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'Light' cigarettes linked to increase in adenocarcinoma cases
A new study shows that so-called “light” cigarettes have no health benefits to smokers and have likely contributed to the rise of a certain...
Official UK guidelines on drinking during pregnancy 'too prescriptive'
Women are being unduly alarmed by official UK guidelines that warn them to avoid alcohol completely during pregnancy, experts claim. The Guardian reports that...
SA ups its game but still ranks in bottom half of global healthcare access survey
South Africa was ranked 119 out of 195 countries in the latest Healthcare Access and Quality Index, one rank below Namibia.It was, however, among...
Telemedicine offers alternative to unsafe abortion methods
Early medical abortion using online telemedicine can offer an alternative to unsafe methods to end a pregnancy for women in countries where access to...
Worms and low marks are bedfellows among kids – Eastern Cape study
Worms and low marks are bedfellows among primary school children‚ a study in the Eastern Cape by academics from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and Basel...
Over half of e-cigarette users giving up smoking tobacco
More than half of the UK's electronic-cigarette users have since given up smoking tobacco, a King’s College study suggests.
Some 1.5m vapers are ex-smokers, compared...
Plain packaging to cut number of smokers in the UK
The introduction of plain packaging for tobacco cigarettes sold in Britain from next month could cut the number of smokers in the country by...
Nut derivatives could help smokers break nicotine habit
Researchers have discovered that compounds derived from the nut could help cigarette smokers – as well as betel quid chewers – kick their habits....
Lack of funds has health departments struggling to fill posts
Financial problems are plaguing South Africa's health system, with the national Department of Health unable to hire sufficient nurses and doctors and the Gauteng...
Low validity of self-reported sexual behaviour bad news for public health
Until there is a decline in 'double standards' about sexual morality, researchers should question the accuracy of sexual behaviour data, which are paramount for effective...
Huge costs linked to hospitalisations for firearm-related injury in the US
Just the initial hospitalisations for firearm-related injuries in the US cost an average $735m per year, with the government picking up a large portion of the...
Immune suppressant is ineffective in treating leprosy inflammation
Throughout the course of a leprosy infection, patients often have episodes of painful inflammation affecting their skin and nerves. Researchers have continuously struggled to...
Income-level and knowledge can alter use of disease-risky bushmeat
Bushmeat – wild animal meat – is an essential source of protein for many people in tropical regions. But handling and eating bushmeat carries...
TB declining in Europe but some groups still vulnerable
New data released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe ahead...
E-cigarettes not a gateway to smoking
Public health researchers have found that e-cigarettes are not a gateway product that lead more people, especially teens, to smoke regular cigarettes. "The national...
Lack of dialysis Tx in sub-Saharan Africa raises ethical questions
Up to one-fourth of adults in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from chronic kidney disease and only a small fraction ever reach a dialysis treatment centre,...
Time to encourage safer alternatives to smoking – tobacco control expert
The regulation of tobacco and nicotine products has become less straightforward, writes David Sweanor, an adjunct professor of law at the University of Ottawa...
Same-sex marriage laws tied to fewer teen suicide attempts
US researchers found that in states where same-sex marriage became legal, there was a drop in suicide attempts by high school students, especially among...
UCT students research food insecurity
More than 80%of the attendees at a Cape community health centre were found to be food insecure to some extent, with more than half of...
E-cigarettes less toxic and safer than conventional cigarettes
E-cigarettes are less toxic and safer to use compared to conventional cigarettes, according to UK research. Cancer Research UK-funded scientists found that people who...
Teen vaping can be a conduit to future smoking
Teen vaping acts as a 'one way bridge' to future smoking among those who have never smoked before, and may not stop those who...
How Iceland engineered the cleanest-living teens in Europe
The Icelandic model, which has turned around the drug and alcohol behaviour of its troubled teens, could benefit the general psychological and physical wellbeing of...
