Vaping is catching on. The number of American smokers who have tried e-cigarettes doubled in just a year, from 10 percent in 2010 to about 21 percent in 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Among former smokers, the number grew from 2.5 percent to 7.4 percent, according to the report in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
E-cigarette use is growing rapidly, says CDC Director Thomas Frieden. There is still a lot we don t know about these products, including whether they will decrease or increase use of traditional cigarettes.
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A new study linking breast cancer and the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is both concerning and comforting, but, without carefully studying the data it is not easy for most women (or their doctors ) to know what to make of this. Upon closer examination, however, the study actually helps clarify the controversial and sometimes contradictory issue what are the risks and benefits of HRT?
Financial incentives are used by about 67 percent of employers in order to encourage employees to adopt healthier habits. According to a new study, financial incentives may result in greater weight loss in obese employees. Further, group-based incentives had a larger impact on weight loss than individual incentives.
We don t often agree with The New York Times editorial board but they were spot-on Friday with an editorial questioning why genetically engineered food should be labeled.
If there is one area that has been clouded by confusion in recent years, it is the detection and treatment of prostate cancer.
About one third of adults in the United States have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. And although research has been done analyzing the differences in prevalence among racial/ethnic populations, less is known about variations between states.
Sometimes you don t know whether to laugh or cry. From thinking aliens landed at Roswell to believing President Obama is the anti-Christ, Americans believe in some pretty weird conspiracy theories, a new poll from Public Policy Polling has found.
It s common knowledge that obesity has become an important part of American health care costs, as well as impairing the quality of life for up to a third of the population. And experts have been concerned that obesity rates have increased all age groups in the last few decades. Both energy intake and expenditure are key aspects of body weight changes.
It seems like neither women nor their docs are getting the message about mammograms, which have been proven to do more harm than good in younger women. Mammogram rates actually increased slightly from 2008 to 2011, going from 51.9 percent to 53.6 percent, according to researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. [...]
The post Women are getting needless mammograms, study indicates appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
It is virtually impossible to be unaware of the huge (and growing) problem of opiate addiction in the US. While traditional narcotics (Percocet, Vicodin) have always been abused drugs, it is OxyContin that gets most of the news—and rightfully so. OxyContin contains 5-10 fold more oxycodone than a Percoset pill, and lacks the acetaminophen as [...]
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A column in yesterday’s Sunday Review showed how closely the writer, Ian Urbina, hews to the agenda of his apparent mentor, Nicholas Kristof, in trying to scare Times’ readers about the alleged dangers of toxic, unregulated chemicals. Of course, as we have noted recently, it’s the “TSCA reform” silly season, when those who feel passionately that [...]
The post New chemophobe-in-chief at the NYTimes? appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
It seems intuitive, but a food s packaging may contain cues that make you eat more or less without consciously realizing. And with the increase seen in snacking, packaging could make a huge difference in eating habits.
Before you give your young child medication, make sure to carefully read the label. According to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 40 percent of parents are giving children under four years of age cough medications they should not be taking. And 25 percent of parents reported giving [...]
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Former ACSH trustee Dr. Henry Miller, now a Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, argues in a recent letter to the Wall Street Journal that the major beneficiaries of genetically modified foods are small, poor farmers. Miller says, “[the] assertion that genetic engineering of crops leaves ‘cash-poor farmers dependent on buying seeds, fertilizer [...]
The post GMO crops help poor farmers appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Here’s an interesting idea: a set of underwear that can sense when a person smokes. Although this may not sound real, the National Institutes of Health actually awarded the University of Alabama two grants, totaling about $400,000 to make this project a reality. This money was used for two separate studies. One study involved bringing [...]
The post Underwear that can detect cigarette smoking appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Medical research is by its very nature, unpredictable. But every so often, something really unpredictable comes along, with the potential to provide radically different treatments for diseases or conditions.
The United States Supreme Court ruled — unanimously — that Monsanto Corp., the leading innovator and marketer of GM agricultural products, could enforce its contractual patent protections for its “Roundup Ready” soybeans. Roundup is glyphosate, Monsanto’s herbicide in use since the early 1970s. Crops with the Roundup-Ready gene are resistant to its effects, while the [...]
The post Score one for GM agriculture — and patent protections appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Most adults will suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives. It is the fifth most common reason for primary care office visits and medical expenditures for low back pain have been increasing since 1997. Spinal injection therapy is one treatment option for low back pain, but recent studies indicate that there [...]
The post Can injection therapy help low back pain sufferers? appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Watching your waistline? A new report suggests that smoking weed might be for you. Despite munchie myths, it was found that the BMI of the pot smoking community reflects a reduced prevalence of obesity. The study reported in the American Journal of Medicine sought to better understand the effects of marijuana on insulin levels in [...]
The post Toke up and slim down? appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
In the wake of a defeated attempt in California to require labeling of genetically engineered foods and ingredients, multiple other states are jumping on that disabled bandwagon. Washington State has such a bill pending, and Vermont’s House voted in favor of a labeling bill earlier this month. Now, the Connecticut Senate has also taken the [...]
The post GMO foolishness spreads to Northeast appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Those who are trying to impede the spread of the reduced-harm nicotine delivery device known as the e-cigarette will find their task at least a bit harder henceforth. One of the pseudo-arguments against smokers using this technology to help them quit is that young people who are non-smokers might find the devices attractive, try [...]
The post Anti e-cigarette propaganda exposed appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
A new meta-analysis suggests that breast cancer may be more deadly for women who have cosmetic implants, largely thought to be a result of receiving the diagnosis at a later stage. Study authors explain that the breast implants are “radio-opaque” — meaning they appear “light” on the dark breast tissue background — which makes it [...]
The post Breast implants linked to greater risk of dying from breast cancer? Not so fast. appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Josh Bloom in Medical Progress Today
The pharmaceutical industry does many wonderful things, yet most people regard it as one step below head lice on the food chain.
This week, Merck, with some questionable help from the FDA, gave more ammunition to industry critics, who typically maintain that the industry contributes little innovation, and is simply concerned with profits.
Well, that didn’t last long. Wrigley has taken its new caffeinated gum off the market while the Food and Drug Administration investigates the effect of caffeine on children and adolescents. Each of the eight pieces of Alert Energy gum contained about 40 milligrams of caffeine — about the equivalent as half a cup of coffee. [...]
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