Public Health
Fast, affordable new test to detect E coli in water
September 13th, 2017 Canadian researchers at the have invented a fast, affordable way for developing communities to test their drinking water for potentially deadly E. coli. Unlike current tests that cost about $70 and can take up to three days to get back from the lab,...Vaping may play a role in adolescents starting to smoke
A UK study identified a 'robust association' between e-cigarette use and the increased probability of smoking a cigarette within a year. Vaping – or the use of e-cigarettes – is widely accepted as a safer option for people who are already...
The Tobacco Papers: How Nicotine Replacement Therapy was hijacked
August 30th, 2017 The tobacco industry first viewed nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers and nasal sprays – called Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) - as a threat, but when it found that smokers often combined NRT with smoking, it began marketing its own NRT...
SA's weak economy threatens gains made in public health sector
August 30th, 2017 Our weak economy threatens to undermine the significant progress made in the public health sector over the past decade, including a 10-year increase in life expectancy, reports Health-e News. The SA Health Review 2017, released last week, paints a...Marijuana use increases hypertension risk threefold
Marijuana use is associated with a threefold risk of death from hypertension, according to US research. "Steps are being taken towards legalisation and decriminalisation of marijuana in the US, and rates of recreational marijuana use may increase...E-cigarettes users have highest smoking quit rate
Among US adults who were established smokers in the past five years, those who use e-cigarettes daily were significantly more likely to have quit cigarettes compared to those who have never tried e-cigarettes, found a Columbia University...Cases of blindness set to triple in four decades
The number of blind people across the world is set to triple within the next four decades, researchers led by Professor Rupert R A Bourne, at the Vision & Eye Research Unit, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK, suggest. They predict...
Vaccination programmes successfully wipe out HBV and HAV
August 16th, 2017 A universal hepatitis B vaccination programme introduced for all newborn Alaskan children in the 1980s has wiped out hepatitis B (HBV) infection and liver cancer cases associated with the infection. So, too, has a hepatitis A (HAV) vaccination...Good lifestyle choices improve healthy longevity by 7 years
People who do not smoke, are not obese, and consume alcohol moderately can expect to live seven years longer than the general US population, and to spend most of these extra years in good health, found a Max Planck Institute analysis. A study...
School malaria prevention programmes dramatically cut infection
July 19th, 2017 Schools that provide prevention education, insecticide-treated nets and antimalarial treatment, in regions where malaria is highly seasonal, could reduce the risk of schoolchildren developing anaemia and improve their cognitive performance,...Trying out cannabis at a younger age in medical marijuana states
Adolescents living in America's medical marijuana states with a plethora of dispensaries are more likely to have tried new methods of cannabis use, such as edibles and vaping, at a younger age than those living in states with fewer dispensaries,...Guidelines to enable cannabis users to reduce health risks
Canada's Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines, based on a scientific review by an international team of experts and released with the endorsement of key medical and public health organisations, provide 10 science-based recommendations to enable...
19-year-old Americans as sedentary as 60-year-olds - surprise findings
June 28th, 2017 Physical activity levels at the end of adolescence were alarmingly low, and by age 19, they were comparable to 60-year-olds, found a Johns Hopkins study. In another surprise finding, young US adults after the age of 20 show the only increases in...
Economic woes, corruption could topple SA's health systems
June 21st, 2017 Experts have warned that a dwindling economy, recent ratings downgrades, large-scale corruption and alleged state capture could topple South Africa's already fragile public health systems, reports Bhekisisa. Rating agency Moody’s...Major flaws found in fast-tracking of some drugs in the US
A study has exposed major flaws in the fast-tracking of some drugs available to the US public without any stringent clinical evidence of their benefits. Researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the US say...