Just days after two bombs in Boston killed three people and injured 170 more, letters that may — or may not — have been poisoned with ricin addressed to President Obama and a Mississippi senator have been intercepted by authorities. But don’t panic yet. The rapid test that authorities used in this case frequently causes [...]
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They are almost universally perceived by Americans as natural, safe and non-drugs, but in reality, dietary supplements are none of these. And ironically, despite the constant media attention and public concern over the safety of prescription drugs, according to a recent study, supplements are also responsible for more than half of all drug recalls. A [...]
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It seems intuitive, but a food’s packaging may contain cues that make you eat more or less without consciously realizing. And with the increase seen in snacking, packaging could make a huge difference in eating habits. In what Hershey Co. calls its “hand-to-mouth platform,” it is responding to the notion of eating on the go. [...]
The post What a food’s packaging isn’t telling you appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.
An influential panel of experts, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, this week recommended that some healthy women at high risk of developing breast cancer take one of two drugs (tamoxifen or raloxifene) in an attempt to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer. This advice (which would fall under the definition of “chemoprevention”) [...]
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They are almost universally perceived by Americans as natural, safe and non-drugs, but in reality, dietary supplements may or may not be natural, and many of them are, in fact, drugs. And ironically, despite the constant media attention and public concern over the safety of prescription drugs, according to a recent study, supplements are also responsible for more than half of all drug recalls.
Can you patent a human gene? The Supreme Court today seemed skeptical, raising questions about the legality of Myriad Genetic’s isolation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that signal an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. It’s a complex issue. Companies can’t patent abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature. But an appeals [...]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1eldWh0XiI
They are almost universally perceived by Americans as natural, safe and non-drugs, but in reality, dietary supplements are none of these. And ironically, despite the constant media attention and public concern over the safety of prescription drugs, according to a recent study, supplements are also responsible for more than half of all drug recalls.
A column in yesterday’s Sunday Review showed how closely the writer, Ian Urbina, hews to the agenda of his apparent mentor, Nicholas Kristof, in trying to scare Times’ readers about the alleged dangers of toxic, unregulated chemicals. Of course, as we have noted recently, it’s the “TSCA reform” silly season, when those who feel passionately that [...]
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There s more bad news for the apple-shaped people that is to say, folks who carry their body fat around their midsection, rather than in their hips and buttocks.
Being apple-shaped was already known to be a risk factor for a cardiovascular disease. Now a new study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology shows that even if they are otherwise healthy, people with who are apple-shaped are more likely to have kidney problems, according to a new study in the.
According to recommendations from the Canadian Diabetes Association, all patients with diabetes should begin taking statins at age 40 and blood pressure drugs at 55. These recommendations hold even for those patients who have no other risk factors. And, if a patient over 30 has had diabetes for 15 years or more, the Canadian experts recommend that he or she too should begin taking statins.
To drink, or not to drink, and if yes, how much has been a debatable topic, particularly when it comes to women s health. While alcohol in moderation has long been known to benefit the heart, bone and brain it is also known to boost the risk of breast cancer by 15% when compared to those who abstained.
Just a few days ago there were multiple news reports about a study in Nature Medicine by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic that suggested that there was supposedly one more reason not to eat red meat it contains high levels of the amino acid L-carnitine, which is metabolized by bacteria in the gut to give trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a substance that could play a part in atherosclerosis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkrUNwZbJB4
Sleep may not be on the list of priorities for a lot of teens, but maybe it should be. A new study published in the journal Pediatrics, found that increased sleep time may lead to a decrease in adolescent obesity, and those teenagers with the highest BMIs would see the greatest benefits.
For anyone who has been affected by depression it is no secret how devastating the disease can be for them and their families. But if the results from a small study published by a group at Germany s Bonn University Hospital hold up, there could be a radical transformation in the treatment of depression.
It's that time of year, the season when "reform" of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rises from the ashes, and stroller brigades and anti-technology "environmental" groups remind us that without a new chemical law, the sky will fall again.
Out of concern that military personnel may be consuming excess caffeine, Dr.
One scientist calls it the dark side of open access, the move to make scholarly articles more accessible. The New York Times reports on how there s a proliferation of online journals that will print seemingly anything for a fee, and researchers warn that non experts using the Internet for research will have trouble distinguishing credible research from junk.
If there is one area that has been clouded by confusion in recent years, it is the detection and treatment of prostate cancer.
Along with the increased prevalence of obesity, Americans have seen a coincident surge in the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). While there are numerous pharmaceutical treatments available, weight loss is seen as perhaps the most effective means of both preventing and treating the condition. As anyone who has tried to shed even a few pounds knows well, substantial weight loss is often difficult to attain and maintain.
In the United States, 66 percent of adults are categorized as either overweight or obese a number is three times what it was in 1980. Elevated body mass index, an estimate of body fatness based on height and weight, has long been considered a risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancers of the large intestine, kidney, uterus, and breast in postmenopausal women. Furthermore, 20 percent of adults aged 20 years or older have metabolic syndrome, defined by a combination of obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance.
If you want your children to eat less, you may want to consider giving them smaller plates. Researchers discovered that children given larger plates were more likely to serve themselves larger portions, which may lead to weight gain.
In the "nothing new under the sun" department, Bendectin - now called Diclegis - a drug that was long ago used to treat morning sickness, is going back on pharmacy shelves after a 30 year absence.
Although medical guidelines have changed, most physicians opt for the 'better safe than sorry' approach when it comes to cervical cancer screenings among their patients, according to a government survey.
