Public Health

Alcoholism can not just ruin your life, it can shorten it - an average of 7.6 years shoter for those hospitalized compared to hospital patients without it, according to patient data from various general hospitals in Manchester, England. The long-term observational study included a 12.5-year period. The researchers analyzed co-morbid physical illnesses of 23,371 hospital patients with alcohol dependence and compared them with those of a control group of 233,710 randomly selected patients without alcoholism.  "During the observation period, approximately one out of five hospital patients…

Type 2 diabetes is becoming increasingly widespread throughout the world and lifestyle habits, such as exercise and nutrition, are the biggest culprits. In a bygone era, high-cholesterol diets were epidemiologically linked to disturbances in glucose metabolism and therefore type 2 diabetes, so eggs were a no-no, but actual experimental studies instead showed the consumption of eggs has led to improved glucose balance, among other things.  What does that mean for eggs? There haven't been many population-based studies on the association between egg consumption and type 2 diabetes and…

There has been much press lately about President Obama’s plan to address the growing crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. And I agree with many that there is much to like in the plan. But I also find a number of key deficiencies that will lead us nowhere. The goals of the plan are all laudable – 1. Slow the emergence of resistant bacteria and prevent the spread of resistant infections; 2. Strengthen national One-Health surveillance efforts to combat resistance; 3. Advance development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests for identification and characterization of…

Up to 1 billion people globally have insufficient or deficient vitamin D levels even though many western nations fortify milk with it. The reason is lack of sun exposure in some places but with a culture war on both sunshine and diet low vitamin D levels have become more common, even for elite college athletes, according to a new study.  But don't be duped into buying supplements, you can get it from your diet. Just eat more fish. The work found that more than one-third of Division I college athletes may have low levels of vitamin D, which is critical in helping the body to absorb…

A new paper creates a link between exposure to pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables and semen quality.  Men who ate fruits and vegetables with higher levels of pesticide residues, like strawberries, spinach, and peppers, had lower sperm count and a lower percentage of normal sperm than those who ate produce with lower residue levels, according to the new paper. Studies have shown that consuming conventionally grown fruits and vegetables results in measurable pesticide levels in urine but associations between occupational and environmental exposure to pesticides and lower semen…

3 percent of younger children and 17 percent of 9-13 year olds skip lunch on a given school day and 23 percent of 9-13 year olds skip lunch on the weekends - yet obesity is a growing problem. They may be eating more junk food instead. Lunch skippers had lower intakes of nutrients, including calcium and fiber, than lunch consumers. In addition, the data show that for some children, the lunch meal was primarily responsible for the higher essential nutrient intakes of vitamin D, potassium and magnesium, as well as a nutrient of concern, sodium.  The eating patterns of the 3,647 children…

The First Lady recently spoke at the launch of The Campaign to Change Direction, “a nation-wide effort to raise awareness around mental health in America.” This effort, sponsored in part by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is “designed to change the story of mental health across the nation by urging all Americans to learn the five signs that someone might be in distress.” Shame of having a mental health issue keeps far too many good people from seeking treatment. I see it all the time at the addiction treatment center I founded and serve. Addicts…

High-definition scans lead a team of researchers to conclude that the harmful effects of smoking during pregnancy may be reflected in the facial movements of mothers' unborn babies. In the small pilot study, the scholars observed 4-d ultrasound scans and found that fetuses whose mothers were smokers showed a significantly higher rate of mouth movements than the normal declining rate of movements expected in a fetus during pregnancy. The researchers suggested that the reason for this might be that the fetal central nervous system, which controls movements in general and facial movements in…

Let’s give a big shoutout to Gawker . They really stuck it to the Times by pointing out that their columnist Nick Bilton, who writes about technology, business, culture, and style (and should probably stick to... none of these?) ended up writing a Styles piece about potential health hazards of the new Apple Watch. This gives a new meaning to the expression "going down in style." Bilton, already way over his head, tied a couple of extra cinder blocks around his neck by citing a “longitudinal study conducted by a group of European researchers” that links cell phone use…

Our nation’s most influential, respected and powerful public health officials and academics are engaged in a vast,corrupt and fraudulent conspiracy to keep desperate smokers ignorant of the facts about how reduced-harm devices (such as e-cigarettes) are likely to help them quit smoking.  How could this be? The answer seems complex, but if one expends a little effort to penetrate the propaganda (or lies) spewed by the CDC, the FDA, “health” nonprofits, academics, politicians,and many others, the answer becomes depressingly clearer. With almost one-half million smokers dying prematurely…