Household insecticides could raise the risk of acute leukemia in children, a French study published in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal suggests after examining data from 568 children half of whom had acute leukemia.
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Critics are arguing that flavored cigarettes were specifically designed to make smoking more attractive to children and teenagers.  They point to Big Tobacco’s identification of young-adults (such as in internal documents from R.J. Reynolds) to support their claim that new flavors such as  Twista Lime, Winter Toffee, and Midnight Berry are being used to attract younger smokers rather than to hold onto older smokers.

There is no dispute that the survival of the multi-billion dollar industry requires a steady (and substantial) influx of new smokers to replace an aging consumer base that is losing large numbers of long-time smokers to death, aggressive stop-smoking initiatives, and state laws that either ban smoking in many or all public places or levy hefty taxes on those purchasing cigarettes.
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Recent cases of patients receiving BOTOX(R) and tissue fillers at beauty salons, shopping malls, or in their homes by people without licensure or adequate medical or professional training are causing great concern within the medical community.

In response to the rise in unqualified individuals performing non-surgical cosmetic procedures, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) are trying to raise awareness about the dangers inherent in this risky practice.

Only properly credentialed and trained medical professionals should perform procedures such as tissue filler injections, laser therapies, skin resurfacing, and chemical peels. In addition, the work should use only products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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Last week we reported on the death of James Zadroga, a 34-year-old homicide detective who was believed to be the first New York City police officer to die from a respiratory disease caused by exposure to dust and toxic debris during his hundreds of hours of rescue and cleanup efforts at ground zero.

Now, however, the New York Daily News is reporting that 22 other relatively young men may also have died from respiratory-related illnesses caused or accelerated by their exposure to the same toxic environment while aiding in the post-9/11 cleanup.

Like Zadroga most of the 22 men were only in their 30s and 40s. According to their families, they have died as a result of the deadly mixture of chemicals they were exposed to as they searched for survivors in the ruins of the World Trade Center or aided in the clean-up efforts in the days and weeks following the terrorist attack.
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As reported by The Charleston Gazette, an expert review of 21 spinal surgeries performed by Dr. John Anderson King in 2002 and 2003 at Putnam General Hospital found 13 of the operations to have been partly or completely unnecessary.

The analysis of King’s surgical records regarding those 21 operations was conducted by Dr. Edgar Dawson from the University of California at Los Angeles.
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Sudden and unexplained increases in bloodstream infections at the Johns Hopkins Hospital led to the discovery of a completely unintended and unforeseen health and safety hazard with a new catheter device that was actually supposed to make patient care easier and safer.

According to Dr. Trish Perl, senior hospital epidemiologist and an associate professor of medicine and pathology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: "No one could have anticipated this outcome. But, our experience underscores how advances in technology designed to improve health care may also have hidden risks to patients that can only be identified by paying close attention to what happens after the technology is put into practice."
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The FDA and pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are warning medical professionals about reports of new or worsening diabetic eye complications in diabetics taking Avandamet or Avandia.

The eye complication, known as macula edema, is a result of fragile and leaking blood vessels in the eye. The condition affects the part of the eye where sharp, straight-ahead vision occurs, and therefore and can lead to blurry vision.

Patients should immediately alert their doctor if they notice any change in their vision such as blurriness, decreased color sensitivity, or the ability to see in the dark.

Avandia and Avandamet are made by GSK to treat Type 2 diabetes. Both drugs contain the drug rosiglitazone. Avandamet also contains a second drug called metformin.

A GlaxoSmithKline letter sent to doctors makes these points:

• The reports are "very rare."
• Most patients also reported swelling in their legs and feet (peripheral edema) at the same time.
• In some cases the macula edema stopped or improved when patients stopped taking the drugs.
• In one case, macula edema stopped when the drug’s dose was reduced.

Over 5 million people worldwide have taken Avandia and 769,000 have taken Avandamet.

Diabetes can cause swelling, including swelling or edema in the back of the eyes. One complication of long-term diabetes is that the layer contains blood vessels that can become fragile or damaged.

Macula edema also can be related to high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, or poor control of blood sugar.
Regardless of any drug they take, individuals with diabetes should get eye exams at least once a year from an ophthalmologist.

A new study has found that pregnant women who smoke during pregnancy put their unborn children at significantly greater risk of being born with serious physical abnormalities such as excess, missing, or webbed fingers and toes.

Even a smoking habit of half a pack per day boosts the risk of such birth defects by 29% according to the study that is published in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

According to Dr. Benjamin Chang, one of the study’s authors, stated: "Reconstructive surgery to repair limb, toe and finger abnormalities in children represents a large portion of my practice - it is the most common issue I treat.  Parents would ask why this happened to their child, but I didn’t have an answer. This study shows that even minimal smoking during pregnancy can significantly increase the risk of having a child with various toe and finger defects."

