About the author: Ellen Beck | SmartBlogs
Ellen Beck is a SmartBrief writer who contributes to health and wellness briefs. She has been a journalist for more than 30 years for print, wire service and online publications, and in radio news. She specializes in health care reporting and analysis.
Researchers are testing how helpful social media can be for raising awareness of health care issues or as a tool for prevention.
In a study that hits on both counts, UCLA researchers set out to see if African-American and Latino gay men would voluntarily use health-related Facebook groups to discuss HIV issues, such as stigma and prevention, with a goal of getting them to request an at-home HIV test kit.[…] Continue Reading »
Twitter is growing up, evolving from a simple message system into a public health research tool.
Computer scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore are using Twitter to track fluctuations in influenza activity in the U.S.
JHU doctoral candidate Michael Paul said Twitter will never be able to provide hard and fast statistics the way hospitals do when they report flu admissions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but monitoring tweets can show trends at a broader population level.[…] Continue Reading »
From 1995 to 2010, diabetes rates increased 50% or more in 42 states and 100% or more in 18 states, according to research by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Researchers say that until community programs are in place to reduce obesity and prevent diabetes, rates likely will keep going up. We spoke with Sue Shaw, public health adviser with the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation, about how the CDC is working to prevent diabetes and how its National Diabetes Prevention Program is bringing evidence-based lifestyle change programs to communities around the U.S.[…] Continue Reading »
It has been two years since the Institute of Medicine released its report on vitamin D that said scientific evidence supported its role in bone health but not much else. It quashed a multitude of early hopes that the sunshine vitamin might prevent cancer and improve health across a variety of medical issues, and for some time afterward, it was relatively quiet on the research front.[…] Continue Reading »
Tackling the problem of high cholesterol in children can be challenging. Registered dietitian Karen Ansel, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, offers some meal-planning strategies for managing cholesterol and promoting a healthy lifestyle.
A recent study found some improvement in pediatric cholesterol levels. What are you seeing in your practice?
We’re not sure exactly why but cholesterol levels in children seem to be improving slightly, falling from 11% to 8% in the past 12 years.[…] Continue Reading »
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