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March 23, 2009

ACSH Dispatches Round-Up: Infertility, Academia, Lost Limbs, and More

By Elizabeth Wade

March 23, 2009


Sugar, organic food, colons, booze and bones

By Elizabeth Wade

Sugar makes a comeback -- as a health food

Ever since high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) became the favorite target in the fight against the obesity epidemic (at least in the popular media), sugar has experienced an upswing in popularity. "All of a sudden, sugar is believed to be better because it's 'natural,'" says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. She is particularly disappointed that the food industry is not even trying to defend HFCS. "They don't seem to care about sound science," she says.

ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava explains, "High fructose corn syrup has been demonized because it started being used around the same time that the obesity epidemic began in the U.S."

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross also proposes that the backlash against HFCS may be politically motivated because "many people are opposed to agribusiness and corn subsidies."

But Dr. Robert H. Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital, summed up the debate's most important point in the New York Times: "The argument about which is better for you, sucrose or HFCS, is garbage. Both are equally bad for your health" -- in excess, ACSH would add.

Seat at the table goes to Mark Bittman

New York Times food writer Mark Bittman recently wrote such an excellent piece about organic food and the misconceptions surrounding it that we'd like to offer him a seat at the ACSH breakfast table. He wisely points out: "[The organic label] seems to have become the magic cure-all, synonymous with eating well, healthfully, sanely, even ethically. But eating 'organic' offers no guarantee of any of that. And the truth is that most Americans eat so badly -- we get 7% of our calories from soft drinks, more than we do from vegetables; the top food group by caloric intake is 'sweets'; and one-third of the nation's adults are now obese -- that the organic question is a secondary one."

ACSH's Jeff Stier says, "The article is called 'Eating Food That's Better for You, Organic or Not' -- which is exactly our point. People's rush to eat organic can distract them from real health issues, and they end up eating organic potato chips rather than conventionally grown fruits and vegetables." Bittman also acknowledges that organic foods aren't necessarily healthier, which is supported by ACSH's publication Claims of Organic Food's Nutritional Superiority. ACSH scientists have never found any adverse health concerns associated with the approved use of regulated pesticides on conventionally grown agricultural products.

Dr. Whelan notes, "Food is a highly emotional topic. People become irrational about the issue so quickly." So she is concerned with what another article in the New York Times calls a "food revolution" supporting local and organic food. The new administration appears to be backing the movement, and Michelle Obama started a garden on the White House lawn to draw attention to "the need for fresh, unprocessed, locally-grown food."

"I think it's great that the White House has a garden," Dr. Whelan says. "I would love to have one myself. But I worry about making it a political statement about the importance of eating only local, organic food, which is often inefficiently produced and often expensive."

Dr. Kava adds, "While it's great to have really fresh, locally grown produce -- think of local tomatoes in August -- there's nothing wrong with canned or frozen foods. In fact, in some cases they may be more beneficial than fresh produce that has not been stored properly."

Get your colonoscopy during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, so many health news outlets are encouraging Americans to see their doctors about scheduling a colonoscopy. "Colonoscopies are safe and very effective in terms of preventing and treating colorectal cancer," Dr. Whelan says.

Dr. Ross explains, "During the procedure, doctors will remove any small polyps from the colon, which can prevent cancer. They also removes small tumors, which sometimes can be an effective cure."

U.S. News and World Report has a good article on what to expect from a colonoscopy. But we are a little skeptical of CBS's colonoscopy sweepstakes, which is open to people ages forty to seventy-nine. "Forty is too early to be screened for colon cancer, unless you have a family history," Dr. Kava says.

Moderate drinking may increase bone density

A new study finds that moderate wine or beer drinking may increase bone density. "I've heard about that benefit for women, because alcohol increases estrogen production, but this study includes men, too," Dr. Whelan notes.

However, ACSH staffers sensed a problem with the study when it found wine and beer to be beneficial but not hard liquor. For example, it concluded that men who drank more than two servings of hard liquor per day had significantly weaker bones than moderate drinkers. "I bet that men who drink that much hard liquor tend to have confounding factors that we should take into account, such as smoking and poor diets," Dr. Ross says.

For more on the health benefits of moderate drinking, check out ACSH's publication Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Health.


March 20, 2009


Motorcycles vs. CPSIA, Europe vs. Vaccinations, plus Drink, TB, and Knees

By Elizabeth Wade

Europe forgoes vaccinations and exports diseases

We are impressed with American Enterprise Institute fellow Roger Bate's article "A Dangerous European Export," which chronicles the spread of measles around the world, a direct consequence of Dr. Andrew Wakefield's discredited study linking the MMR vaccine to autism.

This "study," unwisely published by the Lancet, inspired many parents in Europe to forgo vaccinations for their children. "Not only are more children in Europe getting the measles, but they are bringing the disease to South America, North America, and other places around the world because they are not vaccinated," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.

Unvaccinated American children also put their communities at risk. As ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross pointed out in the op-ed "Allowing Personal Beliefs to Trump Public Health," last year's measles outbreak in San Diego started when an unvaccinated seven-year-old boy picked up the disease during a family trip to Switzerland and spread it to other children when he returned home.

Parents have nothing to fear from the MMR vaccine, but measles kills over 100,000 children per year and can lead to serious complications like pneumonia. We wholeheartedly agree with Bate's assertion, "Unfounded fear of a possible danger has created a real danger to all of us."

Seat at the table goes to Malcolm Smith

We'd like to offer a seat at the ACSH breakfast table to Malcolm Smith, the owner of a motorcycle and ATV dealership in California who publicly defied the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) by continuing to sell products made for children that contain small amounts of lead.

"It's so ironic that ATVs made for children are finally being classified as 'dangerous' for the first time because of CPSIA's stringent lead restrictions -- not because they are, well, dangerous," says ACSH's Jeff Stier. "We commend Malcolm Smith for taking a stand against this ridiculous legislation."

Moderate drinking and socializing help Japanese men stay healthy

A new study from Japan confirms the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption. "Yet again, we see that light to moderate drinking is associated with lower rates of stroke and heart disease," Dr. Ross says. Heavy drinking, however, is associated with an increased risk of stroke.

The Japanese study, which followed nearly 20,000 men for nine years, also emphasizes the importance of strong social networks. The group with the lowest rate of stroke and heart disease were light to moderate drinkers with high levels of social support, which researchers suspect helps reduce stress and encourages healthy behaviors.

For more information on the health benefits of alcohol, read ACSH's publication Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Health.

Number of tuberculosis cases drops in U.S.

The tuberculosis rate in the U.S. hit an all-time low in 2008, falling to 4.2 cases per 100,000 population. Only 12,898 new cases were reported last year, which the CDC says is also a record low. "The decline is due to better sanitation, better case findings, and the fact that most TB infections in this country are susceptible to routine medication," Dr. Ross explains. Only 1% of TB cases in the U.S. are drug resistant, as compared to 5% of cases worldwide.

Which came first: The meniscus tear or the osteoarthritis?

A new study claims that tearing the meniscus, a wedge of cartilage in the knee joint, may increase the risk of osteoarthritis in the knee -- but ACSH staffers aren't so sure. "This is a chicken or the egg question -- which comes first?" Dr. Ross says. "Does the torn meniscus make it easier to notice arthritis symptoms, or does it actually cause the condition?"

While running is often blamed for knee injuries like a torn meniscus, Stier, an avid runner, has another theory. "Running could expose underlying conditions you already have," he says. "It's possible not to notice pre-existing problems until you start testing your body." Fellow runner Dr. Ross asserted that studies have failed to show that running causes arthritis of the knee.


March 19, 2009


PSAs, FDA, Various Cravings, Tobacco Curing

By Elizabeth Wade

Benefits of PSA test appear slim, at best

Two very large studies from opposite sides of the Atlantic concluded that the PSA screening test for prostate cancer offers only modest benefits at best and results in many men undergoing dangerous and unnecessary treatment. In the European study, PSA screening was not found to reduce prostate cancer deaths. The American study showed a 13% reduction in the prostate cancer death rate among men who were screened and followed for seven years but at an unacceptably high cost in terms of unnecessary surgery -- with forty-eight patients having to be treated to prevent one death from prostate cancer.

"People who are very forcefully behind routine PSA testing will say that the death rate from prostate cancer went down, but it is important to consider the unintended consequences and collateral damage of the test," says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "The dangers of prostate cancer surgery -- which is often done unnecessarily after a PSA test results in a false positive or picks up a slow-growing and non-lethal tumor -- include impotence, incontinence, and sometimes bowel disorders."

He continues, "Doctors reading these studies should realize that they should not routinely order PSA tests. The test can be helpful, however, for men with a strong family history of aggressive prostate cancer or those whose rectal exam showed an abnormality. Unfortunately, the question in the back of every doctor's mind is, 'Will I be sued if I don't perform this test on all my male patients over fifty?'"

ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan reminds us, "There is a long history of studies that question the value of PSAs, although these new studies are by far the biggest and most comprehensive. We should focus more on distinguishing and treating aggressive prostate cancer, rather than detecting every non-threatening case of the disease."

ACSH's Jeff Stier says, "These new studies tell us that we need to improve the screening technology for prostate cancer and come up with less invasive treatments for the disease. We may never eliminate the problem of false positives from any screening test, but coming up with more manageable treatments for prostate cancer could address the issue in a different way."


Stier continues to take on Sharfstein

Stier's criticism of the appointment of Joshua Sharfstein as principal deputy commissioner of the FDA continues today on Forbes.com. Since Sharfstein is a long-time opponent of the pharmaceutical industry, Stier argues that his appointment signals a decision "that absolute drug safety should come first -- even at the cost of the drugs' availability to sick patients."

In our morning meeting, Stier expressed disappointment that drug companies have not vocally opposed Sharfstein's appointment. "Once again, ACSH is standing up for consumers -- when even the pharmaceutical industry won't act in its own self interest to do so," he says.


Could Chantix curb cravings for alcohol as well?
A very small study suggests that the smoking cessation drug Chantix may help heavy drinkers cut back on alcohol as well. Chantix works by blocking nicotine receptors in the brain, and there is some evidence suggesting that these receptors also respond to alcohol. "Saying that blocking these same receptors could help with alcoholism is certainly an interesting hypothesis," Dr. Whelan says.

In the pilot study, twenty smokers who were also heavy drinkers were either given Chantix or a placebo. After a week, those taking Chantix expressed less interest in alcohol and drank less than their counterparts when given the chance to have up to eight drinks.

But Dr. Ross reminds us, "Twenty people is certainly not enough to draw any conclusions from. It's an intriguing idea, but much larger and much longer studies need to be done. Also, none of these subjects claimed any problem with alcohol, and that's the population who would benefit most if this effect turned out to be valid."


Engineering tobacco to cure, not kill

While tobacco is not a plant we normally associate with health, European scientists believe they have found a way to genetically engineer tobacco plants to produce the anti-inflammatory substance interleukin-10 (a cytokine), which might work against some auto-immune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. "Tobacco is a rich source of potential biopharmaceuticals," Dr. Whelan says.

According to the University of Verona's Dr. Mario Pezzotti, "Tobacco is a fantastic plant because it is easy to transform genetically and you can easily regenerate an entire plant from a single cell."

ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava notes, "It would be very exciting if they found another use for tobacco, especially one that actually advanced health." Unfortunately, we doubt that biopharmaceuticals and molecular farming will ever be as profitable for tobacco companies as cigarettes already are.


March 18, 2009


Bad Advice, Brave Librarians, Sweet Safety, and Skiing Dangers

By Elizabeth Wade

Parade of bad health advice

ACSH staffers were shocked by Parade magazine's "Seven Habits for a Longer Life," which promises tips on how to live longer and healthier through lifestyle changes. While "rest up" and "eat right" are good -- if vague -- adages, the "advice" to "make it a family thing" and have a sibling that lives to be 100 or more is clearly ridiculous and impossible to control. "Parade is one of the top publications out there in terms of circulation, and it is giving Americans meaningless health advice," says ACSH's Jeff Stier. ACSH's

Dr. Gilbert Ross adds, "It boggles the mind in this day and age to see such an article bend over backwards to avoid mentioning cigarettes."

ACSH's Dr. Whelan remarks, "This is entertainment, not education. ACSH's advice on how to live a long and healthy life would reflect different priorities." For example, our New Year's resolutions include maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, schedule check-ups with your doctor, and, most importantly, quit smoking -- or better yet, don't start.

