public health

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Fears Mount as WHO Declares Swine Flu 'Unstoppable'

Agency orders worldwide vaccines

(Newser) - Concerns continue to mount about swine flu in the wake of the World Health Organization's declaration that the illness is "unstoppable" and the deaths in Britain of two apparently strong individuals, a 6-year-old girl and a doctor. WHO officials are calling for worldwide vaccines to protect populations before they...

Swine Flu Related to 1918 Strain

(Newser) - The H1N1 virus can more easily infect the lungs than the common seasonal flu, a new study finds, making it more likely to cause pneumonia. What’s more, the present virus bears troubling resemblance to the 1918 strain that killed more than 40 million people worldwide. The study also shows...

Petitioners to CVS: Free the Condoms!

Cites particular concern in poor and minority areas

(Newser) - A labor coalition is sponsoring a petition calling on CVS to stop locking up condoms, the Kansas City Star reports. More than 200 groups across the country have signed the appeal to stop the practice, which the mega-chain says is an anti-shoplifting measure but critics say scares off would-be shoppers....

Celiac Disease Diagnoses Skyrocket
Celiac Disease Diagnoses Skyrocket
Jul 10, 2009 1:53 PM CDT

Celiac Disease Diagnoses Skyrocket

Many with gluten intolerance may not know of condition

(Newser) - The number of Americans diagnosed with celiac disease has quadrupled since the 1950s, and the condition "is emerging as a substantial public health concern," Mayo Clinic researchers warn. People who had the gluten-intolerance disease and didn’t know it were four times more likely to have died during...

Obama: Brace for Swine Flu Outbreak

Calls for 'vigilance,' not 'panic'

(Newser) - President Obama called for “rigorous” planning by state and local officials in anticipation of a possible swine flu outbreak this fall, CNN reports. “We want to make sure we aren't promoting panic, but we are promoting vigilance and preparation,” Obama—on a video link from the G8...

Medical Marijuana Loophole Has LA Fuming

Overrun, city cracks down on dispensaries

(Newser) - After letting marijuana dispensaries multiply across the city, Los Angeles is getting tough on them, telling some to shut down while the city council works to close a loophole that allowed many to open. The city issued a moratorium on new dispensaries in 2007, but many people filed “hardship...

UK Predicts 100,000 New Swine Flu Cases Every Day

Government instructs doctors to stop testing for H1N1

(Newser) - Incidences of swine flu have spiked rapidly across Britain, and the country's health secretary predicted yesterday that the UK could see 100,000 new cases every day by August, the Guardian reports. Doctors are being instructed to concentrate on treatment instead of containment. "We have always known it would...

Overweight People Live Longer: Study

(Newser) - A few extra pounds can actually be good for you, the Globe and Mail reports. A recent long-term study of Canadian health records shows that people classified as overweight—with a Body Mass Index of 25 to 30—are 17% less likely to die than those with “normal” BMI,...

EPA Declares Asbestos 'Emergency' in Mont. Town

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency has declared a “public health emergency” in a Montana town where 200 people have died from asbestos poisoning, CNN reports. For 10 years the EPA has been involved in a cleanup of Libby, contaminated by castoff from a nearby vermiculite mine and insulation plant. The...

Senate OKs Tough New Tobacco Regulations

(Newser) - Congress struck the US government's strongest anti-smoking blow in decades today with a Senate vote to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in cigarettes, drastically curtail ads, and ban candied tobacco products aimed at young people. Cigarette foes say the changes could cut into the 400,000 deaths every...

WHO Declares Swine Flu Pandemic
 WHO Declares 
 Swine Flu Pandemic 
UPDATED
Jun 11, 2009 10:20 AM CDT

WHO Declares Swine Flu Pandemic

H1N1 has spread to 74 countries, but may be milder than first thought

(Newser) - The World Health Organization has declared the first influenza pandemic since 1968, Reuters reports. Although the current outbreak has caused mostly mild cases of the illness, today's official declaration that the outbreak has hit phase 6, the highest level, means heightened prevention measures in 193 countries. The designation refers to...

Obama to US: A Salad Wouldn't Kill You

Prez battles for prevention, sets fit example

(Newser) - President Obama is on a mission for a fitter America, Politico reports: he has given health department jobs to warriors against trans fats and smoking, and he wants a health care plan that keeps Americans from getting sick in the first place, with obesity screenings and an emphasis on exercise....

Too Much Talking Can Lead to 'Cell Phone Elbow'

Stretched nerve threatens long chatters

(Newser) - Experts are warning of a yet another threat from your phone: cell phone elbow. When you hold the phone to your ear, you stretch the nerve that controls the ring and pinky fingers; bending your arm too tightly for too long "chokes the blood supply to the nerves,"...

China's H1N1 Quarantines Trap Healthy Travelers

Slight temp, runny nose enough to get you a 3-day forced hospital stay

(Newser) - Now might not be the best time to visit China: the country's aggressive swine flu screening policies have kept even healthy travelers in isolation, the Washington Post reports. One Virginia man was deemed a threat to public health and quarantined for three days because he got off a plane with...

Kennedy: An Outline for Health-Care Reform

Sen. offers 5 key elements of coming legislation

(Newser) - The US health-care system that “shortchanges millions of Americans” is “about to change,” writes Ted Kennedy in the Boston Globe. The senator lays out five key elements of legislation he’s working on with “colleagues on both sides of the aisle”:
  1. Americans will have “better
...

Soda Tax Makes Good Sense
 Soda Tax Makes Good Sense 
OPINION
May 20, 2009 10:49 AM CDT

Soda Tax Makes Good Sense

(Newser) - The soda tax is a great idea, and its probable death at the hands of lobbyists serves to highlight all the problems with our tax system, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times. The current system doesn’t raise enough money, and it’s “complex in all the...

Belgian City Goes Vegetarian, Weekly

Ghent officials, schoolkids to observe "veggie day"

(Newser) - In good news for Belgian cows, the city of Ghent this week begins a weekly “veggie day,” on which officials will go vegetarian, the BBC reports. The move is an effort to cut greenhouse gases, almost a fifth of which come from livestock, the UN says; the city...

Swine Flu Came From Lab: Researcher
Swine Flu Came From
Lab: Researcher
May 13, 2009 4:22 AM CDT

Swine Flu Came From Lab: Researcher

WHO investigates claim that H1N1 arose from human error

(Newser) - The World Health Organization is investigating a claim by an Australian researcher that the swine flu virus may have been created in a laboratory as a result of human error. Adrian Gibbs, who helped develop Tamiflu, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the new strain may have evolved in...

Asia Unites Against Swine Flu Threat

Health ministers from 13 countries pledge increased cooperation

(Newser) - Health chiefs from 13 Asian countries met in Bangkok yesterday to hammer out a unified response to the H1N1 virus, Reuters reports. The ministers pledged to step up cross-border cooperation, establish joint response teams, and share essential supplies. A statement called for Asia to establish the capacity to produce vaccines,...

Flu Threat Smaller Than Feared

Mexico cuts flu death toll; virus fails to spread in flu-hit US cities

(Newser) - Officials in Mexico and the US remain cautious about the swine flu outbreak but say it appears to be less of a threat than first thought, the New York Times reports. In Mexico, less than half of suspected cases have turned out to be the H1N1 virus, very few relatives...

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