatalities if the virus mutates, AFP reports. Seasonal influenza is able to bind only to the tissues in the nose, throat, and upper airway—that’s why it causes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
public health • virus • cell • influenza • swine flu • H1N1 virus • lungs

 Time-Starved Working 
 Parents Eat Poorly: Study 

Low-income work schedules make healthy eating difficult

Sep 10, 09 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - The nature of low-income employment promotes unhealthy eating, Time reports. Over half of working parents in low-to-moderate income communities relied on dietary “coping” measures when their schedules couldn’t accommodate a full meal, according to a new Cornell University study. Those strategies included skipping breakfast or family meals,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • parenting • health • obesity epidemic • public health • diet • unemployment • Cornell University • healthy eating • job • dinner

OPINION

 To Cut Health Costs,  
 Fix the Food Industry 

Obesity 'accounts for nearly a tenth' of health-care spending

Sep 10, 09 1:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - There’s an “elephant in the room” when it comes to health care reform: American health care costs a bundle in large part because we’re so fat, writes Michael Pollan for the New York Times. President Obama has touched on the issue, but the country hasn’t, and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • food • health care costs • health insurance • diabetes • obesity epidemic • public health • health care reform • Michael Pollan • food industry

 Road Noise Drives 
 Blood Pressure Up 

Stress, sleep interruptions may be at fault: researchers

Sep 10, 09 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - People who live close to noisy roads may face a greater threat of developing high blood pressure than residents of quieter areas, researchers in Sweden say. People experiencing average daily noise exposure above 60 decibels have a more than 25% higher risk of hypertension, a study shows. The researchers link... More »

MORE ABOUT:
hypertension • traffic • public health • blood pressure • medical research • Sweden • health research • health study

Thick Thighs Decrease Heart Disease Risk

Researchers suggest beefing up skinny
legs with exercise

Sep 4, 09 11:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Take off the skinny jeans and beef up those thighs, or you could be bound for an early grave. People whose thighs had a circumference less than 23.6 inches were more likely to suffer from heart disease and premature death than those with more svelte gams, according to a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
heart disease • public health • medical research • death • health study • skinny jeans

(Newser) - Healthy people shouldn’t be taking aspirin, according to a new study. The drug doesn’t actually reduce the risk of heart attack, as many of the “worried well” have long believed, British scientists told a medical conference, but it does nearly double the risk they’ll be hospitalized... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cardiovascular disease • heart disease • public health • aspirin • medical study • bleeding

 Website Predicts 
 Your Odds of Dying 

Risk based on age, gender

Aug 27, 09 10:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Feeling morbid? A new website will give you your odds of dying in the next year, LiveScience reports. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon came up with DeathRiskRanking.com. Input some basic info—age, gender, place of residence—and the site spits out when and of what you're likely to die. "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • health • public health • death • website • mortality • odds

1 - 20 of 176 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 9 Next >>


from our news partners