Even though its been decades since numerous international governmental health authorities approved the use of aspartame as a food additive, the European Commission is not satisfied with the abundance of studies on the matter and is asking the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to conduct and expedite yet another re-evaluation of the artificial sweetener by July 2012.
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Today is World No Tobacco Day, and the media have commemorated the occasion from a variety of perspectives. The New York Times today features an article focusing on new state laws that seek to ban or limit hookah use, which many teens and young adults wrongly believe is a safer alternative to cigarette smoking. Paul G.
Results from a large international phase III clinical trial conducted at 104 centers in 12 countries brings exciting news to some melanoma patients, and to medical progress as well. At the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, researchers announced that treatment of melanoma with a therapy that targets a specific genetic mutation had an “astounding” 63 percent reduction in the risk of death in patients with the BRAF V600 mutation, which is found in about 90 percent of melanomas.
The most recent trend in sleep aids comes not in capsule form but in the crumbs of a baked good. Melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland near the brain, is involved in regulating the sleep-wake cycle. It is now being folded into batches of pre-packaged brownies and cookies marketed as Lazy Cakes and Lulla Pies in a variety of convenience stores and online.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross made a guest appearance on Dr. Barry Dworkin s radio show, Sunday House Call, which can be heard here. The two spoke at great length about today s often media-driven and pervasive fear of chemicals chemophobia particularly in reference to pesticides and vaccines. Dr.
A recent Reuters Health story, headlined “Vitamins won’t prevent pregnancy complication,” reported on the failure of vitamins C and E to prevent preeclampsia (a serious elevation of maternal blood pressure late in pregnancy) when taken prenatally. However, ACSH's Dr.
A new study should allay the fears of women who take osteoporosis drugs. The Swedish study, just published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that the class of drugs known as bisphosphonates (including Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel, Atelvia, and Reclast) caused only one atypical femoral fracture for every 2,000 people who used them in a year.
Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin, two popular brands of birth-control pills that contain drospirenone (a synthetic progestin), are currently under investigation by the FDA, the agency announced Tuesday.
The number of young adults with high blood pressure appears to be on the rise. Nineteen percent of 14,000 men and women between the ages of 24 and 32 had a blood pressure reading of 140/90 millimeters of mercury or higher when it was measured at their home as part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (known as Add Health).
Last week, the CDC released the results of a study that enumerates “Ten Great Public Health Achievements” in the U.S. from 2001 to 2010. Among other triumphs, the report notes a substantial decline in vaccine-preventable diseases and strides made in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, cancer and childhood lead poisoning.
Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls: there are obesity updates for all. For all the kids out there, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a new report Wednesday offering early childhood obesity prevention advice for daycare centers and households alike.
In other weight loss news, one of the authors of a new study recommends that weight loss surgeries, such as gastric bypass and gastric banding, become front line type 2 diabetes treatments.
A bipartisan bill introduced to Congress by Georgia Republican Phil Gingrey the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now (GAIN) Act attempts to spur interest among pharmaceutical companies to develop new and effective antibiotics, traditionally an unprofitable sector of the drug market. The new bill hopes to change all that by creating certain incentives.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects approximately 6.5 percent of Americans ages 40 and older and is the leading cause of vision loss among those over 55. Treating the condition is often difficult, but a new prospective study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology offers some hope that diets rich in certain antioxidants, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids may help prevent early AMD in patients who have a high genetic risk for the disease.
On the eastern front, we have yet another example of Mayor Bloomberg s overreaching food bans this time, he s targeting vending machines and concession stands in municipal buildings. His health police gave orders this week to nine vendors, stipulating that they have six months to ensure that beverages containing over 25 calories per eight-ounce serving occupy no more than two slots on any vending machine.
The Safe Cosmetics Act, now in a 2011 edition, is back in Congress and its claims about cosmetics ingredient safety are about as superficial as the pro
Should the cancer drug Avastin be approved as a treatment for metastatic breast cancer? The FDA has been considering this question since the emotionally charged debate began last December, when the agency first proposed revoking the drug s indication for that use. As expected, on Wednesday, an FDA advisory panel voted unanimously to recommend the revocation, citing follow-up studies by the manufacturer, Roche, that showed that the drug did not significantly increase survival time.
Quick, run for cover: junk food ads are out to get your children and make them fat. Or at least that s what the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is now preaching. As described in a new policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics, the AAP s Dr. Victor Strasburger asserted, It s time for the food industry to clean up its act and not advertise junk food to young children.
ACSH has been skeptical about the recent move by various school districts (about 30 percent nationwide since 2006) to reduce the toll of childhood obesity by sending overweight or obese children home with letters reporting their body-mass index (BMI), which is a crude measure of weight relative to height.
Anyone who s had chicken pox (varicella zoster, a member of the herpes family of viruses) has a one-in-three chance of developing shingles many years later, and the risk only increases with age. Yet although the FDA approved a vaccine (Zostavax) for the virus in 2006 and, this March, approved its use for those age 50 and over, very few at-risk adults have been vaccinated. Adults over 60 are most vulnerable to shingles, but in 2009, only 10 percent of this population was vaccinated.
Pfizer s smoking cessation drug Chantix continues to be problematic since its 2006 appearance in U.S. pharmacies. The prescription drug, which works by blocking nicotine receptors, has already been associated with psychiatric side effects and it now appears to lead to some cardiovascular problems in patients who have a history of heart disease.
The Supreme Court handed down a decision yesterday that represents a significant victory for the pharmaceutical industry. The court s 5-to-4 ruling shields generic drug makers from failure-to-warn lawsuits as long as their product labels are identical to those of brand-name manufacturers. Generic pharmaceutical companies Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Mylan Inc.
In Tuesday s Wall Street Journal, Melinda Beck investigates the efficacy of the ubiquitous multivitamin. What she uncovers, in fact, is that the majority of us don t need one at all. Beck points to a 2007 National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel, which concluded that the present evidence is insufficient to recommend either for or against the use of [multivitamins and minerals] by the American public to prevent chronic disease.
The results of a new study should provide ample relief for coffee-loving women who are worried about heart disease.
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