A new report released today by the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council suggests that lack of resources, less than optimal organization and a reactive instead of preventive approach are undermining the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to effectively regulate food safety.
For many soldiers, mental trauma lingers at home
Roughly one in ten soldiers returning from Iraq faces ongoing struggles due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and other conditions, according to a new study published in the June issue of the Archives of Psychiatry. In the study, a team of researchers led by Dr. Jeffrey L. Thomas, chief of military psychiatry at the
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A Blood Test for Cancer?
Any cancer doctor will tell you that the earlier you pick up a tumor, the better your chances are of treating it and getting it under control.
So researchers at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago are announcing some welcome news on that front. Scientists at the biotechnology company Chronix …
When kids benefit from public smoking bans
A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health finds that children and adolescents who don’t live with smokers experience substantial health benefits from no smoking laws. Yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, researchers also found that kids who live in counties with public smoking bans but are exposed to secondhand
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In India, payment program reduces infant deaths
A novel program in India that pays impoverished women to give birth in medical institutions may be reducing infant mortality and the risk of stillbirth, according to new research published last week in the British medical journal The Lancet.
In this latest study, which was sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, researchers
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A “tattoo” to help monitor blood sugar levels?
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are taking preliminary steps toward developing a “tattoo” that could enable diabetics to constantly monitor blood sugar levels — without having to routinely change equipment or perform routine finger pricks to test blood. The experimental technology being developed by MIT
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BMJ: WHO swine flu advisers had drug company ties
Almost exactly one year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the swine flu outbreak had reached global pandemic proportions. The announcement, made on June 11, 2009, spurred governments to order huge stocks of vaccines and prompted broad public health initiatives around the globe. And while we can all be grateful that
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FTC again condemns Kellogg’s inflated health claims
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has, for the second time, lashed out against exaggerated marketing claims made by Rice Krispies’ manufacturer Kellogg’s. Last year the FTC ordered the company reached a settlement with the FTC, which criticized its unfounded claims that Frosted Mini Wheats cereal was “clinically shown to improve kids’
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McDonald’s recalls 12 million Shrek glasses
Together with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, fast food giant McDonald’s announced the recall of roughly 12 million Shrek-themed glasses today after discovering that the designs printed on the glasses contained the harmful metal cadmium. Out of what it called “an abundance of caution,” in a statement issued today McDonald’s
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Congressional inquiry expands to include PediaCare
After an early May recall of 40 different varieties of liquid medications — including Children’s Tylenol and Motrin — manufactured at a Johnson & Johnson plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration criticized sloppy quality control that led to the recall, and prompted a Congressional inquiry. Last
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Do compression clothes really impact sport performance?
Two new studies from researchers at Indiana University suggest that the new fad of athletes wearing compression clothing to enhance performance may be little more than that, a fad. In two separate inquiries analyzing the effect of compression legwear on athletic performance, Abigail Laymon and Nathan Eckert both found no evidence for
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Mediterranean diet linked to lower child asthma risk
Children who consume a diet rich in fish, fruit and vegetables tend to have a lower risk for asthma and wheezing, while kids who eat several hamburgers a week may have a higher risk, according to new research published this week in the international respiratory journal Thorax.
Telecommuting, flex-time decrease work-life conflict
For people whose jobs permit them to at least occasionally work from home, it may come as no surprise that a new study of more than 24,000 IBM employees in 75 different countries finds that workers who telecommute are generally able to strike a better balance between work and family life compared with those who must always schlep to the
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