Health & WellnessS


Magnify

The Origins of the Cholesterol Con

Last week, I wrote about the "cholesterol con," the widespread belief that "bad Cholesterol" ( LDL cholesterol) is a major factor driving heart disease, and that cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor and Crestor can protect us against fatal heart attacks. These drugs, which are called "statins," are the most widely-prescribed pills in the history of human medicine. In 2007 world-wide sales totaled $33 billion. They are particularly popular in the U.S., where 18 million Americans take them.

We thought we knew how they worked. But last month, when Merck/Schering Plough finally released the dismal results of a clinical trial of Zetia, a cholesterol-lowering drug prescribed to about 1 million people, the medical world was stunned. Dr. Steven E. Nissen, chairman of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic called the findings "shocking." It turns out that while Zetia does lower cholesterol levels, the study failed to show any measurable medical benefit.

Roses

How the herb Charles II used to keep royal mistresses in shape could help fight today's obesity epidemic

It is an ancient slimming remedy with a royal seal of approval.

Now a traditional herb used by King Charles II to help his mistresses lose weight could be used in the modern day battle against obesity.

Heath Pea
©Unknown
Heath pea: Could curb hunger pangs

Syringe

Flashback The Age of Autism: 'A pretty big secret'

CHICAGO, -- It's a far piece from the horse-and-buggies of Lancaster County, Pa., to the cars and freeways of Cook County, Ill.

But thousands of children cared for by Homefirst Health Services in metropolitan Chicago have at least two things in common with thousands of Amish children in rural Lancaster: They have never been vaccinated. And they don't have autism.

Roses

Men who do housework may get more sex



sweeping man
©Unknown

New York -- American men still don't pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but collectively they're not the slackers they used to be. The average dad has gradually been getting better about picking himself up off the sofa and pitching in, according to a new report in which a psychologist suggests the payoff for doing more chores could be more sex.

Stormtrooper

Troop Depression on Rise in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - U.S. troop morale improved in Iraq last year, but soldiers fighting in Afghanistan suffered more depression as violence there worsened, an Army mental health report says.

Syringe

Government Concedes Vaccine Injury Case

Government health officials have conceded that childhood vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl, and that she should be paid from a federal vaccine-injury fund.

Medical and legal experts say the narrow wording and circumstances probably make the case an exception - not a precedent for thousands of other pending claims.

Cow

'Frankenfoods' Giant Monsanto Plays Bully Over Consumer Labeling

Monsanto doesn't want consumers to know the truth about the milk they're drinking. The corporation's monopoly is at stake.
"There are some corporations that clearly are operating at a level that are disastrous for the general public ... And in fact I suppose one could argue that in many respects a corporation of that sort is the prototypical psychopath, at the corporate level instead of the individual level."

--Dr. Robert Hare, The Corporation

Cow

Flashback Fox News Continues Persecution of Reporters Who Exposed Network Lies on Monsanto's rBGH

A Florida judge has denied a Fox Television motion that would have forced its former investigative reporters Jane Akre and Steve Wilson to pay nearly $2 million in legal fees and court costs the broadcaster spent to defend itself at trial in the landmark whistleblower suit brought by the journalists.

Syringe

Vegas Clinic May Have Sickened Thousands

Las Vegas, Nevada - Nearly 40,000 people learned this week that a trip to the doctor may have made them sick. In a type of scandal more often associated with Third World countries, a Las Vegas clinic was found to be reusing syringes and vials of medication for nearly four years. The shoddy practices may have led to an outbreak of the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus and exposed patients to HIV, too.

Wolf

Healthcare insurance probe grows

L.A. city attorney asks Blue Cross to substantiate claims that it has revised its rescission practices.

The Los Angeles city attorney's office has expanded its probe of patient cancellations to the state's largest for-profit insurer, Blue Cross of California.