In yesterday’s Dispatch, ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross expressed skepticism toward claims made by Justin Gillis in The New York Times that man-made climate change has already manifested in the form of decreased agricultural output. Well, Dr. Ross wasn’t the only one critical of these assertions. Dr.
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Ambulance diversion, the rerouting of emergency vehicles from emergency rooms due to overcrowding, has been tied to an increased risk of patient death. A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that, when ambulances were diverted from ERs for 12 hours or more, there was a 20 percent increased risk of death among a group of nearly 14,000 elderly heart attack patients. Dr.
Dr. Gilbert Ross in the Financial Post, June 15, 2011
Junk Science Week: Toxic terrorists ignore organic food threat
Dr. Gilbert Ross in Guardian.co.uk, June 13, 2011
Immunity: when it's smart to go with the herd
The New York Times Mark Bittman is in favor of taxing soda. He s also in favor of taxing French fries. And doughnuts. And all hyperprocessed snacks. In his halcyon vision, the resulting funds would be channeled into programs that make healthful foods affordable and accessible to all. This, Bittman says, would solve the nation s high rates of obesity, heart disease, and cancer.
We were disappointed to see media coverage of what amounts to the non-results of a poorly executed study that was, somehow, published in the American Journal of Public Health. A team of researchers from eight different universities found that, in states banning the sale of bad food at school concession stands, daily soda consumption has dropped by twice as much among black students as among all students.
We at ACSH are happy to promote Dr. Arthur s Caplan s recent Lancet article on the importance of mandating flu vaccines for health care workers. As Dr.
A new study in the British Medical Journal should give pause to doctors considering intensive glucose lowering treatment for their type 2 diabetic patients. While tightly controlling a patient s blood sugar levels seems like an obvious approach, and does indeed have some benefits, such as a slightly lowered risk of heart attack, the new study found a 100 percent increase in the risk of dangerously low blood levels (hypoglycemia), which in some cases can be fatal.
We were very happy to hear that U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has come to his senses, ruling in favor of government funding of human embryonic stem cell research funding that he had halted just a year ago. This time, Judge Lamberth dismissed the legal challenge to the funding and ruled that the U.S. National Institutes of Health guidelines do not violate federal law.
Unfortunately, an alarmist report from a group called the Ecology Center may have some parents hesitating before they fasten their child into a car seat. The Center is spreading the word that 60 percent of child car seats contain allegedly dangerous chemicals. Bromine, chlorine, lead, other heavy metals, and allergens topped their list, as did the risk of allergies, birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and cancer upon exposure.
Diseased lungs. Corpses. Rotting teeth. A man smoking from a tracheotomy hole. These are some of the shocking images featured in the Food and Drug Administration s recently unveiled series of cigarette package warnings. The FDA asserts that these graphic warnings will serve public health by terrifying smokers into quitting. But ACSH s Dr.
A new study reveals that fewer Americans are developing colorectal cancer (CRC). Between 2003 and 2007, the rate of new CRC cases in the U.S. fell by over 13 percent, representing nearly 66,000 fewer cancer cases and 32,000 fewer CRC deaths during this period. CDC director Thomas Frieden told Reuters that half of the decline in CRC cases can be attributed to increased screening, which rose from 52 percent in 2002 to 65 percent in 2010. One thing we know is that screening works, he said.
According to a small study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, massage therapy may be a viable option for those who suffer from lower back pain. Dr. Daniel C.
Women who have just given birth and are older than 34 or have had a Cesarean section are now advised to avoid contraceptives containing estrogen, say new government guidelines. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have concluded that birth control pills containing estrogen could increase the risk of a blood clot in some new mothers when taken within six weeks of giving birth.
Adults nostalgic for the monkey bars and tall slides of their childhood may have trouble finding them when they take their own children to a nearby playground. Shorter structures with enclosed platforms, as well as rubber ground covers, are more likely what they ll see. This is because, as John Tierney reports in The New York Times, heightened concerns over child safety have dramatically changed the landscape of the playground.
Dr. Gilbert Ross in The Daily Caller, July 13, 2011
Politics Has Overtaken Science at the EPA
In today s hectic times, moms-to-be and their OBGYN s may not think twice about scheduling an artificially-induced early childbirth for the sake of convenience. But a new study by Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare is cautioning against the practice due to elevated health risks for neonates.
Dr. Elizabeth Whelan in Forbes, July 6, 2011
What's Really Causing Childhood Obesity?
Dr. Whelan in the National Review Online, July 5, 2011
Warnings That Don't Work
Josh Bloom, The New York Post June 24, 2011
America's Vanishing Science Jobs
Too many patients entering hospitals because of a heart attack may be leaving with anemia, a new study finds. The cause, it seems, is not vampires in the ICU, but an excess of blood drawn for laboratory tests.
It seems that clinicians need to learn not to judge the proverbial book solely by its cover. According to a new study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, patients who are leaner than others are less likely to have their hypertension treated.
A new study published in the Journal of Toxicology lays to rest any claims about toxic pesticide residues that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) publicized with their annual Dirty Dozen list. This compilation of tainted fruits and vegetables would have everyone scared to touch the majority of produce in the average grocery store.
Last week we reported on findings from a study that showed soy had no beneficial effects on reducing menopausal symptoms. Research on other nonprescription alternatives such as flaxseed, black cohosh, red clover, and botanicals has also arrived at similarly disappointing conclusions. This is unfortunate, since so many women turn to these supplements out of a misplaced fear that treatment with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will lead to an increased risk of heart attacks and breast cancer.
Drug shortages, as ACSH s Dr. Bloom explained in a recent op-ed, are a serious and growing problem in the U.S. As he points out, these shortages consist largely of pharmaceutical staples: saline solution, antibiotics, sedatives, epinephrine and morphine supplies found in every emergency room.
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