(AP) -- After three surgeries, Judy Sherer still had chronic pain in her left shoulder. She'd lost faith in her doctors, and in despair tried a new health benefit offered by her employer.
Related stories:
Marketing of unproven genetic tests a threat to public health
No mechanism currently exists to ensure that genetic tests are supported by adequate evidence before they go to market, or that marketing claims are truthful and not misleading, according to a policy analysis to be published April 4 in
Science. Misleading claims about genetic tests may lead health-care providers and patients to make inappropriate decisions about which tests to take and how to use genetic tests that have potential for profound medical consequences, the authors argue.
Red-light cameras increase crashes, researchers find
Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude. The effective remedy to red-light running uses engineering solutions to improve intersection safety, which is particularly important to Florida’s elderly drivers, the researchers recommend.
Stockpiling influenza vaccine in Hong Kong
In light of the importance of virus monitoring for pandemic influenza preparedness and response, Indonesia’s refusal to share samples of avian flu (H5N1) virus with the WHO for most of 2007 is "distressing and potentially dangerous for global public health," say two leading global health experts in an essay in this week's
PLoS Medicine.
Buckyball aggregates are soluble, antibacterial
Research offers clues about C60 behavior in natural environments
In some of the first research to probe how
buckyballs will interact with natural ecosystems, Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology finds that the molecules spontaneously clump together upon contact with water, forming nanoparticles that are both soluble and toxic to bacteria.
US controls bird flu vaccines over bioweapon fears
(AP) -- When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it "the nuttiest thing" he'd ever heard.
Limit on cold remedies for kids was FDA's idea
(AP) -- When drug makers made a surprise announcement this week that they no longer recommend cough and cold remedies for youngsters under 4, they didn't let on that it was the government's idea.
Just a numbers game? Making sense of health statistics
Presidential candidates use them to persuade voters, drug companies use them to sell their products, and the media spin them in all kinds of ways, but nobody - candidates, reporters, let alone health consumers - understands them. Health statistics fill today's information environment, but even most doctors, who must make daily decisions and recommendations based on numerical data - for instance, to calculate the risks of a certain drug or surgical intervention, or to inform a patient of the possible benefits versus harms of cancer screening - lack the basic statistical literacy they require to make such decisions effectively.
Tobacco smuggling is killing more people than illegal drugs
Tobacco smuggling causes around 4,000 premature deaths a year—four times the number of deaths caused by the use of all smuggled illegal drugs put together—but the UK government is not doing enough to tackle the problem, claim experts on bmj.com today.