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Sobering facts on lung cancer

For up-to-date information about lung cancer, you can contact the Thomas G. Labrecque Foundation. The foundation was founded in 2002 by the Labrecque family in honor of Tom Labrecque, former chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank. Mr. Labrecque, a non-smoker, died of lung cancer.

5 Apr 2005

Obesity costs California $21.7 billion a year

California businesses are feeling the financial pinch from employees with obesity-related health conditions, State Public Health Officer Dr. Richard J. Jackson announced today. The combined cost of physical inactivity, obesity and overweight totaled $21.7 billion in 2000, according to a new report, The Economic Costs of Physical Inactivity, Obesity and Overweight in California Adults, the first such research conducted for California.

5 Apr 2005

GP's often confronted by Internet informed patients

A psychologist, Elaine Brohan, from the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, has found that family doctors are having to redefine their traditional "father figure" role because patients increasingly turn to the internet for medical advice, and GP's are often being confronted by patients armed with website print-outs.

4 Apr 2005

Wolfowitz is the wrong choice for the World Bank

The nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank is the wrong choice and should be rejected, says an editorial in this week's BMJ.

3 Apr 2005

Pope John Paul II may need to be fed intravenously

The Pope apparently has had difficulty swallowing since a breathing tube was inserted late February.

30 Mar 2005

Avoiding risks of skin cancer from ultraviolet radiation (UVR)

Cancer Research UK has launched the SunSmart Campaign for 2005 and NRPB strongly supports the health promotion messages in the campaign.

30 Mar 2005

280 million pound package to transform the quality of school meals

Britain's Education Secretary Ruth Kelly today set down that schools should spend at least 50p per child on food ingredients as she unveiled a £280 million package to transform the quality of school meals.

30 Mar 2005

Massive weight loss conference hits Dallas

While massive weight loss surgery is increasingly becoming the treatment of choice for the morbidly obese, many patients are unaware that additional plastic surgery – body contouring – will likely be necessary to achieve their desired body shape.

29 Mar 2005

Children sick after zoo visit - Florida Officials investigate

Health officials in Florida report that five children are in a critical condition with kidney failure and may have picked up a rare infection at petting zoos.

28 Mar 2005

US Court rejects appeal of Terri Schiavo's parents

The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has denied the request by Terri Schiavo's parents that doctors be ordered to reinsert the feeding tube that has kept their brain-damaged daughter alive for 15 years.

23 Mar 2005

Sunlight prevents cancer

The health of the public is being put at risk by recommendations to cover up and stay out of the sun in the UK. These recommendations, which are part of Cancer Research UK’s SunSmart programme, increase the risk of several types of cancer, and may also increase deaths from melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

23 Mar 2005

Prevalence of acute malnutrition high in Sudan

An assessment of the people living in three communities in South Darfur, Sudan found a high number of deaths from violence and disease, according to a brief report in the March 23/30 issue of JAMA.

23 Mar 2005

Schiavo case - Judge refuses to allow feeding tube to be reinserted

A request from the parents of Florida woman Terri Schiavo to reinsert her feeding tube has been rejected by a federal judge; this is a blow to attempts by the US Congress and the White House to prolong her life. Bob and Mary Schindler, Schiavo's parents, immediately appealed to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta as their daughter went for a fourth day without nutrition or hydration.

22 Mar 2005

Bush intervenes in Terri Schiavo case

Terri Schiavo, has been in a permanent vegetative state which is far more severe than a coma, since she had a heart attack in 1990 that deprived her brain of oxygen.

21 Mar 2005

Salt back in the limelight

Gill Fine, Director of Consumer Choice and Dietary Health at the Food Standards Agency says consumers over the last five years are demanding more reliable and practical information on all aspects of nutrition and food and health following the trend towards healthier eating.

17 Mar 2005

Anthrax scare due to lab mix up

A mistake at the laboratory that did the initial testing as a result of the anthrax scare at the Pentagon, has been blamed for the false alarms which saw hospitals alerted, 900 workers prescribed antibiotics, and closed three area mail facilities that handle Pentagon-bound mail.

16 Mar 2005

U.S. Government says, exercise, exercise, exercise!

About two-thirds of Americans each year try to start regular exercise programs, according to a recent poll, but nothing like as many stay with it. The number of overweight and obese Americans is growing at an alarming rate.

16 Mar 2005

Public concerns show need for independent fertility regulation as great as ever

The public concerns and future developments which underpin the need for ongoing independent regulation of fertility treatment and research were spelt out in a keynote speech by Angela McNab, Chief Executive of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, at the HFEA’s annual conference this week (15 March).

16 Mar 2005

Alcohol ranks as the number one health risk in all but two countries

Alcohol ranks as the number one health risk in all but two countries – Canada and the United States – in the Americas, according to a publication of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

16 Mar 2005

EPA announces rule to reduce mercury emissions from power plants

EPA Acting Administrator Steve Johnson will sign today the Clean Air Mercury Rule, a rule that will significantly reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants across the country. Taken together, the recently issued Clean Air Interstate Rule and the new Clean Air Mercury Rule will reduce electric utility mercury emissions by nearly 70 percent from 1999 levels when fully implemented.

16 Mar 2005