Public Health

The expert report underpinning the latest dietary guidelines for Americans fails to reflect much relevant scientific literature in its reviews of crucial topics and therefore risks giving a misleading picture. Concern about the report has prompted the US Congress to schedule a hearing on the guidelines in October, when two cabinet secretaries are scheduled to testify, writes journalist Nina Teicholz in an article published today. The guidelines will affect the diet of tens of millions of American citizens, as well as food labelling, education and research priorities. In the past, most Western…

Almost as soon as the Toxic Substances Control Act was passed in 1976, the environmental movement began to complain about its shortcomings. Around the turn of the century, the cacophony grew louder: an old chemical safety law whose main accomplishment (it was said) was never having evaluated or banned anything had no value. Okay, that was perhaps an exaggeration: out of the 85,000 or so chemicals on the market, 200 had been tested by the EPA and 5 had been banned. Example: in 1989, the EPA took steps under TSCA to ban or severely restrict the known carcinogen asbestos. However, before any…

Targeting sitting time, rather than physical activity, is the most effective way to reduce prolonged sitting, according to the first comprehensive review of strategies designed to reduce sitting time.   Prolonged sitting has become a serious public health concern, with modern lifestyles becoming increasingly sedentary and many professions requiring workers to sit for most of the day. Previous studies and reviews have shown that higher levels of sitting are linked with cancer, diabetes, heart disease and even an early death, independently of whether a person takes regular exercise. Public…

Like a spicy food? A recent study suggests you may live longer. Tulane University epidemiologist Dr. Lu Qi co-led the study of more than 500,000 Chinese adults over seven years. The results indicated that participants who ate foods flavored with chili peppers every day reduced their risk of premature dying by 14 percent, as compared to people who ate chili peppers less than once a week. Chili peppers contain capsaicin and other ingredients that may protect your health. Studies show capsaicin decreases appetite, may reduce risk of obesity and may offer antibacterial properties. It also may…

In a recent lecture at Cornell University entitled "Check Your Green Privilege: It's not environmentally friendly to allow millions to die," British Member of Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Owen Paterson exposed the deadly facts behind the "green" charades perpetrated by activist groups, exemplified by Greenpeace.Mr. Paterson scathingly castigates the rich "environmental" (green) groups that are funded by wealthy elites and foundations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Environmental Working Group (EWG), Friends of the Earth, and (especially) Greenpeace, for their baseless but…

As more people live sedentary lifestyles — and a growing body of evidence shows that sitting too long can be harmful — it appears that any type of movement can be beneficial for one’s health. A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that even fidgeting may reduce some of the negative health effects for women who sit for long periods of time. Janet Cade, professor of nutritional epidemiology at the University of Leeds, UK, studied 12,778 British women aged 37 to 78, who provided information regarding their average daily sitting time. The women then…

New research shows that current and former users of marijuana are more likely to have the poorly-named prediabetes, poor blood sugar that might progress to type 2 diabetes, thanpeople who have never used marijuana. Marijuana is the most frequently used illicit drug in America (and is estimated to be so globally), with an estimated 18.9 million people aged 12 or older in the USA identifying as current users in 2012. The prevalence of marijuana use for these individuals has increased since 2002. This trend can be expected to continue as states across the USA enact policies to permit medicinal…

Portia De Rossi became famous playing Nelle on Ally McBeal in the 1990s and more recently as Lindsey Bluth on Arrested Development. She's a talented, funny actress, but more importantly: Portia De Rossi can write!Her 2010 anorexia memoir, Unbearable Lightness, is the best of the first-person examinations of how this disease plays upon the minds of its victims and the subtle nuances of its manifestations. What's refreshing about Ms. De Rossi's account is not its candor (it is candid, but several ANA books have been that), but the fact that it's written by someone who understands and pays…

It’s always heartwarming when an elected official jumps on a hot topic, opens his or her yap, at which point very little resembling the truth comes out, and scores a few cheap points with the public. If this makes things worse, hey, no one is perfect. And it sure sounds good on the evening news. The schmuck du jour is Peter Shumlin, the Governor of Vermont. He has a lot to say about narcotic abuse and addiction in his state. So much, in fact, that he is apparently willing to “bend” the truth just a teensy bit. And who would be surprised if he just happened to throw in a bit of irrelevant and…

There are countless parenting questions that science can’t answer: “is it gross to eat food my child spat out?”, “why do my kids hate wearing pants?” and, of course, “when they grow up, will my kids remember how much I loved them, or just that I made them wear pants?”. Fortunately, there are some important parenting issues science can address. Here are five simple tips for raising healthy children based on scientific studies from the last 12 months,. 1. Dads can – and should – help with breastfeeding How many people does it take to breastfeed a baby? A recently published Australian study…