People who eat high fiber diets are more likely to experience bloating if their high fiber diet is protein-rich as compared to carbohydrate-rich, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers, whose findings were published online January 15 in the…
Changes to Title X mean contraception access for teens could worsen nationwide, study shows
Many teens lost access to confidential family planning services in Texas due to family planning budget cuts and loss of Title X funds, says a new study led by the University of Colorado College of Nursing just published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Lack of clarity around parental consent…
Every child in the world is under threat, major report warns
Future of every child in the world is under threat as decades of health improvements begin to stall, warns a major World Health Organisation report Obesity, air pollution and climate change pose an ‘immediate threat’ to children UK gives children good start in life – among the best ten countries…
How virtual health assistants are changing the care delivery equation
Outdated technology and processes create challenges across an overburdened healthcare system, resulting in increased costs, alienated patients, and inferior outcomes across the healthcare system. However, virtual health assistants and chatbots aim to improve the conversation between healthcare provides, payers and patients and put more information in the hands of the…
What the coronavirus emergency declaration means for Canada
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has decided the outbreak of 2019-nCoV constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) as more countries reported confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The move updates the organization’s decisions from last week, when it said it lacked enough scientific evidence…
People with eating disorders are 4 times more likely to develop a dangerous addiction to exercise, study finds
New research has found that exercise addiction, an unhealthy compulsion to work out, is nearly 4 times more common among people with eating disorders. The study by Anglia Ruskin University is the first to quantify the increased risk of exercise addiction for people with eating disorders. Experts say health professionals…
Mayo clinic minute: Reversing versus preventing heart disease
Regular exercise, a heart-healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking can help prevent heart disease. But is there anything that you can do to reverse it? Yes, in certain cases, says Dr. Stephen Kopecky, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist.”The heart disease you can reverse is the narrowing of the…
Targeted lung cancer treatment gets initial ‘no’ for NHS in England
Adults in England with advanced lung cancer will not have access to a new targeted cancer drug, lorlatinib (Lorviqua). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provisionally rejected lorlatinib because it couldn’t be confident the drug offers significant benefits over existing treatment options. This meant they couldn’t be…
Enhancing drug testing with human body-on-chip systems
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves only 13.8% of all tested drugs, and these numbers are even lower in “orphan” diseases that affect relatively few people. Part of the problem lies in the imperfect nature of preclinical drug testing that aims to exclude toxic effects and predetermine concentrations…
Brain links to embryonic immunity, guiding response of the ‘troops’ that battle infection
Researchers led by biologists at Tufts University have discovered that the brains of developing embryos provide signals to a nascent immune system that help it ward off infections and significantly improve the embryo’s ability to survive a bacterial challenge. Using frog embryos, which continue to develop with their brains removed,…