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Consumer Health Digest #09-52
December 24, 2009
Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by
Stephen Barrett, M.D., with help from William M. London, Ed.D. It
summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement
actions; news reports; Web site evaluations; recommended and
nonrecommended books; and other information relevant to consumer
protection and consumer decision-making.
======================================================
Quackwatch and Dr. Barrett need your help in maintaining and
expanding their activities. If you haven't already done so, please
read
http://www.ncahf.org/digest09/09-45.html and send a contribution.
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Vitamin C supplements may raise cataract risk.
A study of women who were followed over an 8-year period has found
that vitamin C supplementation, particularly in high dose and long
duration, may increase the risk of age-related cataracts. The study
included 24,593 women aged 49-83 years from the Swedish Mammography
Cohort (follow-up from September 1997 to October 2005). The
researchers used a self-administered questionnaire to collect
information on dietary supplement use and lifestyle factors.
[Rautiainen S and others. Vitamin C supplements and the risk of
age-related cataract: a population-based prospective cohort study in
women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nov 18, 2009. Epub
ahead of print]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19923367 The study does not prove cause-and-effect, but because high-dose
vitamin C provides no proven benefit for the general population,
the findings provide further reason to avoid vitamin C megadosage.
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Anti-homeopathy campaign coming.
Skeptics in the United Kingdom have announced their intention to
raise public awareness that homeopathy is quackery. The campaign will
launch early in 2010. People who wish to join or monitor the campaign
can register on http://www.1023.org.uk/
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Dismissal of Heimlich associate's groundless libel suit upheld.
A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a libel
suit brought by Edward Patrick, M.D. against the Cleveland Scene
newspaper and Thomas Francis, a writer whose cover story, "Playing
Doctor," accused Patrick of lying about his professional experience.
http://medfraud.info/PlayingDoctor_10-27-04.pdf Patrick is board-certified in emergency medicine, based on a one-year
residency program followed by credit for practice. However, critics
believe he did not complete residency training. The newspaper article
also questioned the veracity of data from Patrick that were used to
establish the Heimlich maneuver as a method for treating choking. The
appellate court agreed with the lower court judge that Patrick had
misrepresented the extent of his medical training and failed to
present credible information to rebut other accusations made in the
article. To access the court documents, see
http://www.casewatch.org/civil/patrick/dismissal.shtml###
"Bookmarklet" makes Web pages easier to read.
Readability can speed up Internet investigations by making articles
easier to read and print. After selecting three preferences and
dragging the Readability button to your browser's toolbar, clicking
the button makes the active Web page more readable. The installation
page is located at
http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/###
Other issues of the Digest are accessible through
http://www.ncahf.org/digest09/index.htmlIf you enjoy this newsletter, please recommend it to your friends.
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Consumer Advocate
Chatham Crossing, Suite 107/208
11312 U.S. 15 501 North
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
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