Science Education & Policy

In a recent survey conducted by the University of Maryland’s Center for Food Nutrition and Agriculture Policy, consumers listed tuna, salmon and shrimp as the fish with the highest levels of mercury. But when the question was reversed — which fish had the lowest levels of mercury? — the responses were identical: tuna, salmon and shrimp. “On one hand, we want pregnant women to eat fish, as there are plenty of benefits to the fetus in terms of cognitive development and other factors,” said university researcher Maureen Storey, “But on the other hand, there is confusion about the risks, so…

Like most drugs, fluoride causes what it purports to cure - cavities. Dentists ignore science that shows Americans are fluoride-overdosed and prescribe more and more fluoride either directly or through the water supply. After over 60 years of water fluoridation, tooth decay rates are increasing in our most fluoridated population - todders - indicating fluoridation is either a failure or causing tooth decay. Dentists tell us that drinking “optimal” levels of fluoridated water - 1 part per million or 1 milligram fluoride per liter (quart) - each day, reduces tooth decay without serious side…

The cause of low birth weights among African-American women has more to do with racism than with race, according to a report by an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Richard David says the quest for a "pre-term birth gene" that is now underway will be of no value in explaining low birth weights. David and co-author James Collins Jr., professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University, compared birth weights of three groups of women: African American, whites and Africans who had moved to Illinois. Most African-American women are of 70 to 75 percent…

Insulin-dependent, or Type 1, diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin and insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. Insulin typically is given through shots and not pills so the hormone can go straight into the bloodstream but a new method by Professor Henry Daniell’s research team may change that. Their work involved genetically engineering tobacco plants with the insulin gene. They administered the freeze-dried plant cells to five-week-old…

Researchers in an ongoing U.S.-Cuban archaeological expedition, co-led by The University of Alabama, are attempting to learn more about the native people Christopher Columbus encountered on his first voyage to the New World. UA’s department of anthropology and the Central-Eastern Department of Archaeology of the science ministry in Cuba are partnering in the effort, funded by the National Geographic Society and focused on a former large native village, El Chorro de Maita, in eastern Cuba. “This season, the team is mapping the site and determining the size and location of residential areas…

Two drugs commonly prescribed to treat diabetes double the risk of heart failure, according to new research by the University of East Anglia (UEA). Rosiglitazone (Avandia) and Pioglitazone (Actos) are recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) for the treatment of Type II Diabetes. Prescriptions for the drugs, known as thiazolidinediones, have doubled over the last three years and they were taken by more than 1.5 million people in England last year. The new research was undertaken by Dr Yoon Loke, a clinical pharmacologist at UEA’s School of Medicine, Health Policy…

There is now enough evidence to warn young people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life by more than 40%, conclude authors of an Article published in this week’s edition of The Lancet. “Governments would do well to invest in sustained and effective education campaigns on the risks to health of taking cannabis.” Cannabis, or marijuana, is the most commonly used illegal substance in most countries, including the UK and USA. Up to 20% of young people now report use at least once per week or heavy use (use on more than 100 occasions). Dr…

 This is the third in an on going series of interviews with some of the leading scientists and thinkers on the subject of energy.  The first was with Dennis M. Bushnell, NASA Chief Scientist and the second was with the Space Solar Power Institute's Darel Preble.  Regular readers of this blog know that I believe that facing and solving the multiple issues concerning energy is the single most pressing problem that we face as a species.  There is a lot of media coverage about energy, alternative energy and global warming, but what has been missing is the knowledge and point…

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been singled out as having special properties that make Americans fatter than sugar and other energy sources with identical calorie contents. An analysis by the University of Maryland Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy (CFNAP ) says theres no evidence to conclude that high fructose corn syrup contributes to weight gain any more than any other energy source, such as sugar. Instead, they say High fructose corn syrup has been targeted as a special suspect in causing obesity, in part because of timing and in part because of misunderstanding…

General Practitioners (GPs) are prescribing antibiotics for up to 80% of sore throat, otitis media, upper respiratory tract infections, and sinusitis cases, despite the fact that official guidance warns against this practice, according to an analysis of the world’s largest primary care database of consultations and prescriptions, published this week in a supplement to the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Although prescriptions of antibiotics for respiratory tract infections declined during the 1990s, GPs still continue to prescribe antibiotics for a high proportion of infections even…