HOW TO PREVENT CANCERS

Powerful data reported from Scotland in the New England Journal of Medicine last week (see report)  show substantial reductions in childhood hospitalizations for asthma following implementation of a ban on smoking in public laces. Using sate of the art approaches to data analysis the authors report on hospitalizations for children and adolescents....

It seems everywhere you turn, someone is touting a new herbal supplement or extract as the solution to what ails you – prevent cancer, lose weight, reduce cholesterol, boost immunity. You name it, someone is probably selling an herbal concoction to fix it. And often, these claims seem to be backed by scientific research. So what’s the problem?Unfortunately,...

Second hand smoke exposure in the US was thoroughly documented last week in the CDC report noted in many media stories.The report evaluated national data from 1999 through 2008, and estimates that 88 million non smokers greater than age 3 were exposed to second hand smoke. The authors note that the decline in exposure within the US has slowed pointing...

More news from Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center showing significant nicotine exposure from cigarette smoke in restaurant and bar workers. It is time for regulations to protect workers. We can cut the health impact of smoking now.  See story&nb...

Despite the high priority for tobacco control new CDC data show the decline in smoking has stalled (see story). As we have note previously, smoking is the leading cause of cancer. It causes more than 30% of all cancers in the United States and an increasing cause on developing countries as smoking rates rise throughout Asia and South America.  While...

There is a fascinating little study out this week in the journal Appetite, which was also highlighted in a piece in The Economist.  What the study found was that dieters, when they felt they were given a larger piece of pizza than other people were for lunch (pieces were actually the same),  were more likely to eat more cookies afterward...

This week marks one of my favorite times of the year - the US Open. The New York Times had a couple of articles this week that got me thinking about how competition can fuel (or harm) health. The first was a great photojournalism article in the Sunday Magazine about how much harder the women are hitting than in years past. I love seeing a discussion...