Libraries defy CPSIA to keep books on their shelves

While the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) and its unnecessarily stringent restrictions on lead levels in children's products went into effect in February, few libraries seem to be complying with the requirement to either test all books printed before 1986 for lead or throw them out.

"We're talking about tens of millions of copies of children's books that are perfectly safe. I wish a reasonable, rational person would just say, 'This is stupid. What are we doing?'" says Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington office.

Stier agrees. "We're glad libraries are standing up to this pointless and ridiculous law. But problems arise when different groups -- like libraries and thrift stores -- eventually gain exemptions from CPSIA. With each exception, proponents of the law quiet a certain opposition group, so they don't have to confront the fact that the bill is fundamentally flawed and should be completely repealed and revised to reflect the best available science with regard to lead exposure."

ACSH has been against CPSIA from the beginning, before the health scare about lead spread to children's clothes and books and was concentrated on "toxic toys" from China (where, ironically, a supermarket just pulled Johnson & Johnson baby products from its shelves because they contain small amounts of formaldehyde and dioxane). We encourage our supporters in the Washington, DC area to attend a rally against CPSIA to be held on April 1 in front of Congress.

Dr. Kava reminds toxicologists of the danger of health scares

Yesterday, ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava spoke at the Society of Toxicology's annual meeting in Baltimore. "It was a session about the safety of sweeteners," she tells us. "I discussed aspartame and also health scares that go beyond sweeteners, such as the one focused on acrylamide."

Among the interesting facts she learned is that rats cannot taste aspartame. "That seems to wipe out a whole body of animal research trying to show that preference for aspartame's sweetness has a variety of negative health effects, such as obesity," Dr. Kava says. "There was also a conflict among many toxicologists about whether low doses of certain substances are harmful or helpful (due to hormesis)."

In other ACSH outreach news, Congressmen Steven Buyer sent his fellow representatives a Dear Colleague letter noting ACSH's support for his tobacco bill encouraging harm reduction. "Our voice continues to be heard in Washington," Stier says.

Actress's fall reminds us to wear a helmet on the slopes

ACSH staffers extend our good wishes to actress Natasha Richardson and her family after her serious skiing accident yesterday. There continue to be conflicting reports about her condition. The main take-away message of this tragic incident is the importance of wearing a ski helmet while on the slopes. "While suffering such a serious injury on a beginner trail is very rare, part of learning how to ski is learning how to ski with a helmet on," says Stier -- an avid skier and helmet-wearer.


March 17, 2009


Trans Fat Canada, FDA Appointees, FDA Approval, Aspirin, and Diabetics vs. Dementia

By Elizabeth Wade

Seat at the northern end of the table

Today's seat at the ACSH breakfast table goes to Rob Breakenridge, who wrote a commentary in the Calgary Herald celebrating the end of the Canadian city's trans fat ban. He writes, "Governments and advocacy groups should confine themselves to raising awareness and promoting healthy choices and healthy lifestyles. Unleashing the food police is both counterproductive and an affront to individual choice and freedom."

Breakenridge cites ACSH's efforts to put the "dangers" of trans fats in perspective -- especially when compared to unhealthier saturated fats and preventable causes of heart disease, such as hypertension and cigarette smoking. ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, who (along with ACSH's nutrition director, Dr. Ruth Kava) testified against New York City's trans fat ban, says, "When a health scare like trans fats has momentum, it's extremely hard to stop. It's very encouraging that there is at least some pushback on the trans fat bandwagon in Canada."

ACSH weighs in on the future of the FDA

ACSH staffers are glad to see our positions on the future of the FDA being covered by several influential sources. The Wall Street Journal cites our concerns that FDA Commissioner nominee Dr. Margaret Hamburg will face pressure from scaremongers promoting junk science, and we continue to hope she stands up for sound scientific approaches to real public health problems during her tenure.

ACSH's Jeff Stier and ACSH Trustee Dr. Henry Miller's criticism of Dr. Joshua Sharfstein becoming the FDA's principal deputy commissioner is also gaining traction, and it was even covered by Roll Call's influential wire service CongressNow. "Unfortunately, Dr. Sharfstein does not have to be approved by the Senate because he is being appointed to the FDA's number two post," Stier noted in our morning meeting. "I'm very disturbed that in this so-called 'age of transparency' this controversial candidate can circumvent the confirmation process."

Multaq reduces hospitalizations from "silent" heart condition

The FDA is poised to approve Sanofi-Aventis's drug Multaq, which appears to significantly reduce hospitalizations from atrial fibrillation, a heart condition that can lead to stroke. "Multaq was first brought to the FDA's attention in 2006 and wasn't approved," recalls ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "I wonder what happened in the intervening three years -- aside from many people dying and being hospitalized because of this serious condition?"

Atrial fibrillation causes the upper chambers of the heart to quiver, which results in irregular heart rhythms and potentially blood clots. "It tends to be a silent condition that doesn't affect your life too much until a blood clot travels from the heart to the brain, causing a stroke," Dr. Ross explains.

Dr. Whelan adds, "For all the complaints about how expensive drugs are, hospitalizations are even more expensive. It sounds like Multaq could have a very positive effect on both clinical and economic savings."

Who should take aspirin?

The U.S. Preventative Task Force recently issued new guidelines on who should take aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke. It recommends aspirin for men aged 45 to 79 (to prevent heart attack) and women aged 55 to 79 (to prevent stroke) -- but only if the preventive benefits outweigh an individual patient's risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, which is a possible side effect of aspirin.

"I found these recommendations very confusing," Dr. Whelan remarks. "How can you be sure you won't experience stomach distress from aspirin?" Dr. Ross clarifies, "People who have no history of ulcers or GI bleeding are at a very low risk of stomach problems caused by aspirin. These new guidelines reinforce how important it is to know a patient's history before recommending aspirin, since while it is generally very safe, it can be dangerous for certain people."

Diabetes may lead to mental decline

New research indicates that diabetes may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and speed up dementia, especially if a patient's diabetes is poorly controlled. "Adding AD and dementia to the list of risk factors of diabetes could certainly help get some people's attention and encourage them to better manage their blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure," Dr. Ross says. Scientists at Columbia University are currently studying hundreds of aging New Yorkers to gain insight into the possible link between diabetes and a decline in brain function.


March 16, 2009


Problems in FDA, Academia, DC, and Portugal


By Elizabeth Wade


FDA leader's anti-pharma stance could hurt patients


ACSH associate director Jeff Stier and ACSH trustee and Hoover Institution fellow Dr. Henry Miller have an op-ed in the online edition of the Guardian condemning the choice of Dr. Joshua Sharfstein as the principal deputy commissioner of the FDA. Stier and Dr. Miller are concerned about how what they call Dr. Sharfstein's "long history of hostility to the pharmaceutical industry" will influence his regulation of pharmaceuticals.


They write, "Leadership at the FDA will demand nuance and the ability to weigh benefits and risks -- including the risks of excessive regulation. Federal regulators should not be collaborators with industry, to be sure, but they must cooperate with drug manufacturers in order to get new drugs to patients in a timely and cost-effective way. Sharfstein has shown no willingness to do so."


As the American Enterprise Institute's Dr. Scott Gottlieb reminds us in his Wall Street Journal op-ed, pharmaceutical companies and the biotech industry play an important role in translating government-funded basic research into real-world treatments that save lives. We hope Dr. Sharfstein and the rest of the Obama administration recognize the wisdom in Dr. Gottlieb's statement "Pouring federal funds into basic research while at the same time blocking the path for its translation into human therapies is no way to advance medical innovation."


Academia shouldn't get a free pass on conflicts of interest


A Washington Post op-ed by Dr. David A. Shaywitz, formerly an endocrinologist and stem cell researcher at Harvard, struck a chord with ACSH staffers with its call to look beyond industry-funded science in search of potential conflicts of interest. Dr. Shaywitz even cites ACSH advisor and statistician Dr. Stan Young's critique of the alleged link between eating breakfast cereal and giving birth to boys as an example of a valid rebuttal to science produced within the hyper-competitive university system.


"Above all, university research needs to be recognized for what it is: an intensely competitive business, employing people who are desperately seeking recognition and frequently leveraging preliminary data that deserve to be taken with a large grain of salt," Dr. Shaywitz writes. "We also need to get past the facile industry/university dichotomy, a false contrast that is as misleading as it is convenient."


ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross says, "We appreciate his argument that we shouldn't just focus on financial bias, but also on all the other conflicts and motivations that pressure people to publish junk science." We suspect various unscientific pressures, ideological and otherwise, were felt by those who claim that attending school near a fast-food restaurant makes kids fat, legislators proposing to ban BPA from food and drink containers, and the researchers who found -- presumably after data dredging -- that consuming mushrooms and green tea protects against breast cancer.


"Going after these phony causes of real public health problems doesn't solve anything," Stier reminds us. "In fact, it distracts us and diverts energy and funds away from real solutions."


HIV/AIDS rate climbs to 3% in D.C.


Disturbingly, at least 3% of Washington, DC residents are infected with HIV or have developed AIDS -- a higher rate than West Africa. According to a CDC report, rates of infection from all modes of transmission (intravenous drug use with shared needles, men having unprotected sex with men, and unprotected heterosexual sex) are on the rise in the city.


"It shows that when your public health education is lax, a serious problem like HIV/AIDS can rear its ugly head again," Dr. Ross says. "While it's good that HIV is now viewed by many as a chronic disease rather than a death sentence, that attitude is making people complacent. And when it comes to a hit from an addictive substance or a sexual encounter, people take chances. The oft-repeated dictum 'use protection every time' still applies to sexual encounters -- simple lifesaving advice but easy to ignore."


Portugal looks toward regulating salt to cut stroke deaths


Portugal suffers from one of the highest mortality rates from strokes in Europe, and some officials believe that limiting salt intake -- especially by cutting the amount in the country's traditional and notoriously salty bread and cod -- could help address the widespread problem of high blood pressure and ultimately prevent deaths.


"If I wanted to cut stroke death, I would screen the population for hypertension and put those with high blood pressure on medication," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, who wrote an op-ed condemning New York City's efforts to regulate salt in processed foods. But, Dr. Ross points out, "While targeted screening and appropriate therapy certainly gives you the most bang for your buck, Portugal seems to be an outlier in terms of high salt consumption, so its population may respond to widespread dietary change."


March 13, 2009


Pharma's Dark Days, FDA's Friday the 13th, and Breast Cancer's Toll

Dr. Ross warns of dark days for the pharmaceutical industry

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross takes on the new administration's anti-pharmaceutical industry stance in op-eds published in the Washington Times and TCSDaily.com. In TCSDaily, he dissects a wide range of problematic policies, including drug importation. He writes, "No one in the administration seems to know -- or care -- that importing cheaper drugs will not only expose Americans to sub-standard, counterfeit, and toxic copies of American-made brand name drugs, but will simultaneously import foreign price controls."

In the wake of the Supreme Court's Wyeth vs. Levine decision, which allows injured patients to sue pharmaceutical companies in state courts over FDA-approved drugs, Dr. Ross writes, "pharmaceutical companies [are bracing] for the onslaught of litigation, and new drug development [will stall]...The regulatory and legal strictures impeding new drug development will redound to our detriment, as our pharmacopoeia stagnates."

In the Washington Times, Dr. Ross focuses on the issue of comparative effectiveness, which requires new drugs seeking FDA approval to be not only safe and effective but also demonstrably better than existing drugs. However, he explains, "Some patients respond to one drug and not to others in the same class. Furthermore, having a wide range of options helps keep prices down by fostering competition. And new drugs tend to be more effective than older ones, helping save money in the long run by keeping people out of the hospital."

In TCSDaily, he concludes, "Taken together, these various assaults foretell the decline of the American pharmaceutical industry -- which had been one of our major growth engines over the past twenty years." ACSH staffers hope the Obama administration reconsiders its proposals before these dangerous policies go into effect.

Scare tactics frighten parents on Friday the 13th

With the announcement of key FDA appointees imminent, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics wasted no time in issuing an inflammatory press release about several children's bath products being "contaminated with the cancer-causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane" and calling for tougher regulatory standards. Even more disappointingly, usually reputable news outlets such as USA Today and NBC picked up the scare. "This group's stock in trade is trying to scare parents about minuscule, barely detectable levels of chemicals in common products," Dr. Ross says.

ACSH's Jeff Stier reminds us, "Just because someone has scientific credentials doesn't mean what they do is credible. But they were creative -- I wonder if the timing has anything to do with Friday the 13th?" Stay tuned for ACSH's response to these scaremongers.

