Xanthohumol, a compound found in the hops used to flavor beer, might help prevent prostate cancer, according to new animal experiments. USA Today quotes Clarissa Gerhauser, group leader of cancer chemoprevention at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, who said, "Xanthohumol is a natural product, which blocks the effects of male hormone testosterone, and should therefore be investigated for prostate cancer prevention."
"It should be investigated regardless of whether or not it's 'natural,'" says Stier.

In the debate about whether or not the government should tax soda, Reuters seems to believe the only relevant opinion is that of one Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina. The news service's latest coverage of the issue features Dr. Popkin as its sole source, and he recites the pro-tax talking points with gusto: "'The obesity and weight issue is now bearing heavily on us and our health care costs," he said." (Get it?)

Despite the fact that revenues from tobacco taxes and the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement among forty-six states and cigarette makers are at record highs, many states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by over 15 percent in the past year.
"Lawmakers and activists argue that we need to raise taxes to educate people, whether it's about smoking or obesity or whatever, and once the item is taxed and the money is there, it doesn't happen," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.

A report by the World Health Organization reveals that tobacco use kills 5 million people worldwide each year. The WHO attributes 600,000 of those deaths to exposure to secondhand smoke.
"As ACSH points out in our publication on the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), ETS can have serious impacts on nonsmokers, including increased risk of asthma, ear infections, and more," says Dr. Whelan. "Still, it is unlikely that it causes 600,000 deaths each year, but then again, we cannot make a science-based estimate on what mortality from ETS might be."

The Associated Press reports, "Colon cancer deaths could drop dramatically in the next decade because of better screening and treatment, according to an optimistic new prediction by top researchers."
"This trend is mostly a result of earlier diagnoses," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.

A study published yesterday in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine concludes that half of teenage girls may be infected by at least one of three common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) within two years of having sex for the first time.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg criticized a proposed amendment to the healthcare bill which would enable the importation of cheaper prescription drugs.
"Dr. Hamburg acknowledged that while the current legislation does have provisions to improve the safety of imported drugs, they don't go far enough," says ACSH's Jeff Stier. "We have to give Commissioner Hamburg credit, because by opposing drug importation, she is going against the politics and sticking with the science."

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has asked the American Medical Association and thirty-two other medical groups to disclose the financial backing they receive from drug and medical device manufacturers and insurance companies.
"He's going after political opponents, trying to undermine their credibility by attempting to turn the focus onto who their funders are instead of addressing the substance of their policy arguments," says ACSH's Jeff Stier.
ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross agrees: "Grassley has been in forefront of the anti-pharmaceutical industry movement. This is a witch hunt."

Billy Joel's daughter Alexa Ray is fine after an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
"While there's nothing funny about a suicide attempt," says ACSH's Jeff Stier, "there is a bit of a sad irony here. She attempted to 'overdose' on the homeopathic sleep aid Traumeel. She tried to kill herself using a homeopathic drug, so it didn't do anything. It couldn't have done anything to her at any dose, because there is no active medicine in there." You never know what's in a so-called homeopathic remedy, though, so ACSH wouldn't recommend experiments and stunts using one.

In a welcome change of direction, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has shifted their focus to consumer products safety. They dispelled rumors that the popular Zhu Zhu pets are hazardous after yesterday's antimony scare, and released an advisory warning of fires, falling toy-stuffed stockings attached to mantle pieces with heavy metal or brass stocking holders, and other actual dangers commonly posed by holiday decorations.