SPRINGFIELD, Ill.–(ENEWSPF)–May 23, 2011.  As swimming pools, water parks and beaches get ready to open this upcoming Memorial Day weekend, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Damon T. Arnold is encouraging people to learn how to protect themselves from injury and illness. The focus of this year’s National Recreational[Read More…]

Silver Spring, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–May 20, 2011.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Edurant (rilpivirine) in combination with other antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults who have never taken HIV therapy (treatment-naïve). Edurant belongs to a class of HIV drugs called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI).[Read More…]

Barcelona, Spain–(ENEWSPF)–May 20, 2011.  The use of cannabis is associated with beneficial effects on various symptoms of fibromyalgia, including the relief of pain and muscle stiffness, according to the results of an observational case-control study published online in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science) ONE. Fibromyalgia is a chronic[Read More…]

SPRINGFIELD, IL–(ENEWSPF)–May 19, 2011. Safety on Illinois lakes, rivers and other waterways starts with wearing a life jacket and staying sober as the busy spring and summer boating season begins.  Illinois Department of Natural Resource (IDNR) Conservation Police – as part of the observance of National Safe Boating Week on[Read More…]

Atlanta, GA–(ENEWSPF)–May 19, 2011.  The major public health achievements of the first 10 years of the 21st century included improvements in vaccine preventable and infectious diseases, reductions in deaths from certain chronic diseases, declines in deaths and injuries from motor vehicle crashes, and more, according to a report from the[Read More…]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.–(ENEWSPF)–May 19, 2011.  An estimated 4.4 million Americans are living with chronic hepatitis, but most do not know they are infected. Viral hepatitis is an inflammation or infection of the liver and is the leading cause of liver cancer. Today, World Hepatitis Day, Illinois Department of Public Health Director[Read More…]

Silver Spring, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–May 19, 2011.  Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the first test to help determine whether a pregnant woman or a person with swollen lymph nodes testing positive for toxoplasmosis, sometimes known as cat scratch disease, developed the infection within the past four months. Toxoplasmosis is[Read More…]

WASHINGTON, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–May 18, 2011. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today raised concerns with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about baked goods containing neurohormone melatonin that, because they are marketed as dietary supplements, do not require approval by the FDA for use as additives in food. Durbin asked the FDA[Read More…]

UNITED KINGDOM–(ENEWSPF)–17 May 2011.  Breastfeeding for four months or more is associated with fewer behavioural problems in children at age 5, an Oxford University study suggests. The findings, published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, add to the evidence base on the benefits of breastfeeding. ‘Our results provide[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–May 16, 2011.  Cigarette smoking, forest fires and woodburning can release a chemical that may be at least partly responsible for human health problems related to smoke exposure, according to a new study by NOAA researchers and their colleagues. Using a custom mass spectrometer designed by the researchers, the[Read More…]