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Although AIDS remains a major health problem in New York City (NYC), previous estimates of the number of persons infected with the AIDS virus in NYC were overstated, according to a new report by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), AIDS in New York City: Update 2001
"Obviously, we're disappointed."
Len Selfon, director of benefits programs for Vietnam Veterans of America, upon hearing that in a new study, Agent Orange was not found to have caused cancer in children (from the Associated Press, February 28, 2002).
Whether you are traveling around the world or relaxing at home, a safe, healthy vacation will add to your enjoyment. Here are some health and safety tips to keep in mind when planning your summer vacation.
The Dark Side of Summer Sun
Last week, an upstate New York judge ordered Johnita DeMatteo to stop smoking in her home and in her car if she wanted to maintain her visitation rights with her thirteen year-old son, who lives with his father.
The judge said he made the decision to protect the health of the child.
This case has generated enormous discussion about individual rights. And it has raised some very provocative issues, particularly when the basic facts behind the judge's decision are sorted out.
Supporters of organic agricultural systems promote their exclusive use for a variety of reasons. These include: a dislike of large agribusiness; fear of health effects from traces of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered material, or irradiated products; concern about the environmental effects of conventional agricultural systems; and finally a belief that organic products are nutritionally superior to conventionally-produced ones.
The activist writers from TomPaine.com, in one of their bimonthly ads in the New York Times, asserted that President Bush "would rather protect the profits of his political patrons than protect public health or the nation's natural heritage," accused Bush of gutting government program, and said he must hope "voters don't catch on."
A HealthFactsAndFears.com Interview
HealthFactsAndFears.com: What was the occasion that led you to testify to the Senate Committee on Government Affairs?
Based on a Technical Paper by Clare Hasler, Ph.D.
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Stier vs. Environmental Working Group
ACSH Associate Director, Jeff Stier recently participated in a debate against the Environmental Working Group on National Public Radio's Justice Talking. Below is a brief summary of his remarks. The debate may be heard at: http://www.justicetalking.org/shows/show210.asp
Summary of Stier's remarks
I once had a high school history teacher who would put Scotch tape between her eyebrows in a desperate attempt to stop frowning and prevent wrinkles. Those were the pre-Botox days. Now, she could very easily just stop by one of the growing number of Botox parties, munch on sushi, sip champagne, and be shot with a diluted-form of botulism a "natural" toxin known for causing disability and death. Everyone seems to be doing it, yet no one seems to be concerned or discussing its "toxic" nature. Should they be?
In October of last year, all Americans got a crash course in bioterrorism. Anthrax-laced letters made postal workers, members of the media, and others sick. Seventeen people fell ill and five died.
For the last couple years, Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Kelly Brownell, Yale psychology professor, have been promoting the idea of a "Twinkie tax." According to their reasoning, a small tax on so-called "junk foods" soft drinks and snack foods could be used to fund nutrition and exercise education programs to fight the national obesity epidemic. Their ideas were published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2000 (vol. 90, pg. 854).
Contrary to popular wisdom, mayonnaise in your summer chicken salad is usually not the cause of food poisoning it is more likely that the source of the problem is improperly handled chicken (undercooked, unrefrigerated or both). Likewise, merely protecting yourself against UVB sunrays will not necessarily prevent skin damage or skin cancer. These tips are among many released today by a panel of scientists from the American Council on Science and Health to help people avoid some of the potential drawbacks of summertime fun.
The safety tips include:
Last week's Journal of the America Medical Association reported that air pollution, particularly pollution characterized by combustion-related fine particulate matter, causes lung cancer.
ACSH's unflappable medical director Gilbert Ross was quoted in the May 8, 2002 New York Times article "Study Finds Far Less Pesticide Residue on Organic Produce":
"So what?" said the council's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "The health risks associated with pesticide residues on food are not at all established. I think the amount of pesticide residues to which we are exposed on our foods pose no significant health risks to human beings."
"Fast food restaurants" are "a weapon of mass destruction."
Green Party presidential candidate, lawyer, and anti-capitalist Ralph Nader, lamenting rising obesity and the devastation of French culture during a speech in Paris (as reported May 17 by AFP). Further evidence that there is no sense of proportion on the left and no aversion to inflammatory rhetoric.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia (general mental deterioration) in the United States today. AD occurs primarily, though not exclusively, in the elderly. Although there currently is no established way to prevent or cure AD, a new report by the American Council on Science and Health(ACSH), Alzheimer's Disease: A Status Report For 2002, points out that the current spate of research into new diagnostic methods and pharmaceutical treatment holds hope for the future.
Based on a a Scientific Review Paper by John P. Blass, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Dementia Research Service
Burke Medical Research Institute
By Todd Seavey
Neither ACSH's assistant director of public health Ashlee Dunston nor our medical director Dr. Gilbert Ross think the new nicotine-laced (or "nico") water is a particularly useful or desirable product, but they disagree on whether the FDA followed its own regulatory logic in deciding to ban the product. Whether the FDA should be in the business of regulating at all is a debate that will have to be left for another time.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest started its campaign against trans fats six years ago, and ACSH warned back then that the folks at CSPI are a bunch of irresponsible scare-mongers, always claiming in the fine print that they don't mean to alarm anyone but always knowing that their periodic anti-food pronouncements do just that. (Trans fats, like any fats, can be bad for the heart if eaten in excess, but there is nothing strange or toxic or especially insidious about them.)
Each square centimeter of skin harbors around 100,000 bacteria, and a single teaspoon of topsoil contains nearly one billion bacteria. The thought of these tiny creatures permeating every aspect of our daily life makes most of us uneasy, even a little queasy. Consequently, Americans spend $540 million on antibacterial soaps, hand cleaners, and detergents each year, and in the past year, more than three hundred million prescriptions for antibiotics were issued in the United States.
Some of the most negative and unfounded criticisms of food single out animal fats and, by inference, all products that contain them. Such criticisms typically make vague reference to heart disease, cancer, or both, and they are often repeated by nutritionists and health care specialists writing for syndicated columns that are read by thousands of people. Such communications are a disservice to readers for several reasons.
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