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Is It OK To Drink Any Alcohol When Pregnant?

photo from www.newscientist.com

A recent medical study by Dr. Ira J. Chasnoff of the Children’s Research Triangle asserts that Hispanic women who have assimilated to American culture have a greater risk of having children born with fetal alcohol syndrome. According to Chasnoff, pregnant Hispanic women in San Antonio had the second highest drinking rate of 29 cities in the states that were studied.  I find that rather hard to believe based on my twenty-one year history of taking caring of Hispanic pregnant women. I have seen first, second and third generation Hispanic women and never encountered alcoholism among any of them. However, Chasnoff brings up an interesting point about alcohol and pregnancy.  There are two schools of thought.  According to Good Morning America, there are physicians such as Dr. Jacques Moritz, who think an occasional glass of wine is okay to consume during pregnancy however the U.S. Surgeon General and the American College of Obstetrician-Gynecologists advocate strict abstinence from alcohol while pregnancy.

According to medical literature, more than one-half of women of childbearing age report drinking alcohol and 1 out of 8 women report binge drinking.  Alcohol appears to have negative effects throughout the entire pregnancy, not just during the first-trimester. At present, Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*

The Misuse Of A National Television Platform To Promote Health Information

In a highly-promoted appearance, legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden went on ABC’s Good Morning America yesterday to announce that he had kept silent since 2007 about his diagnosis with prostate cancer.

First, let me say that I’ve always liked this guy. Funny. Charming. Coached teams that were fun to watch.

But that doesn’t make you an effective communicator on prostate cancer.

If you listen very carefully to the following clip (it took me 3 times watching the clip before I caught this), you’ll hear interviewer Robin Roberts rapidly mention that Bowden “is being compensated” for his appearance by “On the Line.”

On the Line” is sponsored by several entities including two drug companies that make prostate cancer drugs and by Project Zero – whose executive made news on this blog recently by writing that Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society “has killed more men by giving them an excuse to not be tested.”

You could probably find less conflicted sources Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*

Pediatricians United On Importance of Swine Flu Vaccination

At last weekend’s American Academy of Pediatrics meeting, a few of us were asked to comment to Good Morning American Weekend about our feelings about H1N1 (Swine Flu) and the vaccine, in particular.

None of us were privy to the comments each other made and I think you’ll find the consistency of what we all had to say incredibly reassuring: Pediatricians on Swine Flu Confusion

Yesterday, GMA ran a segment on “The Scramble for Swine Flu Shots” which includes advice from me and other experts about the delay in the H1N1 vaccine. This segment does a nice job putting the entire situation in a very healthy perspective.

And, just to clarify, my entire family will be receiving the H1N1 vaccination when it becomes available in our area. That’s how comfortable I am with it!

*This blog post was originally published at Dr Gwenn Is In*

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