Executive Summary
Search results
Yes
by Laurie Leiber
For nearly two decades, two U.S. Surgeon Generals C. Everett Koop and Antonia Novello and numerous public health organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Parent Teachers Association, the American Medical Association, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving have called upon manufacturers of alcoholic beverages to advertise more responsibly. National polls show that Americans increasingly favor either restricting or banning broadcast alcohol advertising.
Fat replacers ingredients that can take the place of the fats in food can make it much easier to lower total fat consumption, concludes a panel of physicians and scientists affiliated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).
Every day more than 5,500 Americans turn 65 and officially become senior citizens. For many of these people, the years ahead will bring significant changes: changes in their social roles, in their family lives, in their health concerns, and though they may not realize it in their nutritional needs and priorities. Many seniors are, of course, healthy, relatively independent, and well nourished. Some older adults, however, are beset with accumulating medical, performance, and social problems that can make adequate nourishment difficult.
Imagine a delicious, inexpensive convenience food that is low in fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories and provides all essential nutrients and dietary fibers in optimum quantities. This may seem the ideal food but it would be far from ideal if it were contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
Strategies proposed to address smoking-related health consequences in the United States have spurred heated political debate. Bridging the Ideological Divide: An Analysis of Views on Tobacco Policy Across the Political Spectrumexamines attitudes on the issue of tobacco as found in published statements by columnists, publications, organizations and politicians from ideological camps on the political left and political right.
Last week on the ABC program 20/20, environmental and consumer reporter John Stossel offered a public apology to his viewers.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Understandably, Americans are very concerned and fearful about cancer and would welcome sound information on how to reduce the risk of the various forms of this disease. In an attempt to fill that need, some 20 years ago Congress passed a law requiring the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to publish a biennial report telling American consumers what is known or suspected to cause human cancer. The DHHS delegated that responsibility to the National Toxicology Program (NTP).
Hair analysis is an ostensibly diagnostic procedure that is a major part of alternative medicine. Among promoters of alt-med, those likelier to proffer hair analysis are chiropractors, naturopaths, physicians who routinely use chelation therapy, practitioners of orthomolecular medicine, persons who style themselves "nutrition consultants," and companies that provide laboratory services directly to the public.
For What Might Hair Analysis Be Useful?
Both commercial and homemade baby foods can be safe and nutritious if used appropriately. To provide their infants with a healthful diet, parents need to choose foods wisely, introduce them correctly, and follow appropriate safety precautions:
Scientists and physicians at the American Council on Science and Health today applauded the decision of the New York City Board of Education not to ban milk from c that increases milk production.
Contrary to popular wisdom, mayonnaise in your summer chicken salad is usually not the cause of food poisoning; it is more likely that the source of the problem is improperly handled chicken (undercooked, unrefrigerated, or both). This helpful summer tip is among many collected in a new booklet released today by a panel of scientists from the American Council on Science and Health.
Here are a few more tips:
First edition, December 1997; reprinted August 1998; second edition, July 2000
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Executive Summary
Erratum: pg. 33, item number 3 reads, in part ...."should take supplements containing 400 mg of folic acid/day."
Reporting about health risks isn't easy. It involves an understanding of the complexities of risk assessment, an ability to distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific information, the capacity to evaluate and digest complicated material, and the communication skills to portray the risk in the proper context. Simplistic or contradictory messages can leave readers confused and wary; they "tune out" and you lose your audience.
THE COVER-PAGE HEADLINE, "LEAD Poisoning: More Kids Are at Risk" is inconsistent with the data on childhood exposure to lead. Federal monitoring shows that blood lead levels fell significantly along with the decline in the use of leaded gasoline in the 1970s. The plaintiffs' lawyers are saying that it doesn't matter how much lead there is in the blood, just that there is some measurable amount and therefore the kids are sick. Such pronouncements indicate that we have left the realm of science and entered the theatrics of the courtroom.
Is there an "epidemic" of autism? Are vaccinations or dental fillings to blame?
Lately the media has loudly featured, with more noise than facts, the increase in reported cases of autism and the unproved allegation that the mercury derivatives in some vaccines and dental fillings have caused this increase.
We seek ways to improve the condition of those with autism, but enthusiasm mustn't imperil sound science. Wrong answers can make things worse, wasting time and squandering resources.
I recently gave a speech about cigarettes to a libertarian discussion group called the Junto here in New York City. I had expected the conversation to pivot on the question of free will not only do libertarians defend the legal right to smoke, many scoff at the idea of addiction, since each individual must ultimately be held accountable for his own decisions, healthy or unhealthy.
Recently, Xiaorui Zhang, World Health Organization (WHO) coordinator on traditional medicine policy, noted the difficulty in conducting clinical trials of herbal remedies because of two factors: first, participants can detect a difference in taste between the placebo and the herbal therapy; second, quality control is difficult since many of the herbal products contain multiple ingredients, making it tough to determine which chemicals are responsible for any health outcomes. She added: "Western medicine came to China about a hundred years ago.
For decades, Americans have relied on the American Lung Association (ALA) for reliable information on respiratory health. But in its recent "State of the Air 2002" report, ALA vastly exaggerates air pollution levels and misleads people into believing air pollution is getting worse, when in fact it has been improving for at least twenty years.
As I learned one day at an alternative medicine expo, pseudo-scientific health remedies come in all forms: animal, vegetable, and mineral literally. Let's take them in reverse order.
Mineral: Healing with Crystals
To the Editor:
At last the truth about water consumption is starting to leak out (Why You're Drinking too Much Water; 5/23/02)! I suspect the exaggeration of the amount of water a person ought to drink each day to stay healthy may have come about through careless transformations of the scientifically valid daily fluid requirement into a daily water requirement.The "fluid" humans require is, of course, water, which can be found in abundance in foods such as milk, juices, fruits, and vegetables, thus decreasing the amount of plain water required.
A low-fact diet can be dangerous. Have you heard that chips, fries, and even bread can give you cancer? This "fact" has been widely reported, even though it's essentially untrue.
Pagination
ACSH relies on donors like you. If you enjoy our work, please contribute.
Make your tax-deductible gift today!