Disease testing for immigrants: Discrimination disguised as public health policy
...writes The Lancet . In the UK, migration has been blamed for a steady increase in newly diagnosed HIV infections, but absolute numbers remain small. Percentage calculations, such as those cited in Howard's publicity material, exaggerate the relative burden of immigration-related illness. According to the H...Respiratory infections, not air pollution, pose winter health threat for children with asthma
Although particulate air pollution has been blamed for a wide variety of negative health effects, a three-year study of asthmatic children in Denver, published in the November Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, indicates that it does not lead to significant worsening of asthma during the pol...No adverse effects of aluminium in vaccines
...ctive efficacy of vaccines. But aluminium has been blamed for side-effects in vaccine recipients, such as local reactions at the site of vaccination and a chronic progressive syndrome called macrophagic myofasciitis. However, replacing aluminium with another adjuvant would be a massive undertaking because a...Men do not cause yeast infections in women
...for headaches, tears and stress. But they can't be blamed for those nasty recurrent yeast infections, contrary to popular belief. A new study by University of Michigan Health System researchers finds that the presence of yeast in male sex partners do not make women more prone to recurrent yeast infections. ...... for long periods of time. Particle smog has been blamed for a 17-percent increase in premature deaths from heart and lung disease, according to recent studies by Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health, among others. Nationwide, this invisible soot - which is less than 2.5 microns in dia......k from a walk and failed to recognise his wife. He blamed this temporary bout of amnesia on the drug Lipitor, which he had been taking for several weeks. Doctors dismissed his fears, but six weeks after he started taking the drug again he suffered another bout of amnesia. This time he could not remember an...Inaccurate arsenic test kits jeopardize water safety in Bangladesh and India
...reported widespread signs of arsenic poisoning and blamed tubewell water. WHO called it the largest mass poisoning of a population in history. Similar problems have recently surfaced in other countries in the region, including India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal and Myanmar (formerly Burma). In 1997, the World ...Depletion of body chemical can cause memory, mood changes
...han, known for its presence in turkey and commonly blamed in the media for creating the sluggish after-meal sensations experienced by many Thanksgiving diners, is a metabolic precursor to the chemical messenger known as serotonin. In addition to turkey, the chemical is found in foods like milk, bread, chees...New statement proposes ways to stop deadly drug errors among heart, stroke patients
... American Heart Association. Several reports have blamed medical errors for thousands of adverse events and deaths among patients in recent years. One study estimates that medical errors occur in 3.7 percent to 16.6 percent of hospitalized patients, contributing to at least 44,000 deaths in the United Sta...Scientific task force to examine usefulness of testosterone replacement therapy in older men
...that take place in older men often are incorrectly blamed on decreasing testosterone levels. Some men who have erectile difficulty(impotence), for instance, may be tempted to blame this problem on lowered testosterone. However, in the vast majority of cases, erectile difficulties are due to circulatory pr...Mastiffs could aid treatment of retinitis pigmentosa
...eir original form in the dark. The genetic defect blamed for some forms of RP in humans and PRA in dogs produces a mutated form of rhodopsin that appears unable to regenerate properly. "Most of us have a little trouble seeing in a darkened theater when we first come inside from the bright light," explains ......re tending to reach puberty earlier. This has been blamed on everything from improved diet to environmental contaminants. But African-American girls are developing even earlier than their white counterparts. About half of black girls in the US begin developing breasts or pubic hair by age 8, compared with j...A peptide whose absence leads to narcolepsy also might play role in pain sensation
...m. Prior to that finding, narcolepsy was sometimes blamed on laziness or indistinct mental problems. Van den Pol said the new findings show that in addition to hypocretins role in enhancing arousal, the neurotransmitter may also modulate pain sensation. He said more work is needed to establish the specific ...Is drug abuse, not brutality, behind some deaths in custody?
Many deaths in custody that are blamed on the police using excessive force inrestraining ...ontroversy by contending that police oftencan't be blamed for deaths from ED in custody. "These individuals are very sickand even with optimal medical care th...Community Plays Key Role In Preventing Teen Suicide, UF Scientist Says
...hasgone wrong in their lives. "For too long, we've blamed the victim or the parents," Perkins said. "Oneof the strong points of this research is the ability to look beyond theindividual. "The individual brings something, the family brings something," Perkinssaid. "But so does the environment: schools, neigh...