With kids going back to school soon and football practice already underway in many communities, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is issuing an injury prevention message about football and cheerleading...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has approved vaccines for the 2010-2011 influenza season in the United States. Seasonal influenza vaccine protects against three strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, which caused the 2009 pandemic...

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, today welcomed the release of the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada by the Multi-Stakeholder Working Group on Sodium Reduction, and thanked the group for its hard work. The report, which the Minister received today, is the culmination of over two years of work by the Sodium Working Group (SWG)...

The Wall Street Journal: "Insured Americans are using fewer medical services, raising questions about whether patients are consuming less health care as they pick up a greater share of the costs. The drop in usage is showing up as health-care companies report financial results...

The release today of the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada is welcomed by Dietitians of Canada (DC) as a roadmap for promoting the health of Canadians by focusing on a major public health issue in Canada - high sodium intake. DC supports the interim target recommended in the Strategy to reduce the population average sodium intake from 3400 mg to 2300 mg by 2016...

An international team of researchers that reviewed data from several trials found that taking calcium supplements was linked to a higher risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular events; the authors called for new research to re-assess the role of calcium supplements in the treatment of osteoporosis...

Resveratrol, a popular plant extract shown to prolong life in yeast and lower animals due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, appears also to suppress inflammation in humans, based on results from the first prospective human trial of the extract conducted by University at Buffalo endocrinologists...

UCLA scientists have identified for the first time a cell-of-origin for human prostate cancer, a discovery that could result in better predictive and diagnostics tools and the development of new and more effective targeted treatments for the disease...

Recent media reports of potential misdiagnosis of early-stage breast cancer may frighten women away from breast cancer screening that could save their lives. Rather than shying away from screening, women should know the questions to ask and be confident about weighing their options, according to Susan G...

A new study from Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research shows an association between ADHD and a 'Western-style' diet in adolescents. The research findings have just been published online in the international Journal of Attention Disorders...

Mushrooms are among the many foods thought to play an important role in keeping the immune system healthy. Now, Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists have conducted an animal-model and cell-culture study showing that white button mushrooms enhanced the activity of critical cells in the body's immune system...

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with arterial stiffness, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, in black teens according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Black teens taking vitamin D supplementation of 2,000 international units (IU) per day had a decrease in central arterial stiffness...

Background: Contralateral acupuncture (CAT) involves inserting needles in the meridian on the side opposite the disease location and is often used in post-stroke rehabilitation. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize and critically evaluate the evidence for and against the effectiveness of CAT for post-stroke rehabilitation as compared to ipsilateral acupuncture (IAT). Methods: Seventeen databases were searched from their inceptions through June 2010. Prospective clinical trials were included if CAT was tested as the sole treatment or as an adjunct to other treatments for post-stroke rehabilitation and compared to IAT. Results: Eight randomized clinical trials (RCTs) met our inclusion criteria. Four of them reported favorable effects of CAT compared to IAT for at least one outcome. A meta-analysis showed superior effects of CAT compared to IAT on recovery rate (n=361; risk ratio (RR), 1.12; 95% confidence intervals (CIs), 1.04 to 1.22, P=0.005). Subgroup analysis also showed favorable effects of using CAT on patients with cerebral infarction (n=261; RR, 1.15; 95% CIs, 1.04 to 1.27, P=0.006). Further analysis including patients with cerebral infarction and intracranial hemorrhage, however, failed to show these advantages (n=100; RR, 1.11; 95% CIs, 0.85 to 1.46, P=0.43). Conclusion: The results of our systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that there is limited evidence for CAT being superior to IAT in the treatment of cerebral infarction. The total number of RCTs included in our analysis was low, however, and the RCTs included had a high risk of bias. Future RCTs appear to be warranted.

Proteins are large molecules consisting of amino acids which our bodies and the cells in our bodies need to function properly. Our body structures, functions, the regulation of the body's cells, tissues and organs cannot exist without proteins. Our muscles, skin, bones and many other parts of the body contain significant amounts of protein. Protein accounts for 20% of total body weight...

Individual care by a trained multidisciplinary team can help prevent delirium for those people identified at risk, according to new guidelines published yesterday (28 July). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) also recommends health professionals should 'think delirium' whenever people are admitted to hospital or long-term care...

Researchers watched two groups of mice, both nearing the end of a two-day fast. One group was quietly huddled together, but the other group was active and alert. The difference? The second set of mice had been engineered so their brains produced more SIRT1, a protein known to play a role in aging and longevity...

ASHP Advantage has selected five health systems to participate in a national Institutional Impact VTE Mentored Quality Initiative. The sites were selected through a competitive application process, and applicants were required to assemble a multidisciplinary team and garner support from senior leadership to conduct a VTE quality improvement project at their facilities...

A UNC physician authored an editorial in the July 27 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) commenting on results of an analysis of the cost effectiveness of colonoscopy versus computed tomographic colonography (CTC)...

DIATHERIX Laboratories, adds a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) panel and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) panel to its line up of highly sensitive, rapid response diagnostic panels. The HSV panel identifies herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 and the STD panel identifies 10 sexually transmitted diseases simultaneously, many of which cannot be accurately identified by current testing methods...

A new study from the US suggests that social interaction should be considered an important factor for extending lifespan, on a par with other health and lifestyle factors, to the extent that low social interaction harms longevity as much as alcoholism and smoking, has more impact than lack of exercise, and is twice as harmful as obesity...