In the past year, the FDA has rejected three weight-loss drugs over safety concerns. In October, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. s lorcaserin was one of the drugs on the chopping block after the agency cited certain rat studies that showed it was tied to a possible cancer risk.
Search
Biomarkers detectable in spinal fluid and blood, magnetic resonance imaging, and tests of cognition (memory) are all means of assessing whether a person will develop Alzheimer s disease. But for now, says a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry, the latter test requiring nothing more technical than a paper-based test and a pen is the most accurate means of predicting the disease.
There is an odor wafting from the University of Washington very like the one we discussed last October and once again, the source is Dr. Anne Steinemann s claims that commercial fragrances are hazardous to our health. Dr. Steinemann s most recent research, published in this month s Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, alleges that scented laundry and dryer sheets can cause cancer.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross and Jody Manley have just returned from an FDA workshop on modified risk tobacco products (MRTP), which was convened as directed in the 2009 law granting regulatory authority over tobacco products to the FDA. The goal is to assess the form that such regulation will take over MRTPs such as smokeless and dissolvable tobacco, as well as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes).
As Hurricane Irene approaches the Eastern Seaboard, a little commonsense advice:
First, if you ve been told to evacuate, you need to get to higher ground as soon as possible. If you don t plan to evacuate, there s still the chance that you ll face flooding and wind damage, so make sure to prepare yourself with flashlights and batteries, as well as stores of food and water that will last a minimum of five days.
Dr. Neal Benowitz, a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a member of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, acknowledges that use of smokeless tobacco (ST) could reduce harm to smokers if they switched to the products entirely. He reviewed the literature and found, surprisingly, total agreement with our approach: ST is not a risk for cardiovascular disease and is only a minimal risk for pancreatic cancer (far less than smoking).
A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal finds that heart patients on antiplatelet agents (such as Plavix and aspirin) who are prescribed a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are at a greater risk of internal bleeding.
Does the proverbial apple a day really prevent stroke, as a Dutch study now in the journal Stroke suggests? Or is it just that the kind of people who eat more fruits and vegetables are more likely to lead healthier lifestyles in general? Who knows?
In a new study comparing the difference in the age at breast cancer diagnosis between older and younger generations of women with the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer gene mutations, researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that breast cancer is diagnosed about eight years earlier in the younger women.
Finally a bit of sound science and common sense seems to be percolating from an official governmental agency unfortunately, not in our country. The U.K.'s Cabinet level behavioral insight team, better known as the nudge unit, is encouraging the use of smokeless nicotine cigarettes to help addicted smokers quit, thus hoping to prevent tens of thousands of smoking-related deaths among Britons.
More good news on the anti-smoking front strikes closer to home, as the latest statistics reveal that adult smoking rates in New York fell to a record low of just 14 percent in 2010, compared to 22 percent in 2002. The declining trend was also present among high school students, since only 7 percent were smokers last year as opposed to 18 percent in 2001.
Last year, ACSH released a report highlighting breast cancer organizations that relied on flawed science and chemophobia to support the alleged link between environmental chemicals and breast cancer.
When it comes to deciding whether to screen asymptomatic adults for coronary artery disease (CAD) with either a resting or exercise ECG, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has not changed its guidelines since its recommendation in 2004 against such routine screening. This year, a group of researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University looked into whether the guidelines were due for an update.
Just last week we reported that the smoking rate in New York City dropped to an all-time low of 14 percent down from 22 percent in 2002. The rate of smoking in the state as a whole has also declined. So we were surprised to read that the American Cancer Society (ACS) is criticizing the state for spending less than the recommended amount on tobacco control programs.
Proven to be the leading cause of cervical cancer, the human papillomavirus (HPV) has recently been linked to anal and oral cancer as well. That s why it s important for young men and women to protect themselves against those strains of the virus with the HPV vaccine. Currently, the vaccine schedule consists of three shots that are spaced months apart, but unfortunately, a three-dose regimen may not be economically feasible for many.
It would come as no surprise to us to learn that the number of flu outbreaks has decreased in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities whose workers have higher rates of vaccination.
At this week s annual American Dietetic Association conference in San Diego, ACSH advisor Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington in Seattle, presented his latest research on the government s misguided dietary guidelines.
As we have often noted, independent and government-sponsored studies worldwide have repeatedly found that normal exposure to the plastic hardener bisphenol-A (BPA) poses no risk to human health. Further supporting this is a new clinical study out of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine that found no correlation between BPA levels in urine and type 2 diabetes.
A healthful diet may actually lower a woman s risk of having a child with serious birth defects, reports a study now online in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Lisa R. Lauve is the new sheriff at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana, and her first order of business is to cut down on third-hand smoke. Starting July 1 of next year, the entire hospital campus will be subject to an anti-tobacco policy such that current staff members who smoke will have one year to make whatever adjustments they need in order to quit smoking or at least forgo the habit while at work.
The results of a new study published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology reveal a worrisome trend: Throat cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) are on the rise, especially among men.
Fluoridating water reduces the incidence of tooth decay by 25 percent nationwide and is heralded as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the twentieth century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nevertheless, the practice has been rejected by about 200 jurisdictions over the past four years.
Despite ACSH's efforts to promote sound scientific practices in public health research and journalism, there are always some researchers who seem to manipulate data and stretch them to limits unjustified by any rational interpretation. And, what's more, ostensible science journalists continue to publicize these non-studies as more important than they are.
Are hospitals really doing enough to help smokers quit the dangerous habit? The numbers seem impressive: The records show that they re providing advice on smoking cessation to 99 percent of heart attack patients, 97 percent of heart failure patients, and 95 percent of pneumonia patients. But a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that they re not doing an adequate job.
A previously feared link between ACE inhibitors (a common treatment for high blood pressure) and congenital heart defects may actually be unfounded, a recent study suggests.
Pagination
ACSH relies on donors like you. If you enjoy our work, please contribute.
Make your tax-deductible gift today!