The Wellness Journal · Blog

Category: Food and Medical Politics

Blog posts from the drbriffa.com archive — same writing, same categories, on the same domain.

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Category: Food and Medical Politics

Podcast – 4th November 2011 Brain and Behaviour

Podcast – 4th November 2011

Omega-3 fats for Alzheimer’s, calorie labelling a bad idea, medicine regulatory agencies seem to act in the interests of the industry rather than the people. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.

November 4, 2011· 1 min read
Calorie labelling in restaurants and fast food joints is a thoroughly bad idea Food and Medical Politics

Calorie labelling in restaurants and fast food joints is a thoroughly bad idea

I have a friend who until recently managed a hotel in the West of England. The restaurant at the hotel is Michelin-starred. My friend talked with me some months ago about calls for restaurants to post the calorie-counts of meals on the menu. He’s not keen on the idea, telling me (I paraphrase): “People don’t […]

November 3, 2011· 4 min read
In them we trust Food and Medical Politics

In them we trust

Who decides whether a drug is licensed and remains licensed should problems turn up later? The answer is organizations such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US and its European counterpart, the European Medicines Agency (EMA). These bodies supposedly act in our interests to protect us against, among other things, worthless or […]

November 3, 2011· 3 min read
I’m a fan of vitamin D, but… Food and Medical Politics

I’m a fan of vitamin D, but…

The breakfast cereal company Kellogg’s has been in the news this week (see here for an example). The ‘news’ is that the company is going to start adding vitamin D to some of its choice products including Rice Crispies and Coco Pops. The idea, it is claimed, is designed to counter the growing incidence of […]

October 28, 2011· 3 min read
UK Government finally does the decent thing over mammography Food and Medical Politics

UK Government finally does the decent thing over mammography

I’ve written several times on this site about the practice of mammography. In short, here’s what I believe to be true: mammography is marketed to women as a bit of a ‘no-brainer’ – it’s effective for picking up breast cancers earlier than they would be otherwise, saves lives, and women would be mad not to […]

October 27, 2011· 5 min read
‘Roll up’ for the flu vaccine? I think not. Food and Medical Politics

‘Roll up’ for the flu vaccine? I think not.

I walked past my local GP surgery the day before yesterday. Outside, they’re flying a banner which reads something like ‘Roll up! Roll up! for your Flu Vaccine’. Flu vaccination seems to be pushed increasingly hard, especially for ‘at risk’ individuals such as the over-65s. Generally, we’re given the impression that having a flu jab […]

October 27, 2011· 3 min read
Podcast – 21st October 2011 Brain and Behaviour

Podcast – 21st October 2011

Conflicts of interest in ‘expert panels’, the downside of mammography, why do shift-workers have an increased risk of multiple sclerosis? For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.

October 21, 2011· 1 min read
Mammography can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety and investigations Food and Medical Politics

Mammography can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety and investigations

Many governments and health agencies like to push mammography, despite the fact that it does not work so well. Not only does it benefit only a tiny fraction of women who undergo mammography, it can harm women too. One way it can do this is by picking up cancers that would not have bothered women […]

October 20, 2011· 3 min read
Medical journal editors brand statins as ‘without known benefit but with definite risk’ for most Cholesterol and Statins

Medical journal editors brand statins as ‘without known benefit but with definite risk’ for most

Earlier this year, the editors of the Archives of Internal Medicine in the US launched a series entitled ‘Less is More’ – essentially to highlight the overuse of investigations or treatments in medicine. One example they cited was the use of statins for people without known heart disease, saying that this practice has “known adverse […]

September 29, 2011· 3 min read
Podcast – 23rd September 2011 Brain and Behaviour

Podcast – 23rd September 2011

Why I’m letting the latest big debate in nutrition wash over me, why getting hungry is a disaster for healthy eating, and a new study finds gaping holes in the cholesterol hypothesis. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing […]

September 23, 2011· 1 min read