Racial disparities in breast cancer mortality linked to hypertension

Scientists investigating the disparity in mortality rates between African -American women with breast cancer and their Caucasian counterparts attribute some of the difference to higher rates of hypertension among African-American women. "The differential in hypertension explains at least some of the higher mortality rate among African-American women with breast cancer," Dr. Whelan explains.

Researcher Dr. Dejana Braithwaite at the University of California, San Francisco, articulates the study's important take away message: "[B]etter management of hypertension has potential to improve patient outcomes, particularly among African-American breast cancer patients."

Dr. Whelan adds, "This advice may apply beyond breast cancer as well."

Without lifestyle changes, many patients don't benefit from drugs

More European heart patients than ever are taking drugs to treat hypertension and high cholesterol, but many of them aren't changing their lifestyles enough to see any effect from the medications. "They aren't taking their lifestyle factors into account, especially obesity and smoking," observes Dr. Ross, while ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava notes, "It's very bad that they are actually managing to overcome the effects of the drugs."

As Dr. Alfred Bove, the incoming president of the American College of Cardiology, astutely notes, "Even if we advise patients to lose weight, they have to walk out the door and do that themselves." For those in need of a wake-up call, ACSH's new book Obesity and Its Health Effects details the litany of obesity's negative consequences on every system of the body. (Or perhaps the news that losing weight improves obese men's sex lives will inspire some to eat less.)

Pfizer finds success with new pancreatic cancer drug

A clinical trial of Pfizer's new drug for a certain type of pancreatic cancer was so successful that researchers stopped it early to allow all participants to take the drug. "It's reassuring to be reminded that when these trials are underway, the researchers continually monitor them, and if they see that a drug is having a big effect -- either positive or negative -- they change their approach," Dr. Whelan says.

The drug Sutent slows the progression of cancer in patients with advanced pancreatic islet cell tumors, which account for about 5% of all pancreatic cancers. It is also approved to treat advanced kidney cancer and gastrointestinal tract tumors, and it is being studied as a treatment for cancers of the breast, lungs, colon, prostate, and liver.


March 12, 2009


Soda Tax, FDA, Alcohol Benefits, Peer Review, Compound Drugs, and Vit. D

By Elizabeth Wade

RIP: New York's soda tax

We were pleased to hear that New York Governor David Paterson is backing off of many of the new taxes he proposed in December, including the tax on sugar-sweetened soft drinks. "He's saying it's because the stimulus money New York received made the new taxes unnecessary, but really it's because people objected," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.

Indeed, as Dr. Whelan documented in her op-ed "NY Soda Tax: All Politics, No Science," New Yorkers opposed the soda tax by a margin of nearly 2:1. We hope that ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava's testimony against the tax helped Albany see that it would have done nothing to fight obesity in our state.

FDA appointments appear imminent

It is increasingly likely that President Obama will soon appoint former New York City health commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg to head the FDA, with Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the current health commissioner of Baltimare, as her lead deputy. "I'm very concerned about Sharfstein's appointment," says ACSH's Jeff Stier. "He has a long record of being anti-pharmaceutical industry and opposes harm reduction in the form of smokeless tobacco." Keep an eye out for more from us on these critical appointments.

Live long and prosper: Is alcohol the key?

This week New York Post readers and Good Morning America viewers learned the opinions of Dr. Malcolm Lloyd on the benefits of moderate drinking. "He says a moderate amount of alcohol consumption prevents the common cold, Alzheimer's disease, and certain kinds of cancer, and helps people live longer -- but he didn't mention it protects against heart disease," notes ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.

Meanwhile, the New York Times remembers that for women, even moderate drinking can increase the risk of some cancers, including breast cancer. "We get so many mixed messages about alcohol," Dr. Whelan says. Dr. Ross clarifies, "The data pretty strongly indicate that women in the higher quartiles of alcohol intake had a higher risk of breast cancer. But the benefits of moderate drinking are also well documented." According to American Enterprise Institute President Arthur C. Brooks, drinking modestly is even correlated with being more successful at work and happier at home.

"ACSH also has published a paper that describes the heart benefits of moderate alcohol consumption by middle-aged adults," Dr. Kava points out. But for those over 50, be careful: a new study suggests that older adults are more impaired than their younger counterparts after a few drinks, but perceive themselves to be less affected by alcohol than they actually are.

Peer-review system fails to catch fraud

ACSH staffers were astounded by reports that Dr. Scott S. Reuben, a prominent anesthesiologist in Massachusetts, fabricated 21 medical studies involving major drugs. Even more disturbingly, he managed to get all 21 studies published in peer-reviewed journals. "This case throws into question the entire peer-review system, which we and many others have relied on over the years to produce good science," Dr. Whelan says.

Dr. Ross adds, "Unfortunately, I fear this case is going to be used against the many honest doctors with ties to pharmaceutical companies." Stier believes, "This situation shows that there needs to be more openness, the data from trials needs to be available, and others need to be encouraged to replicate the results before we put too much credence in any one study."

Compounded drugs can lead to problems

MSNBC.com has a long story today about the "shadow drug industry" of compounded drugs, which are custom-made by pharmacists for a particular patient. While most pharmacists only make compound drugs based on prescriptions written for patients who are not served by traditional medications (such as a woman who is severely allergic to corn, which is used as a filler in many drugs), some are providing their own consultations to patients and even helping them find doctors who will sign prescriptions for potentially risky compounded drugs.

"This practice seems contrary to our standards of drug approval," Dr. Whelan says. "We're very worried about counterfeit drugs, and it sounds like compounding drugs raises some similar issues."

Teens' vitamin D levels lower than expected

While vitamin D deficiency has been blamed for a variety of health problems lately, ACSH staffers are not totally convinced by a new study claiming that none of the teenagers tested were getting enough of the "sunshine vitamin." "That just means that the average vitamin D levels were lower than the researchers thought they should be," says Dr. Kava.

The study also showed that the lower a teen's vitamin D levels are, the more likely she or he is to have high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and other health problems associated with a risk of heart disease. "But which came first, the chicken or the egg?" wonders Dr. Ross. "It may well be that in the widening cohort of sedentary teenagers who are obese and don't go outside enough, they are suffering the consequences -- which include low vitamin D levels."


March 11, 2009


Prince Charles, Michelle Obama, Peanuts, Nicotine, Cancer, and Fat

By Todd Seavey

Prince Charles Is Hawking Nonsense

The UK's Prof. Edzard Ernst has accused Prince Charles of "quackery" for pushing a scientifically baseless Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture, a solution made from dandelions and artichokes. "He's selling it, it's got his brand," laments ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava.

You would think that, of all people, a rich monarch might be above having to resort to selling snakeoil. However, the Prince is a true believer in many ostensibly green or "all-natural" causes, from the fight against global warming to a shift away from modern industry toward "sustainable development" -- and in this he is not so unlike the nineteenth-century Tories, who lamented the rise of industry and science with the same fervor they praised monarchy and the Middle Ages. The Tories have changed, but the Prince seems still to be living in the days of alchemy.

"I would call him a royal quack," says ACSH's Jeff Stier.

Michelle Obama Is a Moderate -- on Food Consumption

America's equivalent of a royal family, the Obamas, are making an effort to eat fresh, local fruits and vegetables, Michelle Obama says in an article in the New York Times Dining section today. While ACSH doesn't share her aversion to processed foods -- and while we are wary of the assumption that local foods are superior -- we were pleased to see her encouraging the consumption of fruits and vegetables, noting that they need not be expensive, and at the same time admitting her occasional indulgence in fast food, saying (as ACSH agrees) that the important thing is "eating in moderation."

Though she was less vocal about her food preferences, the prior First Lady, Laura Bush, insisted that all White House food be organic -- so she should have read ACSH's skeptical report Claims of Organic Food's Nutritional Superiority: A Critical Review.

White House Says Cheap, Imported Drugs Should Be Good

Speaking of White House officials needing to read ACSH reports, President Obama's budget director, Peter Orszag, says that cheap, imported drugs -- likely to be allowed in soon under proposed changes in the law -- must meet the same high standards as domestically-produced, FDA-regulated drugs. "Oh, really? Thanks a lot," responds ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.

It's easy to say that foreign imports should be good -- but as ACSH's recently-updated report on Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals details, most drugs bought online from, for instance, "Canadian" sources are fake or diluted. Tracking the bogus producers is very difficult and the number of reputable online distributors is very small. (And FDA has a hard enough time fulfilling its seemingly simpler, existing duties, like issuing safety guidelines to peanut companies.)

And when drugs from foreign importers do work, they are often merely American-made drugs shipped out of the country and then shipped back (in defiance of trade agreements between the relevant nations) after being subject to price controls. There is no magical land of more-efficiently produced cheap-but-effective drugs over the rainbow -- and there may not be such a land within our own borders if the government continues its multi-pronged assault on the pharmaceutical industry.

FDA to Crack Down on Safer Alternative to Cigarettes

Once more demonstrating how little we can trust the FDA to regulate in ways that improve the health of nicotine addicts, the FDA has decided to crack down on "e-cigarettes," devices that mimic the experience of smoking by delivering a combination of nicotine and steam -- thus giving nicotine addicts what they crave without giving them the products of tobacco combustion that give them lung cancer and other ailments (nicotine is addictive but is not itself deadly, whereas the products of combustion are).

"So, naturally, the FDA is going after this product, calling it a new drug," complains Ross, saying it almost seems that at FDA "they'd rather see people smoke the real thing." He asks, "It's a shame the FDA has to enforce more stringently against the lowest-risk products than against deadly, addictive cigarettes?"

Folic Acid Bad for Prostates, Screening Good Against Ovarian Cancer

Many women would benefit from increased folic acid intake, which can reduce the risk of their children having birth defects -- but men consuming higher levels of folic acid may face increased prostate cancer risk, suggests a new study. "That's scary," admits Ross.

In more-encouraging cancer-fighting news, an article in Lancet Oncology suggests that we are now seeing very promising results from screening for ovarian cancer and detecting the disease early -- whereas in the past it is has usually been found in stage 3 or 4. "By the time women come to the attention of the medical system for ovarian cancer," says Ross, "it's usually too late to arrest it."

Fat vs. Brains, Brain Surgery vs. Fat

Obesity and diabetes, it appears, may speed the onset of dementia. Kava is not surprised: "Diabetes affects microvasculature and that includes the brain -- there you go." That makes cognitive impairment one more of the many indirect health effects of obesity like those outlined in ACSH's new book. But take note: another study suggests that being underweight may increase dementia risk among some elderly -- the effects vary with age group and may be a reminder that, once more, moderation is safer than extremes.

This news comes after reports of a woman receiving brain surgery to try to control her overeating. "Talk about extreme measures," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. Perhaps we'll someday see statistics suggesting people avoid dementia through brain surgery that staved off their obesity, circuitous as that may sound.

A Visit from an ACSH Advisor -- and Donor

We were pleased to have ACSH Advisor John Dunn, M.D., J.D. in the offices yesterday: to discuss issues like increasing real scientists' involvement in combating junk science -- and please remember that anyone who donates to ACSH can request receipt of our daily Morning Dispatch e-mails and become part of the ongoing conversation. We are not just the dozen or so dedicated staffers who come to the office each day but the hundreds of scientific and policy advisors who inform our work -- and each person whose giving makes our resulting reports possible.


March 10, 2009


Traditionally Wrong, Moodily Monkey, Sick at Heart, Fat, and Achy


By Todd Seavey


Michael Pollan has complete faith in Grandma


On the New York Times' Well blog, Michael Pollan asks for readers for their families' folk-wisdom rules about what to eat. As of this morning's ACSH meeting, he'd already gotten hundreds of replies. He explains, in terms that sound pleasant enough to contemporary ears but stab at the heart of science nonetheless, that he simply assumes food ideas would not have endured over time were there not some deeper truth even to the crazier-sounding claims -- the same rationale behind much of "alternative medicine."


"We've certainly heard this reasoning before," notes ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava. "For example, people will say that a Chinese herbal medicine must be good because they've been using it for 5,000 years. But no one knows what the results were, or if any other treatments were available," she continues.


Folk wisdom may sometimes be better than nothing, but it can also be worse, which is precisely why the scientific method was developed: to test claims that may be intuitively appealing but do not hold up under careful examination. Imagine, suggests ACSH's Jeff Stier, if we really did eat today as our ancestors did: "There'd be more birth defects, there'd be more food poisoning." We moderns are terrible ingrates toward our scientific, industrial inheritance, and it's not hard for idyllically-inclined writers such as Pollan to flatter those neo-Luddite sensibilities.


