This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
We have an epidemic of disbelief about cancer in this country -- but it's the opposite of what you probably expect. Cancer death rates have been falling for years, and now are falling even faster. Yet it's still stories about allegedlyignored cancer threats that grab our attention.
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A November 7, 2007 piece by the Business & Media Institute's Jeff Poor quoted ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava on a study of energy drinks:
On November 7, American Morning reported on a small study conducted by the American Heart Association with only 15 participants. They concluded energy drinks “may pose risks” for people with high blood pressure and heart disease.
But the study wasn’t conclusive enough to say energy drinks are a danger to just anyone.
A November 8, 2007 "Planet in Peril" piece hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper featured ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan responding to anti-chemical hype:
COOPER: Elizabeth, let's start with you. You think a lot of this is overblown. Most of it -- the presence of chemicals doesn't necessarily mean...
An article in Skeptic Volume 13, Number 3 by Sidney Zion quotes ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan on exaggerations about secondhand smoke's effects:
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that men who took Pravachol, a statin targeted at lowering cholesterol, for five years had lower incidence of heart attacks and death from heart disease ten years after cessation of treatment with the statin.
A November 19, 2007 article by Steve Mitchell notes the opposition of ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan to a Devra Davis book and a separate report blaming industrial chemicals for disease:
Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science andHealth, a group funded in part by industry, told PTCN she disagreed with both the Collaborative report and Davis' book.
A September 20, 2007 piece by Elizabeth Solomont quotes ACSH's Dr. Whelan wondering about the implications of genetic screening for disease risk:
Even those who described themselves as supportive of preventative medicine said there is a question of cost.
"No one really knows where this is going," the president of the American Council on Science and Health, Elizabeth Whelan, said. "It really is going to take a new commitment to spending on prevention."
February 11, 2008: Artificial Jarvik, Troubled Ledger, Fat Twins, Menaced Babies
¢Quote to Note: "I'm confused. The way they do these studies shouldn't the rats have died from cancer or something before they could become obese?" -- Comment by "OceanLover" on Lucianne.com News Forum about a study linking saccharin consumption to obesity in rats.
Be afraid, be very afraid, if you love to eat prunes or dried pears -- at least if you believe the hype about naturally occurring acrylamide in foods being a real risk to human health. Swiss scientists reported at a symposium held by the American Chemical Society that acrylamide can be found in some dried fruits. Since 2002, when Swedish scientists discovered that acrylamide is formed in carbohydrate-containing food cooked at high temperatures, there has been a concerted effort to scare consumers about foods such as French fries and potato chips.
Even after all the studies denying any link between vaccines and autism, last week we read an unbelievable headline: "U.S. Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism."
Some activist "watchdogs" are again attempting to manipulate parents' natural concerns about their babies, without medical or scientific evidence. A few days ago, the uproar was over baby powder and lotions alleged to be delivering toxic phthalates; today, it's baby bottles and plastic water bottles leaching supposedly-toxic bisphenol-A (BPA). Both of these attacks are false.
Scare after scare appears in the popular press -- with news blaming traces of all sorts of chemicals and "toxins" for causing cancer. But it is becoming ever more apparent that many types of cancer are in fact linked more to lifestyle-related choices such as smoking and, now, obesity.
The Food and Drug Administration has finally taken action against pharmacies that sell so-called bio-identical hormone therapy. Last week, letters from the FDA were sent to seven compounding pharmacies, instructing them to stop using false and misleading terminology such as "bio-identical" when selling their products. Furthermore, the FDA told the pharmacies to discontinue the use of estriol, a form of the hormone estrogen, which is essentially an unapproved drug.
Nora Ephron's many-faceted career includes acclaim as a film director, producer, screenwriter, and novelist. Now she may also claim fame as an intuitive epidemiologist -- thanks to her recent column in the New York Times ("The Chicken Soup Chronicles" ).
It may be hard to believe, but apparently there really are officials in both the UK and France who are not afraid of the use of biotechnology to improve and expand the food supply.
Originally devised to help hypertensive patients lower their blood pressure, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern includes relatively large amounts of plant-derived foods, moderate amounts of low-fat dairy foods, and low amounts of animal protein. A new study by Dr. Teresa Fung and colleagues (Arch Intern Med 2008; 168:713) indicates that women who adhere to such a dietary pattern may lower their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke as well.
This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
Get your plastic grocery bags while you can. By Earth Day, that is, Tuesday, the national chain Whole Foods Market will no longer offer shoppers plastic bags -- leaving consumers who don't want reusable canvas bags one choice: paper.
Unfortunately, paper has its own drawbacks, such as: it's preferred by cockroaches -- like those contributing to New York City's asthma epidemic.
Some parents may be sending their children to school with brown bag lunches this week, and who could blame them? The Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. based in California recently issued a recall of 143 million pounds for all of its raw and frozen beef products since Feb 1, 2006. It is the largest-ever meat recall in the U.S., the previous record being set in 1999 when another company -- Thorn Apple Valley -- recalled 35 million pounds of ground beef.
California may once again target innocuous beverages -- caffeine-containing sodas and energy drinks -- for labeling with the dreaded Proposition 65 warning label. According to an Associated Press article, a California advisory board is calling for a study to determine if such beverages pose a risk to pregnant women.
ACSH applauds the animated sitcom King of the Hill, which last night depicted the town of Arlen, Texas, fighting back against a trans fat ban, which was quickly followed by numerous other food bans. Hank Hill and the other "freedom fighters" in the story (who decide to run a black market food van) explicitly chastised the town's fashionable but unscientific new rules by pointing out they'd do nothing to solve problems like childhood obesity. Eventually the bans were overturned -- and we only wish New York City were as wise as Arlen.
MORNING DISPATCH 10/10/08: Tobacco, Infections, HIV, and Rights for Plants
MORNING DISPATCH 7/25/08: Rep. Barton, Dr. Miller, Tomatoes, HIV, Meat, and Candy
DISPATCH 6/13/08: Scary Curtains, Diarrhea, Expired Medicine, Floods, and Fat
New York, NY -- August 27, 2008. Nuclear energy is the cleanest source of electrical power available today, according to an analysis by scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). Their main points are summarized in the brochure Nuclear Energy and Health: What's the Story?
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