As the Alzheimer s Association International Conference 2012 in Vancouver, Canada wraps up today, we find ourselves inundated with new findings related to the disease. Among these were two studies revealing that binge drinking among older people increases the risk of cognitive decline and memory loss.
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n a recent Op-Ed for Reuters, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg boasted about the success of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The news would be quite welcome if only it were true.
Josh Bloom, Forbes August 9, 2012, "The Contraction Of Pharma Means Innovation Goes Out With a Bang"
Given all the analyses and post-mortems of America s pharmaceutical industry, it is impossible to avoid the notion that a lack of innovation has left the industry in its current, sorry state.
A new study finds that between 1993 and 2009, antipsychotic drug prescriptions skyrocketed among U.S. children and adolescents.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients will be keeping their fingers crossed that the first oral immune-mediator treatment for the disease will be approved by the FDA.
Claiming the lives of nearly 1.4 million people globally in 2010, tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer due to a single infectious agent. And while TB, a contagious bacterial disease whose greatest damage is generally done to the lungs, is curable, standard anti-TB drug regimens require long treatment durations at least six months, which often becomes a therapeutic barrier.
Last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced yet another beverage restriction in New York City. But rather than reducing soda sizes, this time he s targeting baby formula. In an effort to encourage more mothers to breast-feed, Bloomberg and the NYC Department of Health are pushing for hospitals to keep track of the quantity of baby formula stored, as well as how much is distributed.
We d like our readers to take note of a recent speech by ACSH colleague Jon Entine, who authored our publication Scared to Death: How Chemophobia Threatens Public Health. Mr. Entine is a senior research fellow at the Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University and director of the Genetic Literacy Project.
A recent study published in JAMA finds that patients undergoing total hip replacement (THR) and total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries have an increased risk of heart attacks.
A new mother is faced with many important issues and must make key decisions while still in the fog of post-partum joy and pain, and confusion. One such decision is whether to breastfeed or hit the bottle: infant formula.
A survey just published in the CDC s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report revealed that 1 in 13 or about 8 percent of pregnant women drink alcohol. The report also noted that about 1.4 percent of pregnant women binge-drink defined as having four or more drinks on one occasion.
Last week, the European Medicines Agency the EU analog of our FDA announced that it is, for the first time, recommending a gene therapy product for the treatment of a rare disease called lipoprotein lipase deficiency.
Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued new Guidelines for Child Passenger Safety. These include the recommendation that kids remain in a rear-facing car seat until at least the age of two, and in booster seats until they reach about 57 tall the average height of an 11-year-old. Though such protective measures may seem stringent to some, it s important for parents to remember that, in the U.S., motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for kids older than three and are responsible for sending over 140,000 children to the emergency room each year.
A recent study published in Current Biology finds that researchers are now able to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine a person s age with about 92 percent accuracy at least if they re between the ages of 3 and 20. But aside from simply being a neat trick, the technology can be used to detect abnormal brain development within that age range a key period of brain development.
Good news: U.S. cases of chickenpox have fallen by nearly 80 percent between 2000 and 2010, the CDC reports. And much of that decline can be attributed to vaccination.
Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. diff, is a potentially deadly infection of the colon, most often affecting hospital patients. But many now question whether hospitals are doing everything they can to prevent the infection from occurring.
Vitamin D-deficient kids may benefit from supplementation, according to the results of a new study published in the journalPediatrics. The new report found that such children had fewer colds during the winter.
If young children are showing signs of a weight problem, it s best for parents to take action sooner rather than later, according to a new study. Published online yesterday in the journal Pediatrics, the latest research suggests that weight gained early in childhood will be much harder to lose by the teenage years.
Nearly a third of Americans over age 65 fall each year, resulting in almost 20,000 deaths, over two million emergency room visits, and medical costs exceeding $28 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And, as we ve discussed before, the loss of mobility following such falls can lead to a significant decline in an older person s overall health.
It turns out that the stress of a demanding job, combined with having little control over it, could be a deadly combination, according to a recent UK study. In a meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies, researchers from University College London analyzed the association of job stress defined as high work demands and low decision control with the risk of heart disease.
It was no surprise to ACSH staffers and many New Yorkers yesterday when news broke that the New York City Board of Health had approved a mayoral regulation banning super-sized sugary drinks at certain restaurants, concession stands, and other eateries.
The growing popularity of so-called energy drinks among young people has prompted an investigation into whether the companies are misleading consumers about risks associated with the beverages.
Combining vitamin B3 (niacin) with current antibiotics may help to better treat staph infections, according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
For the study, scientists from Oregon State University found that mice and human blood cells treated with large doses of vitamin B3 combated staph infections more effectively, compared to control samples.
ACSH staffers couldn t help but shake their heads in disappointment this morning at a recent New York Times article questioning the safety of our furniture. The piece, entitled How Dangerous is Your Couch, is an extremely long recounting of Dr. Arlene Blum s crusade against the toxic chemicals found in furniture.
Even as California finds itself in the midst of a whooping cough epidemic, more parents are actually foregoing some or all vaccines for their children at great risk to public health.
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