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Allergan Inc., maker of the weight loss device Lap-Band, is seeking FDA approval to extend the use of the device to obese teenagers. The Lap-Band is a silicon ring fitted around the stomach to reduce food intake. Clinical trials on teens have already been initiated, and the company believes that because an estimated one-in-three U.S. adolescents is obese or overweight, the procedure should be available to them.

An article in the current issue of TIME magazine poses the question, How Safe is Tobacco that Melts in Your Mouth? They are referring, of course, to new dissolvable tobacco products currently being assessed by the FDA. Since R.J.

In one month, it will become increasingly difficult to find a sugar-sweetened beverage in any city-owned building in Boston. And in the meantime, to prime residents for this phase-out ordered by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a $1 million federally funded campaign will urge them to reduce their consumption of these beverages. The city-wide media campaign is funded by the U.S.

Radical environmentalists have pointed to chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates as “toxins” responsible for causing obesity, cancer, and even male infertility due to decreased sperm counts. As proof, they cite a 1992 study by a group of Danish researchers that claimed sperm counts declined by 50 percent worldwide from 1938 to 1991. However, their research was heavily criticized for its many flaws, methodological problems, and biases.

A series of studies published in the journal Health Affairs offers both hopeful and discouraging news on the vaccine front.

Dr. Gilbert Ross in The American, May 5, 2011
Better Living Through Chemistry

A study published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology has been pounced on by breathless media eager to help chemophobic activists fan the flames of hysteria about chemical flame retardants in baby products made with polyurethane foam.

When it comes to deciding whether to screen asymptomatic adults for coronary artery disease (CAD) with either a resting or exercise ECG, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has not changed its guidelines since its recommendation in 2004 against such routine screening. This year, a group of researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University looked into whether the guidelines were due for an update.

It turns out that the extra pudge around your waistline may lead to more than just an increased risk of diabetes or heart disease it may also increase your risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

We ve said it before, but now we ll say it again: Reducing your sodium intake may not only do you no good in fact, it may actually cause harm. According to a new study published in the American Journal of Hypertension, low salt intake may increase a person's levels of triglycerides, cholesterol, and other heart disease risk factors.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a psychotherapeutic approach used to modify problematic behaviors, is recognized as a viable means of encouraging weight loss in obese and overweight patients.

The results of a double-blind, controlled clinical trial the gold standard in medical testing bring welcome news to patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), meaning those with acute angina or heart attack.

Most grown-ups think about the TDAP vaccine (against tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis), if at all, only when they glance over childhood immunization records, and forget about it thereafter.

Today marks the 36th annual Great American Smokeout a yearly event sponsored by the American Cancer Society that encourages smokers to quit for at least one day in the hope that it will eventually lead to quitting for good.

Berries may slow memory loss. No, this isn't a headline from The Onion, or from another Dr. Oz Show these are the actual conclusions of a study published in the Annals of Neurology, wh noted by some otherwise reputable media venues.

Nearly 20 years ago, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and former Representative Berkeley Bedell petitioned Congress to create the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM), which was granted an initial $2 million budget in 1992. Seven years later, the OAM was enveloped by the National Institutes of Health and renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). But what exactly does this center, which has spent $1.6 billion since its inception, do?

Most people don't think of cancer as a result of infection. However, a study just published in The Lancet Oncology has estimated that 16 percent of all cancer cases worldwide in 2008 were due to potentially preventable or treatable infections.

Michelle Obama was caught eating a cheeseburger, the Baltimore Sun notes. For most of us, this is not headline fodder only an indication that the First Lady is a normal human being. But according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an activist group that poses as a health group, Mrs. Obama s occasional burger indulgence is a dangerous practice that must be stopped.

The pharmaceutical industry has been struggling. How bad is it? A report on Monday from Deloitte and Thompson Reuters reveals that investment returns from the research and development (R&D) of new drugs have fallen nearly 30 percent in the last year alone.

New York City s roll-your-own (RYO) cigarette shops are getting attention due to the city s attempt to end what they deem illicit tax avoidance by the RYO makers. At issue is the tax loophole that such businesses happily exploit: The loose tobacco they sell for their high-speed cigarette rolling machines is subject to only a fraction of the taxes that would be fixed on a commercially produced pack.

Malaria is still one of the leading causes of death in sub-Saharan Africa, but great progress is being made. According to the organization Africa Fighting Malaria (AFM), the incidence of malaria and malarial deaths has recently fallen by over 90 percent in several southern African countries. The recent decline is no small feat, given that malaria once killed over one million people each year mostly children under five and pregnant women.

Norovirus, the cause of the so-called stomach flu, or cruise ship virus, is the second most common illness in the U.S. (the common cold is the first), and it's also the leading cause of foodborne illness. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis characterized by stomach pain, vomiting, fever, and diarrhea. It s not only unpleasant, but it can be life-threatening as well. That's why ACSH's Dr.

Fear of chemicals in flame retardants has gone viral, it seems. We initially reported on Nicholas Kristof's New York Times column that would have readers fearful of the furniture in their homes, a scare that drew upon a series this month in The Chicago Tribune.

Last year, a National Cancer Institute study found that, compared to standard chest X-rays, screening with spiral CT scans reduced lung cancer deaths by 20 percent. Now, based on their own review, the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Oncology are recommending that high-risk smokers those between the ages of 55 to 74 who have at least a 30 pack-year history of smoking should undergo the annual CT scan, even if they ve quit within the past 15 years.

The Vaccines for Children program has been providing free vaccines to children in need for nearly two decades. Unfortunately, a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has found that a significant fraction of providers around the country have been irresponsible when it comes to storing these vaccines.