Blood Substitutes
Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers
Publish Date : Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Human blood is a heterogeneous mixture of cells suspended in liquid plasma, which is itself a solution of functionally interacting proteins in an electrolyte buffer. The risks of allogeneic transfusion extend beyond...  Read Full >>

Health and Safety Tips for Your Summer Vacation (2009)
Publish Date : Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Whether you are traveling around the world or relaxing at home, a safe, healthy vacation will add to your enjoyment. Here are some health and safety tips to keep in mind when planning your summer vacation.  Read Full >>

ACSH's Reports on Obesity
Publish Date : Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Nuclear Energy and Health, And the Benefits of Low-Dose Radiation Hormesis
By Jerry M. Cuttler, D.Sc., P.Eng. and Myron Pollycove, M.D.
Publish Date : Friday, March 27, 2009
Energy needs worldwide are expected to increase for the foreseeable future, but fuel supplies are limited. Nuclear reactors could supply much of the energy demand in a safe, sustainable manner were it not for fear of potential releases of radioactivity. Such releases would likely deliver a low dose or dose rate of radiation, within the range of naturally occurring radiation, to which life is already accustomed. The key areas of concern are discussed. Studies of actual health effects, especially   Read Full >>

Obesity and Food Technology
Publish Date : Friday, March 13, 2009
Obesity is one of today’s leading health concerns for both adults and children. It is responsible for at least 100,000 deaths per year in the United States, placing it second only to cigarette smoking as an underlying cause of death. Obesity increases the risk of multiple health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, several types of cancer, stroke, liver disease, osteoarthritis, chronic kidney disease, some gastrointestinal disorders, sleep apnea, asthma, and reproductive problems.  Read Full >>

The Great Apple Scare: Alar 20 Years Later
Publish Date : Friday, February 20, 2009
A cancer scare in early 1989 caused millions of consumers throughout the country to stop buying and eating apples and apple products. The fear was that apples were being sprayed with a cancer-causing chemical. Children, in particular, were thought to be at especially high risk. (Rosen 1990, Sewell 1989) The case remains to this day one of the supreme examples how a combination of environmentalists, “public interest” lawyers, publicists, and members of the news media can foist a   Read Full >>

Obesity and New Pharmaceutical Approaches
Publish Date : Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The endocrinologist David Ludwig calls his patients, the seven-member G family, “a microcosm of 21st-century America.” One of the parents is overweight and the other is obese, wrote the Harvard Medical School professor and director of the Optimal Weight for Life Clinic (Ludwig 2007).  Read Full >>

Counterfeit Drugs: Coming to a Pharmacy Near You
Update for 2009
Publish Date : Monday, February 2, 2009
Counterfeit drugs, including fake, substandard, adulterated or falsely labeled (“misbranded”) medicines, have become a real and growing threat to global health. Increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting rings, often involving organized crime, are slipping their fakes into the legitimate drug supply of countries around the world. The problem is especially serious in developing countries, where hundreds of thousands die from ineffective medicines, and millions more from the   Read Full >>

The Top 10 Unfounded Health Scares of 2008
Publish Date : Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The core mission of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) since its founding in 1978 has been to counter misleading and alarmist health news in print, broadcast, and online media. In a classic ACSH publication, Facts Versus Fears: A Review of the Greatest Unfounded Health Scares of Recent Times, ACSH evaluated 27 of the greatest health scares of modern times, reviewing the basis of each, describing their presentation in the media, and presenting scientifically accurate   Read Full >>

Obesity and Its Health Effects
Publish Date : Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Obesity is increasing at alarming rates in our society. While excessive attention to “thinness” carries its own physical and mental health problems, increasing overweight is a much “larger” problem in our society and currently affects over two thirds of the population. This handbook sponsored by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has been written with the layman in mind and is meant to be a comprehensive and concise source of reliable information for the   Read Full >>