CHICAGO – A decline in the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI, heart attack) in one Minnesota county appears to be associated with the implementation of smoke-free workplace laws, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) in nonsmokers, and research suggests that the cardiovascular effects of SHS are nearly as large as those with active smoking, according to the study background. Elimination of smoking in public places, ...

The dangers of smoking on smokers and their children are widely known but new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine demonstrates that nicotine exposure also causes asthma in the smoker's grandchildren. Asthma is a major public health problem. It is the most common chronic disease of childhood. While there are many factors which contribute to asthma maternal smoking during pregnancy is a well known, and avoidable, risk. During pregnancy nicotine can affect a developing foetus' lungs, predisposing the infant to childhood asthma. Researchers ...

[Family-based association study of ADHD and genes increasing the risk for smoking behaviours Online First doi 10.1136/archdischild-2012-301882] [Shared biological risks that influence brain and behaviour Online First doi 10.1136/archdischild-2012-302461] A variation of a particular gene may link the behaviours typical of childhood attention hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD for short, and those associated with smoking, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. Childhood ADHD and subsequent smoking in adulthood frequently go hand in hand, ...

[Systematic review and meta-analyses of risk factors for childhood overweight identifiable during infancy Online First doi 10.1136/archdischild-2012-302263] Mums who carry too much weight and/or who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of having overweight kids, indicates a systematic analysis of the available evidence published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. A high birth weight and rapid weight gain during the first year of life also increase the risk, indicates the study. The authors base their findings on a comprehensive review of the available ...

A team of researchers under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Teckman in the Department of Pediatrics at St. Louis University, have demonstrated that oxidative stress occurs in a genetic model of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. This is the most common genetic liver disorder in children and can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in adults. Some cases may require liver transplantation. The report, published in the October 2012 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, suggests that treatment with antioxidants might be of therapeutic benefit for some individuals. ...

MAYWOOD, IL - Ninety million American adults read below high school levels, so the National Institutes of Health recommends that patient-education materials be written at the fourth-through-six grade level. But a Loyola University Medical Center study has found that only 4.8 percent of web sites describing prostate cancer were written below a high school reading level. The median reading level was 12th grade. "This is probablematic for one-third of Americans who seek to further educate themselves using online resources," senior author Gopal Gupta, MD and colleagues ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Community colleges in the United States have made huge strides since 2008 in cultivating a global workforce, according to a first-of-its-kind study co-led by a Michigan State University researcher. In 2008, about 51 percent of community colleges offered a basic course in international business. Four years later that number has jumped to 85 percent, said Tomas Hult, director of MSU's International Business Center, who led the study with Lansing Community College professor William Motz. "The most important takeaway is that we as a nation appear ...

As crackdowns get tougher on alcohol, tobacco sales, and illicit drugs, there's a growing trend among youth to turn to another source to get high: their parent's medicine cabinet. A new University of Cincinnati study suggests adolescent males are at a higher risk of reporting longtime use of over-the-counter drugs, compared with their female peers. Early results of the study by Rebecca Vidourek, a UC assistant professor of health promotion, and Keith King, a University of Cincinnati professor of health promotion, will be presented on October 29, at the 140th Annual Meeting ...

A new study out of the University of Cincinnati finds that both school bullies and their victims are likely to abuse alcohol after a bullying episode. Keith King, a University of Cincinnati professor of health promotion, along with Rebecca Vidourek, a UC assistant professor of health promotion, will present early findings of a new study on Oct. 29, at the 140th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association in San Francisco. The study examined bullying, recent alcohol use and heavy drinking episodes among more than 54,000 7th-through-12th grade students in ...

Your chances of having a sudden cardiac arrest can depend on where you live, warned Dr. Paul Dorian today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2012 in Toronto, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. His study of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) neighborhoods with high and low rates of cardiac arrests found that the factors causing increased risk are complex. "The reasons are more multifaceted than traditional explanations of income, social economic status and education levels," says Dr. Dorian, who is a researcher and cardiologist ...

Biking, running and walking are all good for you. But the strain can be tough if you're overweight, have arthritis or suffer from other joint problems or injuries. What to do? Just add water. A study presented today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress found that people who used an immersible ergocycle – basically an exercise bike in a pool – had just about the equivalent workout to using a typical stationary bike. "If you can't train on land, you can train in the water and have the same benefits in terms of improving aerobic fitness," says Dr. Martin Juneau, director ...

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society is the first in Canada to issue guidelines aimed at helping primary care and emergency physicians, as well as specialists, recognize and manage heart failure in children. The guidelines were released today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. Pediatric heart failure is often fatal and occurs in about 3,000 children annually in North America. Worldwide, the problem is far greater and the causes are diverse. To date there has been little guidance to assist practitioners who deal with children with heart failure. "The previous guidelines, ...

The development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is much like that of children without ASD at 6 months of age, but differs afterwards. That's the main finding of the largest prospective, longitudinal study to date comparing children with early and later diagnosis of ASD with children without ASD. The study appears in the journal Child Development and has implications for clinical work, public health, and policy. The study was conducted by researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg ...