Low vaccination rates means high HPV infection rates in US men
The overall genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection prevalence appears to be widespread among all age groups of US men, and the HPV vaccination coverage...
No conclusive judgement on marijuana – US National Academy of Sciences
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNT8Zo_sfwo
There is not enough research to reach conclusive judgements on whether marijuana can effectively treat most of the symptoms and diseases it is advertised...
Vape pens are a powerful stimulation for young adults
Although they look less like cigarettes than first-generation e-cigarettes, a University of Chicago study found that the newer generation e-cigarette vape pens stimulate the...
EC Health dismisses study highlighting NHI vaccination failures
Immunisation rates at a National Health Insurance pilot project in the Eastern Cape are considerably below targets, mainly because of stock-outs, and indicate inadequate...
New 'emerging diseases' to watch for in 2017
Emerging infectious diseases are appearing at an accelerating rate and a Lancaster University academic identifies the ones to watch out for in 2017.
The phrase...
Negligence killing new-borns; PSC grilled on 'sanitised' report
More than 80,000 newborn babies died within just two years as a result of negligence and the poor quality of healthcare in public hospitals, according the Saving Babies report of the SA Medical Research Council. Meanwhile MPs challenged the Public Service Commission (PSC) on its ’sanitised' findings about the state of public health services, suggesting that patients faced a far bleaker picture than that painted.
SA guidelines for primary care
SA's Health ministry has released guidelines outlining care for adults living with conditions like HIV, diabetes and mental health within primary health care.
New HPV vaccine shows promise
The new 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine, can potentially prevent 80% of cervical cancers in the US, if given to all 11- or 12-year-old children before they are exposed to the virus.
Malaria vaccine clinical trials disappoint
Final clinical trials of a malaria vaccine – the first to reach this stage – tested on 16,000 children from seven African countries found that booster doses were of limited use and vaccines in young babies were not effective. They also found that meningitis occurred more frequently in children given the vaccine.
Professor Brian Greenwood, study author and professor of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said he was 'a little disappointed'. 'I hoped the vaccine would be more effective, but we were never going to end up with the success seen in measles vaccines with 97% efficacy.'
However, Greenwood said the data was very robust and the vaccine could still reduce attacks of malaria by around 30%.No MMR-autism link, even in high-risk kids
A US study of approximately 95,000 children with older siblings found that receipt of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was not associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), even among children already at higher risk for ASD. Although a substantial body of research over the last 15 years has found no link between the MMR vaccine and ASD, parents and others continue to associate the vaccine with ASD.
Kids’ self-control impacts health outcomes
Conscientious children are less likely to smoke in later life and the personality trait could help explain health inequalities, data from the US National Child Development Study suggests.
Millions worldwide not getting dialysis
At best only half of people worldwide needing kidney dialysis or transplantation in 2010 received it. In SA that statistic is about a third.
US looks at upping minimum smoking age
A report from the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) suggests that increasing the minimum age of legal access to tobacco products will improve the health of Americans across their lifespan and save lives.
Best malaria drug is losing its efficacy
Artemisinin, the best drug for treating malaria and a medicine that key to saving millions of lives, is losing its efficacy in a much larger swath of territory than was previously known.
Efficacy of bilharzia tests reviewed
An independent review to assess how well point of care tests detect bilharzia infections has examined the efficacy of urine strips and the parasite antigen test.
Adults get flu only twice a decade – study
Imperial College London research found that while children get flu on average every other year, flu infections become less frequent through childhood and early adulthood. From the age of 30 onwards, flu infections tend to occur at a steady rate of about two per decade.
Infants at greater risk of schistosomiasis
Infants experience significantly greater exposure to the parasitic worms that cause the chronic disease schistosomiasis, a University of Edinburgh study shows.
Malawi research on child gut bacteria
A cross-national team of researchers has identified types of gut bacteria in young children in Malawi that are linked to nutritional health and that have diagnostic and therapeutic implications for childhood under-nutrition.