The long-awaited results of a clinical trial of the world s first potential malaria vaccine among infants are finally in and somewhat disappointing.
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The nation's rate of premature births is the lowest in a decade. Dropping for the fifth straight year, the preterm birth rate in 2011 was 11.7 percent, giving the U.S. a C, according to the March of Dimes Report Card. The March of Dimes has set a goal of 9.6 percent by 2020.
It s like adding insult to injury: Taking antibiotics for an infection, only to end up with a severe case of diarrhea. Now a new meta-analysis suggests that probiotics taken alongside antibiotics can dramatically cut one s risk of getting a bad case of diarrhea associated with a certain nasty type of bacteria, called Clostridium difficile or C.diff.
Activists are yet again trying to demonize high-fructose corn syrup, this time with a new study that purports to find a higher prevalence of diabetes in countries whose populations seemingly consume more of the sweetener than other countries. The study found that the rate of type 2 diabetes was 20 percent higher in those countries where HFCS was used commonly.
Kids can be mean, especially if you stick out from the crowd. A new study, published in Pediatrics, suggests that nearly half of kids with food allergies have been bullied,with a third reporting the bullying was food-related. One-eighth had been forced to touch the food that triggered their allergy, and one-tenth actually had the dangerous food thrown at them.
ACSH trustee Dr. James Enstrom is getting some support in his legal battle against the University of California at Los Angeles, which last year fired the epidemiologist from his post at the UCLA School of Public Health, a position he had held since 1976.
Everyone is trying to find an answer as to why first world countries, and America in particular, have had such a growing obesity problem over the past two decades. Could our exploding waistlines be caused by the sweetener known as high-fructose corn syrup?
The U.S. is backsliding when it comes to tobacco control, the American Lung Association says. The group has just issued its annual report card on how well the federal government, states and cities are doing on cessation efforts, giving many Ds and Fs.
The report card grades the various authorities on how well they are doing in preventing tobacco use, helping smokers quit and protecting the public from secondhand smoke.
In the "nothing new under the sun" department, Bendectin - now called Diclegis - a drug that was long ago used to treat morning sickness, is going back on pharmacy shelves after a 30 year absence.
Along with the increased prevalence of obesity, Americans have seen a coincident surge in the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). While there are numerous pharmaceutical treatments available, weight loss is seen as perhaps the most effective means of both preventing and treating the condition. As anyone who has tried to shed even a few pounds knows well, substantial weight loss is often difficult to attain and maintain.
Josh Bloom, Medical Progress Today, 4/17/13 "OxyContin(ues)- The FDA gets it right"
The age-old debate about pharmaceutical patents, novelty, and money will probably never end.
Sarah Kavanaugh, a 15-year-old Mississippi high school student, is making headlines with a petition she began that calls on PepsiCo. to stop using brominated vegetable oil in its Gatorade brand of sports drinks.
We re facing a critical shortage of new antibiotics that may lead to an inability to practice modern medicine, according to Dr. Carl F. Nathan, chairman of the department of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He explains, in a New York Times op-ed, how economic and scientific factors are to blame.
ACSH has been in the forefront of countering specious fears about vaccines — that MMR shots cause autism, polio vaccines sterilize Muslim or Hindu girls, or that the HPV vaccine will lead to promiscuity, for example. Now some researchers have developed a surveillance system, reported in The Lancet, to track vaccine mentions, and used it [...]
The post Using the Internet to find vaccine fear-mongering appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
When dining out at a restaurant, you might be getting more than you’re paying for — in terms of calories, fat and cholesterol that is. According to two new studies published in JAMA, even though fast food often gets a bad reputation, smaller chain restaurants may actually be more harmful to your health. And it [...]
The post Nutritional content of smaller-chain restaurants may be worse than fast-food appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
A clinical trial that followed 14,641 doctors for over a decade has found those who took multivitamins were 8 percent less likely to get cancer but ACSH is very skeptical about this study, for reasons we ll get to later.
Every October 24, people around the world join together to shed light on the importance of eradicating the devastatingly crippling disease of polio.
For years ACSH has been pointing out the limits of animal testing in predicting human disease risk. So we were pleased to see an article in the recent issue of Harvard Magazine –”Mice Aren’t Men,” reporting on a study which asked if the bodies of mice react to disease and trauma in the same way [...]
The post Animal testing predictive of human disease risk? No! appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Have you talked about sex lately with your teen? Researchers say it might be a good time to start. The number of teens giving birth has plummeted by 30 percent across the country, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The reason? Some say that it’s better communication with teens. [...]
The post Teen births down 30 percent appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
In a small study presented at the AHA meetings, Dutch researchers tested the comparative effect on platelet stickiness of bedtime aspirin vs. morning aspirin. The bedtime dose had a more potent effect, with implications for reducing the toll of morning heart attacks, perhaps.
New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, in his latest opus entitled Danger Lurks in That Mickey Mouse Couch wait, did he really say that? Anyway, Nick has gone off the
There are exactly two drugs that act as specific antiviral agents against influenza. Both of them (Relenza and Tamiflu) act by the same mechanism by inhibiting the enzyme neuraminidase, which is responsible for cutting free the newly formed virus particles from the host cell. In the absence of neuraminidase, the new viruses will stick to the surface of the infected cell and thus not be available to propagate the infection.
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for advanced coronary artery disease (CAD) narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart muscle causing chest pain (angina), heart attack, or sudden death came into
A new scientific statement in the journal Stroke, published by the American Heart Association (in concert with the American Stroke
What do 78 calories look like? Well, it s the equivalent of about one medium apple, or a cookie, a glass of milk. It s also the
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