An interesting op-ed in The New York Times had ACSH staffers questioning the mantra: Always wear a helmet while riding a bike!
In what ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross calls one of the worst studies ever, a team of researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health reported in the Journal of Pediatrics that exposure to a widely used herbicide during pregnancy may raise the risk of a birth defect.
In addition to voting for president, this election season residents of California will be determining the fate of Proposition 37, which would mandate the labeling of foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients.
It s official: The flu season is upon us, and ACSH would like to join the ranks of other leading health organizations in encouraging everyone over the age of six months to get their flu vaccine as early as possible.
And for those of you who may think that you needn t worry about getting immunized, given last year s mild flu season, we d like to remind you that the CDC reports that influenza-associated deaths range from 3,000 to nearly 50,000 each year. And, unfortunately, last year s vaccine will not offer much (if any) protection against this year s flu virus.
A new study by the CDC is providing at least a glimmer of hope that certain intervention and prevention strategies may be reversing the trend of extreme obesity among young children.
In 1999, ACSH assembled a Blue Ribbon Panel of physicians and scientists, chaired by former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop. The panel, after a thorough review of the literature, gave two members of the family of chemicals known as phthalates a clean bill of health. Phthalates (pronounced thal-ates) are used to soften plastics, which would otherwise be hard and brittle.
On his Tobacco Analysis blog, ACSH advisor Dr. Michael Siegel of the Boston University School of Public Health excoriates the European Union s revised Tobacco Products Directive. The already restrictive Directive now recommends banning the marketing of all smokeless nicotine-containing products (NCP).
Just last week, the first ultrasound device to improve breast cancer detection in women with dense breasts won FDA approval.
In January 2011, the New York City Department of Education implemented a pilot program to distribute birth-control information and supplies in 13 schools across the city. The program is part of a wider effort to lower the rate of teen pregnancy, as some 7,000 NY high-school students become pregnant by age 17 each year.
For years, breast cancer awareness campaigns have urged women not to miss their scheduled mammograms. Yet there are some women for whom a regular mammogram is not enough. The latest research shows that women whose breasts are composed mostly of dense tissue can have a mammogram year after year and still have their breast cancer go undetected.
