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Vegetarianism has taken on a "political correctness" comparable to the respectability it had in the last century, when many social and scientific progressives advocated it. Today, crusaders extol meatless eating not only as healthful but also as a solution to world hunger and as a safeguard of "Mother Earth." The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) aggressively attacks the use of animal foods and has proposed its own food-groups model, which excludes all animal products.

Executive Summary

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Survey results indicate that 2 to 7 percent of Americans regard themselves as vegetarians, but less than 1 percent completely exclude meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish from their diets. Even fewer Americans choose vegan diets that exclude all foods of animal origin.

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The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) today called on the Food and Drug Administration to approve irradiation of beef to limit Americans' exposure to E. coli bacteria

"Although everybody with a political agenda routinely professes great respect for the wisdom of the American people, the actual behaviors reveal not respect but thinly veiled contempt."

Overview

The May 29, 1999, issue of the British journal The Lancet includes a thoughtful letter from two physicians in the state of Washington who pondered how to respond when a patient asks "Doctor, is wine good for my heart?"

Executive Summary

Ben & Jerry's ice cream has a reputation for being the most politically correct item in your freezer. For years the company has decried the dangers of even trace levels of "toxins" in food. It is apparently unaware that toxins, such as arsenic, occur naturally in almonds, cherries, and many other natural foods. Ben & Jerry's might be described as a chemically holier-than-thou company.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has cited "Ten Great Public Health Achievements" of 20th-century America which the medical monthly Consultant described, loosely, as the CDC's "top ten" pick of "medical triumphs." Consultant is distributed to more than 160,000 physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. Its descriptions of the public health advances are similar to the CDC's summaries. I asked all ACSH advisors to offer comments on both the Consultant article and the CDC's list and to propose additions and replacement items.

Yes

by Kenneth E. Legins
In 1903 Mark Twain wrote of Christian Science: "The power which a man's imagination has over his body to heal it or make it sick is a force which none of us is born without. The first man had it, the last one will possess it." The power of the mind over the body is often indisputable, even among the staunchest defenders of the scientific method. The biologic effect of hope or faith, which scientists sometimes refer to as the placebo effect, is little understood in the medical community.

New York, November 16, 1998 The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) today rejected the irresponsible and unfounded claims pushed by NBC Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Bob Arnot in his book, The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet: The Powerful Food, Supplements, and Drugs That Can Save Your Life. ACSH found that Dr. Arnot s book is a misrepresentation of science and a disservice to women.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the self-appointed "food police," is distressed that Congress has voted to repeal the warning label that has appeared on saccharin since 1977. Why is the scary little warning label soon to be a thing of the past? Because saccharin was voted off the federal "carcinogen list" because it does not cause cancer in people.

Implementation of proposed fossil-fuel restrictions aimed at mitigating unhealthy climate change could weaken the global economic system, increase the incidence of poverty-related illness worldwide and fail to affect climate. So concludes a panel of scientists and physicians in a groundbreaking report, Global Climate Change and Human Health, released today by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).

New York, NY February 1998. In a new report, New York City Public Advocate Mark Green has called lead poisoning a "dire problem" for the city's children. The New York City Advisory Council on Health Priorities, an affiliate of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), has concluded, however, that for the majority of New York's children lead poisoning is a thing of the past. Mr.

Nearly three decades ago, in response to America's growing fear of a most elusive and deadly foe, Richard Nixon declared a "war on cancer." Behind this charge was the notion that personifying cancer as a battlefield enemy would lead to its "defeat." Politicians, keen on the potency of this issue, have followed his lead, picking up votes along the way. This "war" may contribute more to a congressman's longevity in the house than to a constituent's longevity.

Homeopathy is a system of so-called energy medicine developed by German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Over the years proponents of homeopathy have put forward various theories concerning homeopathy's alleged ability to cure diverse maladies, but there is little agreement, even among these proponents, as to how homeopathic products might work.

Introduction

You have to admit: Law firms defending the behavior of cigarette companies, especially from 1950-1980, really have their work cut out for them. Their mission is to defend a client who for decades systematically misrepresented the truth about cigarette smoking and health.

In January, Robert's American Gourmet, maker of a popular functional snack food line, recalled Pirate's Booty for mislabeling. The Good Housekeeping Institute independently tested the product and found that it contained 147 calories and 8.5 grams of fat per serving quite a difference from the 120 calories and 2.5 grams of fat reported on the label. The company attributed the discrepancy to a manufacturing problem. They needed to purchase new equipment to meet the public's high demand for Pirate's Booty.

A crippling condition may be striking media celebrities and people close to them: paranoia.
Ed McMahon blames a toxic "death mold" (in the words of his lawyer) for killing his dog Muffin and causing his own respiratory ailment.
John Travolta's wife believes her son's Kawasaki Syndrome, a rare vascular disorder, was caused by chemicals in their carpet.
A Vancouver neurologist thinks viral agents may have caused Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's, since three other people who worked with Fox on the Canadian sitcom Leo and Me in the 1970s also have the disease.

Recent reports in the medical literature have profoundly shaken the popular and medical wisdom which held that estrogen-progestin combination therapy enhances life and health for women in the post-menopausal years. Women are relatively free from heart disease, bone loss, vaginal dryness and hot flashes prior to menopause, but manifest increased risk for such ailments after menopause. Therefore, it seemed intuitively obvious that a replenishing of the naturally diminished supply of estrogen and progesterone would restore women to their earlier, lower risk profile.

Eric Cohen points out some tensions though not actual contradictions in pro-biotech arguments ("Biotech Loses Its Innocence," June 24). He notes that biotech defenders claim the benefits of therapeutic cell-cloning are imminent while the possible horrors of radically altering the human gene code (or "eugenics," as Cohen puts it) remain far off. This is no rhetorical ploy on the part of scientists but an accurate summary of the state of research.