New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced yesterday that the City plans to raise the legal age for tobacco product purchases to 21 from 18. Given the stated support for this proposal by both a majority of the Council, as well as Mayor Bloomberg, the likelihood is close to 100 percent that this will be enacted and go into effect, probably this year.
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This week’s announcement from Mount Sinai Hospital’s World Trade Center Health Program that Ground Zero workers have been found to have a “15 percent higher rate of cancer” than expected set off cries for more compensation for the heroic WTC victims of the toxic dust at the site of the terrorist destruction over 11 years ago. [...]
The post Ground zero cancer: cynical manipulation of statistics rather than science appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Josh Bloom in The New York Post, 5/3/13 "Searching for the wrong miracles"
The US pharmaceutical landscape has changed rapidly and radically over the past decade with dire consequences. Companies have exited en masse from research in traditional disease areas, plunging headfirst into cancer research.
Although they’ve been around for years, tanning beds have thus far escaped much regulation — even though the American Academy of Dermatology has stated that they cause a 75 percent increase in the risk of the dangerous skin cancer melanoma. Further, the Academy says the risk increases with each use. The FDA this week proposed [...]
The post FDA proposes new rule for tanning beds appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMS), such as tamoxifen, are widely used to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer in women who have been treated for the disease. SERMs are drugs that may block or accentuate the action of estrogen, depending on the tissue being examined. Tamoxifene and raloxifene, for example, inhibit the action of estrogen [...]
The post SERMS: Valuable tools for breast cancer prevention appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Here's your Friday Medical Wrap covering our top stories: Why women are getting needless mammograms, Another way to treat high blood pressure, A new vaccine that could control autism, Why some are silent over e-cigarette's surge in popularity, and more on labeling genetically engineered foods.
Somewhat similar to routine mammography of younger women, prostate-specific antigen screening in men without symptoms of prostate cancer has been shown to do more harm than good.
Earlier this month, we published a Dispatch item on the possibility of using cellphones to combat childhood obesity. Now, a new study published in the journal Obesity suggests that active games – exergames which are a form of exercise and use technology to track body movement – may play a role in weight loss in [...]
The post Exergames for weight-loss in teens appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
According to an American Heart Association scientific statement published earlier this week, engaging in an aerobic exercise or resistance training program can be seen as an “adjunctive” therapy to standard medical and dietary therapies for treating hypertension. However, evidence to support the use of biofeedback techniques, isometric handgrip exercise, device-guided slow breathing, meditation, yoga, relaxation [...]
The post Exercise as ‘adjunctive’ therapy for treating hypertension appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
ACSH’s Dr. Gilbert Ross appeared — again — before the FDA advisory committee on tobacco products regulation. That panel, officially the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, is required to meet periodically by the 2009 Tobacco Control Act and get public commentary on various relevant topics. Yesterday’s meeting was a discussion about how the FDA’s Center [...]
The post Latest FDA tobacco panel hearing: same old, same old? appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
The drip-drip-drip of scare stories, tirades and advertisements warning us about toxic, hazardous and cancer-causing chemicals has turned into a deluge of late. It is impossible to watch a TV news show or read a magazine or turn on your computer without being warned, over and over again, that if we don’t do something, the sky [...]
The post Should we listen to scare groups about chemicals? No. appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Have you heard? New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had lapband surgery in February. Lapband surgery, a variation of bariatric surgery, involves wrapping a device similar to a band or a belt around the stomach in order to make the stomach smaller, limiting the amount of food it can hold, and therefore resulting in weight loss [...]
The post The secret’s out: Governor Christie had lapband surgery appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
“The pharmaceutical industry does many wonderful things, yet most people regard it as one step below head lice on the food chain. This week, Merck, with some questionable help from the FDA, gave more ammunition to industry critics, who typically maintain that the industry contributes little innovation, and is simply concerned with profits. For the [...]
The post Merck gives itself and pharma a black eye appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Women with high-risk pregnancies are often prescribed bed-rest because it is thought to prevent premature birth, hypertension, miscarriage and other complications a pregnant woman may face. However, new studies published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology suggest that evidence is inadequate to recommend bed-rest to these women, and in fact it may cause harm. This [...]
The post Bed-rest may not be the best recommendation for women with high-risk pregnancies appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
University of Chicago researchers presented preliminary research demonstrating that Qsymia, a diet drug that is a combination of phentermine and topiramate, can successfully reduce both body weight and blood pressure. Obese or overweight individuals who used the drug over 56 weeks lost more than ten percent of their body weight, and those participants also saw [...]
The post Two old drugs combine for new effect appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Ketamine (street name Special K) has been used in a variety of ways— legal and illegal, in both animals and humans. Its primary use is general anesthesia and sedation of animals. As a recreational drug it is known for its hallucinogenic properties, although it never attained the popularity of other street drugs like LSD, cocaine [...]
The post Special K—More than OK for depression sufferers appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Even though a study conducted by Sally Wenzel, MD, and co-workers at the University of Pittsburgh had only 104 participants, the results seen during a clinical trial of a novel treatment for asthma are so impressive that they are still well worth noting. The study evaluated the effectiveness of an experimental antibody drug called dupilumab, [...]
The post Can asthmatics breathe easier? appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
A new study in today’s New England Journal of Medicine lends further support to several recent evaluations of the utility of low-dose, spiral CT scans of the chest to detect lung cancer earlier in heavy smokers. The new report lends perspective and detail to the groundbreaking report which appeared in that same journal in August [...]
The post Spiral CT screening: a good idea, for smokers and many ex-smokers appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
In order to avoid easily preventable spoilers of summer leisure time fun and travel, we at ACSH encourage you to take seriously the tips given above. It is our hope that they will help you to have a happy, healthy summer vacation!
A report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) presents some startling new statistics about the prevalence of various mental disorders among American youth. Overall, researchers from the CDC found that anywhere from 13 to 20 percent of children living in the US experience some type of mental disorder in a year. This new report [...]
The post Mental disorders surprisingly common in American kids appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Despite a 2009 advisory from a federal advisory panel that women under age 50 avoid routine screening mammography unless discussed with her medical caregiver, a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found that younger women continued to get screening mammograms at the same rate in 2010 as before the panel report. [...]
The post Younger women still getting mammograms despite Uncle Sam’s advice appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Despite multiple problems associated with long-term use of narcotics for pain control—addiction, abuse, nausea, and constipation— they remain the best (and sometimes only) option for the millions of Americans that suffer from moderate-to-severe chronic pain. Now, a study adds another problem to the list of liabilities associated with the use of opiate narcotics—erectile dysfunction (ED). [...]
The post Opiates: Bad to the bone appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
Scientists at Oregon Health and Science University have successfully created human embryonic cells using cloning technology. The goal of this development is to one day use these cells to produce replacement tissues or organs to treat disease due to the fact that embryonic stem cells can be developed into any type of cell in the [...]
The post Revolutionary advancements in stem cell research appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
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