Category: Quality Control (Page 9 of 74)

Milk May Not Be So Wholesome After All

July 20, 2012 / Staff

The debate centers around school lunch and the longtime promotion that milk builds strong bones.

Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the PCRM, (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) has stated that, “Research has now made it abundantly clear that milk doesn’t build strong bones. Whether we are talking about children who are forming bones or older people who are trying to keep their bone integrity, milk doesn’t have a beneficial effect on either one.”

The promotion of milk to help build strong bones in kids is, “in effect, the promotion of an ineffective placebo,” writes the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in its petition [PDF]. “Milk is high in sugar, high in fat and high in animal protein” — all of which counters its purported benefits to bone health, the committee argues.
The PCRM notes that dairy products, including milk, are the No. 1 source of saturated fat in Americans’ diets. Drinking milk for the calcium it contains is therefore a losing strategy, especially since people can get their daily recommended calcium from other, more nutritious foods. And for millions of Americans who are allergic to milk — including 1.3 million children — or intolerant to the lactose it contains, drinking milk carries potentially severe health risks.

Nutrition, Quality Control, Research, Wellness

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FDA Bans BPA From Baby Bottles And Sippy Cups

July 18, 2012 / Staff

The FDA has finally publicly recognized the dangers of BPA in plastics and the environment.

The ban is based on concerns voiced by the American Chemistry Council which encouraged the FDA to phase out use of BPA in these particular products.

This was designed in part to counter years of negative publicity from consumer groups.

The dangers of BPA in the environment and their effect on all humans have raised red flags for years.

Previous research in animals has associated BPA exposure to disruptions in reproductive and nervous-system development in babies, but the FDA has long maintained that such findings cannot be applied to humans. Other observational studies in humans have associated prenatal exposure to the chemical with behavior problems and childhood asthma. Just this week, the journal Pediatrics published a study linking BPA in dental fillings to problems like depression and anxiety in kids.
Some 96% of pregnant women have measurable levels of BPA, according to a 2011 study by University of California, San Francisco, researchers; in fact, data show that nearly every American has traces of BPA in their urine from exposure to food and beverage packaging.
For now, the federal government maintains that BPA does not harm humans, but it is spending $30 million on its own studies to assess the chemical’s health effects on humans.

Quality Control, Research, Wellness

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The FDA Has Approved The Diet Drug Qsymia

July 17, 2012 / Staff

The FDA has approved Qsymia for use today by those who are obese, with a BMI of 30 or more, or for those who have a BMI of 27 with weight related illness.

The history of weight loss pills has been fraught with law suits due to life threatening side affects and prescription abuse by physicians and patients.

The major problem with weight loss drugs is that they don’t address the underlying causes of weight gain such as the psychological component of over eating and the food itself.

There is wide ranging debate regarding the way certain processed and scientifically engineered foodstuffs react with human physiology and metabolism.

Until we confront these two major issues surrounding food it will be difficult to solve America’s obesity epidemic with a pill.

“Given the literally insatiable appetite of doctors and patients for new drugs as a quick fix for obesity, there is every reason to believe that, if approved, a combination like this, will be used by millions, over long periods of time far beyond its labeling indications. Because of a long list of safety reasons, this drug should not be approved,” the group’s Dr. Sidney Wolfe told the FDA advisory panel in 2010.
Vivus, the company that makes Qsymia, hopes it will be a safer successor to the notorious and now banned “fen-phen” diet cocktail. Fen-phen combined fenfluramine and phentermine — one of the two drugs in Qsymia — but it damaged the heart in some cases and caused a condition in some patients called pulmonary hypertension, which causes fluid to build up in the chest, bringing a feeling of breathlessness.

Quality Control, Research, Resources, Wellness

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FDA Scientists Penalized For Voicing Concerns

July 16, 2012 / Staff

The FDA used spy software designed to help employers monitor workers and capture screen images from the government laptops used when they working from home.

A detailed surveillance, of the five scientists in question, included monitoring of keystrokes, personal e-mails, documents on personal thumb drives and line by line messages which were captured by the agency.

A dispute lasting years between the scientists and their bosses at the F.D.A. fueled the intense scrutiny of the information.

The scientists’ claims that faulty review procedures at the agency had led to the approval of medical imaging devices for mammograms and colonoscopies that exposed patients to dangerous levels of radiation is at the center of this investigation.

Moving to quell what one memorandum called the “collaboration” of the F.D.A.’s opponents, the surveillance operation identified 21 agency employees, Congressional officials, outside medical researchers and journalists thought to be working together to put out negative and “defamatory” information about the agency.
F.D.A. officials defended the surveillance operation, saying that the computer monitoring was limited to the five scientists suspected of leaking confidential information about the safety and design of medical devices.

Quality Control

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Team Sports Help To Keep Kids In Shape

July 16, 2012 / Staff

Richard Thornton / Shutterstock.com

A recent study found that kids who played on three or more sports teams in a year, were 27% less likely to be overweight, and 39% less likely to be obese than those teens who did not play team sports.

The study also found that biking or walking to school had less of an effect on a student’s weight – although it did reduce their likelihood of being obese.

Researchers believe playing high school sports, which usually involve regular practices and competitions, reduces a child’s chances of having a weight problem because of the strenuous and consistent workouts. Therefore, study authors conclude, increasing a child’s opportunity to play sports, even if they are not gifted athletes, should be a priority, especially for teens and children entering middle school or high school.

Organized sports is a fun way to motivate kids to keep active and stay competitive.

Quality Control, Wellness

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