Homeopathy is useless and unethical
Homeopaths are evoking grand conspiracies to explain the Science and Technology Committee’s brutal report, but in reality they were undone by their own bizarre pronouncements
Today the Science and Technology Select Committee delivered its verdict on homeopathy and it was devastating. The committee has called for the complete withdrawal of NHS funding and official licensing of homeopathy.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who witnessed the almost farcical nature of the proceedings, with the elite of homeopathy mocked by their own testimony. Peter Fisher, director of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, spewed forth the sort of dialogue that wouldn’t look out of place in a Terry Pratchett novel. As the report drily observes:
Big first trimester weight gain ups diabetes risk
Women who gain weight too quickly during the first three months of pregnancy are more prone to develop pregnancy-related diabetes, new research shows.
“We found the association was stronger among women who were overweight at the start of pregnancy,” Dr. Monique M. Hedderson of Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Oakland, California, noted in an email to Reuters Health.
This study, she added, suggests that weight gain in early pregnancy may be a modifiable risk factor for pregnancy-related, or “gestational,” diabetes.
Rates of food sensitivity vary by country
People in Portland are more likely than those in Iceland to be sensitive to certain foods, but reactions to fish, eggs and cow’s milk appear rare in both places, new research suggests.
The study, of more than 4,500 adults from 13 Western countries, found that nations varied in the rate of people who were sensitive to at least one food—ranging from about 25 percent of those in Portland, Oregon, to just under 8 percent of those in Reykjavik, Iceland.
However, countries tended to be similar in the specific culprit foods.
Obama: Time for talk is over on healthcare bill
President Barack Obama declared on Wednesday the “time for talk is over” and urged the U.S. Congress to vote on healthcare as his health secretary directly challenged insurers to forgo profits to make coverage more affordable.
Visiting America’s heartland, Obama tried to rally support for his healthcare legislation among wavering Democrats. He urged them to set aside their worries about a political backlash and support the legislation.
“Folks in Washington, they like to talk. So Washington is doing right now what Washington does,” he told a crowd at a high school in St. Charles, Missouri. “They’re speculating breathlessly day or night. Every columnist. Every pundit. Every talking head. Is this proposal going to help the Republicans or is this proposal going to help the Democrats?”
“Personal” study shows gene maps can spot disease
Two studies published on Wednesday show it is possible to sequence the entire gene maps of families with inherited diseases and pinpoint the offending bit of DNA.
The studies, which would not have been possible a year or two ago, are the first real delivery of the promised transformation of medical science from the Human Genome Project’s mapping of the human genetic code.
One was also made possible by some of the $5 billion that U.S. President Barack Obama directed to the National Institutes of Health in September from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.
Conquering obesity improves lives
I’ve written many times that we are the fattest society the world has ever seen, and we are getting fatter year by year, and at a faster rate. We lead the world in obesity, but, unfortunately, many parts of the world seem determined to catch us.
The World Health Organization projects that from 2005 to 2015, the incidence of overweight adults worldwide will increase from 1.6 billion to 2.3 billion, and the incidence of obesity will increase from 300 million to 700 million. These trends, if ignored, foreshadow severe implications for the future, both human and economic.
The human cost in terms of compromised and ruined lives from chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes is obvious.
Obesity and Colon Cancer a Deadly Combination
Obese patients with colon cancer may have a greater chance of dying from the disease compared to those at a normal weight.
Every year in the United States, roughly 150,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer. A new study involved 4,381 patients with stage II or II colon cancer who were treated with chemotherapy, 20 percent of whom were obese.
“Obesity has long been established as a risk factor for cancer, but our study in colon cancer patients shows that obesity predicts a poorer prognosis after the cancer is surgically removed,” Frank A. Sinicrope, M.D., a professor of medicine and oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, N.Y., was quoted as saying.
Red Meat, Obesity Raise the Risk of Colon Cancer
Two new research studies have added weight to the evidence that both the consumption of red meat and excess weight contribute to the increased risk of developing colon cancer.
A team from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Rockville MD reviewed data from a cohort of over 300,000 men and women and reviewed the detailed questionnaires by the participants about the types of meat that they consumed and how it was cooked. After seven years of follow-up, there were 2,710 cases of colon cancer in the group.
Those who ate the most red and processed meat showed a significantly higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than those in the bottom quintile who consumed the least amount of meat.
LSUHSC researcher finds first inherited prostate cancer genetic mutation in African-American men
Shahriar Koochekpour, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, led research that has discovered, for the first time, a genetic mutation in African-American men with a family history of prostate cancer who are at increased risk for the disease. Dr. Koochekpour, who is also a member of the LSUHSC Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, identified an inheritable genetic defect in the receptor for the male hormone, androgen (testosterone), that may contribute to the development of prostate cancer and its progression. Scientific reports linking inheritable androgen receptor mutations to prostate cancer in Caucasians are rare, and this is the first one that focuses on the African-American population. The study is available in the advance online publication of the Nature Publishing Group’s Asian Journal of Andrology.
