Research Articles

May 18, 2013  Scientists have confirmed that the cannabis plant contains active ingredients with therapeutic potential for relieving pain, controlling nausea, stimulating appetite, and decreasing ocular pressure. And while marijuana is not an FDA-approved medicine, 16 states and the District of Columbia have currently legalized its medical use.

July 11, 2012  Why the Mature Set Gets Infected If you’re over 50 and reading this, chances are you know a thing or two about HIV. Unfortunately, not everyone is so well-informed. As people live longer and find themselves single after the breakup of a long-term relationship or a partner’s death, many dive back into the dating pool—with pregnancy worries lessened and drugs like Viagra keeping things interesting. Problem is, many older people aren’t playing safely: One survey found that people over 50 were one-sixth as likely to use condoms and one-fifth as likely to get tested for HIV as people in their twenties. Karpiak’s study found that only one-third of sexually active people over 50 practiced safer sex.

July 13, 2012  Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. Each year there are a reported 1.7 million civilian brain injuries in the United States. In the military between 2000 and the first quarter of 2012, more than 244,000 service members sustained a TBI. Brain injury, caused largely by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), has become the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most brain injuries are mild, and most people recover in a matter of weeks. BrainLineMilitary.org provides military-specific information and resources on traumatic brain injury to veterans; service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, and Reserve; and their families.

November 25, 2010  …But an increasing share of young physicians, burdened by medical school debts and seeking regular hours, are deciding against opening private practices. Instead, they are accepting salaries at hospitals and health systems. And a growing number of older doctors — facing rising costs and fearing they will not be able to recruit junior partners — are selling their practices and moving into salaried jobs, too.

March 10, 2013  For our first post, I wanted to address the age old belief that changes in the weather can affect arthritis pain. Since the time of Hippocrates, who wrote about the effects of hot and cold winds on people’s health, this topic has been debated. Even Osler suggested in 1892 that arthritis sufferers of wealth vacation in the south to avoid the cold damp weather of the northern winters.(

February 22, 2013  Essential benefit requirements apply mainly to individual and small group plans. The federal requirements also affect benefits provided to people newly eligible for Medicaid coverage. Now, for instance, we know that insurers won't be allowed to can't charge consumers a copay for a screening colonoscopy, even if a polyp is removed.

June 14, 2012  here are now vaccines to protect against two STDs – the human papillomavirus (HPV) and Hepatitis B (Hep B). HPV vaccines are available to protect against some of the most common types of HPV. The Hepatitis B vaccine can protect against Hepatitis B viral infection. There are many other STDs, but there is no one vaccine to protect against them all.

October 11, 2011  The three instruments were first released in 2002 after a comprehensive development and testing process. Since the NPHPSP began, 21 states and almost 1,000 localities (over 750 local jurisdictions and almost 200 boards of health) have used the instruments and submitted data. One or more of the NPHPSP instruments have been applied in 30 states. In late 2005, the NPHPSP partnership initiated a collaborative effort to update the instruments, in order to ensure the standards remain current and to seek opportunities for improving the tools. Similar to the development process of the original instruments, the effort was guided by three work groups of practitioners from the field.

June 18, 2012  Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death for males and females, blacks and whites; but the relative order of other causes differs by race and, to a lesser extent, by sex.

November 25, 2010  Behavioral, Medicine, Society, Health around the World.... Staying informed about health issues that impacts our lives.