After rejecting the approval of three new weight-loss drugs in the past few months, the FDA on Wednesday implemented a change which represents a minor advance in the fight against the obesity epidemic: lowering the requirements for patients who wish to use Allergan’s Lap-Band stomach-restricting device. Now, people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 and an associated obesity-related health condition, such as hypertension or diabetes, are eligible for the procedure.

An observational study published in the journal Diabetes Care is calling into question recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans that recommend adults, and especially diabetics, should consume no more than two-thirds of a teaspoon of salt per day, or about 1.5 grams. Australian researchers followed 638 participants with longstanding type 2 diabetes. Roughly half the patients were obese.

If two Senators have their way, baseball fans will no longer have to watch their favorite ball players spit in the dugout or field — at least not tobacco, that is. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) want the Major Leagues to ban smokeless tobacco based on a survey showing that the use of smokeless tobacco among high school boys has increased by 36 percent since 2003.

While more consumers may begin looking to zinc as remedies for their colds, new data indicate that many parents are inappropriately administering other over-the-counter (OTC) cold remedies to their infants. The National Poll on Children’s Health conducted by researchers at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich.

A new study from the medical clearinghouse Cochrane Database indicates that zinc-containing medications may shed days off cold symptoms compared to a placebo, but the jury is still out on the best formulation recommended for consumers.

When ACSH first heard about the latest push for an FDA ban by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) — this time for the supposed “carcinogen” and caramel coloring byproduct 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), found in colas — we thought this would be just another one of the activist group’s dead end stories.

It turns out that the French don’t just produce good wine. A just released study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology of 700 diabetic men and women in Western France shows that the risk of retinopathy in diabetic patients is directly related to their glycemic levels.

Three different heart groups — the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society — all have just announced that the recently approved anticoagulant dabigatran (Pradaxa) should be considered as an alternative to warfarin (Coumadin) as treatment for patients suffering from atrial fibrillation.Researchers have concluded that Pradaxa offers some significant advantages to Coumadin.

Last month we reported on a study in the Seattle-area showing that listing the calories in different items offered at fast food restaurants did not affect customers’ eating habits. This conclusion is bolstered by a new study undertaken in New York City and Newark, New Jersey published online by the International Journal of Obesity.

Yesterday’s issue of the journal Heart reports on a study performed in Britain on 6,082 middle-aged men diagnosed with high cholesterol but with no history of heart disease or diabetes. The study authors wished to know whether obesity alone increased the likelihood of a fatal heart attack.