A new report provides further evidence that even when presented with a clear and graphic illustration of the damage that smoking is doing to their health, smokers still have a hard time kicking the habit.
While drugs in the U.S. must undergo extensive testing and monitoring to ensure their safety and efficacy, supplements come under much weaker regulation. In a perspective article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Pieter A. Cohen criticizes the current deficiencies in the regulation of the supplement industry. He argues that a new guidance proposal by the FDA makes important steps toward enhancing supplement safety but it still doesn t go far enough.
Kids may start seeing more fruits and veggies on their lunch plates and fewer French fries, following new standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday for school meals. Coordinating with First Lady Michelle Obama s Let s Move! campaign, the new regulations aim to fight childhood obesity and improve nutrition.
As if our trust in government isn't low enough, leave it to Mayor Bloomberg, Thomas Farley and the New York City Health Department to play us for fools once again.
As reported in an article in today's New York Times, a fear-mongering ad depicting an overweight man with only one leg sitting behind cups of soda is not what it seems.
Here may be another reason to lose weight: Recent research has found evidence linking obesity to acne. The latest study, published in The Archives of Dermatology, looked at the relationship between weight and skin condition among 3,600 teens. After accounting for age, puberty, and diet, researchers found that overweight and obese adolescents, particularly females, were significantly more likely to develop acne.
For nursing home residents, a trip to the emergency room may actually worsen their health rather than improve it. According to the results of a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the rate of new acute respiratory or GI infections within a week of an ER visit among residents of long-term care facilities was 5 percent, compared to just 2 percent in those who stayed at the nursing home.
The New York City Department of Health is at it again: In their obsessive effort to oversee every aspect of New Yorkers diets, the agency used graphic ads plastered all over the subways depicting an overweight man with a missing leg. A caption over the image reads, Portions have grown. So has Type 2 diabetes, which can lead to amputations.
Melanoma is one of the most common cancers in young people in the U.S. However, this most dangerous of skin cancers can actually be significantly prevented by wearing sunscreen. The trouble is, too many children and adolescents aren t bothering to use sunscreen, according to a study just published in Pediatrics.
Unfortunately, harm reduction approaches have yet to be widely accepted for those addicted to cigarettes. A new study by the American Cancer Society illustrates the depth of this addiction and the difficulty some smokers face even when a diagnosis of cancer makes it imperative that they quit.
An editorial in yesterday s New York Times praises New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has signed a bill that will permit pharmacies to sell a limited number of syringes to individuals without prescriptions. The new law represents a quintessential example of harm reduction: By making clean needles readily accessible to intravenous drug users, who often share contaminated needles, the state will slow the spread of blood-borne viruses like H.I.V.
