Public Health

I regularly read the Huffington Post, for the good reason that it often sports intelligent articles written from a progressive standpoint, and because I believe in open access and open contribution to the socio-political discourse (otherwise, I wouldn’t bother writing this blog). Then again, one of the drawbacks of openness is that you get crap together with the good stuff. This isn’t altogether bad, since reading crap is a necessary component of developing one’s own sense of critical thinking, sharpening the baloney detector, so to speak. But crap needs to be responded to, especially…

Do you think high fructose corn syrup makes you fatter than sugar?   You're not alone.   In the culture wars, they like lines blurry and corporations who got rid of corn syrup have been using that as a marketing claim.     Three top researchers say they have corrected inaccuracies and misunderstandings concerning high fructose corn syrup's impact on the American diet and examined how the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers this sweetener in light of the upcoming 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans in their session, 'High Fructose Corn Syrup: Sorting…

Sometimes vaccines can eradicate widespread disease, like MMR, diphtheria, polio, smallpox. Sometimes they can mired in controversy, like the fight over whether they cause autism. In this case, it's the former. A study published June 3 in JAMA discusses the first opportunity to assess the association between vaccination and rotavirus disease in a developing country. Rotavirus is a serious virus - it's the leading single cause of severe diarrhea among infants and young children. And unlike some diseases rampant in areas with poor sanitation, rotavirus is pretty much…

A study published in the Lancet suggests that the number of children under 15 years of age with type 1 diabetes will rise to 160,000 in Europe by 2020, a relative increase of 70 percent from 2005. The editors' note says it is "already known that type 1 diabetes in children is on the rise. This paper quantifies this increase in incidence in 17 European countries over a 25-year period. The authors then use this data to estimate that by 2020, the incidence of diabetes could increase by 50% in children under 5 years old and as much as 70% in children under 15 years old, meaning…

The Centre for Epidemiological Studies into Sexually-Transmitted Diseases and AIDS in Catalonia (CEEISCAT) started a pioneering study in Spain in 2005 to look into the prevalence of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) among female sex workers (SWs). The objective was to monitor the rates of infection with both HIV and other diseases over time, as well as the prevalence of risky behavior.  "The phenomenon of prostitution has changed over recent years in Spain, going from prostitution as an activity carried out by Spanish women, often injecting drug users, to a situation where it is…

It's been 9 months since I read Autism's False Prophets and participated in a discussion over at Science Blogs Book Club. The good news is that there is increased awareness of the overwhelming scientific evidence refuting a link between vaccines and autism. Many organizations including the CDC, the Courts and the National Academy of Science, have all rejected a link between vaccines and autism. There's even a Jenny McCarthy Body Count. (Former playmate Jenny McCarthy is the most prominent of the anti-vaccine advocates). So why is the anti-vaccine movement still strong? Oprah has notably…

'Adaptation to exercise' is a familiar phenomenon, even if the phrase is not: A sedentary person takes up jogging and can barely make it around the block. After jogging regularly for a few weeks, the person can jog a mile, then two, then three. With regular exercise, the body adapts, becoming fitter and more efficient. The heart can pump more blood, delivering more oxygen to the muscles. The muscles get stronger, and so on. There are individual differences in the ability to adapt to exercise. Some sedentary individuals who take up jogging will be able to run three miles after a short training…

I Russell Ade have concluded my testing for fallout generated by above ground testing of nuclear weapons in the Independence County, Arkansas area. Just to get you up to speed on what's been happening. During the 1950's above ground testing in Nevada, lots of fallout ended up in Independence and surrounding counties. Readings on the Geiger counter during the 1950's by Hale Bryant the head of civilian defense in the area were off the scale.    The good news is the ridges I tested are all clear with very little trace radiation. The lower bottoms, bayou's and watershed I tested…

Some pregnant women do not wear seat belts due to fear that the belt itself could injure the baby in a car crash.  Urban myth or legitimate concern? It is well established that seat belts save lives but if some pregnant women do not wear seat belts out of fear that the belt could harm the baby in a car crash, are they really helping or just placing themselves in danger?    It's difficult to fault mothers for erring on the side of caution when it comes to unborn babies but is it actually the case that the seat belt can put the baby at risk? A group of researchers led by Dr.…

A bowl of whole-grain cereal is as good as a sports drink for recovery after exercise. Research published in BioMed Central’s open access Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition has shown that the readily available and relatively inexpensive breakfast food is as effective as popular, carbohydrate-based ‘sports drinks’. Exercise physiologist Lynne Kammer, from The University of Texas at Austin, led a group of researchers who investigated the post-exercise physiological effects of the foods. Kammer and her team studied 12 trained cyclists, 8 male and 4 female. In contrast to…