Public Health

Sorry Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Corn Oil Is Better For Lowering Cholesterol

In recent times, olive oil became one of the lowest health fads. Its popularity grew to such an extent that it became difficult to know if you were even buying olive oil, much less the extra virgin kind it might say on the label. You may have been better ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 6 2013 - 12:46pm

Meditation Changes Gene Expression, Say Psychologists

Some papers say that meditation can have beneficial health effects, and that makes sense, but a new paper claiming evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation is likely the first of its kind. The scholar ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 9 2013 - 12:00pm

The Problem For 23andMe And The FDA: People Don't Understand Genetic Test Results Or Their Implications

This month, 23andMe, the most prominent genetic home testing company, stopped offering anything more than ancestry results due to a warning by the FDA that its marketing claims about the value of their health-related reports were not backed by evidence re ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 13 2013 - 9:51pm

Christmas Excess Is No Problem- But Don't Put Off Exercise Until January

Short term over-eating is no problem- just don't make a habit of it and you will be fine, according to a paper in The Journal of Physiology and thousands of years of common sense. Some studies have said that even a few days of excess calorie intake, ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 14 2013 - 10:30pm

Don't Let Kids Drink Raw Milk, Urges American Academy Of Pediatrics

It seems like common sense to want to avoid foodborne illnesses but the naturalistic fallacy regarding food has extended to milk- with claims that raw milk somehow wards off disease and is better for you. While no one should drink it if they aren't a ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 16 2013 - 7:10pm

Fracking Is Safe, But Don't Drink The Chemicals

Endocrinologists are warning us in a paper for an upcoming issue of the journal Endocrinology that some of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing- fracking- can disrupt the body's hormones.  ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 16 2013 - 2:36pm

Cutting Costs For Care Is Not Taught In Medical School

There is a national consensus among policy makers and educators that residents should factor the cost of care into decision making- but doctors and those who teach them are not buying in. In a culture of defensive medicine and unlimited malpractice lawsui ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 16 2013 - 5:19pm

Fructose Has No Special Impact On Indicator Of Cardiovascular Disease

In the last few years it became popular to sell health books blaming fructose for obesity and, more recently, to blame all sugars. Pancake syrup bottle today highlight that they have no high fructose corn syrup on giant labels, while the first ingredient ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 30 2013 - 1:03pm

Lives Saved Or Gained: 8 Million Since The War On Tobacco 50 Years Ago

Though the War on Drugs has been a complete failure, and led to making poor people poorer and the rich in that market richer, scholars are touting the War on Cigarettes as a complete success- 8 million lives saved, they estimate. ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 8 2014 - 9:40am

New Blood Test Could Simplify Diagnosis Of Celiac Disease

A new blood test developed by ImmusanT in Boston and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute can rapidly and accurately diagnose celiac disease without the need for prolonged gluten exposure, according to a preliminary result with 48 participants. The new dia ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 14 2014 - 6:12pm