DISPATCH: Plastic, Longevity, Gender, and Vitamins
The Anti-Quote of the Day: The dangers of plastic bottles"The truthful answer is that nobody knows" their full health impact yet, said David Ozonoff, a professor of environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health. "And because we don't know, it's prudent to avoid something that is avoidable." --_Boston Globe_, April 23, 2008.

"[B]ee stings, suburn, boating accidents and an increased risk of food poisoning can all subtract from the fun."

Whether you are traveling around the world or relaxing at home, a safe, healthy vacation will add to your enjoyment.

A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine (2008;168:928-35) paints a rather bleak picture of the future health of obese Americans. Dr. G.L. Burke and colleagues confirmed earlier studies that found a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in most American ethnic groups. But of even more concern was their finding that many obese people who were apparently healthy with respect to current symptoms of cardiovascular disease (CVD) had signs portending future heart problems.

New York, NY -- May 7, 2008. The American Council on Science and Health today presents the first Henry I. Miller Award for Excellence in Public Health Education to Dr. Henry Miller, research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Congress has now passed legislation to forbid employers and insurance companies of "discriminating" against people on the basis of information gleaned from tests of their genetic proclivity for disease. I haven't studied this in depth, but forbidding the marketplace to use valid information rubs me the wrong way.

What started out as a great idea -- replacing our dependence on oil with a renewable clean-burning resource, biofuel -- has quickly sprouted unintended consequences. We are diverting our perfectly good growing land to produce crops used exclusively for biofuel production. We have essentially decided to burn our food supply in attempts to replace our oil fix. This seems about as logical as burning money for heat. We are desperately in need of energy-junkie rehab.

This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
Chemical-phobia is in full bloom this spring. Terrifying headlines on cancer risks, infertility, impaired sexual development and more have plastic bottles and rubber duckies being pulled off store shelves.

Today is being commemorated around the globe as "World Malaria Day." Note, I didn't say "celebrated" -- clearly an inappropriate descriptor for a disease which, despite the availability of effective preventive measures, continues to kill over one-million impoverished people (mostly young children) annually. The toll of those sickened, both from health and economic perspectives, is incalculable but enormous.

This piece first appeared in the Washington Times.