C M G Buttery

New research at the University of Calgary shows premature infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may be at higher risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) than preemies whose mothers did not smoke. This is the first study to investigate the effect of low oxygen and cigarette smoke exposure on infants’ heart rate and breathing [...]

A new study by University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Jason Schnittker shows that, while more Americans believe that mental illness has genetic causes, the nation is no more tolerant of the mentally ill than it was 10 years ago. According to Schnittker’s research, genetic arguments have, in fact, increased public support for medical treatment but [...]

A “toxic combination” of poverty and social injustice is killing people on a grand scale, a World Health Organization report said Thursday, urging states to fund healthcare to cut inequalities. The Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, a report commissioned by the WHO and chaired by Sir Michael Marmot of University College London, said [...]

Wed, 08/27/2008 – 15:53. By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service. Hundreds of thousands of children are going to school this fall without protection from deadly diseases. More parents are deciding not to vaccinate their children against mumps, measles, rubella, polio and other dangerous diseases. The parents are refusing to vaccinate because of concerns that [...]

ScienceDaily — California’s state tobacco control program saved $86 billion — in 2004 dollars — in personal healthcare costs in its first 15 years, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. California’s state tobacco control program saved $86 billion–in 2004 dollars–in personal healthcare costs in its first 15 years, [...]

Medscape reported that “for decades, women have been urged to perform a monthly breast self-examination (BSE), but recently, an increasing number of organizations have backed away from recommending routine self-exams.” Several “studies evaluating the benefit of BSE have shown decidedly mixed results and, last month, a flurry of media stories reported on a Cochrane analysis [...]

Researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, found an association between the disorder and variation in two genes that make components of channels that manage the flow of the elements into and out of cells, including neurons. “A neuron’s excitability — whether it will [...]

A new study issued by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured finds that the uninsured will spend $30 billion out-of-pocket for health care in 2008 while receiving $56 billion in uncompensated care, three quarters of which will be from government sources. These findings were published in a web-exclusive article in Health [...]

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—New research suggests that cadmium is one of the critical ingredients causing emphysema, and even low-level exposure attained through second-hand smoke and other means may also increase the chance of developing lung disease. The University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests that higher cadmium levels in the body as much as [...]

ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2008) — Chronic lead poisoning, caused in part by the ingestion of contaminated dirt, affects hundreds of thousands more children in the United States than the acute lead poisoning associated with imported toys or jewelry. Could treating contaminated soil with water prevent this public health scourge? In a study appearing in the [...]