The FDA and distributor Young You Corp. recalled four weight-loss supplements, Slimbionic, One Weight Loss Pill 30, SlimDemand and Botanical Weight Loss, after they were found to contain undeclared sibutramine, a drug that can raise blood pressure and endanger people with heart disease.
Food Consumer
Diet
Mediterranean diet cuts premature death risk
In the EPIC study, Antonia Trichopoulou's team followed 23,000 healthy Greek men for an average of 8.5 years and recorded 652 deaths among those whose diets least resembled the Mediterranean pattern against 423 among those whose diets resembled it most.
Food
Whole grains prevent hypertension
Alan Flint followed 31,684 male health professionals for 18 years and recorded 9,227 new cases of hypertension. Men eating the most whole grains had a 19 percent lower incidence, and those eating the most bran a 15 percent lower incidence, than men eating the least.
Miscellaneous
Males aren't disappearing, scientists conclude
Penn State researchers say the Y chromosome has shed genes fast enough that it could vanish within a few million years. Team leader Kateryna Makova says that would not end males, since another chromosome pair would likely take over. The Y carries under 200 genes to the X's roughly 1,100.
Miscellaneous
Best U.S. hospitals
U.S. News and World Report surveyed 4,861 hospitals and ranked them across 16 specialties, mostly on reputation, death rate, patient safety and care. Johns Hopkins topped the honor roll, ahead of the Mayo Clinic and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Miscellaneous
Group sues LA County to require condom use in porn industry
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation sued the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to force it to require condoms on porn sets, after an actress tested positive for HIV. The Los Angeles Times reported as many as 22 performers may have tested positive in five years.
Vitamins
Vitamin D fights pancreatic cancer
Taiwanese researchers report that the vitamin D analog 19-nor-1alpha,25(OH)2D2 inhibited pancreatic tumor growth in vitro and in vivo by up-regulating the p21 and p27 tumor suppressor genes. Analogs aim to deliver the effect with fewer side effects than the most active form of the vitamin.
Cancer
Einstein scientists link elevated insulin to increased breast cancer risk (press release)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer that elevated blood insulin appears to raise breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Unlike earlier conflicting studies, theirs used repeated insulin measurements taken over several years.
Miscellaneous
What are the Dangers of Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccination?
Mercola traces how Sebelius called H1N1 milder than feared in May, then by June urged schools to prepare as vaccination clinics, and questions another $1 billion for vaccine ingredients. WHO's phase 6 alert reflects how fast a virus spreads, not how severe it is.
Comments
Squalene: The Swine Flu Vaccine’s Dirty Little Secret Exposed
Dr. Mercola argues against making children the first target for swine flu vaccination, estimating that some 75 million US children would be injected with a fast-tracked vaccine containing adjuvants including squalene to prevent perhaps 100 deaths.
Lifestyle
Circumcision not a Factor in Male Transmission of HIV to Female Partners
Johns Hopkins researchers led by Dr. Maria Wawer circumcised half of 922 HIV-infected uncircumcised men and tracked 163 female partners for 24 months, finding circumcision did nothing to lower the women's risk. Their conclusion: condom use is essential either way.
Government
WHO: Spread of swine flu inevitable
The WHO will stop publishing global tables of swine flu case counts, saying lab confirmation has become extremely difficult, and instead asks countries to watch for clusters of severe cases, unusual transmission patterns and surges in emergency room visits.
Healthcare
Many Veterans Need Mental Health Care
A UCSF study of VA records on nearly 300,000 troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan found more than 40 percent of those who visited the VA were treated for mental health disorders, with 62,000 diagnosed with depression and 50,432 with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Government
FDA Reviewing Preliminary Safety Information on Asthma Drug Xolair
Interim data from EXCELS, an ongoing study of about 5,000 Xolair-treated asthma patients and 2,500 controls, suggests a disproportionate increase in heart and cerebrovascular events. The FDA is not changing the labeling or telling patients to stop the drug while it reviews the findings.
Advisories
FDA Warns Not to Consume Two Liquid “Energy” Products
The FDA told consumers to avoid New Whey and Hardcore Energize Bullet liquid vials after a utility knife blade turned up in one vial of each. Both products are being recalled, no one is known to have been hurt, and maker Protica is investigating.
Disease
Alzheimer's treatments may be most effective in middle-aged people
A 14-year Mayo Clinic study of 815 people aged 21 to 97 found memory decline separating APOE e4 carriers from non-carriers between ages 55 and 60, earlier than suspected. The authors suggest treatment may need to start before symptoms, and note the gene alone is not enough to cause the disease.
Disease
Australia plans for worst case scenario
Health Minister Nicola Roxon says modelling projects 6,000 swine flu deaths in Australia if nothing were done, a figure she expects action to cut sharply. The virus has infected 10,387 people there, and a Queensland mother became the 22nd death.
Supplements
Vitamin D, curcumin may help clear amyloid plaques found in Alzheimer's disease (PR)
UCLA scientists and colleagues report in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease that vitamin D3, alone or with natural or synthetic curcumin, may stimulate the immune system to clear amyloid beta from the brain. The researchers describe the findings as early.
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