Herbal Fen-Phen (Ephedra) Study on Adverse Effects

July 9th, 2009. By AbiK

There’s an interesting study on Ephedra—aka herbal fen-phen—called “The Relative Safety of Ephedra Compared with Other Herbal Products” by S. Bent, TN Tiedt, MC Odden and MG Shlipak. It was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (3/18/03, volume 138, pp. 468-471). 

In the study, the researchers looked at the number of adverse effects reported to US poison control centers during 2001. Keep in mind, the study is now a few years old as Ephedra has been banned since 2004. But the study was conducted during the time in which Ephedra was still riding high in popularity as a diet supplement.

The results of the study showed:

Products containing ephedra accounted for 64% of all reported adverse effects from herbs even though they represented less than 1% of total herbal product sales. The risk for an adverse effect from ephedra compared with other commonly used herbal products was very high. For example, relative risks for adverse effects from ephedra were 100 times greater than from kava and as much as 700 times greater than from Ginkgo biloba. Types and severity of adverse effects were not described. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you suffer from…Jet Lag Disorder?

July 8th, 2009. By AbiK

Remember when jet lag was this annoying little consequence of jet-setting it over to London for some business meeting or to Paris for that over-hyped romantic getaway? It was something everyone universally experienced. Sure, there were those who’d put on a good face, tough it out, and boast about how great they felt on day one of the trip east. Little did anyone know…jet lag is apparently now a (drum roll, please) DISORDER.

That’s right. There was press release from Cephalon, Inc. on June 30th (prnewswire.com) that I had to read a few times. Seems Cephalon is seeking FDA approval for a new drug, Nuvigil, that’ll serve as the antidote (my word) to Jet Lag Disorder (my initial cap’s).

The press release states that Nuvigil is

for the indication of improved wakefulness in patients with excessive sleepiness associated with jet lag disorder resulting from eastbound travel. Jet lag disorder is an acute condition that occurs when a person’s internal body clock becomes disrupted as a result of rapid travel across several time zones. Read the rest of this entry »

Volunteer Taconite Miners Needed for Cancer Tests

July 8th, 2009. By LucyC

At the end of June the University of Minnesota announced that it would be doing a study to find out if taconite iron ore, which is mined on Minnesota’s infamous Iron Range, is causing a higher than normal instance of asbestos mesothelioma. It seems that taconite workers on the Iron Range are dying in higher than anticipated numbers from the rare form of lung disease.

But the researchers need your help to get the study done—specifically they need 1,200 taconite miners who worked on the Iron Range and 800 spouses, to volunteer for screening procedures.

The screening will reportedly involve two lung capacity tests, a chest x-ray, a full physical and blood test, as well as a health questionnaire. And it’s free. Read the rest of this entry »

Baseball Lawsuit Round-up

July 8th, 2009. By AbiK

I have this image of a dad who takes his son to his first ballgame. The dad starts going over the finer points of the game. He’s riled up passion—a passion he wants his son to share, of course. Then, he turns to look his son directly in the eye, and taking on a more serious tone he says,

“and son, if anyone pisses you off at the game, you take ’em to court.”

Welcome to baseball American-style 2009. With that, here’s a little scorecard on the season’s lawsuits so far…

Winner: Alfred G. Rava

Loser: Cause Marketing and Good Intent

We’ve blogged about this one earlier, but to recall, Alfred G. Rava—a lawyer—was fairly miffed that, as a man, he was not given a floppy hat giveaway at an Oakland A’s game back in ’04. The floppy hats (comped by Macy’s) were part of a Mother’s Day promotion that also supported Breast Cancer awareness. Kind of a girly-day theme—with an important message. But Rava must’ve been in touch with his feminine side that day, and well, he got mad when that wasn’t obvious to the folks doling out the hats. So he sued. Sexual discrimination. And he won. The settlement was reportedly $510,000. Next up at bat… Read the rest of this entry »

Is the Recession Increasing Foodborne Illness?

July 7th, 2009. By janem

Food manufacturers and retailers are watching their bottom line and finding ways to protect their profits, such as finding cheaper sources of supply, but at the same time they may be contributing to foodborne illness. One of my local grocery stores actually sells products at a huge discount if the “best before” date has expired, rather than send items back to the manufacturer. Perhaps the manufacturer is also getting a kick-back…Even nitwit UK celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson Wright  said that “use by” dates were a marketing gimmick and advised viewers just to give food “a sniff”. Bad advice.

And I just heard that Frugal Food, Delia Smith’s bestseller from the 1970s, is being republished. In the book she advises families to cut costs by making food last longer, reheat leftovers, freeze spare portions and use whatever lurks in the fridge and freezer rather than turf it.

Just in the past few years the US has seen outbreaks from spinach, tomatoes, frozen pizza, peanut butter, hamburger meat, Asian spices and most recently, Nestlé Tollhouse cookie dough. Of course 2 main reasons for potential outbreaks are the increasing complexity of the food chain and globalisation and the ability of new pathogens to evolve. However, could these cost-cutting measures be a contributing factor to increased foodborne illness outbreaks?