BPA now getting the blame for moody monkeys


Speaking of neo-Luddite sensibilities, the site NaturalNews reports on a study suggesting that the chemical BPA -- a plastic component used in many products such as cans and contact lenses about which ACSH has written before -- is a source of mood disorders in monkeys exposed even to tiny amounts normally deemed safe by the EPA, though the changes in mood purportedly observed were far subtler than chimpanzee face-eating or missile-lobbing.


The purported effects were so subtle they likely don't exist at all -- but they attract attention because they sound as if they jibe with one of the many health-scare charges brought against BPA since the 1930s, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, that is, that it affects "developing brains and endocrine systems of infants and developing children." As is often the case with a chemical targeted for scare claims, though, the claims about BPA's effects have been so numerous and unrelated that it suggests a scattershot approach to finding any weak evidence possible against it. "You can think of an ailment or a disease, and it's been linked to BPA" without good evidence, summarizes Ross.


Depression linked to heart disease, wine to cancer, in women


An increased risk of sudden death from heart attacks -- but surprisingly a slight decrease in other heart disease -- appear to afflict depressed women, according to a new study. There has been some speculation about a possible correlation with antidepressant use, but depression itself might well have such effects -- and, observes Ross, the depressed are somewhat less likely to take good care of themselves in a variety of ways.


Depressed women may have new reason to resist the temptation to turn to wine as a means of coping (even though moderate drinking can be good for the heart -- and even liquor companies counsel moderation these days). Not only is alcohol a depressant and one that may not be appropriate to consume with medication, it may also increase the risk of breast cancer, claims another alarming -- but perhaps overblown -- study. The increased risk of breast cancer from moderate wine consumption is so small that it could be offset by increased folic acid intake, but the association may inspire some women to become teetotalers instead of attempting to quantify the risks in this study, we fear.


The wine/cancer story mentions in passing the idea that smoking, often associated with increased wine consumption, might contribute to the observed increased risk of breast cancer. "I quarrel with that," says Ross. "When has smoking been associated with breast cancer?" It's associated with numerous other dire-enough diseases, as ACSH has frequently noted, without needing to exaggerate its effects.


ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan adds, "I've heard that women with breast cancer might accelerate its progress by smoking," but not that they're at increased risk for initially developing it.


Kids with cholesterol trouble and men with gout


Rising obesity rates are one reason people are talking more about things like how to cope with cholesterol problems in children. But on the bright side, a study suggests that taking extra vitamin C may help men avoid gout. "Gout is definitely related to obesity," observes Ross, so help fighting it is great, "but you have to take significant doses" to get a beneficial effect even according to this study. "I wouldn't want to take that much vitamin C just to avoid a potential case of gout, unless I had a recurrent tendency towards acute gouty attacks."


Those big vitamin C doses may produce some real decreases in gout rates. "Forty-five percent is pretty significant," notes Kava. Gout is just one of many health effects of obesity, though, with the major ones catalogued in ACSH's recent book on the topic.


Shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather


At the risk of sounding like Michael Pollan, we note that conventional wisdom has it that people are more likely to feel achy from arthritis or other causes during -- and even slightly before -- rainy, damp weather (though attempts to study this pattern have not been conclusive). Now comes word that migraines, too, may be affected by the weather -- and if nothing else, we note that the study suggests changes in weather appear to have a bigger impact on migraines than pollution does. Lower barometric pressure appears to be a trigger, and the study, published in the journal Weather, appears robust. Recent snow and rain in our area may then be a headache in more ways than one.


March 9, 2009


Autsim, Cell Phones, Fat, Lost Limbs, and Stem Cells


By Todd Seavey


Get Offit: Book Debunks Autism Scares


It took them a few months, but the New England Journal of Medicine (March 12, 2009) finally published an excellent review of the book Autism's False Prophets by ACSH Advisor Dr. Paul Offit. Offit debunks the widespread conspiracy theories, which seem to have taken root and continue to spread despite being officially denounced by numerous scientific bodies, that either attenuated measles virus or mercury in vaccines is causing children to become autistic. Far more likely, autism diagnoses simply tend to occur around the same age that children are receiving early vaccinations -- and parents faced with the sudden onset of autism in their children, understandably, want desperately to find some identifiable external cause.


At a time when pharmaceutical companies face increased lawsuits and regulations on many fronts (and surviving companies are in some cases merging), it's encouraging to see an eminent medical expert countering at length some of the scare claims that beset them -- and that needlessly frighten parents into avoiding routine vaccination.


Cell phones spread germs, car accidents


A study suggests that cell phones may be frequent carriers of germs in hospitals, increasing infections. "Duh," says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, "everything has germs." That's not unique to cell phones, adds ACSH's Jeff Stier, but Ross adds that there is one useful aspect to the study: "Only that we don't normally think about it -- like ties and sleeves," which were the source of new warnings about cleanliness to doctors, who are now advised to avoid long sleeves during patient examinations. Germs can be found on any object, and cell phones can easily be picked up as an afterthought by someone in an otherwise sterile environment.


Still, as hazards unique to cell phones go, a bigger problem is likely their tendency to cause distraction if used while driving or walking near traffic, as another new study reminds us. "Even if you're on a hands-free phone, you're distracted," says Stier. New York City offers many opportunities to observe cabbies and stroller-pushing nannies unduly focused on their cell phones.


Warning people about this risky behavior would likely be even more useful than warning them about cell phones as germ carriers -- and would certainly be far more useful than the recurring, groundless warnings about cell phones causing brain cancer. "Not even when riding a bike should you be on a cell phone," adds ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava.


Less fat means more life, more sex, possibly more memories


A study suggests, perhaps unsurprisingly, that as men get fatter, their sex lives decline. It's not simply because of their appearances, though. "Extra fat will convert testosterone to estrogen," notes Kava. ACSH has recently published a book on numerous such health effects of obesity. Kava adds that new data shows decreased mobility among the obese elderly. "This is not something I'm going to be astonished about...but it was a substantial increase in risk for impaired mobility."


People wanting to take a radical approach to combating obesity -- engaging in severe calorie restriction -- may indeed live longer, not only longer than the obese but longer than normal-weight people, suggests a new study (though the data have been mixed on this question in humans -- despite the life-extending effects of severe calorie restriction in worms and mice). "There are actually people who are living this way," observes Kava. "They've cut their calories by about 30% and they're living longer, supposedly happier lives -- but they don't look like it." Memory in older people may also be improved by calorie restriction, though the effect if any appears slight.


Meanwhile, with obesity rates increasing across the globe, obesity -- like the twentieth-century upsurge in smoking -- may contribute to a predicted doubling of cancer cases in the next few decades, even as rates due to other causes decline or stay the same. (One very small but interesting potential source of cancer cases: excess CAT Scans, which subject the body to far more radiation than X-rays -- but are still creating far more benefits than risks as conventionally used.)


Lost limb, lost Supreme Court battle


L. Gordon Crovitz wrote insightfully in the Wall Street Journal today about the recently-decided Supreme Court case Wyeth v. Levine, in which Wyeth was deemed liable for a patient's loss of an arm through misuse of medication, even though the warning label clearly indicated to medical personnel that the drug should not be arterially injected. Indeed, as Crovitz notes, the warning label said in large capital letters INADVERTANT INTRA-ARTERIAL INJECTION CAN RESULT IN GANGRENE OF THE AFFECTED EXTREMITY. And so it did, a physician's assistant ignoring the warning.


"They had everything going for them in this case," summarizes Ross, "a big label meaning don't inject this arterially, you ninny -- how could they lose this case?" Yet now, on top of their other legal and financial concerns, pharmaceutical companies know that even misuse of their products -- misuse that they've warned about -- could be pinned on them. A chilling climate gets just a little chillier.


Stem cell (legal) progress


On a warmer note, President Obama is reportedly loosening restrictions on government involvement in stem cell research, though he's leaving the details to Congress -- another complicated layer of mixed signals on that topic, added to the anti-cloning restrictions President Clinton signed into law and the restriction of federal funding by President Bush to a handful of existing embryonic stem cell lines. Historians of law and science will have quite a thicket of hairsplitting restrictions and subsidies to wade through looking back at this era from the future.


March 6, 2009


Industry, exercise, diabetes, BPA, and food inspections


By Elizabeth Wade


ACSH defends industry-funded science


ACSH's Jeff Stier gave a talk on the crusade against conflicts of interest at the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry's annual meeting, and audio clips from his speech are now available online.


His comments have also been picked up by many medical newsletters, including Internal Medicine News and Family Practice News, where he writes, "By focusing on only one potential for bias [financial], we are undermining the science...The problem is when you get the science wrong, regardless of whether you were funded by industry or whether you did it for free. Get the science right, and I don't care about potential bias."


Stier based his comments on ACSH's peer-reviewed report on this topic, which has huge implications for your health -- including, but not limited to, the way pharmaceuticals and every-day products are regulated by the government.


Obesity is worrisome, but it's not too late to start exercising


Adding to the cornucopia of negative health effects associated with obesity, researchers say that excess abdominal fat can impair lung function. "Too much abdominal fat puts pressure on the diaphragm and makes it difficult to breath," explains ACSH's Dr. Whelan. "This is one of the many problems we cover in the chapter on the respiratory system in our groundbreaking book Obesity and Its Health Effects."


ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava notices another possible negative consequence of obesity in an article about vitamin D deficiency. "Vitamin D is stored in body fat, so if you are overweight or obese, this important vitamin can be taken up by fat rather than released in the blood," she says. A vitamin D deficiency is particularly worrisome for bone health.


But the good news is that it's never too late to start exercising. According to a new study, people who waited until they were over fifty to start regular exercise still reaped health benefits -- but it took ten years for older adults' new exercise habits to decrease their risk of premature death. "While this study may help fight complacency among older people, we really recommend that people don't wait this long to start exercising," Dr. Whelan says.


Stier wondered, "If it's never too late to start exercising, why did I wake up at 6am to run this morning? But seriously," he adds, "We need to remember to promote exercise in a thoughtful, comprehensive way. Diet and exercise must be considered together to ensure a healthy lifestyle."


Could a virus be responsible for type 1 diabetes?


Researchers examining the pancreases of children who died of type 1 diabetes found that many of the organs contained enteroviruses, while hardly any pancreases from non-diabetic children did. "That's a fairly impressive statistic linking this type of virus to type 1 diabetes," says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "If you could find a particular viral species that was pathogenic and led to type 1 diabetes, you could potentially develop an antibody and make a vaccine."


He continues, "However, there are hundreds of different enteroviruses, and this study doesn't contain evidence of a causal link. It would be a dramatic advance against diabetes if we could tie an infectious agent to this disease, but I'm not convinced this study does that."


More companies cave on BPA


ACSH staffers were disappointed to hear that six Connecticut companies have agreed to stop using the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) to manufacture baby bottles, as per a request from the state's attorney general. "But what are they using instead of BPA?" wonders Dr. Whelan. "If you are concerned about BPA, why shouldn't you be at least as worried about what is put in its place? The replacement surely doesn't have the decades-long safety record of BPA." For more on the safety of this controversial chemical, read ACSH's publication The Facts About Bisphenol-A.


Inspections don't ensure food safety


The New York Times elaborates on the problematic inspections of the peanut plant linked to the ongoing salmonella outbreak. "Audits that were done by a private organization found no problems in the plant, but apparently the inspector wasn't aware that salmonella was a potential problem in peanuts," Dr. Kava says. "The plant also passed an inspection by the state, but when the feds went in they found salmonella and multiple other problems."


While there isn't one quick fix for food safety, Dr. Kava notes, "None of these plants are required to send the results of their testing to the FDA, which sounds like a real issue that should be corrected."


March 5, 2009


Litigation increase, harm reduction, food irradiation,

By Elizabeth Wade

Bad news not just for drug companies, but for consumers too

ACSH staffers are extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court ruled against Wyeth in the landmark pre-emption case Wyeth vs. Levine. Diana Levine sued the pharmaceutical company after mistakenly receiving an arterial injection of the drug Phenergan, which caused gangrene and resulted in the amputation of her right forearm.

"I'm so shocked that the Supreme Court would rule that Wyeth was liable for her injuries even though the drug's label clearly warned against arterial injection and the label was approved by the FDA," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "The person who gave her the injection made a tragic mistake, but Wyeth shouldn't be held responsible."

