Search results

In 2009, nearly a quarter of a million Americans underwent gastric bypass surgery, demonstrating the growing popularity of the procedure, especially in the wake of our nation s expanding waistlines. And though some experts argue that the operation does not sustain long-term weight loss, a recent analysis published in the Annals of Surgery found that people who opted for the surgery were actually able to keep their weight off for two years or more.

Yesterday we expressed our amazement that The New York Post would run an editorial supporting Mayor Bloomberg s proposed ban on sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces. Today we were shocked again to see that The Post published a letter to the editor by renowned anti-food industry activist Dr.

A recent study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition had us rolling our eyes at its insistence that women who replaced sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juices with water had a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. While we suspected the study of being another data dredge of the over 82,000 women in the Harvard School of Public Health s Nurses' Health Study II, we called upon ACSH scientific advisor and statistician Dr.

In addition to improving heart health and facilitating weight loss, a new study has added to a body of evidence suggesting that exercise may also help women stave off breast cancer.

ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom is at it again, this time with an op-ed in Forbes. In this piece, Dr. Bloom describes two significant accomplishments of America s pharmaceutical industry within the past two decades: the development of effective anti-HIV drugs, and the recent approval of curative and tolerable treatments for hepatitis C. However, as Dr. Bloom points out, such innovations will be much less likely in the future.

In addition to the usual supplement craze, some people in New York City are willing to pay more than $2.50 dollars for a bottle of a new brand of molecule water. The big secret behind the label? It comes straight from the tap!

Almost a third of the estimated 3.2 million Americans with hepatitis C, as well as millions around the world, take silymarin, an extract of milk thistle, with the hope of alleviating their symptoms and preventing disease progression. The supplement is alleged to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiviral properties.

On an otherwise pleasant morning, ACSH staffers blood began to boil after reading the latest anti-chemical screed in theHuffington Post, which included such fear-mongering claims as this: Ninety-nine percent of pregnant American women carry multiple manmade chemicals in their bodies, sharing that concoction through the umbilical cord.

Scientific investigation relies on the publication of peer-reviewed studies to communicate advances in research, including medical research. Over the course of the last decade, however, several important paradigms have been found baseless.

A study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has reached a somewhat tautological conclusion: Following restrictions on the use of partially hydrogenated fat (trans fat) in New York City chain restaurants, the trans fat content of patrons purchases decreased. Well, okay. But does this fairly predictable result translate to improved health among New Yorkers?

A study published yesterday in JAMA has revealed some surprising results: Normal weight Type 2 diabetics are nearly twice as likely to die compared to those who are overweight or obese.

Children are often encouraged to take vitamins in order to supplement their diets, yet a recent study found that, even among the nearly 40 percent of kids who take supplements, more than a third failed to get sufficient levels of some nutrients, especially calcium and vitamin D.

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act can take credit for banning candy-flavored cigarettes and requiring tobacco manufacturers to list their ingredients. And according to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, the law has been a success. But as ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross points out in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, such legislation will save exactly zero smokers.

In 2011, over 3.7 billion retail prescription drugs were filled in U.S. retail pharmacies, according to health statistics compiled by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. So with such a large number of scripts issued, it becomes even more imperative to ensure drug quality. But a new Reuters investigation finds that pharmaceutical quality control may not be at the top of the list for many manufacturing plants in China.

We ve previously reported on various studies touting the alleged health benefits of chocolate consumption, and now new research from Sweden claiming that moderate chocolate intake can reduce a man s risk of stroke can be added to the pile.

When it comes to breast cancer and the too common phenomenon of over-diagnosis, it seems as though new studies emerge continually. Nearly all of them suggest that far too many women are being screened and treated unnecessarily.

In July, the CDC reported that the U.S. was on track for the worst whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak since 1959. And so far this year, an estimated 18,000 cases of whooping cough have already been reported about half of which occurred in infants younger than three months. Because such young children can t yet be vaccinated, they must rely on herd immunity, which occurs when there are high immunity rates within the whole community.

Over a decade ago, major cigarette manufacturers were forced to take responsibility for their role in tobacco-related health care costs, in the form of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. The court case set right numerous cigarette marketing practices that were misleading and harmful. Yet the ruling was a mixed bag for public health: Some marketing restrictions and increased taxes contributed to a decline in smoking rates, but Big Tobacco was ultimately granted immunity from individual lawsuits.

Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) relies on classifying patients based on their global cardiovascular risk the probability of developing CVD within a set period of time, taking into account a number of risk factors at once. A person is found to be either high, intermediate, or low risk based on several risk models, among which the best known is the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). It has become increasingly apparent, however, that the intermediate risk group is actually a composite of individuals of various predicted risk levels.

Earlier in the week we discussed the spate of lawsuits against the food industry filed by many of the same lawyers who negotiated the 1999 Master Settlement Agreement with Big Tobacco. Unfortunately, while the claims against the tobacco industry were entirely justified, the allegations in these latest suits can only be described as spurious. (Something about the absence of real berries in Cap n Crunch Crunch Berry cereal, we believe.)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported on the rising rates of melanoma, noting that this often deadly disease now most commonly affects young women. These statistics may not be so surprising after a study by IBISWorld revealed that white women between the ages of 18 and 21 are in the lead when it comes to using indoor tanning beds. In fact, an amazing 32 percent of white women admit to having done so, and the total number of tanners in the U.S. has been estimated at 28 million!

Each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Yet a new study shows that such numbers may only begin to describe the actual prevalence of the disease.

After reviewing new evidence since its previous recommendation, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is still advising against routine screening for ovarian cancer. The recommendation is very much in keeping with its recent recommendations for breast cancer screening and PSA screenings for prostate cancer.

As if there weren t already enough, a new study provides even further evidence of the extensive adverse health effects of smoking. According to a team of Italian researchers, people who continue to smoke after having a stroke have triple the risk of dying within a year.

Watch Dr. Bloom explain why those "toxic" chemicals frightening people away from Johnson & Johnson products are actually quite safe: HuffPost Live