Your Health home

Recent Entries

• Asthma increases risk for swine flu complications
• Tracking influenza
• Canadians delay seasonal flu vaccine over worry about H1N1 increased susceptibility
• American Medical Association video on seasonal and H1N1 swine flu
• HHS H1N1 update on Oct. 28

Recent Comments

• By mamiecierra from the entry 'HPV vaccine and your daughter: yes or no?'
• By Home making money from the entry 'VCU Health System still making money'
• By Judith from the entry 'VCU Health System still making money'
• By Hemroids Treatment from the entry 'Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides H1N1 update'
• By discount ugg from the entry 'Canadians delay seasonal flu vaccine over worry about H1N1 increased susceptibility'
• By ugg boots uk from the entry 'Asthma increases risk for swine flu complications'
• By ugg boots uk from the entry 'Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides H1N1 update'
• By discount ugg from the entry 'Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides H1N1 update'
• By ugg cardy boots from the entry 'Asthma increases risk for swine flu complications'
• By Ask a Doctor from the entry 'Asthma increases risk for swine flu complications'

When you read articles in health and medical journals you expect the work to be that of the authors named. Not a ghostwritten piece by writers hired by drug companies that have signed off on the article before it’s submitted for publication. Public Library of Science editors are exposing just how egregious some companies appear to have acted when it comes to ethics and published research

From EVMS:

Gov. Tim Kaine will speak at Eastern Virginia Medical School September 17 as part of a “virtual” groundbreaking ceremony for the school’s new education and research building.

The ceremony will be the centerpiece of the annual State of the School address. The program begins at 5:30 p.m. in McCombs Auditorium on the school’s downtown Norfolk campus. It is open to the public.

Gov. Kaine included EVMS in the 2008 higher education bond package that provided $59 million toward an $80 million construction and renovation project. The work includes construction of the four-story education and research structure that is scheduled to open in July 2011 and extensive renovations to Lewis Hall.

Our Bodies, Ourselves is the 1970s book that told women to get a mirror and look at themselves down there.

The goal was to educate women about their bodies and empower them to take care of their health. Since then there’s been an updated version of the book and editions focused on pregnancy, birth and menopause.

Judy Norsigian, executive director of Our Bodies, Ourselves, will be in the Richmond area next week for two appearances.

•Thursday, Sept. 24, 7 - 9 p.m. Norsigian will be at a fundraising house party for Our Bodies Ourselves. She will give a brief talk about pregnancy and birth issues and health care reform, and talk about how both impact the LGBT community. Location: Gay Community Center of Richmond’s Art Gallery Space, 1407 Sherwood Ave. For more information or to RSVP, please contact .

•Friday, Sept. 25, 1- 4:30 p.m.
Norsigian will be speaking on women’s health and signing copies of books. Sponsored by the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Women’s Health National Center of Excellence. Admission is free but registration is required by Sept. 18. The afternoon will include health screenings, a showcase of VCU’s women’s health services and resources, a sample of current research posters in women’s health, light refreshments. Click here for more info. Location: Science Museum, 2500 W. Broad St. in the RF&P Forum Room.

Read more here

Handwashing is simple enough, so why don’t folks do it more often?

The American Society for Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association ‘s 2007 survey of handwashing showed:

•92% of adult Americans self-report always washing their hands after using a public restroom
•86% self-report always washing their hands after using the bathroom in their home
•25% self-report always washing their hands after handling money
•34% self-report always washing after coughing or sneezing.

Another part of the study put observers in public restrooms to monitor how often people actually washed their hand after using the bathroom. Some findings:

•women washed 90% of the time
•men washed 75% of the time

More rigorous research on handwashing has shown:

•Handwashing with soap could halve the incidence of diarrhea and lower respiratory infections in children in developing countries, concluded a 2005 study in The Lancet.

•Navy recruits had 45 percent fewer bouts of respiratory illnesses after being ordered to wash their hands frequently in a study in the August 2001 issue of the Journal of Preventive Medicine. Recruits were told to wash their hands at least five times a day.

•A March 2009 study presented at a microbiology conference showed that regular handwashing by hospital staff and visitors did more to prevent the spread of MRSA than isolating infected patients.