ACSH's Jeff Stier explains, "While the public policy implications of this decision are devastating for consumers, it is not the Supreme Court's role to determine public policy. Unlike the authority Congress gave to the FDA with regard to medical devices, Congress did not explicitly give pre-emption to the FDA with regard to pharmaceuticals. You can't argue with the Supreme Court's decision on a strictly legal basis, but the ruling will make the pharmaceutical industry less willing and able to develop new drugs for us -- the consumers."

Another piece of bad news for consumers and the pharmaceutical industry comes from the Senate, where Senators Dorgan, Snowe, and McCain have introduced bipartisan legislation to legalize drug importation. "Americans complain about the high cost of drugs, which will only get worse now that the Supreme Court has ruled that drug companies can be sued in state as well as federal courts," Stier says. "But drug importation is not going to lower costs -- it's going to decrease innovation and discourage pharmaceutical companies from developing new life-saving medications."

Dr. Whelan adds, "99.9% of Americans don't understand the drug importation issue, and pharmaceutical companies are not doing a good job of explaining the consequences. They are focusing on the dangers of counterfeit drugs, which are of course very serious. But no one is making any mention of the dangers of importing price controls."

She concludes, "The future for new pharmaceuticals gets dimmer and dimmer every day." For more information, read Dr. Whelan's editorial "Good Politics, Bad Medicine."

Harm reduction hits a hurdle in Congress

We received more bad news from Congress today, as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed the Kennedy-Waxman legislation that would allow the FDA to regulate tobacco products -- and defeated Rep. Buyer's alternative legislation promoting harm reduction.

In a Forbes.com commentary comparing the two proposals, Stier writes, "[The Kennedy-Waxman bill] will make it virtually impossible for companies to promote less harmful forms of tobacco...[Buyer's bill], and a similar one that North Carolina's Richard Burr plans to introduce in the Senate, is more likely to improve public health -- by creating a realistic regulatory framework that would lead to a reduction of tobacco-related death and disease."

Rep. Buyer is sharing Stier's piece with his fellow members of Congress as part of a "Dear Colleague" letter. We are gratified that Rep. Buyer's bill received the support of both Democrat and Republican members of the House, but unfortunately it failed along party-line votes in committee.

Stier's piece inspired some very encouraging comments, including one from a smoker who is currently using snus to help him quit. "I am going on a year smokeless, and for the first time in my life, I can imagine quitting cigarettes for good," he said. We hope Congress takes heed of success stories like this one, rather than misleading scares about chewing tobacco use among teenage boys.

Salmonella outbreaks inspire call for food irradiation

Amidst all of today's bad news, we were happy to see a glimmer of hope in the New England Journal of MedicinePerspective article "Coming to Grips with Foodborne Infection." After chronicling the effects of recent salmonella outbreaks in the U.S., the University of Wisconsin's Dr. Dennis G. Maki points out that a return to having "millions of small farms producing more 'natural' food" is impossible because "efficient, industrialized production of huge quantities of food is an inescapable necessity to avoid food shortages and famine. The challenge is to enhance the quality and safety of industrially produced food."

We were especially pleased to see him conclude the article with a call for "a major effort to gain public acceptance of irradiation of high-risk foods." For more about this life-saving technology, check out ACSH's publication Irradiated Foods. "ACSH has been promoting the use of irradiation for ensuring food safety for over twenty years," states ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava. "I'm pleased to see our efforts reinforced in a major medical journal."


March 4, 2009


Cheaper eats, reduced harm, fatter fat people, and riskier Boomers


By Elizabeth Wade


Eating healthy on a budget


While popular "wisdom" dictates that eating on a budget means having an unhealthy, fast-food-based diet, ACSH staffers know that saving money doesn't have to mean sacrificing nutrition -- just ask Jane Brody. ACSH's Jeff Stier says that in a recent New York Times article "she totally debunks the myth that it is impossible to have a healthy diet without spending a lot of money...You can have a very healthy diet on a small budget if you know how to shop for and prepare foods."


The article quotes ACSH Advisor and University of Washington epidemiologist Adam Drewnowski: "We must avoid the temptation to turn to cheap, empty calories -- the refined grains, added sugars, and added fats that give you the most calories you can get for your food dollar." Instead, he says, "there are many foods that are affordable and nutrient-rich and not loaded with empty calories."


ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava especially appreciates the article's point that canned or frozen fruits and vegetables are as nutritious as fresh ones. Brody writes, "Not only do canned and frozen versions usually cost less and require less preparation, but nutrient value is as good or better and less food is wasted. Fresh produce is often harvested before it is fully ripe and so comes to the consumer with fewer than optimal nutrients. But fruits and vegetables that are canned or frozen are picked at the peak of ripeness."


Still not convinced? Check out the recipes that accompany the article for some cheap, healthy meals.


Harm reduction legislation finally introduced


After months of work, Indiana Representative Steven Buyer will introduce the Youth Prevention and Tobacco Harm Reduction Act to Congress today. "We at ACSH have been talking for years about the benefits of harm reduction and smokeless tobacco, so it's very encouraging that today the House will consider a piece of bipartisan legislation that would create a plan for advancing harm reduction in this country," says Stier, who met with Buyer's staff in Washington last week.


Rep. Buyer has been consistently impressed with ACSH's work on harm reduction, and he even circulated Jeff Stier and Dr. Brad Rodu's Washington Times op-ed "To Stop Going Up in Smoke" as a Dear Colleague letter to his fellow representatives.


Fittingly, Congress is considering this legislation just days after Alan Landers, a former spokesman for Winston cigarettes turned anti-smoking crusader, died of throat cancer. He also suffered from heart disease and two bouts of lung cancer during his sixty-eight-year life. "Just imagine if this man had been given the facts about harm reduction and smokeless tobacco," Stier says.


Drawing a distinction between "obese" and "overweight"


A new study suggests that men who were overweight at age eighteen have the same risk of premature death as light smokers but that obese eighteen-year-old men were as likely to die prematurely as heavy smokers -- that is, twice as likely as their normal-weight peers. "I'm glad this article made the important distinction between 'obese' and 'overweight,' but we must remember that many people who are overweight often end up becoming obese," Dr. Kava notes.


But as Stier reminds us, "Carrying around a few extra pounds may actually lead to lower death rates from Parkinson's, lung cancer and other respiratory ailments, Alzheimer's disease, and other assorted diseases and injuries." For more information, check out his New York Post op-ed "Facing the Facts on Fat."


Dr. Whelan remarks, "I'm still shocked by all the negative consequences of obesity. It is truly astounding to see all the ones listed in our book Obesity and Its Health Effects."


Adults over fifty are still susceptible to HIV


While the dangers of HIV and the importance of safer sex practices are often mistakenly thought to be limited to the younger population, 11% of new HIV infections in the U.S. occur in people over fifty. "Erectile dysfunction drugs have extended the active sex life for men and their partners," explains ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "But because they figure they are too old to worry about contraception, they don't worry about prophylactics either." And because the immune system weakens with age, HIV tends to progress more quickly to AIDS in older adults.


March 3, 2009


Paul Harvey, Drug Importation, Lawsuits, Lead, and Snow

By Elizabeth Wade

MD takes a snow day

ACSH staffers had a snow day yesterday, when a storm blanketed New York City with over eight inches of snow. Many other cities throughout the Northeast also experienced heavy snowfall, so we hope our MD readers in the area enjoyed some hot chocolate and made it through the storm relatively unaffected. We apologize for our absence yesterdaybut offer a potent batch of Dispatch today.

ACSH says goodbye to friend Paul Harvey

We were saddened to hear that radio host Paul Harvey died on Saturday. "I never met Mr. Harvey, but he was a tremendous fan of ACSH and covered our material all the time," remembers ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "He appreciated the way we counter some of the popular 'wisdom' with common sense."

Mr. Harvey's favorite ACSH publication was Facts Versus Fears, our compendium of the greatest health scares of recent times. "He referred to it as a 'meticulous publication,'" says ACSH's Jeff Stier. "And that's the rest of the story."

Drug importation could lead to serious problems

ACSH staffers are disappointed that President Obama's new budget supports the FDA's plan to allow drug importation. "He is joining the long line of presidents who haven't understood the issue of drug importation," Stier says.

Dr. Whelan agrees. "There is such poor understanding of this topic. People think that we're importing drugs from the countries where they are manufactured at a lower cost. But a lot of these drugs were made in the U.S. and are being re-imported." She continues, "There's also the possibility of unsafe, substandard drugs being imported from countries where there is less oversight of the manufacturing process. As the demand for less expensive medications increases, it opens the door to substandard drugs filling the gap."

There is also the problem of price controls, which have stifled pharmaceutical innovation in Canada and the European Union. "In the 1990s, Europe was the main generator of new chemical entities for pharmaceuticals, but imposing price controls forced that innovation to migrate to the U.S.," explains ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. By importing drugs from countries with price controls, the U.S. would essentially be importing those price controls as well, driving down profits for pharmaceutical companies and discouraging further research and development.

To learn more about this critical public health issue, read Dr. Whelan's National Review Online op-ed "The Drug-Importation Hoax."

Stier shows why some lawsuits hurt patients

Jeff Stier has a commentary entitled "When Suing Companies Means Harming Patients" on Forbes.com today. "It supports the doctrine of federal pre-emption in the case of medical devices and takes on those members of Congress who are trying to change the law in order to allow consumers to sue the makers of FDA-approved devices in each of the fifty states," he explains.

In the commentary, Stier writes, "If manufacturers (read: innovators) cannot rely on FDA approval to defend them against lawsuits, they will have less of an incentive to invest in new devices. The spectre of litigation, with different standards in each state, would sometimes stall development of lifesaving devices; it shifts the profit-risk balance so much that it'll be financially prudent to not sell a device. It will also increase the cost to consumers of all new medical devices."

ACSH staffers are also eager to hear the decision on the pending Supreme Court case Wyeth vs. Levine, which deals with federal pre-emption in the case of pharmaceuticals.

Children's lead levels drop dramatically

We were pleased to hear that U.S. children's blood lead levels have plummeted in the last twenty years -- a finding that is consistent with our publication Lead and Human Health. While nearly 9% of children had elevated levels of lead in their blood in 1988, that number dropped to 1.4% in 2004.

"The problem of elevated blood lead levels has been diminished significantly over the past few decades, especially after lead was taken out of gasoline and paint," Dr. Ross notes. He also points out that while 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood is the current standard for elevated lead levels, "it is still far too low to cause negative health effects."

The main ways that children can be exposed to dangerous levels of lead are ingesting old paint chips, which are common in old, often low-income housing. "Lead paint and glazes can also leach into food from old or imported pottery," ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava reminds us.


February 27, 2009


Local Food, False Claims, Resistant TB, and Coffee for Cancer


By Elizabeth Wade


ACSH Trustee and Advisor in the news


The New York Times published ACSH Trustee Dr. Henry Miller's letter responding to the recent op-ed promoting the use of locally grown food in school lunches. He writes, "Alice Waters and Katrina Heron's suggestions for improvements in the National School Lunch Program include a healthy helping of wishful thinking and inconsistency."


ACSH staffers particularly appreciate his argument that "'food safety' would likely become a far greater problem if thousands of schools were to begin to 'cook food from scratch': the vast majority of food poisonings result from the improper handling of food -- in particular, from inadequately cooking chicken or permitting the juices from raw poultry to contaminate other foods."


As ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava says, "Henry Miller nails it every time." We are proud to recognize his work promoting sound science with an award in his honor.


ACSH Advisor and University of Michigan professor Dr. Mike Kamrin also recently made a splash by publishing an article about phthalates and human health in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. "We're always proud when our advisors publish in peer-reviewed journals -- especially on important topics like the safety of phthalates," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.


Nestle and Coke settle after making false health claims


Nestle SA and the Coca-Cola Co. agreed to pay twenty-seven states $650,000 to settle a lawsuit focusing on the claim that the companies' green tea beverage Enviga burned calories. "I think they got off easy," Dr. Whelan says. "I'm surprised mainstream companies would try making false health claims like that. How did they think they were going to get away with it?"


While we believe this particular decision is appropriate, we hope the states receiving the settlement money don't take a cue from the Oregon attorney general, who gave a $4 million grant to Consumers Union after his state reached a settlement with a pharmaceutical company.