Dr. Koochekpour and his laboratory discovered this genetic change by testing DNA extracted from white blood cells of African-American and Caucasian men from Louisiana who had a proven medical history of prostate cancer in their families.
“We detected this mutation only in African-American men with prostate cancer,” notes Dr. Koochekpour.
Novel stroke treatment passes safety stage of UCI-led clinical trial
A clinical research trial of a new treatment to restore brain cells damaged by stroke has passed an important safety stage, according to the UC Irvine neurologist who led the effort.
Dr. Steven C. Cramer said patients showed no ill effects after the sequential administration of growth factors encouraging the creation of neurons in stroke-damaged areas of the brain. All new drug treatments must pass this safety stage before doctors can study their effectiveness in subsequent studies.
Results of the phase IIa trial appear on the Web site of Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association.
N.Y. health dept. slams sugary drinks
New York’s commissioner of health criticized the beverage industry for “ceaseless marketing” in its campaign against a proposed tax on sugary drinks.
Speaking at a symposium on obesity in Albany, N.Y., Richard F. Daines said the tax, included in the executive budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, is a battle to reduce obesity. He detailed the efforts of the beverage industry to market cheap soda, especially in low-income and minority communities; manipulate pricing to promote greater consumption; rally opposition to government efforts to reduce consumption of sugary beverages and blame the rise in childhood obesity on parents, while denying any link between obesity and non-diet soda consumption.
Different strokes help tissue heal
Using simple handheld tools, physical therapist Laurie Eickhoff carefully rubs patient Lisa Maharry’s leg to treat her Achilles injury with a new therapy intended to stimulate the body’s normal healing process.
Maharry has received augmented soft tissue manipulation, or ASTYM, at Ingersoll Physical Therapy since January. The clinic, affiliated with Accelerated Rehabilitation Centers, is one of a few providers in the metro area and about 30 in Iowa that offer the treatment.
Eickhoff has used the technique on a dozen patients since November. Some were referred by physicians, while others were existing patients she transitioned into the therapy after trying other measures.
Unhealthy foods become less popular with increasing costs
Adults tend to eat less pizza and drink less soda as the price of these items increases, and their body weight and overall calorie intake also appear to decrease, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“To compensate for food environments where healthful foods (i.e., fresh fruits and vegetables) tend to cost more, public health professionals and politicians have suggested that foods high in calories, saturated fat or added sugar be subject to added taxes and/or that healthier foods be subsidized,” the authors write as background information in the article. “Such manipulation of food prices has been a mainstay of global agricultural and food policy, used as a means to increase availability of animal foods and basic commodities, but it has not been readily used as a mechanism to promote public health and chronic disease prevention efforts.”
Kiyah J. Duffey, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues assessed the dietary habits of 5,115 young adults (age 18 to 30) beginning in 1985 to 1986 and continuing through 2005 to 2006. Food price data were compiled for the same timeframe. Participants’ height, weight and blood levels of glucose and insulin were also collected and a measure of insulin sensitivity was calculated.
Let’s Move! The Obama Campaign against Childhood Obesity
Childhood overweight and obesity is a serious problem globally. One of the hardest hit countries is the United States, where half of children are overweight for their age. As such, First Lady Michelle Obama has launched an important program called Let’s Move to try to find ways to deal with the problem - and it deserves a lot of attention!
Let’s Move aims to help families manage and prevent childhood obesity from four vantage points:
* helping parents make healthy choices for their kids
* finding ways to make the school environment healthier
* increasing physical activity
* finding ways to access healthy and affordable food
Obesity Epidemic leads to Bariatric Surgery and Post Bariatric Surgery
The American obesity epidemic statistics are staggering. Nowhere else in the world is there a country with such a wide spread obesity problem. Approximately 11 million Americans are morbidly obese. Obesity and related problems are the leading cause of death in America. According to the American Heart Association at http://www.americanheart.org, 71% of non-Hispanic white men and 57.6% of women are overweight and of these 30.2% of men and 30.7% of women are obese. Of non-Hispanic blacks 67% of men and 79.6% of women are overweight and of these 30.8% of men and 51.1% of women are obese. Of Mexican Americans 74.6% of men and 73% of women are overweight and of these 29.1% of men and 39.4% of women are obese. Because of these staggering statistics, the prevalence of bariatric surgery is very high.
The benefits of bariatric surgery often outweigh the risks. Patients typically lose well over a hundred pounds. The health benefits are astounding, though the risks are high. With recent technological advances and changes in the way surgeries have been performed, the risks are slowly decreasing, but with old methods, serious problems exceeded 30% of those who underwent surgery. For those without complications though, bariatric surgery is a life giving procedure.
After losing over a hundred pounds, patients tend to notice the way their skin hangs in empty folds.
