New on the acsh.org Website - Friday, July 15, 2005

The Problem with Precaution
Publication Date: July 15, 2005

Once again, proponents of the precautionary principle have tried to convince us that we are always "better safe than sorry." Dr. Bruce Barrett recently published an article in favor of using this poorly defined doctrine to govern public health issues, making it in effect an institutionalized "fear factor"...
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.588/news_detail.asp
Your watches: Health Facts & Fears


Media Hype over "Chemicals" in Newborns
Publication Date: July 15, 2005

There was substantial media coverage this week of the claim by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), based on analyses of a small number of umbilical blood samples, that newborn babies are exposed even before birth to toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. Few stories put the disturbing assertions in perspective...
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.589/news_detail.asp
Your watches: Health Facts & Fears


Exercise Helps Girls Avoid Excess Weight Gain in Adolescence
Publication Date: July 15, 2005

A new study suggests that increasing physical activity may be the key to fighting the obesity epidemic -- despite all the recent emphasis on food consumption and schemes to tax or ban "junk food."

Adolescent girls who are habitually physically active are less likely to gain excess fat as they mature, according to a report in the July 14 issue of The Lancet...
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.590/news_detail.asp
Your watches: Health Facts & Fears


Don't Believe Everything You Read -- Even in Medical Journals
Publication Date: July 15, 2005

When reading the medical news, you might want to start asking for a second opinion. A report in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that it is not unusual for medical studies to contradict one another: 16% of highly-cited original clinical studies were contradicted by subsequent ones, and another 16% were shown by later trials to have overstated results. The JAMA findings are significant because the author reviewed high-impact medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and The Lancet, and each article reviewed had been cited at least 1,000 times. That translates into a lot of medical misinformation...
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.591/news_detail.asp
Your watches: Health Facts & Fears


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