ACSH's Jeff Stier remarks, "He wanted to do something to help people make better decisions about pharmaceuticals, but instead he gave millions of dollars to an organization devoted to scaring consumers about drugs." We think the new suggestion to put drug fact boxes in advertisements for prescription medications and on the FDA website is a better plan for educating consumers about the benefits and risks of specific drugs.


Drug combo may knock out resistant TB


Researchers say that treating drug-resistant tuberculosis with a combination of the drugs clavulanate and meropenem may prove successful. "We've been worried about these highly resistant forms of TB for years, so the fact that there may be a combination of drugs that can knock them out is an important advance," Dr. Whelan says.


Dr. Ross agrees. "While this may not seem like big news in the U.S., TB is rampant in the less-developed world. This drug combo has the potential to save a lot of lives."


If HRT causes skin cancer, would coffee cure it?


In the latest study about the health effects of drinking coffee, researchers found that caffeine killed skin cells that had been damaged by ultra-violet light, cells that can be triggers for various types of skin cancer. "Caffeine and coffee are some of the most-covered topics in the health press," Dr. Whelan says. "Even on slow news days, we can always count on finding a coffee story."


In slightly more practical news, researchers found that taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or oral contraceptives may increase a woman's risk of melanoma. "I can't think of a single biological mechanism to explain why HRT would be associated with melanoma," Dr. Ross says.


Crucially, the study's lead author, Dr. Els Koomen of Leiden University in the Netherlands, clarifies that this news should not scare women into abandoning these helpful drugs. "Melanomas are still rare, especially in younger women. So, the increased risk for women taking oral contraceptives or HRT is still a small risk," he said.


Note to our readers


We've received some questions from MD readers wondering why, if our daily newsletter is called Morning Dispatch, they don't receive it until the afternoon. "We want to assure you that we are working on getting MD to you as quickly as we can," says Stier. "We want the news to be as fresh as possible, but MD also goes through an extensive editing process every day and we are working with a small staff." We appreciate your feedback, suggestions, and questions -- don't forget to email AskACSH@acsh.org to have your queries addressed in future issues of Morning Dispatch!


February 26, 2009


Alar Anniversary, Cancer Caution, Calorie Count, Irradiation Innnovation

By Elizabeth Wade

Unhappy anniversary of Alar scare

Today marks twenty years since CBS's 60 Minutes aired an inflammatory report about Alar, which set off the "great apple scare." ACSH's Dr. Whelan says, "To this day, I'm disappointed that CBS never officially apologized for blowing up this scientifically baseless scare and frightening consumers away from eating apples." For more on this topic, read ACSH's anniversary report The Great Apple Scare: Alar 20 Years Later and watch Dr. Whelan's video commentary.

How should we fight the war on cancer?

President Obama recently joined the long line of politicians who have declared a war on cancer, saying in his speech to Congress on Tuesday that the stimulus plan "will launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American, including me, by seeking a cure for cancer in our time."

But as Dr. Whelan says, "Blanket statements like a 'cure for cancer' show a complete lack of understanding of what cancer is and how many different forms it takes."

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross agrees, "The only way to wipe out cancer is to wipe out aging."

Dr. Whelan continues, "While 'wiping out' cancer in our lifetime is fantasy, we should have a 'war on cancer' that focuses on prevention, postponing deaths from the disease, and developing better treatments. That's why the news about using Proscar for the chemoprevention of prostate cancer is so exciting."

Researchers are also developing better methods to detect prostate cancer and predict which cases are likely to be aggressive. While doctors frequently rely on the PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer, it is important to take other risk factors -- such as previous prostate biopsy results, family history, and prostate size -- into account as well. Dr. Ross says, "Of course, a blood test is not a substitute for a digital rectal exam to check for prostate nodules -- a man can have prostate cancer and still have a normal PSA."

He continues, "For those men who are most at risk for prostate cancer, you can also measure their PSA at least every year to see if it's accelerating, since that can signal a problem even if the PSA numbers themselves remain in the normal range. But these methods aren't really a quantum leap ahead of what we have now."

Of course, the most important tool in the "war on cancer" is to cut smoking rates. "Even after thirty-plus years of working on public health, I'm still shocked by how many cancers are caused by smoking -- some people think it's up to 40%," Dr. Whelan says. "And we now know that the dangers extend far beyond lung cancer." So we were clearly disappointed to read an article espousing the virtues of "clean living" to prevent cancer while making no mention of the importance of not smoking.

Calories are what count for weight loss

ACSH staffers weren't surprised to hear that burning more calories than you consume is the key to successful weight loss, no matter what kind of diet you follow. "Researchers studied the effects of low-fat, low-carb, and high-protein diets for two years, and they found that the source of the calories didn't really make any difference in terms of how much weight the subjects lost," explains ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava. "Instead, it was the total number of calories ingested."

Interestingly, the people who met frequently with counselors and support groups lost more weight than those who attended meetings less often. While most of the weight loss occurred in the first six months of the study, most participants ended the study with a net loss -- but only 15% of them achieved a reduction of 10% or more of their starting weight. "It is much easier to lose weight than it is to maintain the weight loss," Dr. Kava remarks. "That is an area that needs more study."

Overall, the study's message confirmed ACSH's fundamental belief that there is no such thing as "good foods" and "bad foods" but that moderation is the key to a healthy diet. The New York Times article on orthorexia makes it clear how important it is to pass that message on to our children.

Food irradiation picks up steam

Scientific American covers a new technique for food irradiation, which can help keep our food supply safe by eliminating certain bacteria from foods. "The article describes a new machine that is much smaller than other types, so it can be at the site where the food is being processed, rather than having to ship the food to another location to be irradiated," Dr. Ross explains.

While consumers are often nervous when they hear the words "irradiated foods," the article quotes ACSH Advisor and director of the Center for Consumer Research at the University of California, Davis, Dr. Christine Bruhn as saying, "After a foodborne illness outbreak, if people hear irradiation will increase safety, the majority are interested in trying irradiated food." In the wake of the salmonella outbreak in peanut butter, ACSH's publication Irradiated Foods is especially relevant and informative.


February 25, 2009


Proscar, Fat, Wine, Infertility, and FDA Vacillation


And the Proscar goes to...


After years of study, some doctors are finally recommending that men over fifty-five consider taking Proscar, a drug that shrinks the prostate and may prevent prostate cancer. "Proscar has been talked about for years as a possible means of preventing prostate enlargement and maybe prostate cancer as well," explains ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "This new recommendation is very big news."


ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross notes, "There was a study indicating that while Proscar reduced the overall number of prostate cancer cases, it might have accelerated those tumors that are particularly aggressive or lethal." But now it appears Proscar simply makes tumors easier to detect, rather than actually exacerbating them.


Unfortunately, many insurance companies won't yet pay for Proscar because it is not indicated for cancer prevention. (Interestingly, a much lower dose of the same chemical, finasteride, is sold as the hair loss drug Propecia). "It's very important to evaluate Proscar for chemoprevention," Dr. Whelan says. "I bet many men are talking to their doctors about this drug today."


Who's afraid of a glass of wine?


A new study suggests that even moderate drinking may increase a woman's risk of some cancers, including breast cancer, rectal cancer, and liver cancer. "There are a lot of potential confounders here," Dr. Whelan says. "For example, in the case of esophageal cancer, smoking and drinking together increase the risk far more than each activity alone. I would be interested to know more about how the researchers controlled for cigarette smoking and other potential synergistic factors in this study."


Since moderate drinking can help reduce the risk of heart disease, ACSH's Cheryl Martin notes, "Some reports about this study are saying that people may want to modify their behavior based on whether they have family histories of certain types of cancer or heart disease."


Dr. Whelan recommends, "Until there is a stronger body of evidence about a link between alcohol and cancer, moderation is the key."


More news on the dangers of obesity -- and the treatments for it


A large study from Sweden suggests that obese young men are twice as likely to die prematurely as their normal-weight peers. "From what we know about obesity, we really shouldn't be shocked by this news," Dr. Whelan says. For more on the litany of dangers associated with obesity, check out ACSH's recent publication Obesity and Its Health Effects (now available in hard copy!) and our related video commentary.


Unfortunately, the FDA-approved weight loss drug Orlistat (which is prescribed as Xenical and sold over-the-counter as Alli) does not appear to help people make the lifestyle changes associated with losing weight and keeping it off. "Part of the theory behind these drugs was to train you not to take in too much fat because unpleasant side effects like loose stools would result," Dr. Ross explains. "But it appears that many people aren't changing their diets or behavior while taking these drugs."


Dr. Whelan says, "What we really need to know is if Xenical and Alli are helping people lose weight, rather than looking at behavioral changes."


But Dr. Kava believes, "Since lifestyle changes are often the basis for long-term weight loss, it is also important to understand how to motivate such behavioral changes." For more on weight loss drugs, see ACSH's new book Obesity and New Pharmaceutical Approaches.


FDA apologizes for considering career bias


The FDA is apologizing for removing a scientist who had been critical of the experimental blood thinner prasugrel from an advisory panel about approving the drug. "We have long been saying that conflicts of interest go far beyond financial influence, and in removing this scientist from the panel, the FDA was properly taking his intellectual bias into account," says ACSH's Jeff Stier. "It is unfortunate they are backtracking."


Dr. Ross notes, "I sense a double standard, because if he had been saying that the drug was safe and effective when everyone else was raising concerns, they would have barred him from the panel and nobody would be apologizing." For more on the debate over conflicts of interest, see ACSH's publication Scrutinizing Industry Funded Science.


Another scare links infertility to insidious "chemicals"


ACSH staffers were disappointed to see the latest health scare about household chemicals, which are now being blamed for infertility. "It's very sad that they are scaring people unnecessarily, especially women who are having trouble conceiving," Dr. Whelan says.


Dr. Ross points out, "They looked at very common chemicals, which we all have in our blood. Trying to tie them to infertility by looking at how long it took women to conceive vs. the concentrations of certain chemicals in their blood is ridiculous."


February 24, 2009


Conspirators, Lobbyists, Snifflers, Lawyers, and Watchmen

Seat at the table goes to Dr. Nigel Bark

ACSH often defends the safety of childhood vaccines, so we were pleased to read "Vaccine Link to Autism Has Been Thoroughly Debunked," an op-ed published in The Lower Hudson Journal-Sentinel by Dr. Nigel Bark, an ACSH Trustee and professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He writes:

...Immunization and vaccination have been the greatest contributors to health and survival of children in the past 100 years. Rather than the knee-jerk criticism of drug companies we should be thanking those few that still make vaccines for saving us from the terrible scourges of former years: diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella -- and now cervical cancer. And we should make sure our children are protected from these dangerous diseases by immunization...

For more on the safety of vaccines, read ACSH's publication The Promise of Vaccines: The Science and the Controversy.

Lobbyist ban goes up in smoke

ACSH associate director Jeff Stier and ACSH Trustee Dr. Henry Miller also published an op-ed recently. "Obama Curbing Only Lobbyists Who Disagree with Him," which ran in California's Orange County Register, takes on the appointment of William Corr, former executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, as the new Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Because it is likely that a bill allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco will soon pass, Miller and Stier write, "Corr would be in an influential position as FDA decides how to implement its new authority. For example, regulators would have to decide whether to allow 'harm reduction' claims for smokeless tobacco, which helps smokers reduce the risk of tobacco use -- a potentially useful approach that Corr's organization vigorously opposed under his leadership."

Corr plans to avoid conflicts of interest like these by recusing himself from deliberations on tobacco policy. But as Stier said in our morning meeting, "That's like the Secretary of State saying that she's not going to deal with the Middle East. Tobacco issues are a public health priority, and any leading official in Health and Human Services must deal with them."

Vitamin D may stave off the sniffles

A new study indicates that getting plenty of vitamin D may reduce the risk of catching colds, the flu, and other respiratory infections. "Vitamin D is an extremely active area of research," says ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava. "A number of people have suggested that we raise the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D because of studies suggesting benefits like these."

While the body can usually make enough vitamin D with the help of sun exposure, recent lifestyle changes have increased the chance of developing a deficiency. "Fewer people are spending a lot of time outdoors, and when they do, they use sunscreen," Dr. Kava explains. "While this behavior is quite appropriate to protect against sunlight-induced skin cancers, it has the negative effect of reducing the levels of vitamin D."

Hotels, fearing lawsuits, shy away from providing defibrillators

ACSH staffers are disturbed by the news that many hotels choose not to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on hand because of potential liability issues. "The hotels are afraid of being sued for not stocking enough AEDs or not training their staff correctly," Stier explains, "but these devices save lives and are very easy to use. There should be a call to expand and revise the Good Samaritan laws so that hotels are guaranteed immunity from lawsuits when they try their best to make AEDs available in case of emergency."

