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The AAAS board issued a statement claiming that foods containing ingredients from genetically modified (GM) crops pose no greater risk than the same foods made from crops modified by conventional plant breeding techniques and that legally mandating labels on GM foods could therefore mislead and falsely alarm consumers.

It isn t very often that a world-renowned, respected teaching facility, such as Harvard University s Brigham and Women s hospital, publicly apologizes for promoting bad research but that is exactly what they did. The so-called study, led by Dr.

If there is any perfect example of how supplement makers get away with murder, this is it.
So-called "energy" drinks are currently in the news because the FDA is investigating whether the deaths of 5 people who drank concoctions with names like Monster and Red Bull, are related to the caffeine content in the drinks. The FDA isn't talking yet, but the idea is certainly plausible. Here's why.

While the American Heart Association (AHA) and other prominent public figures (most notably, Mayor Michael Bloomberg) are calling on Americans to restrict their sodium intake, new evidence is suggesting that such recommendations may actually be not only without merit, but harmful.

Last month, we reported on a study demonstrating the hugely beneficial effects of genetically modified golden rice that provided children in China with adequate levels of vitamin A.

If you re at all familiar with the nutritional value of what you eat, you probably know that milk is a nutrient-dense beverage. As Ruth Frenchman, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, points out, the ubiquitous beverage contains calcium, vitamin D, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin B12, and other vitamins and minerals. In fact, of the four nutrients most commonly insufficient in our diets calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and fiber milk is a good source of the first three.

Josh Bloom, Medical Progress Today 11/27/12, "Tami-flu the Coop? "
Roche has recently been taking considerable heat for not providing certain clinical data on Tamiflu (oseltamivir), its flu drug that has been on the market since 1999. During the 2009 H1N1 flu scare, hospitals, governments and many individuals were panic buying it, and some of them are not too happy about spending a load of money on something that doesn't work very well.

The late Dr. Philip Ettinger coined the term Holiday heart syndrome in 1978. Subsequently, the term has become widely used to describe isolated incidents of atrial fibrillation in otherwise healthy people who simply eat and drink too much, often accompanied by other holiday-related stressors therefore, its frequency increases around Christmas and New Year s.

You may want to think about eating meals as a family for more than just the holidays. A new study from the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that eating meals as a family can improve children s eating habits. The more family meals taken together, the better but some benefit accrues even if it only happens for one or two meals a week.

A new study from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., shows that the percentage of American service members with signs of coronary artery disease has declined in the last half century falling to a rate of less than 1 in 10 military personnel. This compares with a finding of atherosclerosis in over three-quarters of autopsies among soldiers killed in the Korean War.

When it comes to diabetes, the best medical practice has long been to try to control blood sugar. However, the evidence that such strict control helps improve the many adverse health effects in diabetic patients has been surprisingly and frustratingly scant. Now, though, an observational study seems to indicate that better glycemic control actually helps diabetes patients reduce their risk of various cardiovascular events, including death.

For the first time in over a decade, the FDA has approved a new weight-loss drug: Arena Pharmaceuticals' Belviq (lorcaserin). The drug, which works by stimulating specific serotonin receptors in the brain to create a sense of satiety, is approved for use in obese people and those with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 or higher although those in the latter group must also have at least one weight-related health condition.

We try not to think too much about California's Proposition 65, the 1986 law that purports to protect individuals from knowingly touching anything that may be theoretically associated with cancer or developmental problems. It just raises our blood pressure. However, we'd be remiss not to point our readers toward Dr. Joe Schwarz's excellent take on this misguided law (which has now expanded to cover over 800 substances).

When it comes to perishable food items, consumers often rely on expiration dates to determine when a product will spoil. But does the same rule of thumb hold for labeled expiration dates on medications?

Harder exercise is better than longer exercise when it comes to preventing metabolic syndrome, Danish researchers reported in a new study published in BMJ Open.

As New Yorkers prepare for the ban on the sale of some sugary sweetened beverages exceeding 16 ounces that will go into effect in March, a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that in the last decade, consumption of calories from sugar in regula

Way back when say, in 2003 we thought we had all the information about risk factors for breast cancer that we needed, or at least that we were going to get. These included: early onset of menstruation, few (or no) full-term pregnancies, strong family history of the disease (especially those with the BRCA mutations), postmenopausal obesity, and advancing age, most prominently.

Coronary artery calcification, the buildup of calcium in the coronary arteries, was found to predict the occurrence of stroke, even in individuals with low-to-intermediate cardiovascular risk, according to a new study. The coronary artery calcification score, measured using an electron-beam CT scan, had been shown previously to predict myocardial infarction as well as cardiovascular risk in the general population.

Sometimes the latest junk-science news makes us want to bang our heads against the wall. New York's Suffolk County has just passed the "Safer Sales Slip Act," banning the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in thermal cash register slips.

It s that time of year again. Summer s over, and school is starting again. And with this new year comes another (predictable) chance for activist groups posing as scientific experts to scare parents

More non-news on arsenic and rice
In today s Let s Worry About Nothing news, there is a story that will either make people feel better, worse, or simply confused about a non-problem tiny amounts of arsenic in rice.

Overall, the average life expectancy in the United States is on the rise, and has been gradually increasing since 1990.

Shingles vaccine, available since 2006, has only been given to 16% of the over-60 year old population who could most benefit. This is a failure of public health communication as well as medical primary care.

A constant theme in medicine over the past few years has been questioning whether routine screening for certain diseases is actually helpful.
For the most part, the answer is surprising and counterintuitive no.

Cataracts the clouding of the lens of the eye result in impaired vision. A new study, published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology, found