New York, NY--November 28, 2007. Drugs are radically reducing the toll of breast cancer--both by reducing the likelihood of breast cancer recurring and, for certain high-risk women, decreasing the likelihood it will appear in the first place.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sent out an important warning this week: we all must keep safety in mind as we enjoy our holidays, which often include decorating with candles, holiday lights, and Christmas trees. As beautiful as these decorations are, when not used properly they can lead to fires, injuries, and in the worst cases death.

This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
We live in an intensely chemical-phobic society, one where food labels and menus brag of being "all-natural" and "purely organic." Poultry sections offer fryers from "happy, free range chickens." "Chemical-free" cuisine is in.

Yesterday, Tuesday Nov. 20th, the New York Times published an editorial entitled "Another Very Scary Germ." The thrust of the piece was that more needs to be done, now, to get MRSA back under control. It was prompted by recent news showing that this highly-resistant and dangerous bug has been spreading outside of its usual haunts, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, to sicken and kill in the community. In fact, 2005 data indicated almost 95,000 of us contracted illness from MRSA, and over 18,000 died.

November 16, 2007: No Industry Experts Allowed -- They May Eat iPods
-- Quote to Note: "So the immediate takeaway is, don't eat your iPhone or your earbuds?" --CNN American Morning co-anchor John Roberts, about reports that iPods contain phthalates and bromides.

Pedometers -- those little devices worn at the waist to count steps -- are popular tools for documenting activity levels, and it's now been documented that their use can help motivate users to increase their exercise levels. Dr. Dena M. Bravata and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School (JAMA 2007;298:2297) combined and evaluated data from twenty-six studies of the effects of pedometer use on activity levels and various health indices.

A November 19, 2007 article by Steve Mitchell notes the opposition of ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan to a Devra Davis book and a separate report blaming industrial chemicals for disease:
Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science andHealth, a group funded in part by industry, told PTCN she disagreed with both the Collaborative report and Davis' book.

November 16, 2007 -- New York, NY. Scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health analyzed the natural foods that make up a traditional holiday dinner -- and have found that they are loaded with "carcinogens": chemicals that in large doses cause cancer in laboratory animals. None of these chemicals are made by man or added to the foods. Indeed, all of these "carcinogens" occur naturally in foods. But ACSH scientists have good news: these natural carcinogens pose no hazard to human health.

November 12, 2007: Desperate Smoker, Scary Chemicals, More Fat
-- Quote to Note: "I can say 'don't smoke,' but you know, people said that to me for years. It's more a matter of saying you know, make sure that you have adequate medical care, make sure that you are getting chest X-rays." --Actress Kathryn Joosten, quoted by ABC on having lung cancer and the "reasons" she survived.