Princeton, NJ – September 30, 2010 – Although the rise in subprime lending and the ensuing wave of foreclosures was partly a result of market forces that have been well-documented, the foreclosure crisis was also a highly racialized process, according to a study by two Woodrow Wilson School scholars published in the October 2010 issue of the American Sociological Review. Woodrow Wilson School Ph.D. candidate Jacob Rugh and Woodrow Wilson School's Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Douglas Massey, assessed segregation and the American foreclosure ...

Food allergies are more common among people with asthma and may contribute to asthma attacks, according to one of the most comprehensive surveys of food allergies ever undertaken. National Jewish Health Associate Professor of Pediatrics Andrew H. Liu and his colleagues also report in the November 2010 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that food allergies are more prevalent among children, males and non-Hispanic blacks. "Our study suggests that food allergies may be an important factor, and even an under-recognized trigger for severe asthma exacerbations," said ...

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast have completed one of the first studies of mephedrone use in Northern Ireland since the drug was outlawed earlier this year. They found that the ban did not deter those mephedrone users surveyed from taking the substance. Interviews with 23 mephedrone users were completed during a two-month period (May and June 2010) following the legislation that made the drug illegal in the UK. Study participants were aged 19 to 51 years, around half of whom (12) were female. 19 of the 23 people who took part in the study were employed, and ...

A new study estimates that 2.5 percent of the United States population, or about 7.6 million Americans, have food allergies. Food allergy rates were found to be higher for children, non-Hispanic blacks, and males, according to the researchers. The odds of male black children having food allergies were 4.4 times higher than others in the general population. The research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and appears in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, is the first to use a nationally representative sample, as well as specific immunoglobulin ...

A diet rich in walnuts and walnut oil may prepare the body to deal better with stress, according to a team of Penn State researchers who looked at how these foods, which contain polyunsaturated fats, influence blood pressure at rest and under stress. Previous studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids -- like the alpha linolenic acid found in walnuts and flax seeds -- can reduce low density lipoproteins (LDL) -- bad cholesterol. These foods may also reduce c-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation. "People who show an exaggerated biological response to stress ...

People match each other's language styles more during happier periods of their relationship than at other times, according to new research from psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin. "When two people start a conversation, they usually begin talking alike within a matter of seconds," says James Pennebaker, psychology professor and co-author of the study. "This also happens when people read a book or watch a movie. As soon as the credits roll, they find themselves talking like the author or the central characters." This tendency is called language style matching ...

MIAMI — Lack of private health insurance and its consequent lack of access to care appears to affect mortality among patients with uterine cancer and may partly explain the mortality disparity between African-Americans and other racial groups, according to data presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities. "African-Americans were twice as likely to die within four years compared to white patients after adjusting for age, facility and education level. However, when insurance, treatment and clinical factors were accounted for, this ...

MIAMI — Nonwhite women reported receiving less social support than white women after cancer treatment, according to data presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010. "This is an important finding when designing and promoting social support resources for female cancer survivors to better include cancer survivors of color," said study author Jennifer M. Jabson, M.P.H., Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of community health sciences at Boston University. "This might be useful when interventionists ...

MIAMI — Puerto Rican women who had breast cancer that lacked estrogen and progesterone receptors and did not overexpress the HER2neu protein (triple-negative) had worse survival than those with other types of invasive breast cancer, according to a study presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held Sept. 30 – Oct. 3, 2010. "As the incidence of breast cancer rises in Puerto Rico, following U.S. trends, it is important to understand the association of disease subtypes with survival," said Ana P. Ortiz Martinez, M.P.H., Ph.D., associate ...

MIAMI — Race itself was not a prognostic factor of overall survival among black patients with lung cancer, according to data from a retrospective study presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities. "In simple terms, if 100 patients who are Caucasian and 100 patients who are African-American have the same age, stage of cancer, type of lung cancer and are treated the same way, there should not be differences in their survival just because they are of different races," said Rajesh Sehgal, M.D., a medical oncologist at the Edwards Comprehensive ...

MIAMI — African-American women with breast cancer living in Washington, D.C., are more likely to experience delays in treatment regardless of insurance type, socioeconomic status and cancer characteristics such as stage and grade. Heather A. Young, Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology at The George Washington University, said these findings underscore the difficulties in measuring the impact of race and socioeconomic status on health outcomes. "There is likely something about race that we are still not capturing, whether it is different patterns of social ...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2010 — Scientists have identified a way that the United States could immediately save the energy equivalent of about 350 million barrels of oil a year — without spending a penny or putting a ding in the quality of life: Just stop wasting food. Their study, reported in ACS' semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that it takes the equivalent of about 1.4 billion barrels of oil to produce, package, prepare, preserve and distribute a year's worth of food in the United States. Michael Webber and Amanda Cuéllar note that food contains ...

