He who laughs hardest, laughs last, and ACSH staffers shared a hearty chuckle this morning over a study indicating that free-range chickens in Taiwan have an average of 5.7 times higher levels of dioxin than their counterpart caged hens.
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A randomized trial published today in The Lancet assesses the risk of adverse gastrointestinal effects — mainly bleeding — in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis patients associated with treatment using celecoxib (Celebrex) in a head-to-head comparison trial versus diclofenac (a commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) plus the stomach-protecting omeprazole (Prilosec).
It is the first day of summer, and while many will want to dive into their swimming pools, a recent report by the American Association of Pediatrics points out that African-American children are three times more likely to drown than white kids, mainly due to deeply entrenched fears of drowning.
ACSH received deafening criticism from some of our friends regarding our handling of the Not Empty Noise story yesterday, in which we wondered why the European Union isn't warning spectators at World Cup soccer games about the dangers of possible hearing loss from plastic horns known as vuvuzelas. Stier explains, We should have expressed more skepticism towards the referenced hearing loss study, as many of you rightly advised. However, we did not intend to give a free ride to that study.
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the governing national organization responsible for accrediting medical education courses, recently announced a troubling new policy prohibiting physicians and researchers employed by the pharmaceutical industry from participating in medical education presentations or meetings, citing conflict of interest considerations.
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 President s Cancer Panel 2008-2009 report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now, has been highly criticized by the American Chemistry Council. Not surprised you say? What else would a person expect from a chemical group? Well, there s a real hooker here. The American Cancer Society is also critical of the report, which collects seemingly every cancer-scare hypothesis that s been floated over the past 30 to 40 years and suggests that we really ought to be concerned about them.
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:
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