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross adds, "In fact, many states have protective laws for just this type of emergency. But hotel managers say that if you don't have an AED, you can't be sued for misusing it. This type of thinking emanates from our litigation-focused society and fear of lawyers, which is unfortunately justified."

Smoking: The mark of a villain?

Attitudes toward smoking have certainly changed over the past decade, and we were intrigued by the news that the head of Warner Bros. has forbidden the heroine of the upcoming movie Watchmen to be portrayed smoking, as she does frequently in the comics on which the film is based. Meanwhile, some of the movie's villainous characters are allowed to light up.

"Contrary to what we've been reading in columns calling for less smoking in movies, the studios are already shying away from having good characters smoke," says ACSH's Todd Seavey.


February 23, 2009


Alar at 20, Keller vs. Organic, Flu Vaccine, Peanut Allergy

ACSH looks back at Alar

This week marks the twnetieth anniversary of the Alar scare, and ACSH is marking the occasion with the new report The Great Apple Scare: Alar 20 Years Later. "Alar was a plant hormone that had a unique use in keeping apples from falling prematurely from the tree," explains ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "It was safe as it was used, but the Natural Resources Defense Council spearheaded a campaign against its use and managed to convince a lot of people -- especially parents of young children -- that it posed a health threat."

She continues, "The fear was palpable. Alar would have certainly been banned because of the scare, but the manufacturer voluntarily withdrew it due to pressure from apple farmers, who couldn't sell their product with the fear of Alar in the air. It hurt the apple industry, particularly in the Northwest."

ACSH responded to inflammatory and misleading stories on 60 Minutes and in many women's magazines by running a full-page ad in the New York Times and other newspapers stating that our food was safe and the Alar scare was unfounded. The ad was signed by some eighty ACSH scientists.

"As usual, ACSH was at the very center of countering the scare," Dr. Whelan remembers. "We finally managed to put it to bed three years later with a press conference in DC and a statement saying Alar was safe from C. Everett Koop, who was the surgeon general during the height of the panic." The World Health Organization and American Medical Association also submitted statements declaring the Alar scare to be scientifically baseless.

Unfortunately, health scares still spring up today and continue to have devastating consequences -- consider the recent panic over phthalates, which led in part to the misguided Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. "We have a lot to learn from looking back at the Alar scare, and the main message is that it keeps happening, over and over," Dr. Whelan stated. "Hopefully, learning more about the Alar hysteria will make people more skeptical the next time they hear about a health scare." For even more on this topic, check out Dr. Whelan's video commentary.

Seat at the table goes to Craig Keller

We'd like to offer a seat at the ACSH breakfast table to Craig Keller, who published a letter in the West Seattle Herald arguing against the widely-held belief that organic food is safer and more nutritious than conventionally grown food. To make his case, he cited ACSH advisor Dr. Joseph Rosen's report Claims of Organic Food's Nutritional Superiority: A Critical Review.

"We're a small organization, so we really appreciate it when our readers take the initiative like this," says ACSH's Jeff's Stier. "We hope Morning Dispatch serves to educate and empower our readers so they can actively respond to issues like this one when they arise across the country."

Progress made toward universal flu vaccine

In the wake of the news that four children in Colorado have died of the flu this year, researchers announced that they have made progress in developing antibodies that neutralize many different forms of the influenza virus, thereby further paving the way for a universal flu vaccine.

"Researchers at Harvard and LaJolla think they have found a viral Achilles' heel," Dr. Whelan says. "If we could develop a flu vaccine that would protect against many strains of the virus, we wouldn't have to produce a different vaccine every year, and it would prevent cases from falling through the inevitable cracks created when a vaccine targets only one strain."

The treatment hasn't yet been tested in humans, but researchers say human trials could be ready by 2011. "The current form that they are testing on animals acts as a treatment given after they are infected," explains ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "Doctors could potentially develop a similar injection for humans that would fight the acute infections that we currently treat with Tamiflu."

Managing a peanut allergy by building tolerance

An interesting new study indicates that severe peanut allergies may be treated by slowly building up tolerance to the nuts. Four extremely allergic children in the initial study started by consuming 5-milligram servings of peanut flour and slowly increased the dosage over six months, at which point they were able to eat ten whole peanuts. "The researchers are trying to desensitize people to the allergens in peanuts," Dr. Whelan explains.

As Dr. Ross recalls, "The method sounds very similar to how we would induce tolerance to penicillin in patients who were allergic to the drug."

Stier wonders, "Isn't there a more precise way to expose people to the allergen in peanuts?"

But as ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava explains, "Peanuts contain more than one allergen and people can be allergic to different ones, so it would be very difficult to isolate just which ones an individual was allergic to. Besides, eating the whole peanut is the usual route of exposure, so it seems logical to test it that way as well."


February 20, 2009


Pre-emption, Local Food, Prostate Cancer Screening, and Food Poisoning
By Elizabeth Wade


Congress could undermine pre-emption ruling
ACSH staffers are disappointed by the New York Times’ coverage of current efforts to introduce legislation that would undermine the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the ability to sue the makers of FDA-approved medical devices. “Currently, people can’t sue over devices that are FDA approved in a local court unless there was fraud involved,” explains ACSH’s Dr. Gilbert Ross. “But Congress can revise the pre-emption law to make that possible.”

“Legally it’s a very good strategy, but from a policy perspective it’s awful,” ACSH’s Jeff Stier believes. “And the New York Times article only looks at one side of the equation. It doesn’t consider all the people who would die because companies would be afraid to put life-saving drugs and medical devices on the market because they couldn’t even rely on FDA protection.” Dr. Ross agrees, “Some of the individual cases are tragic, but that’s precisely why we can’t let a jury be persuaded to overrule all the science the FDA accumulated in its approval process.”



Local food in February
While we sympathize with the preference for locally grown food expressed in the New York Times op-ed by Alice Waters and Katrina Heron, we don’t agree that it is a scientific issue. “I wish I had a garden, but that kind of preference is highly emotional, not scientific,” says ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. “It has to do with flavor and the feeling of growing something yourself, not the nutrient content of the foods.”

Last night, Stier had a discussion on Twitter about the merits of fresh blueberries imported from Chile – a product you can’t grow locally in New York in February. “As our Trustee Norman Borlaug argues, you need to grow things where it is most efficient,” he says. “Also, we know that we need a diverse diet, and part of that is consuming micronutrients. If you live in an area where the soil doesn’t have much of those, you could benefit from eating food from many sources.” (While you’re checking out Jeff’s Twitter, don’t miss his debate about comparative effectiveness with the editors of Scientific American.)

ACSH’s Dr. Ruth Kava agrees, “If you have access to freshly grown greens and other produce here in the summer, it really does taste so much better. But if you have to go without oranges in the winter, eating locally doesn’t do you any good.” While we wait for spring, rest assured that the nutritional content of frozen fruits and vegetables is basically the same as that of fresh ones.



Food poisoning is a widespread problem
The CDC estimates that food poisoning affects one in four Americans every year, but we think that number is probably very low. “People don’t report food poisoning and they often confuse it with something else,” Dr. Whelan says. “The classic case of food poisoning is going to a restaurant and then getting sick four to five hours later.” But because some foodborne diseases have an incubation period of 48 hours, Dr. Kava says, “It’s often hard to pinpoint exactly what made you sick.”

Food poisoning is very common, but there are steps you can take to reduce your risk. “It’s important to be careful to keep raw meat away from raw vegetables,” Dr. Whelan advises. “A common mistake is to handle raw meat and then not wash your hands before you handle raw salad greens.” For more suggestions, see ACSH’s book Eating Safely: Avoiding Foodborne Illness.



When should prostate cancer screening be stopped?
A new study concludes that most men over 75 can safely stop prostate cancer screening, since most cases of the disease only become life threatening after many years, if at all. “It’s a very provocative statement,” Dr. Whelan says. “Now I’d like to see if other screening tests, like colonoscopies and mammograms, should also be stopped after a certain age.”

But Dr. Ross points out, “Prostate cancer is unique in a few ways: it’s very common in the older age group, it’s not usually life threatening, and the treatment for it is very unpleasant. The majority of men who have prostate cancer die with the disease, not of the disease. However, if I’m a healthy 97-year-old, I still might want to have certain screening tests done. I don’t think we should use age as the only cut-off for stopping these tests.”



ACSH in Ottawa
Yesterday, Dr. Ross attended a harm reduction conference in Ottawa, along with a number of academics and businesspeople. “We were brainstorming ways about how to get the real information about harm reduction and smokeless tobacco out into the marketplace more effectively,” he reports. While President Obama wasn’t in attendance, Dr. Ross did catch a glimpse of Air Force One at the airport. Perhaps Obama will make it to a similar meeting that will be held in Washington, DC in March, where Jeff Stier will be speaking about the topic in front of several U.S. senators. We think he might benefit from another method to help him finally quit smoking.


February 19, 2009


Philip Morris, Acrylamide, Vaccines, and ACSH on Obesity


By Elizabeth Wade


Florida court case hits Philip Morris hard
In a landmark case against Philip Morris in Florida, the tobacco company has been ordered to pay $8 million in damages to the widow of Stuart Hess, a chain smoker who died in 1997 at age fifty-five. "Some people might feel rather resentful of this decision, but you have to remember that this man was lied to for thirty years by the cigarette makers," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, who has been involved in several court cases against tobacco companies.

She explains, "What makes this case unique is that it is the first to begin with the assumption that smoking causes disease and that the cigarettes companies lied about the dangers of their product. I never had that kind of advantage in the cases I testified in. When you start with that premise, there's not much more to talk about."

With about 8,000 similar cases waiting to be heard in Florida, the financial blow dealt to tobacco companies like Philip Morris could reach $64 billion. "This is quite a precedent to set," Dr. Whelan says. "For many years, the cigarette companies never lost a court case. Now the whole landscape is changing -- which is especially apparent as tobacco companies are putting more resources into developing safer nicotine delivery systems, such as smokeless tobacco."


Acrylamide exonerated again
A new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology finds no association between acrylamide consumption and the risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women. "The reason that they were looking at breast cancer risk is because there was an animal study that indicated an increased incidence of mammary tumors associated with acrylamide, but the chemical has never been found to cause cancer in humans," explains ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava.

Acrylamide is formed during high temperature cooking of starchy foods. "It keeps getting a cleaner bill of health, but money is still being spent trying to reduce our exposure," Dr. Whelan remarks. For more information on the safety of this chemical in the low doses to which humans are exposed, see ACSH's publication Acrylamide in Food: Is It a Real Threat to Public Health?


Book inspires support for vaccine safety
ACSH staffers have long appreciated the book Autism's False Prophets by our advisor Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious disease and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, so we were pleased to see a story chronicling the support he has received since the book's publication.

"Dr. Offit has been defending the safety of vaccines for many years," Dr. Whelan says. "The book is really hair-raising because it talks about all the death threats he gets for doing so. But apparently once the book was published, he began getting more positive responses from people who supported him."

Dr. Kava remarks, "It's like the silent majority is finally coming out and saying something about the safety of vaccines." For more on this issue, check out ACSH's publication What's the Story? Childhood Immunizations.


ACSH takes on obesity
As the obesity epidemic continues to sweep the nation, ACSH has published two new books that can help consumers better understand the effects of obesity and how FDA-approved treatments for it work.

As ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross explains, "Most people probably have no idea how wide-ranging the health effects of obesity can be. The increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are most widely appreciated, but many of the other effects are known only to medical professionals."

Dr. Kava adds, "Perhaps if more people appreciated how far-ranging the effects of obesity can be, they would be more motivated to alter unhealthful lifestyles." For information on how obesity affects virtually every bodily system, read ACSH's Obesity and Its Health Effects, which is now available as a printed book in addition to the online PDF.

While there are many unregulated weight loss "treatments" on the market, only a few anti-obesity pharmaceuticals have been approved by the FDA. In Obesity and New Pharmaceutical Approaches, ACSH helps you understand how these drugs work. "No one realistically expects pharmaceutical agents to magically cause body fat to disappear," Dr. Whelan says. "These products can, however, make it easier for people to adhere to a diet and lifestyle that will enable them to prevent weight gain or to lose weight, which will, in turn, help prevent health effects of uncontrolled obesity."