SAN FRANCISCO – A pediatric medical response to a major disaster should focus on three consecutive missions: protection of life and limb, continuing care, and finally, humanitarian aid, according to research presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco. In January, within 24 hours of the worst earthquake in more than 200 years, the United States Naval Ship (USNS) Comfort was deployed to Haiti. With a staff of more than 800 physicians, nurses and ancillary staff, the ship was transformed into ...

SAN FRANCISCO – An increasing number of obese adolescents, particularly females, are undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Yet a case study presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco, highlights the possible link between gastric bypass surgery in adolescent girls and an increased risk for neural tube defects, which can lead to varying degrees of disability such as paralysis and mental retardation due to damage to the nervous system, in their future children. Neural tube defects in the brain and ...

SAN FRANCISCO – When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti earlier this year, physicians and health care workers were immediately deployed to the capital, Port-au-Prince. A study on the creation and evolution of a pediatric field hospital – from a disaster service facility to a full-fledged children's hospital – during the weeks and months following the disaster, was presented on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco. "Disaster Response in a Pediatric Field Hospital: Lessons Learned in Haiti," ...

SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly all (98 percent) of 11- to 13-year-old babysitters know who to contact in the event of an intruder or if a child is sick or injured (96 percent) or poisoned (85 percent), according to research presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco. However, 40 percent of younger babysitters reported that they had left children unattended while babysitting, and 20 percent opened the door to strangers. In the study, "Babysitter Safety Training: Are Children Aged 11-13 Years Prepared ...

SAN FRANCISCO – The stresses of poverty have long been associated with child abuse and neglect. In a study presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco, researchers directly linked an increased unemployment rate to child maltreatment one year later. Researchers reviewed state-level unemployment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and compared them with child maltreatment data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), during the years 1990 to 2008. Each 1 percent ...

SAN FRANCISCO – One in eight parents reported that his or her child had not received pediatrician-recommended care – medication, laboratory testing and/or appointments with specialists – during the previous 12 months due to concerns over cost and payment, according to a study, presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco. For the study, "Parents Perspectives on their Children's Health Insurance: The Plight of the Underinsured," 1,978 southwest Ohio parents were queried regarding the impact of ...

SAN FRANCISCO – Most toddlers can reach as high as a kitchen countertop, putting them at risk for severe burns from hot liquids, according to research presented Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco. In the study, "How Far Toddlers Can Reach onto a Standard Kitchen Countertop," investigators and parents urged children, ages 12 to 23 months, to reach for a toy phone atop a standard, 36-inch countertop at a pediatric clinic. The children were of various weights and heights; some wore shoes, ...

MIAMI — Race and ethnicity appeared to affect diagnostic delay more than insurance status for women with breast abnormalities, as revealed by data presented at the Third American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, being held Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010. Heather J. Hoffman, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and colleagues at the George Washington Cancer Institute, conducted a retrospective cohort study of 983 women examined ...

Wednesday November 10 Noon EST—Maggie Anderson will share with the listening audience of Altruistic Leadership her career journey, successes, trials, triumphs, and tripping points of an entrepreneur and high profile activist. During this 45-minute segment, we will discuss the importance of owning your future, supporting your community and the tremendous calling of the nationally recognized The Empowerment Experiment Movement, which was triggered by the Anderson family's historic social experiment living off Black business for all of 2009. Callers are welcome to join ...

Our environment seems to be getting louder by the day. It's no surprise soundproofing windows has hit an all time high. For over three decades inside mounted Climatizer soundproofing windows have been recognized as the undisputed leader in soundproofing and noise suppression efficiency. To the delight of their clients this is done without the need or necessity of replacing their exciting windows. Climatizer Corp., located on the web at http://www.climatizerwindows.com, has a very unique niche in the window business, offering a window engineered to control noise problems ...

AmeriPride Tax Group, a leading provider of tax planning, preparation and help, showed its support for America's soldiers, veterans and disabled citizens with a significant contribution to the Soldiers to the Summit. "This organization stands behind the service men and women who risk their lives to protect our freedom," said Victoria J. Burns, AmeriPride Tax Group managing CPA. "It is an honor and a privilege to give back to the community with a donation to this incredible organization." Soldiers to the Summit brings eleven combat veterans who suffered injuries in ...

Dallas area seniors now have a new resource to help them age successfully. Maria Viviano, owner of Home Helpers & Direct Link, which specializes in non-medical in-home care, recently completed a comprehensive course through the Society of Certified Senior Advisors (SCSA) and earned the designation of Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) . SCSA is a national organization that has trained more than 20,000 professionals to meet the changing needs of a growing senior population. As a company that specializes in providing quality care services to senior citizens, Home Helpers ...

A local home builder has personal budgeting coaches for The Compass Project to thank for 15% of their business this year, in spite of nationwide historical lows in new-home sales. Titan Homes Inc., a St. Charles-based home builder, referred six of their prospective home buyers to The Compass Project, a personal budgeting and money-management program offered by The Sack Group Inc., to help them qualify for a mortgage loan. As a result, those home buyers were able to close on their new homes this year. "Selling six homes this year is very significant for us," said Rick ...