] The doctors behind one of the nation's most comprehensive
] public health studies have concluded what most dieters
] already know: Chugging down sodas packs on the pounds.

No more Dr. Peppers for me.

[ Yeah, i've been trying to kick soda too. Damn it's hard. -k]

Researchers link soft drinks to diabetes

] Ultimately, it's not the carbohydrates -- or the next
] unsuspecting food group that will come under attack
] -- that will make us overweight. It's our
] relationship with food and our lifestyle.

[ I hope this meme catches on with the greater public. Eat less. Exercise more. -k]

You Are How You Eat

] Normally, a 5-ounce glass of wine has 3 to 6 grams of carbs, the
] company said. The low-carb brands have the same alcohol content as
] other wines.

WTF?!?! This Atkins/South Beach Diet BS pseudo science is way past its 15 minutes of fame. Apparently PT Barnum hit the nail on the had. There's a sucker born every minute. Enough Already

[ I'm not ready to call it pseudo-science yet, but even assuming their claims are 100% valid, this is stupid. If you're on Atkins to lose wight, give up the wine for a few months, for fucks sake.
You're right though, it's silly. The only weight loss plan I find compelling for 95% of people is the "Eat less, fatty, and get some goddamn exercise!" diet. I'm not saying I stick to it either, what with being at least 40 pounds over my ideal weight, but i'm under no illusions either. -k]

Brown-Forman debuts low-carb wines

] The Food and Drug Administration yesterday rejected
] over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive
] Plan B, saying the distributor had not proved that young
] teenagers can take the drug safely without a doctor's
] guidance.
]
] The decision was an unusual repudiation of the lopsided
] recommendation of the agency's own expert advisory panel,
] which voted 23 to 4 late last year that the drug should be
] sold over the counter and then, that same day, 27 to 0
] that the drug could be safely sold as an over-the-counter
] medication.

[ In other words, despite the science and medical avisors, and what appears to be a number of the top journals and professional groups, giving the thumbs up, the FDA says no.

So ok, on the face of it, I recognize that it's a sticky issue, giving 14 year old girls access to anti-pregnancy drugs without the need for a prescription. There are valid concerns on both sides of the debate. Still, it seems to me like all the people who are applauding this decision are the hardcore rightwing contingent, and a number of organizations dedicated to people's actual health are pretty unhappy.

Last bit, and it's about how the right controls image so much better than the left... they're "Pro-Life", which implicitly makes us "Anti-Life" or, as said in the article "Pro-abortion". This conflation of "pro-choice" and "pro-abortion" is exactly the kind of thing the right does to us far better than we do it to them. It sucks. Why can't I be pro-choice and anti-abortion? Well, it's because it's a marginally nuanced stance which isn't as black and white as people want everything to be, so it's ignored. Just a peeve of mine. -k]

Plan B Won't Be Sold Over Counter (washingtonpost.com)

] Even children know from television that if you are sad
] and worried, there is a pill for you. If you have
] heartburn there is a pill for you. It is a lot harder to
] find out that there are other ways to feel better,
] physically and emotionally, than taking drugs.

[ Well stated. -k]

The Altered Human Is Already Here

In a comment on an NYT editorial about McDonalds, I suggested that the logic had a sort of Mad Lib quality to it. Other NYT readers were thinking along the same lines.

McDonald's decision to downsize its meals causes one to reflect on other aspects of our lives that need downsizing.

Our wants, needs and necessities have bloated, just like the average American waistline. More clothes to wear, bigger cars to drive, more space to live, more power, more influence -- the plague of gigantism has hit us. In our mad rush to the big, we should remember that dinosaurs were not the most successful form of life on this planet.

[ Hear hear...

on a side note, I wonder if McD's will keep up the trend once the congress passes this new fast food company indemnification bill... it's already through the house. -k]

Eating Too Much? Time to Pay the Price

] Cancer in teenagers and young adults has risen to become
] the most common cause of natural death for their age, but
] not enough research is being done into its causes or
] treatment, health experts said Monday.
]
] Cancer among 13-24 year olds is still rare, with about
] 1,500 new cases diagnosed each year in Britain.
]...
] Rates of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer,
] have almost doubled over 21 years in the 20-24 age group
] in Britain and it now accounts for one in 10 of all cancers.

[ Cancer sucks. Can we please get rid of it? -k]

Health News Article | Reuters.com

] The team%u2019s discovery lays the foundation for many
] creative approaches to developing new therapies for HIV
] infection and AIDS, Sodroski says. One possibility is
] that monkey TRIM5-alpha could be delivered to HIV
] patients via gene therapy to rescue as-yet-uninfected
] cells. Alternatively, Sodroski offers, because humans
] make a protein that is 87 percent identical,
] investigators might also focus on rendering the human
] version of TRIM5-alpha more potent.

[ The sooner the better. -k]

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Monkey Protein Blocks HIV

"She may look clean, but 'Good Time' girls spread syphilis and gonorrhea. You can't beat the Axis if you get VD!"

[ Neat sidebar to this one -- i was up in the office of one of the Grants Officers at work today (I'm a contractor at the Procurement & Grants Office of the CDC), and he's got a bunch of these up on his wall in frames, including that last one you mentioned. Probly pretty valuable i'd guess... but very cool regardless. -k]

Public Health Posters at the National Library of Medicine

] Women around the world are being told they can now have
] an orgasm at the touch of a button.

Heh... no pun intended, i'm sure...

Seriously though, sounds great... anything that helps people lead more satisfying sex lives is ok with me. And this sounds a lot less intrusive (not to mention cheaper) than the frickin Orgasmatron spinal cord implant thing.

The only downside is those pesky wires.

Orgasms 'at the touch of a button'