February 18, 2009


Paterson vs. Soda, Staff vs. Staph, plus Habits, FDA, and Babies


By Elizabeth Wade


Governor raises unnecessary fears about diet soda


While the New York City law mandating calorie counts in chain restaurants has been upheld, ACSH staffers are pleased that the state's proposed tax on sugar-sweetened soft drinks appears to be going nowhere. Acknowledging his proposal's likely failure, New York Governor David Paterson said the debate over the tax (to which ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava contributed testimony) was successful at raising awareness about childhood obesity. However, we were extremely disappointed to hear him spreading false information at a news conference by saying, "Sure there's sugar in regular soda, but the chemicals in diet soda will kill you, too."


"How could a public official say something so outrageous?" wonders ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. As Jane Brody's piece on artificial sweeteners from yesterday's New York Times explained, the sugar substitutes used in diet soft drinks are safe and can be a useful tool for weight loss. For more information on the soda tax, check out Dr. Whelan's op-ed and video commentary on the issue.


More options for quitting smoking, losing weight


ACSH staffers are intrigued by the e-cigarette, a new clean nicotine product that resembles an actual cigarette. "It's the exact same size as a cigarette and when you 'smoke' it, nicotine vapor is produced, and a red light makes it look like it's burning," ACSH's Jeff Stier explains. Since smoking addictions are often connected to the behaviors associated with smoking in addition to nicotine, the e-cigarette might help some people kick the habit by recreating the experience of lighting up and puffing on a cigarette. "People smoke for different reasons, and we have to give people as many options as possible for quitting," Stier believes.


Dr. Kava suggests, "Maybe people will use different forms at different times, like an e-cigarette at a party and a smokeless tobacco product like snus on a plane." Listen to Stier discuss the e-cigarette with addicted smoker and Wisconsin radio talk show host Vicki McKenna at 4:35 EST today.


Support systems and counseling -- even over the phone -- also help some people quit smoking, and now it appears that telephone counseling may help people lose weight, too. While Stier equates the necessity of providing a range of weight loss tools with the need for various smoking cessation methods, ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross is more skeptical when it comes to weight loss. "There is so much junk out there, like fad diets that can actually be unhealthy," he says.


The next steps in food safety


A Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing against further regulation of the food supply as a response to the recent salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter reminds Stier of a sentiment he expressed in an interview about food safety on CNBC: "The companies that behaved badly are out of business." He explains, "As we are seeing with the peanut butter case, it didn't take any more regulation to put the bad actor out of business. Moreover, more regulation wouldn't have stopped the company's CEO from lying about the safety of the plant's product."


But other ACSH staffers believe more regulation and oversight of the food supply could be helpful. "Currently, the FDA doesn't have the power to close a plant or enforce a recall, and plants don't have to show safety data to the FDA," Dr. Kava explains. "It shouldn't be that people have to die from a contaminated product before somebody notices existing problems."


Dr. Ross agrees, "It would be much better to inspect plants more often and have a better and faster tracking system."


MRSA infections dropped over past decade


A new study shows that hospital staph infections related to central line catheters declined significantly between 1997 and 2007. "Information about the dangers of MRSA has been percolating in recent years," Dr. Ross says. "Not only are hospital staff likely to be paying more attention to prevention efforts like hand washing and sterilizing instruments but patients are more aware these days about things they should talk to their doctors and nurses about." For more information on protecting yourself from a hospital infection, see the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID, headed by ACSH Trustee Elizabeth McCaughey) and their 15 Steps.


Many women disregard pre-pregnancy guidelines


A new study from the U.K. suggests that few women follow pre-pregnancy lifestyle and nutrition recommendations, which include limiting alcohol consumption, not smoking, and taking folic acid supplements. "We've moved in the right direction by fortifying cereal and some breads with folic acid," says Stier, but Dr. Kava reminds us, "There's no evidence the amount of folic acid a woman gets from eating fortified foods is enough to prevent birth defects. Women who are considering becoming pregnant should still take folic acid supplements."


February 17, 2009


Statins for Kids, Tailoring for Genes, Hysteria over Vaccines, and Cookbooks

By Elizabeth Wade

Could more kids benefit from statins?

A new study shows that teens and preteens with elevated cholesterol levels may benefit from statin drugs. "We're seeing that even young people's cholesterol levels should be treated with statins if they are in a dangerous range," explains ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.

The study follows the guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) last summer, which state that statin therapy should be considered for children with LDL levels above 190, as well as lower LDL levels for certain kids with risk factors such as family history of premature heart disease. And for those with diabetes, an LDL level of 130 should prompt statin therapy.

If these recommendations are followed, about 200,000 children in the U.S. are eligible for statins. "That's not quite as large a number as we were concerned about when the AAP first issued this advisory," Dr. Ross says. "But when we talk about adults having high cholesterol, we usually talk about LDL levels of 130 or above."

ACSH's Jeff Stier wonders if the AAP is being too "conservative" in its recommendation since, he reminds us, "The data on statins have shifted significantly recently, and it appears that many more people than we originally thought could benefit from them. The AAP's guidelines could actually be risky by allowing many children's LDLs to stay too high."

Dr. Ross notes, "I don't believe that there have been studies on the safety of statins for kids, so we can't assume that these drugs are safe for everyone. But with the successful history of statins, it's a pretty good bet."

Vaccine safety scare rages on

Despite the special court's recent ruling that vaccines do not cause autism, many anti-vaccine activists fail to be convinced. "The parents who are so convinced that vaccines cause autism need to read our booklet Distinguishing Association from Causation," says ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava. "The only argument they have for the link is the timing of their children being vaccinated and then developing autism -- but timing is only one of many criteria for determining if an association is causal."

In his excellent New York Post op-ed "The Deadly Toll of Vaccine Hysteria," former FDA deputy commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb writes of the court's decision (and all the previous scientific evidence supporting vaccine safety), "Sadly, none of this will kill this myth -- because it was never based on good science."

Unfortunately, Dr. Ross agrees: "To some people, the world will always be flat."

Some cancer treatments can be tailored to genes

ACSH staffers are intrigued by the news that therapy for some cancers is beginning to be tailored to the tumor's genes. "We're discovering that various forms of cancer are associated with genetic differences that make them more or less susceptible to chemotherapy," Dr. Ross explains.

Colon cancer patients are already routinely undergoing genetic testing to better determine if certain drugs will work for them, and research is being done on breast cancer and lung cancer. While the work is still preliminary in most cases, Dr. Ross believes, "A new era is dawning in terms of tailoring cancer chemotherapy to certain genetic variations of the disease."

Artificial sweeteners help cut calories, but watch out for cookbooks

People interested in cutting calories should check out Jane Brody's report on artificial sweeteners in the New York Times. "I like the image she draws of a person ordering a slice of apple pie but then using artificial sweetener in his coffee to save sixteen calories," says Dr. Ross.

ACSH wholeheartedly agrees with the article's message, summed up nicely by the University of North Carolina's Dr. Barry M. Popkin: "Used prudently, non-nutritive sweeteners can work...In the real world, however, a lot of people don't do it properly, and they gain weight drinking diet sodas because they use them as an excuse to eat more high-calorie foods."

ACSH Advisor and director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington in Seattle Dr. Adam Drewnowski makes the interesting observation in the article, "Regular soft drinks are largely consumed by lower income groups, who are more likely to be obese, whereas diet soft drinks tend to be consumed by more upscale people, who tend not to be obese...What contributes to the obesity -- is it the drink or socioeconomic status?"

Another interesting story about counting calories comes from the Wall Street Journal, which reports that calorie counts have increased in almost all of the recipes in recent editions of the famous cookbook The Joy of Cooking. Some recipes actually increased in total calories, while many others upped portion sizes. For example, the same recipe yielded thirty brownies in the 1960s but only fifteen in the 1997 edition. "People complain about increased portion sizing in restaurants, but it's interesting to see that it is happening in cookbooks as well," Dr. Ross remarks.

ACSH on Twitter

Morning Dispatch is back from its three-day weekend, and we at ACSH hope you enjoyed your President's Day as much as we did. Jeff Stier, for one, kept busy by keeping his Twitter readers informed about the latest health news. Check out his Twitter page, and don't forget to sign up to receive his Twitter updates.


Elizabeth Wade is a research intern at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com). Todd Seavey also contributed to this Dispatch batch.

•••

A sampling of responses to this batch of Morning Dispatch e-mails:


From: Mattern, M. (Bud)
Date: March 19, 2009 2:29:07 PM EDT
Subject: PSAs


You point out that the prospect of a law-suit perversely causes physicians to perform procedures that are actually a dis-service to the patients. Is there a way for us patients to tell them “We promise not to sue you even if such-and-such medical problem should occur?”


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From: Clinton Bastin
Date: March 19, 2009 11:49:45 AM EDT
Subject: Re: ACSH Morning Dispatch

I DISCONTINUED ASPIRIN FOR A COLONOSCOPY AND HAD A STROKE

CLINTON

------

From: John Dunn
Date: March 11, 2009 9:07:00 PM EDT
Subject: Re: autism

here's something I have emphasized to you before, autism has increased as mental retardation has decreased, and so there is no autism increase that is real, its a reporting phenomenon and a diagnosis phenomenon, which to some extent effects numbers on asthma, diabetes, and other things.

John Dale Dunn MD JD
Consultant-Emergency Services
Peer Review/Mediation
Brownwood, TX

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From: Judith Stern
Date: March 11, 2009 5:00:02 PM EDT
Subject: RE: drug imports; Prince Charles

There is another side to this story. The price of drugs in the USA is inflated when compared with many developed countries like Canada, France, England, etc.. We are paying for research and development and for some drugs it takes longer to get approval here. It is certainly true for drugs to treat obesity.

Loved the storey about Prince Charles.....he is a "royal quack" and should know better.

Judy


Judith S. Stern, Sc.D.
Distinguished Professor
Department of Nutrition
3150 B Meyer Hall
University of California at Davis

------

From: Lance Kaczorowski
Date: March 4, 2009
Subject: Response Re Obesity


From a February 12 2009 ACSH Dispatch:

“But ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava notes, "It's not that your weight is totally out of your control when you're obese, but it takes an awful lot of discipline to change your lifestyle and then maintain those changes." As always, we're curious to know what Morning Dispatch readers think of this issue. Email morning@acsh.org with comments that you'd like to see posted at the end of the week on our FactsAndFears blog. (Remember: by emailing us you agree to allow us to post your comments.)”

I have written before, but it has been a while, and you have kindly invited reponses.

Although I agree that it is clinically incorrect to define overeating as an addiction (and thus it is not a parallel health issue to smoking), yet it is often a compulsive behavior with numerous potential factors.

Since obesity in a high percentage of the population is a relatively recent phenomenon, I am inclined to believe that it is occurring as a response to environmental changes. I don’t think that people today are psychologically any different today than they were 50 years ago. By that I mean that I don’t believe that people 50 years ago maintained a healthy weight by focusing on doing so. I presume that both people today and people 50 years ago gave the subject very little thought, unless we perhaps give it slightly more thought today.

We can obtain food today with very little money, effort, and delay. It is possible for the obese to return to a healthy weight, but it requires going against our nature to do so because it requires refraining from eating when food is plentiful and it requires dissipating energy in movement that is otherwise entirely unnecessary for day-to-day survival. If the act of obtaining food required from me first an investment of lengthy physical exertion and then lengthy time preparing it for consumption, I would eat far less because it would be such a tremendous hassle. I have reviewed studies of those who have lost weight and kept it off, and the one common thread for those who succeed is that of perpetual vigilance. Due to familiarity, the process becomes easier, but the fight to stay healthy never ceases to be a fight.

We are suffering from a fault for which we can neither tolerate the affects nor the cure. I sometimes wonder if the only real cure for obesity in our modern society is a famine. Or perhaps we will be so successful in off-shoring our white collar and blue collar jobs that we will, as a nation, be forced to return to family farming. That would cure our obesity problem, too.

It is a bedeviling problem. I have a degree in engineering and an MBA. I have studied out healthy lifestyles – I know how to eat right and how to exercise right. I have medical complications that would go completely into remission if I just lost my excess weight. My bugdet is strained with my full understanding of the money I am wasting both by eating more than I need to eat and also in the medical bills that result. I do not lack for reasons, and I do not lack for know how. Yet I continue from day to day waiting for that wonderful tomorrow that never comes when I awake and become someone different. I don't suppose that dicipline comes in a bottle, does it?

-- Lance K.
Tucson, AZ

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