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Present concern for the negative environmental impacts and growing demand for organic olive oil, arise the need to develop useful indicators of agroecosystem health in olive-growing regions. One key indicator of health and sustainability is the abundance and biodiversity of invertebrates, especially arthropod fauna. Spanish scientists have determined that Coccinellids (ladybugs) can be used to distinguish organic, conventional and integrated farming systems.

New Rochelle, NY, January 6, 2009—Dedicated to the memory and scientific accomplishments of Dr. Judah Folkman, who pioneered the fields of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis and shed light on the link between blood supply and neoplastic disease, the newly released special double issue (Volume 6, Number 3-4) of Lymphatic Research and Biology includes a series of papers that reflect the research impact of one of the pre-eminent physician-scientists of his generation. Lymphatic Research and Biology is a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

San Diego, January 6, 2009 – Nicotine gum has been in use for over 20 years to help smokers quit abruptly yet close to two-thirds of smokers report that they would prefer to quit gradually. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare have now found that smokers who are trying to quit gradually can also be helped by nicotine gum. The results of the first study to test the efficacy and safety of using nicotine gum to assist cessation by gradual reduction are published in the February 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Wheat-based infant follow-on formulas are better reconstituted with fruit juice and should be stored in the fridge at 4°C to prevent growth of meningitis bacteria, according to recent research.

The results of a study, published today in the Society for Applied Microbiology journal, Letters in Applied Microbiology, have shown that Cronobacter species do not grow in wheat-based infant formula stored at 4°C.

SEATTLE—Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, knew there had to be a better way. He and Group Health colleagues set out 15 years ago to explore how best to engage patients with chronic diseases in effective care. With Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support, they developed the Chronic Care Model. More than 1,500 U.S. and international medical practices have adopted the Model. Now the largest roundup of evidence on how the Model performs in practice confirms that it works.

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- A recent international study fails to support the common belief that the number of calories burned in physical activity is a key factor in rising rates of obesity.

Researchers from Loyola University Health System and other centers compared African American women in metropolitan Chicago with women in rural Nigeria. On average, the Chicago women weighed 184 pounds and the Nigerian women weighed 127 pounds.

SEATTLE—Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, knew there had to be a better way. He and Group Health colleagues set out 15 years ago to explore how best to engage patients with chronic diseases in effective care. With Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support, they developed the Chronic Care Model. More than 1,500 U.S. and international medical practices have adopted the Model. Now the largest roundup of evidence on how the Model performs in practice confirms that it works.

Removing user fees for primary health care changed health utilization behaviour but did not improve health outcomes among households with children under the age of five in Ghana, says a new study published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

A new debate in the open access journal PLoS Medicine questions whether all African children with fever should be treated presumptively with antimalarial drugs, or if treatment should wait until laboratory tests confirm malarial infection.

Females of all ages are less active than their male peers. Two studies, presented today (Tuesday 6 January) at a major academic conference, reveal the gender difference in activity levels among school children and the over 70s. Both studies show males to be more physically active than females.

The two studies are being presented at the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine annual conference (incorporating the National Prevention Research Initiative conference) at the University of Exeter (UK).

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Experts estimate that 20 percent of women experience excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding at some time during their lives, particularly as they approach menopause. A new, less invasive procedure called global endometrial ablation (GEA) preserves the uterus, while decreasing menstrual bleeding and shortening patients' recovery time.

Individuals who have persistent high blood pressure are at increased risks of a number of serious medical conditions, including heart failure. One of the factors that contributes to such heart failure is thickening of the muscle wall of the heart. Such thickening (known as hypertrophy) is a compensatory response of the heart to the high blood pressure.

If you're committed to fitness, the decision to climb a couple of flights of stairs rather than take the elevator is clear. But if you develop chest pain on the way up, deciding how to treat the symptoms of clogged arteries in your heart is much more complicated.

The study of ancient microbes may not seem consequential, but such pioneering research at the University of Oklahoma has implications for the state of modern human health. Cecil Lewis, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, says results of this research raise questions about the microbes living on and within people.

Men with type 2 diabetes and men with previous heart attack or stroke had a 3 to 4 fold risk of cardiovascular death compared to men without either disease in the years following the first acute event, according to a study in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg40.pdf.