Public Health

Politicians make a lot of promises when they are trying to get elected. So many they probably can't keep track of them of them. That's understandable. Believing candidates is one of the 'sweet little lies' we tell ourselves.(1) President Obama, who promised to 'restore science to its rightful place' before doing nothing for stem cells or antibiotics in beef and has been overtly anti-science regarding the EPA, vaccines and editing science reports to suit his agenda is not being let off the hook by one group;  the Safe Food Coalition is letting Obama know they did not forget his promise to…

Whey protein has been primarily used by weightlifters but more recently gotten popular with other groups who need food supplements because of their diets. Whey protein is the protein contained in whey, the watery portion of milk that separates from  curds when making cheese. The other protein from milk is casein protein. So it sounds a little strange that True Nutrition is recalling its Whey Protein because its label does not disclose that milk is the source of the whey, when it is by definition derived from milk. The concern is people who are allergic to milk might have a reaction…

21% of adults in the United States have at least one tattoo, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and on occasion outbreaks of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) skin infections have been reported after tattooing. In January 2012, public health officials in New York received reports of Mycobacterium chelonae skin infections in 14 New York residents who received tattoos during September–December 2011. All infections were associated with use of the same nationally distributed, pre-diluted gray ink manufactured by "company A".  Public health investigations by CDC, state and…

The food business, including those claiming to be superior because they are selling organic or 'health' products, is still business.  They exist to lure you in and make you buy as much stuff as possible. Toward that goal, food stores that frame themselves as 'healthy' use every trick they learn from conventional grocery stores to get you to open your wallet - but the more you buy, the more you eat and the fatter you get, no matter how healthy you think it is.  If you don't eat what you buy, you are being a big, wasteful, landfill-filling Republican.  What tricks do they use to…

An ongoing legal battle regarding gene patents began in 2009 when the ACLU representing numerous clients sued Myriad Genetics and the USPTO. The dispute is over patents on two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, discovered in the 1990s which have a correlation to increased rates of breast and ovarian cancer. The case subsequently went to the Federal Appeals Court that handles biotechnology patents, the Supreme Court, and was earlier this year remanded back to the Federal Appeals Court. On August 16, 2012 the Federal Appeals Court reaffirmed that gene patents are legal. So, why did the activists lose the…

As the prevalence of obesity rises around the world, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) is a growing concern, especially among the vulnerable Hispanic population.  Perhaps most alarming is that NAFLD, traditionally a disease of middle age, has become increasingly prevalent in childhood, where studies show that ~38% of obese Hispanic children and adolescents have liver fat levels in the range of clinically diagnosed NAFLD. NAFLD is the most common cause of fatty liver disease in the U.S., serving as a precursor to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which can lead to cirrhosis,…

Want to feel good about your body image?  Go to Mississippi. They may be a lot less anti-science than people in Washington state, but they are also a lot more pro-pizza, it seems. The 2011 obesity map from the Centers for Disease Control, detailing adult obesity prevalence for all U.S. states based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data,  is out and it doesn't look good. Rates of adult obesity remain high, ranging from 20.7 percent in Colorado to 34.9 percent in Mississippi. 12 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi,…

Triclosan, an antibacterial chemical widely used in hand soaps and other personal-care products, may impair muscle function. It hinders muscle contractions at a cellular level, slows swimming in fish and reduces muscular strength in mice, according to research from the University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado.  Triclosan is commonly found in antibacterial products like hand soaps and deodorants, mouthwashes, toothpaste, bedding, clothes, carpets, toys and trash bags. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1998 estimated that more than 1 million pounds of…

The BBC (cue: Land of Hope and Glory!) has just started yet another series on Chinese food.  In Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure, two famous chefs, the illustrious Ken Hom OBE and the rising star Ching-He Huang (黃瀞億) (neither of whom has an entry in Chinese Wikipedia) are travelling around China, and so far have been travelling around the region of Beijing, encountering a Grandmaster of Peking Duck.  Crisp skin and moist meat are essential, but the Chinese are becoming increasingly health-conscious, and over half of the ducks they eat are now of a reduced-fat variety from…

“While bottled water users had significantly lower fluoride intakes, this study found no conclusive evidence of an association with increased caries,” according to “An investigation of bottled water use and caries in the mixed dentition,” published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. American Dental Association spokesperson Dr.Jonathan Shenkin said, "There has been no research to show using bottled water causes tooth decay," in a Healthday.com article. Dr. Burton Edelstein agrees. He is president of the DC-based Children's Dental Health Project and Columbia University dentistry…