Much of the information taken as fact when it comes to obesity and weight loss has not actually been scientifically substantiated. These myths and unproven assumptions have been repeated so often and with such conviction that even scientists in the field have started to believe them. This doesn t include Dr. David B.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued the first-ever guidelines for type 2 diabetic children between the ages of 10 and 18.

About 48 million Americans are stricken with food-borne illness, of variable severity, every year. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examining the data surrounding this unfortunate situation was just released. They analyzed the statistics on foodborne illnesses from 1998 to 2008, and found, to some surprise, that leafy greens and dairy products are largely responsible for these outbreaks.

When the nations of the world pledged to eradicate poliomyelitis back in 1988, there were an estimated 350,000 cases in 125 endemic countries. Now billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates says we stand on the brink of eradicating the dread disease.
Gates told a lecture in London that ridding the world of polio would be "one of the great moral and practical achievements of our age, and could be accomplished within six years.

Taking bupropion (Zyban), a drug used to help people stop smoking by reducing cravings and other withdrawal effects, did not help smokers quit in the period after a heart attack, a new study finds.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), which is the most common arrhythmia and an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke, is independently associated with increased mortality. Furthermore, nonvalvular AF (that is, AF that doesn t stem from a problem with heart valves) is associated with a nearly five-fold higher risk of ischemic stroke, a risk that progressively increases with age.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to undo furniture fire-safety standards his administration put into place back in 1975. To comply with the regulations, furniture manufacturers added a chemical called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDE, to finished couches. The governor calls the chemicals toxic, and studies have shown that the Californians have higher concentrations of PBDEs in their bodies than people living elsewhere.

In his latest post on Medical Progress Today, ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom examines a new Food and Drug Administration recommendation that will severely hamper the ability of physicians to prescribe Vicodin. He says that this initiative is a misguided attempt to reign in opiate abuse, which, in reality, will do little to combat drug abuse while doing great harm to patients with legitimate needs for strong painkillers.

Results from the largest-ever observational study of women with early breast cancer suggests that early stage breast cancer survival may be better with lumpectomy plus local radiation than with mastectomy. The news is timely because over the last 10 years, there has been a growing tendency for women diagnosed with breast cancer to opt for mastectomy, even if they have small early cancers.

People are very likely to underestimate their true weight, especially obese individuals, according to a recent study. And their inaccuracy at assessing their own adiposity seems to be getting worse.