Just in time for the national roll-out of the new H1N1 flu vaccine, Wired Magazine and the Atlantic have weighed in on the ongoing vaccine war: Wired has a profile of Paul Offit, a vaccine researcher and pediatrician who has consistently spoken out in favor of vaccination and pointed to the lack of evidence linking vaccines and autism; …
Drinking By Either Partner Cuts Odds of IVF Success
Couples having difficulty conceiving may want to skip one item that is ordinarily considered helpful to the process—alcohol—at least if they are using in-vitro fertilization (IVF). A new study of 2,574 couples undergoing 5,363 IVF cycles between 1994 and 2003 found that couples in which both partners drank four or more alcoholic …
Deep brain stimulation for severe Tourette syndrome
Deep brain stimulation may be a safe and effective treatment for people with severe Tourette syndrome, according to research appearing this week in the journal Neurology. Roughly 2 million Americans have Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements and vocalizations or tics, lasting more than a year. …
What’s in your bowl? New report fingers the least-nutritious cereals
The worst offenders (nutrition wise) of the cereal aisle, according to a report released today from Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity include:
- Reese’s Puffs
- Corn Pops
- Lucky Charms
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Cap’n Crunch
- Trix
- Froot Loops
- Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles
- Cocoa Puffs
- Cookie Crisp
Baby Einstein Refund: Kids Too Much Like Real Baby Einstein
Disney’s recently announced decision to offer a refund to parents who purchased its popular “Baby Einstein” videos vindicates researchers who had been attacked by the company. Their study, published in the prestigious journal Pediatrics, showed that each daily hour of viewing of these kinds of “educational” videos by children …
Role of overlapping sexual partners in the spread of HIV in Africa called into question
A long-held view among HIV researchers is that overlapping multiple sexual partners (aka concurrency) fuels the spread of HIV in Africa. But the authors of a new paper published in the journal AIDS and Behavior are questioning the strength of the supporting evidence. “This theory, which we accept as fact, is really just the strong …
Vitamin D levels lacking in millions of U.S. children
Millions of American children may not be getting enough vitamin D, according to a new report out today. The sunshine vitamin is essential for helping kids build healthy bones and ward off rickets. Plus, new evidence shows it may ward off colds, childhood wheezing, and winter-related eczema. The study, published in the November issue of …
Rethinking the benefits of breast and prostate cancer screening
For two decades, the public-health message has been that cancer screening saves lives. In some cases, especially with cancers of the cervix and colon, screening does, in fact, work as it should: sniffing out disease at its earliest and most curable stages. But for breast and prostate cancers—two of the most widespread in the U.S.—the …
Job a pain in the neck? Maybe you need an ergonomic intervention
Just buying ergonomic desks and chairs isn’t enough to quell pain caused by poor posture at work reports a new study in this month’s Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Such equipment is useless, say the authors, unless a professional ergonomist sets it up and adjusts it. Researchers came to this conclusion by taking a …
Long-term antidepressant use creeps up
A dramatic rise in antidepressant prescriptions given by general practitioners has led to an increased number of people popping the mood boosters long-term, say researchers at the University of Southampton. The study, published today in the British Medical Journal, shows that despite a drop in the number of new patients diagnosed with …
An oncologist’s dream: Protecting healthy cells from radiation
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine say they may be hot on the heels of the Holy Grail of cancer therapy: a means to protect healthy tissue from the harmful effects of radiation treatment while speeding tumor death. The study, published this week in Science Translational Medicine, could one day be a game changer …
Just a little respect? Not for obese patients
A new study seems to confirm what many obese people have long suspected…that doctors think less of their heaviest patients. For the study, published in the November issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, collected data from 238 obese patients …
Hot dogs, pizza, and mac’n cheese on the chopping block?
Sure, kids love hot dogs, pizza, and mac’n cheese, but, when it comes to school lunches, the United States can and should do better says a blistering report issued this week by the Institute of Medicine. The report says schools need to bump up servings of fruits and vegetables, swap refined grains with their whole cousins, and replace …
