The FDA sent warning letters to 23 U.S. companies and two foreign individuals selling tablets, teas, tonics, black salves and creams with unproven claims to prevent or cure cancer, and urged buyers to ask their doctor about stopping the products.
Food Consumer
Disease
Rheumatoid arthritis is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease
Two studies presented at EULAR 2008 recorded cardiovascular events in 8.6 percent of rheumatoid arthritis patients versus 4.3 percent of the general population, and adjusted odds for CVD of 2.0 in RA against 2.3 in type 2 diabetes. Researchers say RA should count as a cardiovascular risk factor.
Cooking
Healthy Recipes: Marinated Fresh Tuna Salad
A tuna salad that skips the mayonnaise: fresh tuna seared, then simmered and refrigerated at least six hours in a marinade of garlic, cumin, paprika, red wine vinegar and broth, served over romaine with new potatoes. The recipe credits garlic with added cancer-protective benefits.
Obesity
Prenatal diet affects onset of puberty
In a rat study presented at the Endocrine Society meeting, pups whose mothers ate a high-fat diet reached puberty earlier and carried more body fat later, even when they themselves ate normally. Researcher Deborah Sloboda said the fetal environment may matter more than childhood nutrition.
Drug
FDA requests boxed warnings on 'conventional' antipsychotics
The FDA asked for boxed warnings on conventional antipsychotics after trials tied them to higher death rates in elderly patients treated for dementia-related psychosis. Atypical antipsychotics got similar labelling in 2005; neither class is approved for dementia.
Obesity
Grapes' resveratrol may help prevent obesity
In lab tests on human pre-fat cells, University of Ulm researchers found resveratrol kept the cells from multiplying and maturing, hindered fat storage, lowered interleukins 6 and 8 and raised adiponectin. A coauthor cautioned that knowledge is still limited.
Food
Oily fish can protect against RA, but smoking and psychosocial stress increase its risk
Swedish EIRA data presented at EULAR 2008 tied eating oily fish, one to seven times a week or one to three times a month, to a 20 to 30 percent lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis, an odds ratio of 0.8. Fish oil supplements showed no significant association.
Supplements
Probiotics anti-inflammatory
Finnish researchers reported in the World Journal of Gastroenterology that probiotics lowered serum CRP and cut pro-inflammatory cytokine production in blood cells from healthy adults, with effects that differed by bacterial strain.
Heart & Blood
Vitamin D may prevent heart failure
Robert U. Simpson and colleagues treated heart-failure-prone rats on a high-salt diet with calcitriol for 13 weeks. The treated rats showed lower heart weight, smaller left ventricles and lower levels of several key heart-failure predictors than untreated rats.
Politics
U.S. talks with South Korea about beef ban
South Korea's trade minister was due to meet U.S. representative Susan Schwab over the beef import ban imposed after the first U.S. mad cow case in 2003, with no quick deal expected. He said he would seek to keep out beef from cattle older than 30 months.
Drug
Psoriasis drug may raise cancer risk
FDA reviewers want animal data suggesting a higher cancer risk added to the label of ustekinumab, an injection that eased psoriasis symptoms in two company trials by suppressing interleukin-12 and 23. Centocor calls the malignancy risk theoretical and plans post-market monitoring.
Sci-Tech
New Zealand breeding program creates new red raspberry variety
New Zealand and Canadian breeders introduced 'Moutere', a floricane red raspberry named with the Maori word for island. Reported in HortScience, it produced high yields of large, uniform bright red early-season fruit in small plots in British Columbia and the Nelson region.
Autoimmune Diseases
Vitamin D low in patients with rheumatic disease
Of 231 patients seen at a Cork rheumatology clinic, 70 percent had low vitamin D levels and 26 percent were severely deficient, with the same pattern in younger and older patients. The findings were presented at the 2008 EULAR meeting in Paris.
Environment
Traffic pollution raises risk of childhood allergies
Children living within 50 metres of a busy road were 50 percent more likely to develop asthma, hay fever, eczema and other allergies than children living farther away, researchers found after following healthy Munich children from birth for six years.
Politics
Do you know where your tomatoes come from? Of course Not !
With the FDA linking a 17-state salmonella outbreak to red plum, Roma and round red tomatoes, and the CDC counting 167 illnesses and 23 hospitalizations, the writer argues traceback still takes months rather than the 48 hours required, and promotes ScoringAg's tracking service.
Environment
PVC shower curtains release harmful chemicals
A study for the Center for Health, Environment & Justice found PVC shower curtains bought from five major retailers released volatile organic compounds, phthalates and organotins into the air for up to 28 days. The group asked the CPSC to recall them.
Diet
Nutrients better outcomes of tuberculosis treatment
In a study of 887 tuberculosis patients in Dar es Salaam, those given nutrient supplements were 45 percent less likely to see the disease recur and slightly less likely to fail treatment, with a stronger effect among HIV carriers. Supplements did not significantly change death rates.
Drug
FDA says dental amalgam may harm some people
The piece reprints FDA's questions and answers on dental amalgam, which is roughly 50 percent mercury by weight. FDA says that mercury may have neurotoxic effects on developing children and fetuses, and that its rulemaking will weigh whether released mercury vapor causes health problems.
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