Public Health

Men and women who change their diet to meet current dietary guidelines could reduce their risk of a heart attack or a stroke by up to a third, according to a new study. Scholars at King's College London recruited healthy middle-aged and older men and women to compare the effects on risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) of following a diet based on UK health guidelines compared with a traditional British diet. The predicted risk of CVD over the next 10 years for the participants was estimated to be about 8% in the men and 4% in the women. In the randomized controlled trial,…

In The Week, reprinted from Pacific Standard, Mike Mariani outlines how OxyContin, which was allegedly known to be addictive by its manufacturers, was pawned off on the public as a safe and effective, and decidedly non-addictive, painkiller. Now, the State of Kentucky has brought civil action against Purdue Pharmaceuticals and while increasing use of OxyContin may be a thing of the past, America’s addiction to opioids is not. As an addiction treatment professional, I have personally seen the rise in prescription addiction at my treatment center and others. The statistics on prescription drug…

A new study has found that high levels of blood lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides can keep Vitamin E, an essential micronutrient, tied up in the blood stream, and prevent vitamin E from reaching the tissues that need it. That means measuring only blood levels may offer a distorted picture of whether or not a person has adequate amounts of the vitamin, and that past methods of estimating tissue levels are flawed. The findings are significant, the authors say, because more than 90 percent of the people in the United States who don't take supplements lack the recommended amount…

Plagued by mental health disorders such as depression,bipolar polar disorder, and schizophrenia, are a host of artists, writers and famous people throughout history. In fact, many times the eccentric tendencies of genius are associated with mental illness. An article in Medical Daily titled “Why Smarter People Are More Likely o Be Mentally Ill” claims over thirty studies have documented the connection, concluding: “Affecting some 2.5 percent of the U.S. population, bipolar disorder alone has touched many of our greatest achievers, including Vincent Van Gogh, Buzz Aldrin, Emily Dickinson, and…

We are all populated by microbes – helpful or otherwise – which form a community known as a microbiome. Recent research by Ryan Newton and co-workers has shown that sewage-based analysis of the human microbiome can be used to diagnose health issues at a population level. Large-scale monitoring of human populations and their activities takes many forms, from satellite imagery to censuses, providing data that can inform future policies. At this scale, we can collect and store data to assess the health of a nation. Projects such as BiobankUK and the 100,000 genomes project aim to fully describe…

In this country, poor diet, obesity and high rates of smoking have compounded to give nearly 75 percent of adults poor cardiovascular health. It's not the United States, it is China, yet an alarming number of health plans promoted by American nutrition pundits advocate Asian lifestyles.  The 2010 China Noncommunicable Disease Surveillance Group collected cardiovascular health data from a nationally representative sample of more than 96,000 men and women in the general Chinese population. It showed that just 0.002 of Chinese men and women have good cardiovascular health as defined…

Two recent studies failed to find a connection between testosterone therapy in men and heart problems, contradicting claims that prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate its safety. The new studies include a meta-analysis of data from 29 studies involving more than 120,000 men and an observational study from a Wisconsin health system. Since people who are anti-science always assume researchers are for sale if the conclusion is not criticizing medicine, it is noted early on that neither study had any industry funding. Testosterone is a hormone that plays a key role in the…

It's no surprise that the authors of a study, whose work is spun by people selling diet fads into being conclusive proof that a diet fad is science, disagree with what some media outlets are doing with their work - and that their disagreement gets far less attention than the reports being used to claim Miracle Science.  Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is being heavily promoted by people selling new diet lifestyles and food marketing groups are happy to chime in - the same way you can buy non-GMO rock salt that is certified by the Non-GMO Project, you can have labels proclaiming that…

Everyone has an occasional bad night’s sleep, but some people struggle more than others do, often for a variety of reasons. Scientists tell us that stress or trauma are a frequent cause, but depression, bad habits before bedtime and even being too tired to sleep can prevent the brain from normal rest. Unfortunately, this can lead many people to begin using sleeping aids, which can be dangerous and are quite addictive. A study led by Kai-Florian Storch, PhD, of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University, observed genetically modified mice to better…

There are lots of good reasons not to smoke marijuana and you probably heard or read them all growing up - what you may not have heard is that marijuana, like other pollen-bearing plants, is an allergen which can cause allergic responses. A new article summarizes research on the ways in which cannabis can act as an allergen. The article draws attention to allergic responses that may be unfamiliar to marijuana users. Included in the article is information on case reports regarding episodes of allergic reactions, hypersensitivity and even anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction) to…