Water fluoridation forced on UK residents despite considerable concerns about the safety and effectiveness of this practice
Last week one of my blogs focused on mammography. My objection here, in a nutshell, is that it seems this practice has been presented to women as a no-brainer, when in reality it has a number of important downsides that put quite a dent in the arguments for mammography that many of us will be [...]
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Evidence links low vitamin D levels with increased risk of death
Vitamin D, nutrient that we can get for free when the sun’s rays hit our skin, has been associated with a reduction in risk of a wide range of health issues including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. In theory at least, having high levels of vitamin D in the body should protect against [...]
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Sugary soft drinks associated with increased heart disease risk in women
Conventional nutritional wisdom dictates that heart disease risk can be influenced through our intake of fat. Specifically, saturated fat (found in foods such as meat, dairy products, eggs and coconut) promotes heart disease, while certain foods (for example, omega-3 fats found in oily fish) do the reverse. I do think there’s a good deal of [...]
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Women kept in the dark about the facts about mammography
Mammography is a widely advocated and popular intervention designed to pick up breast cancers earlier than they would otherwise be, and therefore allow less invasive and more effective treatment. However, as I pointed out in a blog back in 2007, some researchers believe that the benefits of mammography are somewhat overblown, and that the potential [...]
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Coffee-drinking associated with reduced risk of stroke in women
Coffee and tea may taste quite different, but one thing these beverages they have in common is their rich content of ‘antioxidants’ including ‘polyphenols’. The presence of these supposedly health-giving substances may explain, at least in part, the reason why these drinks have been associated with a reduced risk of chronic conditions including cardiovascular disease [...]
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Study finds low-carb diet leads to improved mental wellbeing compared to low-fat one
When people change their diets for what they think is the better, they usually have some aim in mind such as weight loss (the usual one) or improved health and wellbeing. Making dietary changes can, however, involve time and effort, not to mention a sense of sacrifice and/or deprivation. Obviously, for changes to be sustainable, [...]
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BMJ review questions the ‘evidence’ on which flu vaccine policy is based
While many doctors and health professionals like to believe they practice ‘evidence-based’ medicine, the reality is that much of healthcare practice is simply not supported by good science. This isn’t necessarily a problem, of course, as there are other means that practitioners might use to base their practice decisions. One of these, as I pointed [...]
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Study suggests extracts from green tea may help the body shed abdominal fat
Back in March one of my blog posts focused on the effects of green tea constituents known as catechins had on the metabolism of fat in the body. A recent study has found that green tea catechins stimulated fat-burning in the body, something which is an obvious boon to individuals seeking to attain or maintain [...]
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Chondroitin sulphate found to help osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a condition characterised by degeneration of joint cartilage. It typically affects weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips, and is a very common cause of pain and disability, particularly in the elderly. The conventional medical management of osteoarthritis is centred on the use of analgesic (painkilling) drugs. Ultimately, though, joint condition may [...]
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Getting out and going easy on the carbs seems to help kids avoid the need for glasses
Short-sightedness (the medical term for which is ‘myopia’) is a common condition in industrialised countries. This condition probably has many potential underlying causes. Some of these were reviewed in a recent paper published in the journal Optometry and Vision Science [1]. One quite clear finding from this review was that spending time outdoors is linked [...]
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