October 8th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Humor, News, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Boost in Energy Level, Caffeine, CareerBuilder, Coffee, Coffee-Fueled Careers, Dunkin' Donuts, Energetic, Energy Drinks, General Medicine, Lack of Concentration, Less Productive, Medical Humor, National Coffee Day 2010, Nurses And Doctors, Productivity, Stimulant
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Nurses and doctors depend on coffee to perform their jobs the most of any profession, reports a survey.
Nurses ranked first and doctors second when asked if they needed coffee to get through their day. The rest of the coffee-fueled careers were a mixed bag of white collar and blue collar positions. Among other findings:
— 48 percent of those in the Northeast said they were less productive without coffee, compared to 34 percent of Midwesterners.
— 40 percent of those aged 18 to 24 said they can’t concentrate as well without coffee.
— 37 percent said they drink two or more cups a day.
NOTE: The study was funded by CareerBuilder and Dunkin’ Donuts.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
September 30th, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Anecdotal Evidence, Artificial Sweetener, Aspartame, Caloric Intake, Calorie Consumption, Cancer-Causing Chemicals In Food, Carcinogen, Carcinogenic Potential, Dietetics, Dr. Janet Starr Hull, Dr. Steve Novella, Evidence Based Nutrition, FDA, Fear Mongering, Food Additives, Food and Drug Administration, Food and Nutrition, Food Chemicals, Food Safety, Internet Conspiracy, Internet Urban Legend, Non-Evidence-Based Social Media, Nutrition and Health, Oncology, Pseudoscience, Pseudoscientific Cult, SBM, Science Based Medicine, Science-Based Evidence, Scientifically Implausible Claims, Unverified Speculation, Weight Loss
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If you believe everything you read on the Internet, then is seems that a chemical found in thousands of products is causing an epidemic of severe neurological and systemic diseases, like multiple sclerosis and lupus. The FDA, the companies that make the product, and the “medical industrial complex” all know about the dangers of this chemical, but are hiding the truth from the public in order to protect corporate profits and avoid the pesky paper work that would accompany the truth being revealed.
The only glimmer of hope is a dedicated band of bloggers and anonymous email chain letter authors who aren’t afraid to speak the truth. Armed with the latest anecdotal evidence, unverified speculation, and scientifically implausible claims, they have been tirelessly ranting about the evils of this chemical for years. Undeterred by the countless published studies manufactured by the food cartel that show this chemical is safe, they continue to protect the public by spreading baseless fear and hysteria.
Hopefully, you don’t believe everything you read on the Internet, and you don’t get your science news from email SPAM, where the above scenario is a common theme. While there are many manifestations of this type of urban legend, I am speaking specifically about aspartame — an artificial sweetener used since the early 1980s. The notion that aspartame is unsafe has been circulating almost since it first appeared, and like rumors and misinformation have a tendency to do, fears surrounding aspartame have taken on a life of their own. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
September 29th, 2010 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Dr. Lucy Hornstein, Family Medicine, Fifth Vital Sign, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Not Dead Dinosaur, Pain Control, Pain Management, Pain Perception, Pain Scale, Pain Tolerance, Physical Exam, Primary Care, Signs and Symptoms, Vital Signs
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There’s been a movement afoot for several years now to quantify pain as the so-called “Fifth Vital Sign.” It all started as a well-intentioned effort to raise the level of awareness of inadequate pain control in many patients, but has gotten way out of hand. The problem is that the word “sign” has a specific meaning in medicine that, by definition, cannot be applied to pain.
When you hear us medicos talk about “signs and symptoms” of a disease, it turns out that they are not the same thing. “Symptoms” are things the patient experiences subjectively. “Signs” are things that can be observed objectively by another person.
Headache is a symptom; cough is a sign. Itching is a symptom; scratch marks over a blistery linear rash are a sign. Vertigo, the hallucination of movement, is a symptom; nystagmus, the eye twitching that goes with inner ear abnormalities that can cause vertigo, is a sign. If someone other than the patient can’t see, hear, palpate, percuss, or measure it, it’s a symptom. Anything that can be perceived by someone else is a sign. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
September 24th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Barbara Ficarra, Cancer Prevention, Dietetics, Disease Prevention, Family Medicine, Food and Nutrition, General Medicine, Health In 30, Increase Cancer Risk, Internal Medicine, Lowered Risk, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Nutrients, Nutritional Supplements, Oncology, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Sally Scroggs
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(Guest post submitted by MD Anderson Cancer Center)
Aisles in grocery stores and pharmacies are stacked with vitamins, minerals, herbs or other plants that you take in pill, capsule, tablet or liquid form. And, many of us buy these supplements and take them regularly, hoping to lower our chances of getting cancer and other diseases.
But do supplements really work wonders? Should you take them to help prevent cancer? Our experts say beware.
“Don’t be fooled by the label on the bottle,” says Sally Scroggs, health education manager at MD Anderson’s Cancer Prevention Center. “Researchers are still unsure about whether or not supplements actually prevent cancer.” Some studies have suggested that supplements may actually increase cancer risk by tilting the balance of nutrients in the body. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
September 24th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Boston Globe, Consumer Vigilance, Dave deBronkart, Deceptive Health Websites, Detoxification, Drug Users, e-Patient Dave, e-Patients.net, Federally Mandated Drug Tests, Gilles Frydman, Health Information on the Web, Health Website Credibility, Lisa Neal Gualtieri, Online Health Information, Public Awareness, Stephen Sharp, Urine Temperature, Urine Test, US Airways Express Pilot, Yourintheclear.com
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By Lisa Neal Gualtieri. (Her earlier much-commented post on this subject is here.)
The Boston Globe reported this month on the sentencing of a former US Airways Express pilot, Stephen Sharp, “for selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was ‘100 percent’ effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots, and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests.” The ungrammatically-named “yourintheclear.com” no longer seems to exist.
Mindful of ongoing debate by Gilles Frydman and others about indicators of health website credibility, I searched for other sites selling similar products (there is no shortage) and looked on sites like Craigslist where people post questions about how to pass drug tests and how to detoxify. Based on a quick perusal, I found answers ranging from product advice that I suspect is similar to what “yourintheclear.com” sold to more than I ever want to know about urine temperature to what seemed like common sense advice. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
Nurses and doctors depend on coffee to perform their jobs the most of any profession, reports a survey.
