[Editor's note: Paul Lee, in an article for SkepticReport.com, has argued that complementary and alternative medicine methods are by definition unproven and that we should prefer "evidence-based medicine" but Saul Green cautions that the term "evidence-based medicine" is often used not by responsible mainstream scientists but by CAM adherents who merely go through the motions of performing tests and gathering data without those tests and data producing reliable results in order
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Parthenogenesis, potentially useful as a stem cell creation method, may be considered ethically acceptable by some who previously opposed stem cell and cloning research. Since parthenogenesis involves the division of egg cells that haven't been fertilized and thus do not have a unique, new DNA code anti-cloners are less inclined to view the resulting cell clusters as human embryos.
Here at the American Council on Science and Health, we have repeatedly found ourselves engaged in correspondence like the following, so we thought we'd share...
Dear Dr. Whelan,
Should cigarettes be made illegal and currently-illegal drugs be made legal?
Defenders of cigarettes used to joke about such a scenario coming to pass, but with smoking bans becoming more popular and the idea of medical marijuana gaining some ground, it doesn't seem like such a far-fetched, mirror-universe idea anymore. And much as I hate to sound like my own thinking is on the cutting edge of absurdity, that outcome doesn't sound as unreasonable to me as it once did.
Smokers shorten their lives by an average of seven years, according to insurance actuarial tables (one of humanity's greatest inventions and a model for rational calculation that the rest of the culture would do well to imitate). At least, seven years is what studies suggest is the handicap insurance companies are putting on smoking. Insurance companies normally don't officially open their actuarial tables to outside inspection, since those numbers are the basis of all the gambling-like choices the companies make about who to charge how much, the odds of having to pay out, and so forth.
At a press conference in New York City, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) released two new books on terrorism preparedness and response.
Products containing Olestra, the zero-calorie fat substitute, will no longer bear a label informing consumers of purported unpleasant gastrointestinal (GI) side effects. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), after reviewing a six-week study that involved 3000 people, ruled that Olestra "caused only mild, infrequent GI effects," according to an FDA press release. The FDA also decided to continue the requirement for food manufacturers to add vitamins A, D, E, and K to counteract Olestra's effects on the absorption of these specific vitamins.
Anyone who has ever perused the ads for various dietary supplements online or in magazines must be familiar with claims that the product in question is "clinically proven" or is "scientifically proven" to be safe, effective, and a cure for whatever ails one or at least that "research has shown" this is so. We at ACSH have written in the past about the weakness of the regulatory scheme for dietary supplements. We've noted that supplement manufacturers, unlike producers of pharmaceuticals, don't have to prove their products either safe or effective before marketing them.
This month, attorney John Banzhaf, who for years has litigated against tobacco, purportedly in an effort to protect public health, announced his intention to solve another public-health problem obesity by suing fast-food restaurants.
Banzhaf declared that cigarettes were not, after all, the only legally available product that is both addictive and hazardous when used as intended, and that cigarette manufacturers were not the only ones who covered up the hazards of their product.
In 2001, the Surgeon General issued a call to action in response to what has come to be known as the "obesity epidemic." The call to action heightened public debate over obesity, which causes health problems that threaten to reverse many of gains made in recent decades against heart disease, several forms of cancer, and various chronic health problems. While much is being done to combat obesity as a whole, the most dramatic part of the epidemic has remained hidden.
When tests on a cow slaughtered near Yakima, Washington, tested positive earlier this week for what is known in lay terms as "Mad Cow Disease," consumers were understandably bewildered and anxious. What did this mean for their food selection and health?
Is it safe to eat beef? Is the USDA falling down on the job and allowing an infectious agent into our food supply?
Are you surprised to learn that each cup of eggnog you sipped merrily over the holiday season set you back 306 calories per cup? And that slice of pecan pie, another holiday favorite, cost you anywhere between 500 and 800 big ones at the calorie counter. If you ate a large tub of popcorn (with butter) and an accompanying 32-ounce Coke at the movie theatre over the holidays, then you satisfied a 2,000-calorie per day intake requirement in a single sitting.
Were you unaware of how many calories you were packing away or did you know and continue eating anyway?
An Italian perspective on the transcultural obesity debate:
Nations used to compete over trade and military spheres of influence. These days, it is hard to find a country that does not claim it is the fattest in the world.
The nation's supermarkets and restaurants seem to have been transformed overnight into one immense promotional campaign for the (scientifically unproven) Atkins diet plan: cutting carbohydrates. The truth is that virtually any plan to cut calories while maintaining or increasing exercise will cause weight loss, not just one magical mix of food types. But there may be a worse problem with Atkins than the annoying hype and the distraction from calorie-cutting: It may diminish the amount of folic acid women get.
The media has a responsibility to present information that is both pertinent and based on empirical data. Unfortunately, the media frequently reports health information that piques mainstream interest but diverts attention away from issues of genuine significance. Take the piece called "The Unhealthy 10," which appeared in the April 14, 2004 Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper. Meg Nugent gives readers a list of the "Top 10 dopey, unhealthy things we do that damage our health." Ultimately, it is the list that is dopey.
There's been a lot of controversy over Janet Jackson revealing her breast at the Superbowl, which must make Madonna and Britney envious (though Madonna is cleaning up her act in some ways: she has reportedly quit smoking and is trying to get Britney to do likewise). The real booby prize for Celebrity with a Bad Idea should go not to poor Miss Jackson, though, but to...actress Pamela Anderson.
The dreaded mad cow disease has finally arrived. How worried should we be? Should you avoid the range cattle you come across on hikes in Montana or skip that steak when you visit Bozeman?
A 25th Anniversary Commentaryfrom Dr. Elizabeth WhelanPresident, Co-FounderAmerican Council on Science and Health:
An article on the website of the Sierra Club has given new life to the Internet rumor that plastic water bottles are a health hazard, possibly the cause of birth defects such as Down Syndrome. Years of studies on the purported culprit chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA), have not shown any health effects on humans, but one study showing minor effects on mouse egg cells, led by Dr. Patricia Hunt at Case Western Reserve University, has provided the grain of truth leading to the latest excessive fear.
The City Council of Aliso Viejo, CA was scheduled to consider a law banning foam cups and containers this week in part, reports the Los Angeles Times, because they contain a potentially deadly chemical some call "dihydrogen monoxide." It is more commonly called water, notes the Times, and city officials say that a paralegal drafting the proposed legislation was duped by Internet sites repeating the nerdy joke that something ought to be done about the dihydrogen monoxide problem.
On the second anniversary of the use of anthrax as a bioweapon in the US, physicians and scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) today alerted government officials and the public that the risks associated with another anthrax attack should not be underestimated.
ACSH scientists noted with concern that the hypothetical threat of a smallpox attack has overshadowed the threat of anthrax, even though we have already experienced a domestic terrorist attack with anthrax.
Tremendous publicity was given recently to a new study that found farmed salmon has significantly more pollutants than wild caught salmon. However, the impact of the findings is less than clear.
Iowa State Press describes Thomas R. DeGregori's latest book thusly:
Origins of the Organic Agriculture Debate takes a historical look at two contrasting streams of ideas. The first view comprises the flow of ideas in chemistry and biology that have created the conditions for modern medicine, modern food production, and the biotechnological revolution. The second view is the "vitalist" reaction to the rise of modern science and the resulting rejection of modern agriculture.
Pagination
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