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Another useful, safe chemical bites the dust, thanks to California's ridiculous Prop 65, which lists chemicals as dangerous "at the drop of a rat." This time, it's the ubiquitous "high phthalate," DINP. Good luck finding a replacement!

Ending a blood donation ban for gay and bisexual men is a cultural hot topic and Washington Times journalist Cheryl Wetzstein reached out to the American Council on Science and Health for the facts.

Currently, there are no FDA-approved medical treatments for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), characterized mainly by difficulties with social interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors and

One of the most common childhood illnesses, rotavirus, which infects almost 100 percent of children at one time or another, has been badly beaten down, thanks to the work of a host of researchers from the public and private sectors (including Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the ACSH board of directors, and chief of the division of infectious diseases and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children s Hospital of Philadelphia), as well as three pharmaceutical companies: Wyeth, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline.

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), gestational diabetes (GDM) is diagnosed in pregnant women who have not had diabetes, but who have high blood sugar during pregnancy.

A common knee cartilage operation is shown to be no better than a sham procedure: medial meniscectomy, repair or removal of a frayed or torn cartilage between the femur and tibia in the knee, had little effect on symptoms one year later.

A beneficial trend in vaccine exemptions seems to be spreading, even to regions and states with entrenched anti-vaccine fears. Who knows if this continues, recurrent epidemics of preventable illnesses may become a thing of the past.

In today s New York Times, 28-year old graduate student Kira Peikoff describes her attempt to determine her risk of several diseases by having her genome analyzed by different companies.

When a patient is diagnosed with an acute HIV infection, it could take days, if not weeks, to get the first dose of antiretroviral drugs. But a San Francisco clinic is pushing for expedited methods, halting the spread of HIV and fast.

The U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) evaluates evidence and provides screening guidelines for a number of diseases, including breast cancer. It has just updated its previous guidelines for breast cancer screening in women who have no personal history of cancer, but have a family history that indicates an increased likelihood of potentially harmful BRCA-related cancers.

E-cigarette legislation
The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a public health education and consumer advocacy nonprofit devoted throughout our 35 year history to the promotion of sound science in public health policy, urges the Oklahoma Legislature to promote the benefits of e-cigarettes as a method of Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) in helping smokers quit.

The U.S. abortion rate is the lowest it s been since 1973, according to a report from The Guttmacher Institute, a private research

A new Perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine almost allows for the likely benefits of electronic cigarettes as part of a harm reduction approach to reducing the deadly toll of smoking. At last some science-based progress!

In today s Probably Obvious entry, a group from McMaster University in Ontario tells you something that you probably already know, but still ignore.
The group, led by David Earn, Ph.D., a professor of infectious disease and mathematics, reports that when you are sick with a fever from a cold or flu and take medications that lower the fever and make you feel better, you will go to work too soon and infect others.

Alzheimer s disease (AD), perhaps the most important condition without any satisfactory treatment, is likely to remain this way. Given the extraordinary toll it takes on individuals and their families, this is especially tragic.
But this serves as a difficult, but accurate lesson regarding medical research: There are diseases which, no matter how much time and money you spend on research, that you come up with nothing. This is perhaps the best example of such a disease.

Like Mayor Bloomberg before him, de Blasio advocates positions that reflect his stance on health related issues, but are not science-based.

Dr. Oz is at it again, and millions of viewers are watching and listening to what he has to say. His latest scam is a pill that he claims will lead to the loss of 25 pounds of fat in one month. And

It s common knowledge that a doctor s hands should be cleaned with either a disinfectant gel or soap and water between patients, but now we have learned that their stethoscopes are also likely to carry a significant number of disease-causing bacteria. A recently published study in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that doctors equipment may be nearly as contaminated as their hands.

Public health educators may believe that rationally advising parents about the facts of vaccine safety will lead them to abandon their fears of side-effects. However, a new survey study seems to show that, while a battle may be won, the war is lost.

It s widely acknowledged that calorie restriction at least in animals can prolong life. According to a recent report in the journal Cell Metabolism, it is thought that in animals

CVS Caremark, the national pharmacy chain, announced that it will eliminate sales of tobacco products over the next year. The announcement was met with approval by Drs Schroeder and Brennan (from CVS Caremark and the

According to the USDA, about 23.5 million Americans live in areas known as food deserts areas lacking access to fresh fruits and

Let s say that you have gotten your first two HPV shots, but don t get your third, perhaps because you are stuck in Scotland waiting for the next appearance of the Loch Ness Monster. Or too busy wiping the BPA off your cash register receipts in order to prolong your life (these two are equally likely).

New study may convince women with one of the BRCA mutations to have their ovaries removed: cancer risk is substantial. Why worry? Save your eggs and lose the ovaries!

Leonard Nimoy, now 82 years old, revealed that he has been diagnosed with COPD, although he quit smoking 30 years ago. His symptoms are mild, thankfully, but they may progress further. The message: if you smoke, quit. If you don't, don't start!