Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening is a commonly ordered test, despite it s being a highly debated public health practice, and despite recent recommendations which continue to condemn the screening strategy. However, despite the US Preventive Services Task Force s (USPSTF) and other experts recommendations against routine
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A new advisory from a Federal panel finds strong evidence that low-dose aspirin reduces the risk of preeclampsia in women at risk of this worrisome pregnancy-related condition. Of course, this recommendation should be individualized for patients.
Benzodiazepines are drugs that are commonly prescribed to combat anxiety, or as sedatives and muscle relaxants. They include Xanax, Librium, Valium, and Halcion, and several others. We ve known the up-and-downsides of such drugs for many years, as well as their addictive tendencies. But a new study provides concern that we might need to add another risk to that list.
In his recent opinion piece published in the New York Post, ACSH friend and former trustee (and former FDA official) Dr. Henry Miller questions the FDA s decision to grant permission for expanded access to
There is no doubt that the use and abuse of opioids narcotics related to morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc. is on the rise. There is also no doubt that the rate of addiction and overdose deaths are also headed upward.
So, what do you do about it? And, does what you re doing make sense?
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) thinks that it has a solution stringent restrictions in the legal use of narcotic painkiller.
Chronic knee pain is very common in adults over the age of 50, most commonly as a result of osteoarthritis. Sufferers often turn to alternative therapies such as acupuncture used by about three million Americans each year - to relieve pain despite the mixed results of studies looking into its effectiveness. A new study published in JAMA
This past Tuesday, Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. signed a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags in grocery and convenience stores, making California the first state to ban plastic bags. The law will take effect in July 2015, when plastic
The last time we discussed enterovirus about a month ago, it was confined to the Midwest. Now, federal official have confirmed 538 cases in 43 states, although this number is likely a gross underestimate, since most such
Anaphylaxis (a severe, systemic allergic reaction) can be life-threatening. While this life-threatening reaction is quite uncommon, among the commonest causes of anaphylaxis include drug allergies, food allergies, and insect bites and stings. People who are known to be
A potentially groundbreaking ruling in the UK may portend the removal of an unscientific and anti-public-health provision of the European Union s tobacco regulation proposal. This would be a case of addition by subtraction, we hope.
Some junk science studies can be difficult to detect. Some, however, require no effort at all. Here we have one shining example of the latter not that you could tell from all the media hype surrounding this nonsense.
The new Nature article, claiming that artificial sweeteners might contribute to obesity, seemed to be so chemically naive, that ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, after a brief perusal of the authors and their affiliations, saw that the answer was obvious.
A new, large cohort analysis from the prospective Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, indicates that
Epidurals are the most common method of labor pain relief in the United States. The procedure involves injecting medication near the spinal column to provide continuous pain relief to the lower body. In the past, many health professionals would not administer epidurals until a
The National Center for Health Statistics released their annual report on mortality last week, and not so surprisingly, they found that the life expectancy in 2012 for older adults has continued to increase. Currently, a 65 year old will live on an average an additional 19.3 years: about 18 years for men and almost 21 years for
California s Proposition 37 and Washington s Initiative 522 previously failed at the ballot box, and now Oregon and Colorado will soon be voting on their own GMO-labeling laws Oregon s Measure 92, and Colorado s Initiative 105.
Of all the enormous medical advances during the past 10-20 years, one drug in particular (ondansetron, Zofran) which completely revolutionized the management of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) usually flies under the radar.
r. Gilbert Ross in the EUReporter, October 13, 2014.
The EU s five-year process of revising the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) has resulted in a nearly-unmitigated disaster. Eschewing at every opportunity science-based (or even rational) policy, a conflicted,
Flu season is here, and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone age 6 months and older receive the flu vaccination every year, with few exceptions. However, even though influenza and pneumonia ranked eighth in the top 10 causes of death in the US in 2011, some people still choose to forgo the vaccine due to fear
Will wonders never cease? Strident toxic atrazine mythologizer Tyrone Hayes of UC-Berkeley finds no evidence of amphibian effects from the common, safe and effective herbicide.
In a new fertility series in The Lancet, experts write that access to ovarian tissue and egg freezing should be made more widely available to women. Previously, these methods of egg and tissue preservation were mostly reserved for cancer patients who would otherwise be infertile after chemotherapy treatment.
Fracking news, pro (water contamination not frack-related) and con (junk survey alleging health effects among nearby residents)
What happens when you have the healthiest childhood imaginable, as a child of a health nut, consuming no MSG, living an outdoor lifestyle, drinking plenty of water and eating organic food, but don t receive routine childhood vaccinations? The answer, according to teacher Amy Parker, is that you re sick all the time. Despite
Dr. Paul Offit's latest op-ed in WSJ on the anti-vaccination epidemic, a good reminder for seniors this flu season, and what exercise works best in fighting teen obesity?
Earlier this week, we discussed a study conducted by Frederick vom Saal, the best-known fringe anti-BPA activist posing as a scientist, attempting to link high levels of BPA in the blood stream and urine from the handling of thermal paper cash receipts to increased risk of serious diseases. Yet, as ACSH advisor Dr. Geoffrey
Ebola has come to New York City and Americans continue to worry about the possibility of an Ebola epidemic in the United States, apparently even going so far as to buy sham Ebola cures online. However, two New York Times articles argue that the possibility of an Ebola epidemic in the US is still highly unlikely.
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