A few days ago, an email came my way with dozens of surprising claims about the content of the health reform legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives (HR 3200). Most of the claims were so outrageous that I decided to check the bill’s text to determine their accuracy. For those of you [...]
Archive for July, 2009
Debunking False Claims in a Widely Distributed Anti-Health Reform Email
Posted in Uncategorized on July 30, 2009 |
New Cancer Warnings About Tanning Beds
Posted in Uncategorized on July 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
A review of scientific studies justifies considering tanning beds in a class with cigarettes and other poisons, according to a major study in Lancet Oncology. The new report, published in the medical journal Lancet Oncology, looked at 20 previous studies and concluded that the risk of skin cancer increased by 75 percent when people start [...]
CDC Director Supports Tax on Sugary Drinks
Posted in Uncategorized on July 28, 2009 |
The working model here is cigarette taxes. But the question of displacement (replacing one unhealthy behavior with another unhealthy behavior) lurks in the background. That is, if all the soda drinkers switch to candy bars, is that a good thing? On the other hand, maybe such a tax would cause people to think twice about [...]
Nearly 10% of U.S. Health Spending Related to Obesity
Posted in Uncategorized on July 28, 2009 |
The food and health sectors of the American economy are pushing in precisely opposite directions. One rakes in hundreds of billions fattening people up, the other takes in hundreds of billions more trying to slim them back down or manage the diseases of obesity. In the middle are the people eating large quantities of fattening foods [...]
Chicago Passes Nation’s First Green Food Resolution
Posted in Uncategorized on July 27, 2009 |
Quite an excellent statement. It endorses farmers’ markets and community supported agriculture and makes the connection between health and the environment. What does Chicago’s Green Food Resolution say? Both its text and its very presence say a lot. The growth of the food movement is exemplified by the fact that local officials are not only discussing, [...]
Senators Seek Non-Discrimination Amendment for Licensed Alternative Practitioners
Posted in Uncategorized on July 24, 2009 |
Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) are leading the way, joined perhaps most significantly by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY). Harkin and Enzi, as senior members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, are among those likely to be in the room when the final versions of the health reform bills [...]
Lifestyle and Diet Cause Most Hypertension
Posted in Uncategorized on July 22, 2009 |
For women, at least, according to new research in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Women who engaged in six healthy behaviors –normal weight, daily vigorous exercise, a low-sodium diet, modest alcohol intake, infrequent analgesic use, and folic acid supplementation-were at 78% lower risk of developing hypertension, according to John P. Forman, MD, MSc, [...]
As Coca-Cola Takes Over the World
Posted in Uncategorized on July 21, 2009 |
From Matthew Yglesias blog today, a chart on worldwide Coca-Cola consumption in 1996. Clearly, there are areas (go East, young man), where there is, shall we say, plenty of room for growth. Then, consider that “Coke’s most recent annual report indicates that Chinese consumption of Coca-Cola Company products increased from eight servings per capita in [...]
With a Gust of Wind, an Iowa Crop Duster Can Destroy an Organic Farm
Posted in Uncategorized on July 20, 2009 |
Obvious injustice shielded by corporate legal maneuvering is among the least admirable features of our society. Read it and weep. Dunham’s crew was in the field picking broccoli and spinruts (“turnip” backwards—a Japanese form of the root vegetable). They witnessed the plane as it failed to shut off its spray mechanism in time, and the [...]
“Serving the Needs of the Oversized Casket Community for Over 20 Years”
Posted in Uncategorized on July 20, 2009 |
This is apparently an actual manufacturer, not an article from The Onion. It’s a sobering commentary on the obesity crisis. h/t The Awl and the New Yorker
