It's often the case that we don’t have time to carefully evaluate everything in life. We often take shortcuts. If a reputable authority takes a position, it is convenient and usually safe to just accept their reasoning. It's not so simple in the case of air pollution, more regulations, and saving lives.
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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is when an infant under 1 year dies, for the most part, when sleeping. There are a handful of recommendations given to new parents to prevent it, mostly regarding the baby's sleeping environment. A new study shows that, although these recommendations are (mostly) adhered to at bedtime, it's a different story as the night wears on.
"Use by" and "sell by" labels are not about food safety, although it's easy to be confused by them. In fact, they're only pointers about when a food's quality might not be at its peak.
No one expected the DEA to claim marijuana is medical without any studies proving it, but it surprised the research community by removing a bottleneck on supply.
1. Nigeria Today has an article called 2 Things to Avoid if You Want to Live Longer. They certainly get one thing right - if not a secret to living longer, at least wealthier. That thing is not bothering with most supplements. They cite us as warning that it's the wild, wild west in supplement land - ironically, the kind of thing supplement buyers actually believe about science.
An analysis of 70 papers shows that most scientific research does not advance by "falsification," as philosopher Karl Popper made famous. Ironically, falsification has itself been falsified.
A team of chemists demonstrated that they can identify the true animal source of leather goods by examining collagen. This technique could be enormously useful for investigating cases in which counterfeit leather goods are suspected.
A study in the Malaria Journal suggests that chickens may be helpful in the fight against malaria. Unlike humans who in the United States last year consumed 90 pounds of chicken each, mosquitos are a bit fussier. Who knew?
1. A new study adds another layer to the debate about e-cigarettes and vaping. Though the government has determined in advance they must be harmful and a gateway to cigarettes, a survey finds it is just the opposite.
From 1986 to the present, the CDC has monitored pregnancy-related deaths. Surveillance data show a steadily increasing number of reported pregnancy related deaths up to 2012. The increase on its own may not turn heads, but in a global context, it depicts a slowly growing problem when compared to figures across other developed countries. And even more worrisome, experts have been unable to clearly identify the overall cause for the increase.
NEW YORK - Aug. 23, 2016 - PRLog -- Standing with Giants is a collection of essays written to honor Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, who co-founded the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) in 1978, and acknowledge both the broad spectrum of issues she tackled and her important imprint on public health.
Obesity and excess body fat — especially the type around the middle — can lead to excess fat within the liver. When this occurs, it can diminish the liver's ability to function, and if continued long enough can lead to liver failure. But exercise (and it doesn't have to be extreme) can turn this problem around, at least in Chinese adults.
We know you hate guessing games so lets' get right to the answer. An alarming 58 eight countries or territories currently have active Zika transmission. And those do not include those countries where someone brought it back home after becoming infected on a trip. Here's the breakdown.
In 1960, a Boeing mechanic was told he had renal failure – a death sentence. But he was started on an experimental technique – dialysis – which extended his life for 11 years and made him Patient Zero in this revolutionary area in health care. Today, Medicare spends more than $10 billion on dialysis, medications and laboratory testing for some 370,000 patients.
In 1972, the National Academy of Sciences asked me to investigate the persistence of Agent Orange and other defoliants used during the Vietnam War. For seven months, I walked in the chemical in my bare feet. Now at age 83, the bottom line is that I am a very healthy guinea pig after huge and nearly continuous exposure to herbicides.
We all know aerobic exercise -- running, swimming, walking briskly -- is good for the heart. Apparently it's also good for the brain, too. Researchers wanted to know what happens to the brains of older folks who exercised vigorously and often, if they stopped exercising. The report of their study was published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
Being around smokers is almost as weird for e-cigarette users as it is non-smokers.
The American Academy of Pediatrics wants to guide clinicians on “Countering Vaccine Hesitancy” among parents. This policy statement, published in the journal Pediatrics, rightly champions vaccination as "one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century." There is just one problem; pediatricians actually don't need more guidelines and protocols.
The first in a series of articles about all of the weird things that people put in places in their body, which then get stuck there. In short, decisions that make absolutely no sense.
In an effort to halt what some pediatricians are calling a rising tide in vaccine hesitancy, the American Academy of Pediatrics have released a statement urging states to crack down on parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. The recommendations go as far as stating that pediatricians reserve the right to exclude anti-vaccine families from the practice who refuse to change their minds.
Glutathione (GSH), a combination of three amino acids made by the body, had become a fad for skin bleaching. While it is a potent antioxidant, GSH supplements or injectables have not been widely tested or approved for skin lightening. And for anyone interested in using GSH for that purpose, we can only warn that the injectable form should not be given by unqualified individuals.
Energy drinks are popular — especially among younger consumers. Their high caffeine content can certainly give one an energy boost. But apparently that's not all they can do, and people with cardiac conditions or a family history of such would be well advised to limit their intake of these beverages.
According to a major study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, researchers have linked public transport usage with key health outcomes. Using a sample of over 150,000 British residents, they gave added credence to an important health principle known as active transportation.
So another know-nothing celebrity is promoting her own take on infant feeding — Kristin Cavallari is pushing her goat's milk formula. But accepted experts in the field, like those at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, advise against following her weird lead. As do we.
We here at ACSH are in a health war against smoking, not a war with Philip Morris or Altria or any other tobacco group. So if Big Tobacco can make money selling something besides cigarettes, great -- that is exactly what we have long said they should be doing. Meanwhile, nicotine, while addictive but relatively harmless by itself, is actually helping save lives, as it's being used by those who make their money in the cigarette business to get out of it.
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