No evidence that melatonin is effective in treating jet lag
...g secondary sleep disorders or preventing jet lag, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. Sleep disorders are a widespread problem and place a burden on society through their negative impact on quality of life, safety, productivity, and healthcare utilisation. Complementary and alternative therap...Intimate kissing quadruples risk of meningitis in teenagers
...ruples a teenager's risk of meningococcal disease, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. Meningococcal disease is a life threatening condition with two incidence peaks: in early childhood and in adolescence. The incidence and fatality rate among teenagers in England and the United States rose d...The Valentine's Day candy dish
..., a Cornell University researcher finds. The study finds that women eat more than twice as many Hershey Kisses when they are in clear containers on their desks than when they are in opaque containers on their desks -- but fewer when they are six feet away. "Interestingly, however, we found that participant...Paternalism not to blame for failure to implement resuscitation policies
...uss resuscitation in line with current guidelines, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. The results suggest that paternalism is not driving the failure of implementing effective hospital resuscitation policies. Current guidelines on resuscitation advocate explicit discussion of resuscitation wi...Anti-HIV drug has potential to prevent transmission in women
...rs at The Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical School finds that a drug already given orally to treat HIV is also safe when applied as a vaginal microbicide gel. Microbicides are designed to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and may be formulated as vaginal gels, f...Costs of 'polypill' could drain global health budgets
...ney at all, even if the drug cost nothing to make, finds research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The "magic bullet" could drain global health budgets, unless it is carefully targeted and very cheap to manufacture, suggest the authors. The formulation has not been tested out on large n...A bulging midriff roughly doubles women's chances of gallstone surgery
...allstones and the need for surgery to remove them, finds an extensive study published ahead of print in Gut. In the developed world, gallstone disease is the most common abdominal illness requiring admission to hospital. And in the USA, more than 800,000 operations to remove gallstones are carried out ever...Candy on the desk is candy in the mouth, study finds
..., a Cornell University researcher finds. The study finds that women eat more than twice as many Hershey Kisses when they are in clear containers on their desks than when they are in opaque containers on their desks -- but fewer when they are six feet away. "Interestingly, however, we found that participant...Global toll of glaucoma set to reach 80 million by 2020
...lion by 2010, rising to almost 80 million by 2020, finds research in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. Women and people living in Asia, Africa, and India will be worst affected, the research shows. Glaucoma is characterised by damage to the nerve at the back of the eye, and is related to increased pre...Spouse's hospitalization increases partner's risk of death, new study shows
..." shortly after their partner's death. A new study finds that hospitalization of a spouse for a serious illness also increases their partner's risk of death. Further, the risk is greater with certain diagnoses, such as dementia, stroke and hip fracture. The study was sponsored by the National Institute on ...Gender practices inhibit men from being better dads
...k at fathering in families with young children and finds that the most involved fathers live outside traditional gendered roles. Responsive fathers shucked the old model of fatherhood in which the man is the breadwinner and more valued than his child-rearing wife. The least interactive fathers frequently...Acupressure relieves low back pain
...e in reducing low back pain than physical therapy, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. Low back pain is a common health problem worldwide. In previous studies, acupressure has been shown to be effective in alleviating various types of pain, but little is known about its effect on low back pain...Childhood depression may encourage ecstasy use
... to use ecstasy in adolescence or young adulthood, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. The use of ecstasy is associated with emotional health problems, such as depression, psychotic symptoms, and anxiety disorders. But it's not clear whether emotional problems are a consequence of using ecstas...Legal and ethical questions about stem cell research
...or Henry Greely in an Essay for PLoS Medicine, "it finds that a host of ethical and legal questions still need to be answered." Some of these questions, says Greely, focus on ethical issues related to donors. For example, given the long life span of human embryonic stem cell lines, and their likely use i...UCI researchers examine political participation and health issues facing Hispanics in coming decades
...ealth status of Hispanics in America. The analysis finds that, although Hispanic immigrants tend to be healthier than the average American, over time and across generations spent in the U.S., rates of obesity, hypertension and diabetes rise among Hispanics. The problem, particularly among young Hispanics, ...Screening may over-diagnose 1 in 10 breast cancers
...ncer could result in a 10% rate of over-diagnosis, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. Although it is widely agreed that breast screening can reduce deaths, more discussion around this negative side effect of screening is needed, say the authors. Researchers analysed the rate of over-diagnosi...Aspirin to prevent heart disease is beneficial in a wider range of men
...tion in quality of life that occurs when a patient finds it onerous to take a pill every day.The study was limited somewhat by the amount and quality of data available, including limited data on adverse effects, Pignone said. "We still need more research on some of these issues in order to better guide pre...Study: Local TV news covers health a lot, but not always well
...But the first-ever national study of that coverage finds many problems with it, and sees room for improvement by both TV stations and the health experts whose work fills the news. In the March issue of the American Journal of Managed Care, researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of W...Preparation needed as children enter schools already overweight
... the current issue of The Journal of School Health finds that nearly one quarter of children, ages three to five years, were entering school in Chicago overweight. For the authors, this is an urgent problem reflecting the nutritional status and health influence of the children's home and community. The r...A new study finds that longer courses of a mild form of chemotherapy may help patients with a bone marrow disease only recently considered a form of cancer. Writing in the April 15, 2006 issue of CANCER ( http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom ), a peer-rev...