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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.

Researchers in Colombia have reported that the Gardasil vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV) may be effective for women between the ages of twenty-six and forty-five. The FDA has not approved the vaccination of women over twenty-six, nor is the practice addressed in CDC guidelines.

Those who follow our work are well aware that ACSH experts have been dreading the imminent approval of a bill in the Senate which would establish FDA regulation of tobacco products. The bill is a result of an unfortunate effort by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids conspiring with Phillip Morris/Altria to "regulate" tobacco.

Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee have proposed an excise tax on sugar-filled drinks as an initiative to curb childhood obesity, and flavored milk has been caught in the crossfire.
When most people hear about this idea they only think of sugared sodas, so it seems plausible, says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. But having the tax extended to include chocolate milk is undesirable collateral damage.

Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the new FDA commissioner, has eagerly joined the debate on how to correct food safety problems. Food safety legislation is something we ve been following closely, says ACSH s Jeff Stier, and there s no doubt that the country needs improvement in food safety. The question is: how do we do it? Some of the proposed provisions are problematic.

Dr. Anne Hoch of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee reported on a study of ballerinas that indicated they are especially vulnerable to the female athlete tetrad, a medical syndrome involving combinations of premature heart disease, osteoporosis, disordered eating, and menstrual dysfunction.

For almost 100 years, industry has been a powerful motivating force in the creation of new technology and the underwriting of scientific research. But in the last two decades, there has been a campaign to decry industry funding, claiming that such funding is tainting research.
It is not who funds the research; it is the quality of the research that counts. This rush to judgment against industry-funded science is problematic.

ACSH staffers are encouraged by some letters published in the New York Times in response to its coverage of the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Those who make the case against the tax are succinct, right to the point, and they can tell that this is a bad idea, says ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.
The letters are very much on target, adds ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross. They make the case that there are better ways to ensure the health of our children, including accurate nutrition education and well-funded physical education programs in schools.

Diet, exercise, and eat right. This is the guiding tenet by which many health-conscious people live and one of the driving forces behind the popularity of functional foods. Despite their immense popularity, there is no universally accepted definition of functional foods.

Remember the commotion last year about radioactive granite in our kitchen counters?
That story's just one of 10 health stories from 2008 identified as "hoaxes" by the American Council on Science and Health, a nonprofit group of scientists and physicians that advocates a common-sense approach to maintaining good health, writes the Washington Post.

The following letter first appeared on July 21, 2009 in Annals of Internal Medicine:
To the Editor:

If you're the kind of person who likes a good conspiracy theory, the summer's latest box-office horror flick should suit you well. Food, Inc. is a documentary by Robert Kenner featuring a diverse cast of earnest, hardworking Americans who want to help you lose weight -- without the hassle of regular exercise or personal responsibility.
The antagonist? Faceless corporations, of course, and you'll be amazed by the drastic lengths they go to in order to ensure that Americans stay fat and sick.

In an unabashed rejection of nanny-state diet micromanagement, a restaurant in Arizona called the Heart Attack Grill uses hospital themes to make light of eating the egregiously unhealthy food they serve.
Menu items include the quadruple bypass burger that tops out at about 8,000 calories, and unlimited flat-line fries. Customers called patients are even warned before entering that this place is bad for your health.

As noted in an article featuring ACSH Advisor Dr. Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch, research into the efficacy of alternative medicine has run up a government tab of $2.5 billion over ten years and returned predictably dismal results. You expect scientific thinking [at a federal science agency], said R. Barker Bausell, author of Snake Oil Science and a research methods expert at the University of Maryland. It's become politically correct to investigate nonsense.

The moment that ACSH staffers have been dreading has finally arrived. The U.S. Senate approved the bill granting regulatory authority of tobacco to the FDA. Senate majority leader Dick Durbin was among those congratulating themselves, claiming, The tobacco companies' days of peddling one of the most deadly products in the world have finally come to an end. ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross is incredulous.

One day after the phase six pandemic alarm bells were sounded, Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis AG reports that it has successfully produced a first batch of swine flu vaccine using cells rather than eggs. We should be proud of these people, says ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. They re using new technology, and they re helping people. It s the first good news we ve heard about this whole ordeal.

This article first appeared on Forbes.com.

CNN notes that fewer teens are smoking and correlates that to fewer smokers in movies. But it's the American Council on Science and Health that made smoking uncool.
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/03/health.smoking.movies/?source=acsh…