On a more positive note, data collected from HIV patients in the Canadian province of British Columbia show that treatment with the combination anti-HIV drug therapy known as “highly active antiretroviral therapy” (HAART) has reduced the province’s HIV infection rate by half since 1996. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a statement:
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This weekend was full of surprising news stories. The strangest came from a Sydney Morning Herald article claiming that ingestion of environmental chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) may have caused the increase in women’s breast size observed over the past 50 years. While the article addresses other health concerns such as obesity, it places a strong emphasis on chemical exposures.
After reading yesterday s Dispatch entry addressing the public health concern over raw milk, ACSH advisor Dean Cliver, Ph.D., a professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, weighed in with this own expert opinion:
Sadly for the Florida plaintiffs from the decertified Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc. class-action lawsuit, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared yesterday that previous rulings from the original lawsuit could not be used alone to prove that the RJ Reynolds tobacco company (and other cigarette makers, by implication) was negligent for selling “defective” products — cigarettes — and conspired to hide the defective aspects which did indeed cause lung cancer and other diseases.
On Tuesday, an FDA advisory panel recommended that Avastin no longer be indicated for breast cancer after new studies failed to show that the drug could increase patients’ life expectancy. Avastin is currently approved for colon, lung, and other cancers, but physicians will have to prescribe it as an off-label breast cancer treatment if the FDA chooses to adopt the panel’s decision.
The CDC reports that between 1998 and 2008, freshly prepared salsa and guacamole have accounted for nearly one out of every 25 cases of deli and restaurant foodborne illness outbreaks. The most common microbe found in the mishandled condiments – which were often refrigerated improperly — was norovirus, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. The director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, Michael Doyle, offered advice on how to prevent contamination:
ACSH's Jeff Stier recently submitted a blog posting to SavvyAuntie dispelling phthalate fears with facts:
As the dust settles on the $712 million Ground Zero lawsuit, plaintiffs with no illnesses are complaining that their settlement of $3,250 is being cut 60 percent, to $1,322, due to legal fees.
The New York Post headline covering the news story glared, Lawyer loan fees gouge 9/11 crews.
Despite claims that children are experiencing puberty earlier, there s very little good data to back that up, the chief of pediatric cardiology at University of Massachusetts Medical School writes in a column for Slate. While a well-publicized study in Pediatrics last month concluded girls were undergoing puberty as young as 7, Dr.
Booster Shots, the Los Angeles Times’ health blog, yesterday pointed out that while the current prostate cancer screening technology — the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test — has lead to an increase in diagnoses and surgical interventions, it has not decreased the cancer mortality rate.
It looks like Quiky the Bunny — Nestle’s Nesquik mascot — may soon be forced into early retirement as public schools across the nation consider banning fat-free chocolate milk from lunchroom cafeterias due to its high sugar content. Schools in the District of Columbia and Berkley, Calif. have already enacted bans, but some nutritionists are critical, arguing flavoring is crucial to get kids to drink milk, which contains essential nutrients including calcium and vitamin D.
A recent HealthDay News headlined “Nicotine Can Fuel Breast Cancer, Study Suggests” may needlessly scare readers into wrongfully assuming breast cancer may be caused by smoking. The study, which analyzed 276 breast tumor samples in vitro for a specific nicotine receptor subunit (a9-nAChR), found an over-production of the subunit in advanced-stage breast cancer compared to early-stage cancer.
A review of six studies involving 220,000 men and women found that those who consume one and a half extra servings of green leafy vegetables per day reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus by 14 percent. The researchers believe that the antioxidants and magnesium found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach are responsible for the diabetes risk reduction.
With public hearings on AquaBounty Technologies’ quick-growing genetically modified salmon scheduled for September 19th, the FDA concluded Friday the fish is safe for the environment and consumers.
For seniors addicted to smoking — whether they got that way from a YouTube video or not — Medicare is expanding its coverage to include tobacco-cessation counseling for those who haven’t been diagnosed with a tobacco-related disease, the Obama administration announced Wednesday.
Even though alcohol has been denied to the 33 miners trapped underground for over a month in a mine near Chile, their request for cigarettes was finally granted, and the miners will now share a ration of two packs per day. Though they were provided with nicotine patches and gum previously, the miners said it did little to alleviate their tobacco cravings.
“Well then why don’t we send them smokeless tobacco or clean nicotine such as e-cigs?” wonders ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.
It’s enough to give you heartburn. San Francisco legislators — apparently having solved all of the city’s other problems — have decided to target Happy Meals. The Board of Supervisors is debating a proposal to ban toys from the entrées — unless the meal includes a half a cup of fresh fruit or three quarters of a cup of fresh vegetables, and doesn’t contain more than 600 calories.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg will honor former FDA official Frances Kelsey, MD, PhD, with the first annual Kelsey Award tomorrow the 50th anniversary of Kelsey s refusal to authorize the marketing of thalidomide in the U.S. to pregnant women for the relief of morning-sickness.
The FDA today began re-re-reevaluating AAtrex, Syngenta Crop Protection s brand name for the 50-year-old herbicide atrazine, which opponents allege is a potential carcinogen and endocrine disrupter.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended that the allowable concentration of atrazine in water be increased to 100 parts per billion, up from its previous two parts per billion standard.
BPA is in the news, yet again. WPFO-TV (Fox 23) reports that Maine s Board of Environmental Protection has postponed plans to ban BPA from baby products until studies prove that the alternatives are safe.
Following a split vote by an FDA advisory panel in July on whether Avandia was safe to stay on the market after evidence surfaced implicating the diabetes drug with an increased risk of heart attack, the FDA announced yesterday that it will place stringent restrictions on Avandia’s availability. Patients who wish to continue use of Avandia will have to enroll in a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program along with their doctors and pharmacists.
The front page of Sunday’s New York Times featured a heartbreaking story about two cousins, both suffering from widespread melanoma, a lethal type of skin cancer. Both young men’s melanoma had a specific gene mutation called B-RAF, which is specifically targeted by a new drug being tested by Roche Pharmaceuticals.
The silly season in the fight against obesity is spreading, it seems, from the West coast to the East coast. The latest metropolis to join in the battle against soda is Boston, where city officials are considering a ban on selling sugar-sweetened beverages in government buildings. The anti-soda craze was started by Mayor Gavin Newsom in San Francisco, and now Boston is following suit.
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