The past twelve months produced a bumper crop of health scares, according to physicians and scientists with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). In a new roundup, ACSH describes the genesis of 10 of the most outrageous ones, and explains why they are scares with little or no basis in scientific fact.
“Food and nutrition are always prime targets for outlandish pronouncements,” stated Dr. Ruth Kava, ACSH nutrition director. This year the false food-related scares included:
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A January 10, 2007 column by George Mason University economics professor Walter Williams, appearing in Human Events, in Deseret News, and on PittsburghLive.com, mentions the reaction of ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan to the trans fat hysteria:
A February 1, 2007 piece by Heartland Institute's Sandra Fabry notes the reaction of ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan to measures such as "fat taxes":
While acknowledging there is a measurable major increase in Americans being overweight, Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, thinks taxing certain food groups is the wrong answer to the obesity problem.
A January 23, 2007 article by Kelly Bothum notes a trans fat marketing insight from ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan:
Elizabeth Whelan, an epidemiologist and president of the American Council on Science and Health in New York, said the food industry has succeeded in over-hyping trans fats into a marketing bonanza.
Near the end of 2005, we (David W. Kuneman, a retired pharmaceutical chemist, and Michael J. McFadden, author of Dissecting Antismokers' Brains) and the SmokersClubInc. Newsletter issued a press release and published the outline and results of a study (1) that should have made media headlines around the world while bringing the juggernaut of smoking bans, if not to a crashing halt, at least to a stumble.
With the sixth anniversary of terrorist attacks approaching, it is easy to feel helpless and scared about what some believe to be an inevitable future attack. But there are things you can do to protect yourself:
1. Keep your ears and eyes open. Report any suspicious behavior. Watch for unusually dressed people (long sleeves or overcoat on a warm day) or people wearing protective gear. Look out for unattended packages.
In September, this daily opportunity to listen in on ACSH staffers' conversations will be e-mailed to donors each morning. It will be available to the general public the next day.
You can become a donor at http://www.acsh.org/support/ or send a tax-deductible donation to:
American Council on Science and Health1995 Broadway, 2nd floorNew York, NY 10023
For questions, please call Jeff Stier at 212-362-7044 x225 or e-mail Tara McTeague at McTeagueT[at]acsh.org.
In this week's New England Journal of Medicine, three separate publications deal with the current status of children's vaccines and the litigation swirling around them. The main article is yet another large study debunking any connection between infants' exposure to mercury in vaccines and autism or any other neurodevelopmental condition. I wonder -- along with thousands of doctors and scientists around the world -- whether there will ever be enough evidence to silence those who continue to make these unfounded assertions?
Yesterday's style section of the New York Times splashed an unappealing picture on its cover: two models backstage at the Prada fashion show in Milan, one on her Blackberry, both smoking cigarettes.
A May 29, 2007 piece by the Reason Foundation's Ted Balaker cites ACSH:
This piece first appeared on July 25, 2007 on TCSDaily.com.
In his new documentary Sicko, which calls for nationalized health care, Michael Moore shows a montage of ads urging the viewer to "ask your doctor" about various medications, implying the ads are responsible for over-medicating society. Lucky for patients, not everyone in Congress agrees with him. At least not yet.
This piece originally appeared on June 20, 2007 on HuffingtonPost.com:
In September, this daily opportunity to listen in on ACSH staffers' conversations will be e-mailed to donors each morning. It will be available to the general public the next day.
You can become a donor at http://www.acsh.org/support/ or send a tax-deductible donation to:
American Council on Science and Health1995 Broadway, 2nd floorNew York, NY 10023
For questions, please call Jeff Stier at 212-362-7044 x225 or e-mail Tara McTeague at McTeagueT[at]acsh.org.
A June 18, 2007 entry on the National Public Radio blog mentions the reaction of ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan to Kellogg's' decision to partner (under duress) with Center for Science in the Public Interest to change its cereal marketing practices:
A September 19, 2007 piece on the Wills, Trusts, and Estates Profs Blog notes Jeff Stier's New York Post piece on incentivizing organ donation:
A July 17, 2007 piece notes ACSH Trustee Dr. Norman Borlaug receiving the Congressional Gold Medal (to add to his Presidential Medal of Freedom, Nobel Peace Prize, and numerous other accolades):
Besides being a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Borlaug is also a founding director of the American Council on Science and Health, an organization that works to provide scientifically valid information to the media and consumers.
One fourth of cancer patients who are over the age of fifty and undergoing radiation therapy did not get their Centers for Disease Control-recommended annual flu vaccination, according to a study presented this week at the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. The study also found that more than one third of cancer patients over the age of sixty-five were not getting the pneumonia vaccine, which is also a CDC guideline.
October 22, 2007: FDA Man Likes Special Cigarettes, Hospital Workers Dislike Flu Shots
-- Quote to Note: “We know that vaccinating nursing home staff reduces influenza-related death rates among frail patients." --Jane Zucker, infectious disease epidemiologist.
-- Unbelievable. Not only does this word describe the weather in New York (high of 78 degrees in late October?), but it also describes several health-related stories published this weekend.
A recent "health" column in USA Today ("'Everywhere chemicals' in plastics alarm parents," Oct. 30) attempts yet again to scare the public -- especially parents of young children -- about the alleged "endocrine-disrupting" effects of common chemicals, specifically bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates. The specific phthalate attacked, the vinyl plasticizer DEHP, is found in many healthcare products, including intravenous tubing and bags, and some instruments used in surgery.
Bupropion, a drug taken for smoking cessation and prescribed most often for adults, is yielding only short-lived results in adolescents according to an article in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Each year 1.5 million adolescents in the U.S. light up for the first time and 416,000 of those go on to make it a daily habit. The numbers are staggering and unfortunately our current cessation treatment methods are showing little success, and even that success is often short-lived.
November 12, 2007: Desperate Smoker, Scary Chemicals, More Fat
-- Quote to Note: "I can say 'don't smoke,' but you know, people said that to me for years. It's more a matter of saying you know, make sure that you have adequate medical care, make sure that you are getting chest X-rays." --Actress Kathryn Joosten, quoted by ABC on having lung cancer and the "reasons" she survived.
Pedometers -- those little devices worn at the waist to count steps -- are popular tools for documenting activity levels, and it's now been documented that their use can help motivate users to increase their exercise levels. Dr. Dena M. Bravata and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School (JAMA 2007;298:2297) combined and evaluated data from twenty-six studies of the effects of pedometer use on activity levels and various health indices.
November 16, 2007: No Industry Experts Allowed -- They May Eat iPods
-- Quote to Note: "So the immediate takeaway is, don't eat your iPhone or your earbuds?" --CNN American Morning co-anchor John Roberts, about reports that iPods contain phthalates and bromides.
November 16, 2007 -- New York, NY. Scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health analyzed the natural foods that make up a traditional holiday dinner -- and have found that they are loaded with "carcinogens": chemicals that in large doses cause cancer in laboratory animals. None of these chemicals are made by man or added to the foods. Indeed, all of these "carcinogens" occur naturally in foods. But ACSH scientists have good news: these natural carcinogens pose no hazard to human health.
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