And, while we re on the topic of obesity, children s obesity is getting some attention today, too. Unfortunately, it s for the wrong reasons. A study just published in Pediatrics has concluded that strict laws in some states restricting school sales of junk food and sweetened drinks may contribute to lowering childhood obesity rates.

The annual ranking of states by obesity rate is out, following the CDC s release this Monday of 2011 data. But before we get into the best and worst of the rankings (which have stayed just about the same in relation to one another), let us point out that the more critical part of the story is the skepticism that s been raised about the CDC s method of data collection.

We ve been following the increasingly promising anti-HIV drug Truvada ever since a 2010 study showed that it was capable of reducing HIV transmission between male partners by as much as 90 percent.

Radiation therapy appears to be a good choice for older women with early-stage breast cancer, according to a recent study published in Cancer. In fact, the retrospective, observational study found that women ages 70 to 79 reduced their risk of a follow-up mastectomy by two thirds if they received radiation therapy after their lumpectomy.

When an outbreak of the H1N1 virus (otherwise known as swine flu) was first reported in April of 2009, fears of a global pandemic were raised by its genetic similarity to the devastating epidemic of 1918-1919. However, the 2009 epidemic turned out to be much less intense, owing in part to a massive accelerated campaign to produce and distribute specific anti-H1N1 vaccine. But now swine flu is back although the latest strain has so far hit pigs harder than humans.

The possibility that aspirin can reduce one s risk of certain types of cancer has been widely (and hopefully) studied for years. Now, a large retrospective report, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, adds to the evidence. Researchers have found that daily use of aspirin is associated with a decrease in cancer mortality especially among patients with gastrointestinal cancers.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients will be keeping their fingers crossed that the first oral immune-mediator treatment for the disease will be approved by the FDA.

In some alarming news, federal health officials have announced that the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhea, is becoming dangerously close to being untreatable.

Josh Bloom, Forbes August 9, 2012, "The Contraction Of Pharma Means Innovation Goes Out With a Bang"
Given all the analyses and post-mortems of America s pharmaceutical industry, it is impossible to avoid the notion that a lack of innovation has left the industry in its current, sorry state.

ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom is at it again, this time with an op-ed in Forbes. In this piece, Dr. Bloom describes two significant accomplishments of America s pharmaceutical industry within the past two decades: the development of effective anti-HIV drugs, and the recent approval of curative and tolerable treatments for hepatitis C. However, as Dr. Bloom points out, such innovations will be much less likely in the future.