Spanish scientists suggest that one third of breast cancer cases are preventable based on diet and exercise habits.
“We have to acknowledge that it is true that being overweight during and after middle age is a risk factor for breast cancer,” says ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. “Still, claiming that one third of cases are preventable by lifestyle choices is probably an overstatement.”

This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
On Friday, the judge in the Ground Zero health-claims case tossed out the recent settlement agreement, citing concerns that the deal wasn't fair to plaintiffs.

A research review published in the journal Pediatrics examined twenty-eight studies involving 3,500 children undergoing treatment for cancer and found that many of them use herbal remedies, vitamins, or other types of alternative therapies.

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests that moderate alcohol consumption, defined as one or two glasses of wine a day or the equivalent amounts of beer or other alcoholic beverages, significantly reduces the risk of death from any cause in those who already suffered from circulatory problems such as angina, heart attack, or stroke.

The CDC reported yesterday that the rate of Cesarean births reached 32% in 2007, the country s highest rate ever. The New York Times reports, When needed, a Caesarean can save the mother and her child from injury or death, but most experts doubt that one in three women need surgery to give birth.

FDA Panics
According to the Associated Press, “[FDA] officials urged pediatricians Monday to temporarily stop using one of two vaccines against a leading cause of diarrhea in babies, after discovering that doses of GlaxoSmithKline’s Rotarix were contaminated with bits of an apparently benign pig virus."

House Passes Health Care Bill
The big news of the day is the passage of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 by the House of Representatives. Some changes to the bill still need to be approved by a majority in the Senate.

Landmarc Achievement
ACSH staffers would like to offer a seat at the table to Marc Murphy, chef and owner of the Landmarc restaurants, and Ditch Plains, for speaking out against the New York City Department of Health s new grading system for the city s restaurants. In the New York Times on Wednesday, Murphy called the grades a snapshot in time and argued that they would tell the customer nothing of real value.

Cancer Screening Déjà Vu

Notes From Dr. Miller