Good news for patients with elevated systolic blood pressure. The results of a 22-year follow-up on a randomized trial show that the diuretic drug chlorthalidone improved all-cause mortality among patients with this condition. The new analysis of the trial data, which dated back to 1984, has found that chlorthalidone, used to treat high blood pressure, was especially effective at reducing the toll of cardiovascular events, including sudden death.
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Newer doesn t always mean better. At least that s the conclusion of a review published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, which finds that newer hip and knee replacement designs (such as metal-on-metal hips) introduced from 2003 through 2007 are not any more durable than older models (largely comprised of metal and plastic).
Knowing that they ll have to jog for 50 minutes to burn off one soda may keep teenagers from buying such beverages. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that, when a sign stating the amount of jogging time required to burn off one soda was placed on a drink cooler, inner-city teenagers in four neighborhood stores were only half as likely to buy a sugary beverage.
In Pesticides and Health: Myths vs. Realities, environmental toxologist Allan S. Felsot explains the real benefits both health-related and economical of an informed use of pesticides. And in Pesticides in Perspective, William Kucewicz explains Dr. Felsot's main ideas in a shorter, consumer-friendly format.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a relatively new biotech startup, has gained FDA approval for the first drug to target the underlying cause of a rare form of cystic fibrosis. Unlike other current cystic fibrosis medications, which treat only the symptoms of the disease, the new drug Kalydeco targets the disease at the level of a defective cell protein.
As if our trust in government isn't low enough, leave it to Mayor Bloomberg, Thomas Farley and the New York City Health Department to play us for fools once again.
As reported in an article in today's New York Times, a fear-mongering ad depicting an overweight man with only one leg sitting behind cups of soda is not what it seems.
We were surprised and disappointed to see this week s issue of Nature offering us The toxic truth about sugar. The commentary, by Dr. Robert Lustig and colleagues, calls for nothing short of a global war on sugar in order to combat the chronic non-communicable diseases that the United Nations has identified as the greatest worldwide health burden. In this regard, Lustig et al.
Nearly a quarter of breast cancer patients who undergo a lumpectomy also commonly referred to as a partial mastectomy will have to return for repeat surgery, according to the results of a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. And at least part of the cause, say the study authors, is a lack of consensus among surgeons about how much healthy tissue should be sacrificed when removing the tumor.
Although malaria-related deaths have been declining, a new report in The Lancet puts a damper on this good news, suggesting that the decline is not nearly as significant as we had thought.
In a sadly misguided effort, ostensibly intended to curb obesity, Colorado lawmakers are considering a ban on trans-fat in schools. Beyond the regular school meals served in the cafeteria, this ban would extend to vending machines, extra items available at lunch (such as ice cream and pizza), and even after-school bake sales.
For the first time ever, two major U.S. drugstore chains are selling a male fertility test. The at-home test, known as SpermCheck Fertility, is already available online from Walgreens and CVS; in April, Walgreens will begin offering the $40 product in stores. The test provides an approximate sperm count, indicating whether the count is within the normal range or not.
It s a common perception that breast cancer is deadlier among younger women, but women over 75 are actually more likely to die from the disease, according to a large international study. The notion that breast cancer results in a higher rate of mortality in younger women stems from the fact that women under 65 are more likely than older women to have receptor-negative breast cancer, which is faster-growing and less susceptible to most trea
Hospital and clinic personnel who work with patients should receive an annual flu shot in order to reduce the risk of spreading the infectious virus. Yet surprisingly, only 40 percent of healthcare workers are vaccinated. In light of these dismal findings, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) voted 12-to-2 that hospitals should consider mandating the vaccine if they fail to achieve a 90 percent employee vaccination rate after training and educating their workers about the benefits of the shot.
While drugs in the U.S. must undergo extensive testing and monitoring to ensure their safety and efficacy, supplements come under much weaker regulation. In a perspective article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Pieter A. Cohen criticizes the current deficiencies in the regulation of the supplement industry. He argues that a new guidance proposal by the FDA makes important steps toward enhancing supplement safety but it still doesn t go far enough.
The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) was among the first organizations in the United States to formally endorse tobacco harm reduction (THR) as a way to get smokers to be less risky with their behavior, and when smoking cessation was not s
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of assisted reproductive technology that has gained popularity in the U.S. over the last 20 years. But a new study questions the current recommendations for women who want to try the procedure.
Congratulations to India are in order: The country has remained polio-free for an entire year. Thanks to the great efforts of the Polio Eradication Program in India, which aims to immunize every child under the age of five with the oral polio vaccine, there have been no reported cases of polio in the country for the past year. That s a marked difference from just two years ago, when 741 people were diagnosed with the disease.
Medical researchers have high hopes for human embryonic stem cells: There are numerous diseases that might be treated by transplanting cells generated from such stem cells, which have the capacity to mature into a wide variety of specialized tissues.
Melanoma is one of the most common cancers in young people in the U.S. However, this most dangerous of skin cancers can actually be significantly prevented by wearing sunscreen. The trouble is, too many children and adolescents aren t bothering to use sunscreen, according to a study just published in Pediatrics.
Josh Bloom, Forbes January 11, 2011
Garbage In, Anti-Nuclear Propaganda Out: The 14,000 Death Fukushima Lie
How do we regulate the consumption of dangerous foods? Mark Bittman asks in his latest column for The New York Times. The public enemy in question is sugar, and Bittman is of the party that would limit its consumption with the kind of age restrictions and taxation policies applied to tobacco and alcohol.
In a new post for Medical Progress Today, ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom describes an unfortunate double blow that Congress has been aiming at doctors: threatening to reduce Medicare reimbursements by 27 percent and attacking interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians as necessarily corrupt. Fortunately, Congress relented on the Medicare reimbursement issue and voted to delay the decrease for the rest of 2012. But next year an even greater cut is in the works, unless a permanent solution is found. And as Dr.
The practice of screening healthy people for conditions before they have symptoms has gone out of control, according to Dr. H. Gilbert Welch. In an op-ed in today s New York Times, Dr.
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