Children who are homeless or move frequently have chronically lower math and reading skills than other low-income students who don't move as much. That's the finding of a new longitudinal study on children's risk and resilience conducted through a university-community partnership by researchers at the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Public Schools, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Iowa, and Hong Kong Sue Yan University. The study appears in the journal Child Development. About one million American school children are homeless each year, and ...

Bacteria in the guts of honeybees are highly resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline, probably as a result of decades of preventive antibiotic use in domesticated hives. Researchers from Yale University identified eight different tetracycline resistance genes among U.S. honeybees that were exposed to the antibiotic, but the genes were largely absent in bees from countries where such antibiotic use is banned. The study appears on October 30 in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. "It [resistance] seems to be everywhere in the ...

An Indiana University study has found that women undergoing in-vitro fertilization report that the process of infertility treatment has many negative impacts on their sexual relationship with their partner. Little attention has been given to the sexual dynamics of couples as they navigate infertility and treatments such as IVF, despite the important role that sex plays in a couple's attempt to conceive a child. "Sex is for pleasure and for reproduction, but attention to pleasure often goes by the wayside for people struggling to conceive," said Nicole Smith, a doctoral ...

Soda consumption, TV and video/computer games, and the frequency of meals heavily influenced students' weight in an Indiana University study that examined the impact of a school-based obesity intervention program over an 18-month period. More soda consumption and screen time meant students were more likely to be overweight or to gain weight. The more frequently students ate meals each day, the less likely they were to stay overweight or gain weight during the study, which examined the Healthy, Energetic, Ready, Outstanding, Enthusiastic Schools program. Dong-Chul ...

Public health researchers examining data from an Indiana Adult Tobacco Survey found nearly 75 percent of Hoosiers support a statewide or community indoor workplace smoking ban. The results of this study could be important in increasing focused public awareness strategies aimed at reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, said Terrell Zollinger, professor of epidemiology and associate director of the Center for Health Policy in the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, who led the study. Indiana is 49th on the ...

Facebook can be hazardous to marriages in Arizona -- and to divorces as well. The most obvious link with divorce is that spouses may be led to stray when reconnecting with old loves via social media. Even without going to that extreme, though, people may behave unwisely online, forgetting that they have a wide audience. Increasingly, people's postings on social media accounts are being used as evidence in divorce cases, even if their account is set up as private. Sharing relationship problems with Facebook friends has potentially farther-reaching consequences than sitting ...

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is also called "liquidation bankruptcy" because the trustee in the case liquidates all of the filer's non-exempt assets to pay off the creditors in the case. In many cases, the filer has few -- or no -- non-exempt assets, so very little money ends up going to creditors. Without the protections that filing bankruptcyoffers, particularly the debt discharge, many would not be able to make it and get out of debt. Bankruptcy can give people the opportunity to make a fresh start, which they otherwise would not have. People considering bankruptcy ...

A recent lawsuit stemming from the collapse of a soccer goal could change more than 150 years of Maryland personal injury law and give plaintiffs a greater chance of being awarded damages in personal injury lawsuits. Background of Lawsuit In 2008, Kyle Coleman was attending late-summer soccer practice at a middle school in Fulton, Maryland. While taking some warm-up shots at an empty goal, Coleman grabbed the goal's crossbar as he was retrieving a ball, causing the unanchored goal to fall. The crossbar crashed into his face and crushed the bones around his eye. As ...

The price of higher education has skyrocketed in recent years, rising at a rate that far outpaces inflation. Today's graduates of four-year universities carry more debt than any previous generation: according to a recent report from the Project on Student Debt, 2011 college graduates with loans had a record average debt load of $26,000. The combination of a slow economy and massive student debt can be a financial catastrophe for recent grads. Normally, filing for bankruptcy is a lifeline that can help those overwhelmed by debt get a fresh start. But, if student loans ...

Following a fatal drunk driving crash that occurred recently in North Brunswick, New Jersey, a 30-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a 41-year-old woman. Both the driver and the victim were residents of North Brunswick. According to a police statement, the man was "grossly intoxicated and driving recklessly" when he ran a red light and broadsided the victim's car with his sports utility vehicle. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash shortly after 9 p.m. on May 15, 2012. For reasons that have not yet been ascertained, ...

In a highly anticipated decision, a New Jersey judge ruled recently that a young woman who sent text messages to her boyfriend while he was driving could not be held liable for injuries that occurred when he collided with a couple on a motorcycle. The case centers on a 2009 crash that occurred in Mine Hill, New Jersey, when a teenage driver became distracted by his cellphone and struck a motorcycle, causing both riders to lose their left legs. The injured couple filed a personal injury lawsuit against the texting driver as well as his girlfriend, claiming that she acted ...

Patricia L. Gerbarg, MD, an integrative mental health expert based in New York state who assists 9/11 responders and others to recover from mass disasters, will discuss how to use your breath to heal trauma with host Michele Rosenthal on Your Life After Trauma radio Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 11:00 am PST, 2:00 pm EST, on the Internet or by phone. Instructions for listening are at yourlifeaftertrauma.com/radio/how-to-listen/. The show can be accessed after it airs at the web site archives. Dr. Gerbarg will discuss how to promote optimal wellness for anyone living ...