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The results of a recent study conducted by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle suggest that using fish oil supplements may reduce women s risk of developing breast cancer by 32 percent. Yesterday, Good Morning America medical contributor Dr. Marie Savard reminded viewers that these results are only preliminary but show promise as a preventive measure against breast cancer.

Federal officials used flawed statistics to justify a ban on flavored cigarettes last year, claims Dr. Joel Nitzkin, chair of the Tobacco Control Task Force for the American Association of Public Health Physicians. At a Sept. 22, 2009, press conference, Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh claimed the ban “will break the cycle for 3,600 young people who start smoking daily."

Yesterday, ACSH reported on the recent accusations against McDonald’s by China’s Scientific Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), which alleges that the fast-food giant uses harmful additives in their Chicken McNuggets. ACSH staffers knew the claims were baseless, yet we were still curious as to who was responsible for spurring the Chinese health agency into initiating this investigation.

The results of a recent small clinical trial indicate that the popular supplement glucosamine is only as effective as a sugar pill for treating lower back pain. While limited studies have only shown its promise as a pain reliever for arthritic knee pain, many patients also attempt to alleviate lower back pain with glucosamine.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) (aka: the “Food Police”) is threatening to sue McDonald’s for including toys with their Happy Meals, citing supposed violations to consumer protections laws in a number of states. CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson claims that the marketing of toys with fast food is illegal in these states.

Vitamin D has garnered more publicity in recent months than any other vitamin. This week, The Money Times reports on a United Kingdom study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, claiming that deficiencies of this Sunshine Vitamin correlate with an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

The New York State Legislature this week unanimously voted to ban BPA in products for use by children under the age of three. If Gov. David Patterson signs the measure, New York will become the sixth state to ban BPA in children s products. ACSH staffers are disappointed, again. ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan questions the rationality of the ban. BPA has been safely used and tested for 50 years, but by banning BPA the state is, by default, endorsing the use of new substitutes that may have less scientific review.

Various media outlets are reporting on groups in several localities pushing for stricter bans on BPA, including the Breast Cancer Fund.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles claim that fructose can cause pancreatic tumor cells to proliferate in a study published in the Cancer Research journal.

Approximately 27 percent of adults in the U.S. are obese, according to a Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System telephone survey of 400,000 adults who self-reported their height and weight.

The House Republicans yesterday blocked a Democratic plan to provide $7.4 billion in funding to rescue workers and recovery workers who have since fallen ill — or even those who might fall ill at some indeterminate time — even if there was no evidence their ailment was related to the dust at Ground Zero.

ACSH staffers were glad to read that biotech firm Geron will initiate the world s first human clinical trials using embryonic stem cells to treat patients paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. Pluripotent embryonic stem cells, which are able to convert into any cell in the body, will be injected into patients spines in the hope of enabling them to recover feeling and movement.

Perhaps only Santa Claus is exempt from the deadly effects of excess abdominal fat, which according to new research published in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine, is more harmful than fat stored in the hips or thighs.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s uranium! In Metropolis, Ill., the self-proclaimed hometown of Superman, union workers are on strike against Honeywell’s uranium conversion plant, claiming that their occupational exposure to uranium and to hydrofluoric acid has contributed to a higher risk of cancer.
Peter Dalpe, a spokesman for Honeywell, rejects these allegations:

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross would like to provide a word of caution to patients on Avandia: do not discontinue your medication without discussing such a move with your doctor first. Physicians of the Endocrine Society, American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists issued a similar statement on Wednesday, warning that the risk of stopping Avandia use abruptly is greater than any potential cardiovascular risk the drug might possess.

On a more positive note, data collected from HIV patients in the Canadian province of British Columbia show that treatment with the combination anti-HIV drug therapy known as “highly active antiretroviral therapy” (HAART) has reduced the province’s HIV infection rate by half since 1996. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a statement:

This weekend was full of surprising news stories. The strangest came from a Sydney Morning Herald article claiming that ingestion of environmental chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) may have caused the increase in women’s breast size observed over the past 50 years. While the article addresses other health concerns such as obesity, it places a strong emphasis on chemical exposures.

After reading yesterday s Dispatch entry addressing the public health concern over raw milk, ACSH advisor Dean Cliver, Ph.D., a professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, weighed in with this own expert opinion:

Sadly for the Florida plaintiffs from the decertified Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc. class-action lawsuit, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared yesterday that previous rulings from the original lawsuit could not be used alone to prove that the RJ Reynolds tobacco company (and other cigarette makers, by implication) was negligent for selling “defective” products — cigarettes — and conspired to hide the defective aspects which did indeed cause lung cancer and other diseases.

On Tuesday, an FDA advisory panel recommended that Avastin no longer be indicated for breast cancer after new studies failed to show that the drug could increase patients’ life expectancy. Avastin is currently approved for colon, lung, and other cancers, but physicians will have to prescribe it as an off-label breast cancer treatment if the FDA chooses to adopt the panel’s decision.

The CDC reports that between 1998 and 2008, freshly prepared salsa and guacamole have accounted for nearly one out of every 25 cases of deli and restaurant foodborne illness outbreaks. The most common microbe found in the mishandled condiments – which were often refrigerated improperly — was norovirus, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. The director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, Michael Doyle, offered advice on how to prevent contamination:

ACSH's Jeff Stier recently submitted a blog posting to SavvyAuntie dispelling phthalate fears with facts:

As the dust settles on the $712 million Ground Zero lawsuit, plaintiffs with no illnesses are complaining that their settlement of $3,250 is being cut 60 percent, to $1,322, due to legal fees.
The New York Post headline covering the news story glared, Lawyer loan fees gouge 9/11 crews.

Despite claims that children are experiencing puberty earlier, there s very little good data to back that up, the chief of pediatric cardiology at University of Massachusetts Medical School writes in a column for Slate. While a well-publicized study in Pediatrics last month concluded girls were undergoing puberty as young as 7, Dr.