Based on phase III data from a recent study, the FDA has expanded the indication for Actemra, the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drug tocilizumab. The Actemra label now includes inhibition and slowing of structural joint damage and improvement of physical function in adult patients with moderately to severely active RA, when given in combination with methotrexate.
RA is a debilitating disease afflicting almost two million Americans.
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A new study lessens concerns that radiation exposure from diagnostic CT scans — a medical procedure that has become more common in the past decade — has substantially increased cancer incidence.
ACSH would like to induct a recent study seeking to link increased red meat consumption to a higher risk of stroke in women into our very own Data Dredging Hall of Fame/Shame. In an analysis of 34,670 Swedish women between the ages of 39 and 73, researchers found that those in the top tenth for red meat consumption — eating about 3.6 ounces daily — had a 42 percent higher chance of suffering from an ischemic stroke (from a blocked artery) than women who ate just under an ounce of red meat daily.
A study released on Thursday in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society revealed that most women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are still receiving high dose treatments of the female hormones estrogen plus progesterone.
A story in yesterday’s Health Day News points out a worrisome trend: increasing rates of head and neck cancer among the middle-aged and even among the young. The article notes that researchers believe this is a direct result of the more common practice of oral sex in the U.S. Through oral sex, the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause these cancers, is transmitted from the genitals to the mouth and larynx.
Due to inclement weather in New York City, ACSH was closed yesterday and was unable to distribute our daily Dispatch. We’re happy to be back on the anti-junk science crusade today with this lineup of great stories.
As ACSH is preparing to release its new publication Scared to Death: How Chemophobia Threatens Public Health, we were not so surprised to read about three new stories linking chemicals to a multitude of adverse health effects — which is what sadly seems to be a media-fueled national trend these days.
The incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss in people over the age of 50 — a result of damage to the center of the retina — has decreased in the last 15 years. A new study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology used data from the 2005 to 2008 NHANES database and looked at high-resolution pictures of the eyes of 5,533 U.S. adults over the age of 40.
Acetaminophen, the key ingredient used in over-the-counter (OTC) drugs like Tylenol and Nyquil, will be limited to only 325 milligrams per dose in prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and Percocet, the FDA announced yesterday.
Hoover Institute Fellow and former ACSH trustee Dr. Henry Miller castigates Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin’s single-minded focus on obesity while ignoring other very important health issues. Instead, Dr. Miller presents former Surgeon General and ACSH friend Dr. C. Everett Koop — who led campaigns to increase awareness of HIV and smoking-related health risks — as a better example to follow. Dr. Miller also recommends that Dr.
Only a century ago, Americans could expect to lose most of their teeth by age 40. But, since fluoridation of tap water was introduced in the mid-twentieth century, the incidence of tooth decay has nosedived. Now, however, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the EPA have announced that they want to reduce the maximum allowable fluoride levels in municipal water supplies as recent data showed that more than one in three U.S.
The CDC gives us some good news, but it is a silver cloud with a black lining — road fatalities have experienced the largest reduction since World War II thanks in part to the poor economy. According to the report, U.S. road deaths dropped by 22 percent from from 43,510 to 33,963 between 2005 and 2009. The authors attribute this to “technological advances, primarily air bags, and the economic downturn.” The weak economy, they suggest, has reduced highway and rush hour traffic as local road traffic increased.
Yesterday also saw the release of another “study” by the influential radical advocacy organization Environmental Working Group (EWG). EWG studied the origins, precise chemical contents and the labels of 173 brands of bottled water and then rated them. But what was the purpose of this? All of the water bottles contained...well, water. Some brands were somewhat more purified than others, and a few included flavorings of various sorts.
Last week brought word of a study which claimed that the anti-depressant drug known by the trade name Lexapro (escitalopram) could reduce the incidence of hot flashes among menopausal women. Dr. Ross notes that the study offered less than the headlines suggested. In fact, a placebo did not do all that much worse than the anti-depressant.
The “Green” movement has set its sights on a new consumer market: green pharmaceuticals. Slate reports that hysteria about the effect of consumers flushing pills down the toilet — including hypothetical claims that intersex minnows found in water were contaminated by pharmaceuticals — has prompted some environmentalists to suggest that manufacturers should reformulate popular drugs to render them more biodegradable. “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” says ACSH’s Dr. Josh Bloom.
The Annals of Internal Medicine has just reported on a large-scale study at more than 4,000 U.S. hospitals which showed that thirty-day survival rates for patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure were more than twenty percent better among those who went to hospitals more accustomed to providing care for the condition.
A study published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal provides more powerful evidence of the transformative effect of childhood vaccination — the celebrity critics of it notwithstanding. Researchers in four countries proved that the rotavirus vaccine saves lives. Worldwide rotavirus is responsible for the death of 500,000 infants and children annually.
Yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a $175 million plan to try and cut off the spread of a drug-resistant form of falciparum malaria which has emerged in South East Asia. Falciparum malaria is the most deadly form of the disease. Traditionally, doctors have fought malaria infections with a combination of drugs which includes artemisinin, known as ACT.
After vilifying sugary soft drinks as one of the main causes of our nation’s obesity epidemic, the media is now going after diet sodas as well by publicizing a thoroughly unscientific, poorly executed study presented yesterday at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles. Researchers used data on 163 people who drink one or more diet sodas per day and found that they had a 61 percent increased risk of cardiovascular events compared to 901 participants who reported drinking no diet soda.
Americans should focus on achieving a “balance” in their diets, stressed First Lady Michelle Obama at a press meeting celebrating the first-year anniversary of her anti-obesity Let’s Move campaign yesterday.
An observational study published in the journal Diabetes Care is calling into question recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans that recommend adults, and especially diabetics, should consume no more than two-thirds of a teaspoon of salt per day, or about 1.5 grams. Australian researchers followed 638 participants with longstanding type 2 diabetes. Roughly half the patients were obese.
Roche Holding AG’s cancer drug Avastin has been shown in a new study published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine to hold great promise for treating retinopathy of prematurity, a devastating condition among some premature babies.
As the bed bug epidemic continues to spread through New York City and elsewhere, the EPA is now planning to commence research aimed at developing pesticide alternatives, especially genetic-based solutions, rather than allow DDT to be used. PBS NewsHour reported Monday that chemically-based anti-bed bug methods, particularly DDT, are “noxious but effective” and highlight the growing resistance of bed-bugs to more commonly employed pesticides. “DDT is not noxious.
First Lady Michelle Obama announced that President Obama has been cigarette-free for a year now. We here at ACSH wish to congratulate him, as we are aware of the great difficulty smokers face while trying to quit. “However, many smokers fall back to smoking even after a year of being smoke-free,” says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. So keep up the good work, Mr. President.
Dr. Gilbert Ross in the DesMoines Register, March 2, 2011
Guest opinion: Don't let money cloud the vision of drug regulators
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