The researchers analyzed records from over 6.8 million live births in the United States during 2001 and 2002.  Digital abnormalities occurred in 5,171 children of mothers who smoked during their pregnancies but who did not suffer from health problems like heart disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure.

The data revealed that children of pregnant women who smoked one to 10 cigarettes per day were 29% more likely to have a child with a toe or finger deformity. This risk increased the more a woman smoked.

Women who smoked 11 to 20 cigarettes daily increased the risk 38%, while women who smoked 21 or more cigarettes per day raised the risk 78%.

These deformities, known as polydactyly, syndactyly and adactyly, are the most common congenital limb abnormalities. Polydactyly is the presence of extra digits on the hands or feet. Syndactyly is having webbed fingers or toes. Adactyly is the absence of fingers or toes.
Syndactyly occurs about once in every 2,000 to 2,500 live births, while polydactyly occurs approximately once in every 600 live births.
Webbed fingers or toes occur twice as often in boys and are more common in Caucasians than African Americans, while Excess digits, are 10 times more common in African Americans and are slightly more common in boys.

Since the causes of these defects are, for the most part, unknown, and most often occur without any family history, researchers have turned to environmental causes, such as smoking, as possible explanations.

Dr. Chang observed that: "The results of this study were interesting. We suspected that smoking was a cause of digital anomalies but didn’t expect the results to be so dramatic. Smoking is so addictive that pregnant women often can’t stop the habit, no matter what the consequences. Our hope is this study will show expectant mothers another danger of lighting up."

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a Washington based nutrition group, is threatening litigation in Massachusetts against Frito-Lay for not warning consumers about potential adverse reactions posed by the use of olestra in its “reduced fat” products like Ruffles, Lay’s potato chips, Doritos, and Tostitos.

CSPI has been frustrated by Frito-Lay’s and PepsiCo’s (its parent corporation) refusal to voluntarily provide information on packages warning consumers of the numerous unpleasant digestive problems associated with olestra, including loose stools, abdominal cramping, and frequent bowel movements.

Frito-Lay, however, maintains that the company is complying with all federal laws and regulations and therefore does not need to alter the labeling on its products as demanded by CSPI.

In 1996, when olestra was first approved, the FDA required a health warning be printed on product labels. But In 2003, the agency dropped the requirement, saying ‘’real-life consumption studies" revealed that olestra caused only ‘’a minor increase in bowel movement frequency compared to those people who consumed only full-fat chips."


In a letter to Frito-Lay and PepsiCo, CSPI said that Frito-Lay is attempting to mislead consumers about the dangers of olestra, first by removing the warning label, then by renaming the products that contained the additive.
Formerly using the word “WOW” on packages to denote its reduced fat products, Frito-Lay now calls them “Light.” The change was made last June.
The director of litigation for CSPI, Stephen Gardner, said Frito-Lay changed the name intentionally in order ‘’to deceive people," but the company maintains the change came about because the “WOW!” designation didn’t give consumers any information about the products, while “Light” sends a more definite message.

According to Frito-Lay, Light products list olestra among their ingredients and also have an Olean logo (the trade name for olestra) on the front of the packaging.

The company, which has received reports of adverse reactions to these products all around the United States, believes CSPI is pursing litigation in Massachusetts because of the extensive protections afforded consumers under the that State’s consumer protection act.

That very law may undercut the threatened lawsuit, however, since one of its provisions says it would not apply to ‘’transactions or actions otherwise permitted under laws as administered by any regulatory board or officer acting under statutory authority of the commonwealth or of the United States."

Here, the FDA’s 2003 decision to do away with the olestra health warning may be enough to require a dismissal of any lawsuit contemplated by CSPI.

A trial being conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University was unexpectedly cut short due to safety concerns when it appeared that L-arginine, a popular dietary supplement, was associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients recovering from heart attack.  

L-arginine has been touted as beneficial for patients with heart failure or following myocardial infarction.  

According to Dr. Steven P. Schulman, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, the trial was suddenly stopped after only six months as a result of six deaths out of the 70 patients who were taking L-arginine.  There were no reported deaths among individuals in the placebo group.  
The report is published in the January 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Five of the patients who died while taking L-arginine were over the age of 60.  One death was attributed to myocardial rupture after a recurrent anterior infarction while another two were suspected of having died from sepsis.  No causes were reported for the other three deaths.

L-arginine is potentially harmful to patients recovering from heart attack for a number of reasons such as: (1) L-arginine supplementation may cause an increase in homocysteine production which can lead to poor endothelial function and atherosclerosis; increased generation of reactive oxygen species; and (3) increased activity of the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase.  

According to the authors of the study, L-arginine “neither alters noninvasive measures of vascular stiffness nor improves left ventricular function. Moreover, the researchers warned that older patients with “diffuse atherosclerosis” may suffer more serious clinical outcomes.

The conclusion of the researchers is that “L-arginine therapy should not be given to patients following a myocardial infarction. It neither alters noninvasive measures of vascular stiffness nor improves left ventricular function."