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Josh Bloom, Medical Progress Today 4/12/12
Cutting off your face to spite your face

As we reported earlier in the week, a new study from the CDC projected that 42 percent of American adults would be obese by the year 2030. And the current 34 percent obesity rate is hardly something to cheer about. So, who or what is responsible for the increased number of overweight and obese Americans over the past four decades?

Is there a causal relationship between depression and dementia? The association exists, according to a study just published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. The question, however, is whether depression can actually cause dementia.To investigate the association between these two conditions, researchers at Kaiser Permanente of Northern California examined data from over 13,500 long-term Kaiser Permanente members.

In the nation s ongoing effort to fight obesity, school bake sales seem to be a particularly tempting target for officials seeking to appear to be addressing the problem. But they re mainly shooting themselves in the foot. Schools in some states, including California, New York, and Texas, are instituting regulations that limit bake sales to nutritious foods only.

Men are no longer advised to get a PSA test, regardless of their age, according to the final recommendation on prostate cancer screening issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The recommendation, initially drafted in 2011, has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Finally, a government health care policy everyone can get behind: Written prescriptions are going the way of the iron lung. Indecipherable written prescriptions have long been a source of frustration for pharmacists and patients alike. Now, the federal government is taking steps to encourage doctors to prescribe electronically; starting this year, holdouts will see cuts in their Medicare reimbursements.

Elsewhere on the type 2 diabetes research front, a study has emerged that finds a link between consistently skipping breakfast and developing this disease. In the current issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the results of a study that tracked 29,000 men for over 16 years showed that those who consistently skipped breakfast had a 21 percent higher risk of developi

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine has spotlighted some complex problems regarding the treatment of type 2 diabetes in children. Because diabetic children respond differently than adults to conventional treatments, the study examined the efficacy of three different treatment approaches in adolescents.

Those who have had their cholesterol levels tested are typically informed that there are two types of primary importance: LDL, or bad cholesterol, and HDL, which is the good kind. And while much research has determined that reducing LDL protects against heart disease and cardiovascular events, some doctors have wondered whether raising HDL actually achieves the same effects. However, earlier classes of drugs (Pfizer s Torcetrapib, most notably) designed to increase HDL failed to demonstrate any beneficial effect, and were thus abandoned.

Yesterday, we reported on the final recommendation issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which advised against PSA screening for prostate cancer in men of any age.

New York, NY, May 31, 2012 New York City Mayor Bloomberg s proposed ban on the sale of soda servings and most other sweetened beverages over 16 ounces is the most egregious foray yet in his war on sugary drinks, notes the American Council on Science and Health.

Drs. Elizabeth M. Whelan, Gilbert Ross and George Lundberg on medpagetoday, May 30, 2012
Treating Recalcitrant Nicotine Addiction: the EBM Way

A new report finds that life expectancy in New York City is rising faster than anywhere else in the US, prompting health experts to consider whether the city might serve as an object lesson to public health departments around the country.According to the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Manhattan's life expectancy increased by 10 years between 1987 and 2007, with the other four counties that co

Sodas have been taking a big hit in the war on obesity lately. Perhaps, then, it s not too surprising that average soda consumption by Americans is on a slow downward trend: As of last year, the average American drank slightly less than two sodas per day a 16 percent decrease from the peak of soda consumption in 1998.

A new study shows that aspirin may be just as effective as the conventional blood thinner warfarin for heart failure patients when it comes to balancing stroke prevention with adverse effects, particularly bleeding. The finding is important because heart failure (HF) is a common and serious problem affecting millions of Americans, especially among the older population.

For the first time in over 20 years, the CDC has redefined the level of concern for lead levels in children's blood.

A Mother s Day garden party at an upstate New York Buddhist monastery took a turn for the worse after 150 attendees fell ill with food poisoning and many had to be hospitalized. And while it seems as though we re always reading about the latest food-borne outbreak (recent stories included listeria-tainted cantaloupe and salmonella-tainted eggs), in reality, the rate of food-borne illness in the U.S. fell by almost 25 percentsince the late 1990s, according to a new report from the CDC.

We have, unfortunately, had the occasion to report several times within the past month on the rising rate of diabetes among U.S. kids.

Dr. Gilbert Ross in the Financial Post
Junk Science Week: Too much to swallow

Dr. Elizabeth Whelan in the Financial Post
Junk Science Week: Artificial science

Beyond just serving as a source of family-friendly entertainment, Mickey Mouse will now be providing kids and parents with information on health and nutrition. Walt Disney Co. announced yesterday that its TV, radio, and website networks will not accept advertisements for foods that do not meet the specific nutritional criteria laid out in the company s new set of guidelines.

Fewer women in their 40s are having mammograms, a new study from the Mayo Clinic reports and this is good news. In 2009, a federal advisory panel recommended that women should wait until age 50 rather than age 40, as was previously recommended before beginning regular mammographic screenings for breast cancer.

As I mentioned on Monday, the Chairman of the New York Senate Health Committee recently proposed a ban on e-cigarettes in New York. I was disturbed that such a counterproductive measure would actually be considered. I sent a letter to the members of the Senate Health committee, which while expressing support for the proposal to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors explains why a total ban would be antithetical to public health:

Last September, we covered the results of a Japanese study that found a link between diabetes and Alzheimer s disease. Now, new research published in the Archives of Neurology provides further evidence that diabetes may indeed lead to a higher risk of and a more rapid decline in cognitive function.

A (qualified) shout-out to The New York Times editorial page. ("Is this June 1st or April 1st?" ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross wanted to know.) When we opened the paper today, we were astonished to discover that that the Times editorial writers actually echo our distaste for Mayor Bloomberg's latest hijinks.