DISPATCH 6/13/08: Scary Curtains, Diarrhea, Expired Medicine, Floods, and Fat
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Scare after scare appears in the popular press -- with news blaming traces of all sorts of chemicals and "toxins" for causing cancer. But it is becoming ever more apparent that many types of cancer are in fact linked more to lifestyle-related choices such as smoking and, now, obesity.
It may be hard to believe, but apparently there really are officials in both the UK and France who are not afraid of the use of biotechnology to improve and expand the food supply.
Originally devised to help hypertensive patients lower their blood pressure, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern includes relatively large amounts of plant-derived foods, moderate amounts of low-fat dairy foods, and low amounts of animal protein. A new study by Dr. Teresa Fung and colleagues (Arch Intern Med 2008; 168:713) indicates that women who adhere to such a dietary pattern may lower their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke as well.
Whether you are traveling around the world or relaxing at home, a safe, healthy vacation will add to your enjoyment.
A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine (2008;168:928-35) paints a rather bleak picture of the future health of obese Americans. Dr. G.L. Burke and colleagues confirmed earlier studies that found a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in most American ethnic groups. But of even more concern was their finding that many obese people who were apparently healthy with respect to current symptoms of cardiovascular disease (CVD) had signs portending future heart problems.
Even after all the studies denying any link between vaccines and autism, last week we read an unbelievable headline: "U.S. Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism."
New York, NY -- May 7, 2008. The American Council on Science and Health today presents the first Henry I. Miller Award for Excellence in Public Health Education to Dr. Henry Miller, research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
A few interesting nutrition-related items brought to our attention this summer:
As the Olympics began, the group Consumer Freedom noted some amusing differences between champion swimmer Michael Phelps -- a voracious living proof of the calories in/calories out equation for weight maintenance -- and head food nanny Michael Jacobson of the perennially worried Center for Science in the Public Interest.
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The current issue of Newsweek chronicles the history of influenza with pictures and illustrations dating back to the eigheenth century. The slideshow of images is available online. "It really puts things in perspective," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "The flu is serious stuff and something we still need to worry about."
The flu kills 30,000 to 40,000 Americans every year, and as ACSH's Jeff Stier points out, "Most of those deaths are preventable through widespread use of the flu vaccine."
Yesterday was World Toilet Day , inspiring the Los Angeles Times to pose an interesting question: "If you had to live without toilets or electricity, which would you choose?" While ACSH staffers find the idea of life without electricity to be a dim prospect, we would certainly forgo its convenience in favor of all the public health benefits of toilets.
While it has been known for decades that people with HIV have an increased risk for certain types of cancers (such as Kaposi's sarcoma), a new study suggests that they are also more likely to develop cancers that haven't been traditionally associated with AIDS.
•"The Scariest Health Threat You've Never Heard Of: Autoimmune Disease," from the September 2008 issue of Glamour, quoted Jeff Stier saying, "People want to blame chemicals where they don't have another explanation for the cause of a disease. I think we need more psychologists rather than more toxicologists."
•The September 29, 2008 New York Sun piece "Salt Is Next on City's Hit List" quoted Dr. Gilbert Ross likening New York City's anti-salt plans to the trans fat ban.
This piece first appeared on September 8, 2008 in the New York Post:
If the city Health Department gets its way, government officials -- local, state and federal -- will soon be deciding what you can and can't eat.
France is trying to sell surplus doses of H1N1 vaccine that they purchased under the impression that everyone would need two doses for full immunity.
"They have 65 million citizens, and they ordered 94 million doses," says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "It turns out only 5 million of them were vaccinated. I'd say they overestimated."
The notorious anti-vaccine activist Barbara Loe Fisher filed a lawsuit against pediatric immunologist and vaccine developer Dr. Paul Offit, writer Amy Wallace, and Wired magazine publisher Condé Nast for an article in Wired wherein Wallace quoted Dr. Offit saying of Fischer, "She lies."
Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview blog duly criticizes the NBC Today "Eat This, Cure That" segment that advised people to eat certain foods in order to cure what ails them, regardless of whether their claims have any basis in reality. "The segment stated that eating one cup of black beans can help ease migraine pain," writes Schwitzer. "Viewers should be given some data to back that up."
According to a new study, Finland's national screening program for colon cancer has been successful -- to some extent. Doctors screened 106,000 people between the ages of sixty and sixty-four for the disease by analyzing fecal samples for blood and were able to identify four out of ten cases of colon cancer.
A January 2, 2009 piece by Timothy W. Martin on labeling intended to indicate healthier food choices quotes ACSH's Jeff Stier:
•In March 2009, venues noting ACSH included TCSDaily, Marie Claire, Washington Times, Visalia Times-Delta, WKRC-TV, Bajo el Sol, Internal Medicine News, CongressNow, Wall Street Journal ( http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123724885435549329.html ), Calgary Herald ( http://www.calgaryherald.com/want+trans+fats+fascism+with+your+fries/139... ), Bipartisan Alliance, Heartland Institute, Paradigms and Demographics, the Vicki Mc
The following statement was submitted on February 2, 2009 by ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava to New York State's Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Committee on Ways and Means during discussions of 2009-2010 budget plans for health and Medicaid.
New York, NY -- March 13, 2009. Modern food technology provides numerous means of lowering the calories in foods while preserving flavor, according to a new report -- Obesity and Food Technology -- by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).
This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
If Congress doesn't act quickly, tens of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs -- and several hundred New York businesses will get hit particularly hard.
The satire program "The Daily Show" hosted by comedian Jon Stewart recently turned its laser beam of humor on people who were critical of First Lady Michelle Obama idealizing her gardener. Ironically, they make the case nicely while hoping to defend her.
The new strain of the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, has officially made an appearance in all fifty of the United States, but the more immediate concern is the rapidly inflating number of cases in southern hemisphere countries where the winter flu season is setting in. Australia and Chile are both posting record numbers of flu cases that may prompt a response from the World Health Organization.
Pagination
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