|
Health Scare
A health scare can be broadly defined as a social phenomenon whereby the public at large comes to fear some threat to health, based on suppositions which are nearly always not well-founded. In 2009 an ABC News article listed "The Top 10 Health Scares of the Decade": "Some of these threats turned out to be almost nonexistent. Others were arguably overblown. Some caused widespread harm." They listed the following scares: * Swine flu (H1N1) * Bisphenol A (BPA) * Lead paint on toys from China * Trans fats * Bird flu (H5N1) * Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) * Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) * Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) * Anthrax * Cell phones. See also * List of health scares * Health crisis * Aspartame controversy * Dental amalgam controversy * Thiomersal and vaccines * Water fluoridation controversy * COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory synd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning news-talk show ''Good Morning America'', ''Nightline'', ''Primetime (American TV program), Primetime'', and ''20/20 (American TV program), 20/20'', and Sunday morning talk shows, Sunday morning political affairs program ''This Week (ABC TV series), This Week with George Stephanopoulos''. In addition to the division's television programs, ABC News has radio and digital outlets, including ABC News Radio and ABC News Live, plus various podcasts hosted by ABC News personalities. History Early years ABC began in 1943 as the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network, a radio network that was Corporate spin-off, spun off from NBC, as ordered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1942. The reason for the order was to expand competition in radi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mobile Phone Radiation And Health
The antennas contained in mobile phones, including smartphones, emit radiofrequency (RF) radiation ( non-ionizing "radio waves" such as microwaves); the parts of the head or body nearest to the antenna can absorb this energy and convert it to heat. Since at least the 1990s, scientists have researched whether the now-ubiquitous radiation associated with mobile phone antennas or cell phone towers is affecting human health. Mobile phone networks use various bands of RF radiation, some of which overlap with the microwave range. Other digital wireless systems, such as data communication networks, produce similar radiation. In response to public concern, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the ''International EMF (Electric and Magnetic Fields) Project'' in 1996 to assess the scientific evidence of possible health effects of EMF in the frequency range from 0 to 300 GHz. They have stated that although extensive research has been conducted into possible health effects ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 are variable but often include fever, cough, headache, fatigue, breathing difficulties, loss of smell, and loss of taste. Symptoms may begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. At least a third of people who are infected do not develop noticeable symptoms. Of those who develop symptoms noticeable enough to be classified as patients, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% develop critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people are at a higher risk of developing se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Fluoridation Controversy
The water fluoridation controversy arises from political, ethical, economic, and health considerations regarding the fluoridation of public water supplies. For deprived groups in both maturing and matured countries, international and national agencies and dental associations across the world support the safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation. Proponents of water fluoridation see it as a question of public health policy and equate the issue to vaccination and food fortification, claiming significant benefits to dental health and minimal risks.* * In contrast, opponents of water fluoridation view it as an infringement of individual rights, if not an outright violation of medical ethics, on the basis that individuals have no choice in the water that they drink, unless they drink more expensive bottled water. A small minority of scientists have challenged the medical consensus, variously claiming that water fluoridation has no or little cariostatic benefits, may cause s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiomersal And Vaccines
Thiomersal (or thimerosal) is a mercury compound which is used as a preservative in some vaccines. Anti-vaccination activists promoting the incorrect claim that vaccination causes autism have asserted that the mercury in thiomersal is the cause. There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. The idea that thiomersal in vaccines might have detrimental effects originated with anti-vaccination activists and was sustained by them and especially through the action of plaintiffs' lawyers. The potential impact of thiomersal on autism has been investigated extensively. Multiple lines of scientific evidence have shown that thiomersal does not cause autism. For example, the clinical symptoms of mercury poisoning differ significantly from those of autism. In addition, multiple population studies have found no association between thiomersal and autism, and rates of autism have continued to increase despite removal of thiomersal from vaccines. Thus, major scientific and medical bodi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dental Amalgam Controversy
This discussion of the dental amalgam controversy outlines the debate over whether dental amalgam (the mercury alloy in dental fillings) should be used. Supporters claim that it is safe, effective and long-lasting while critics argue that claims have been made since the 1840s that amalgam is unsafe because it may cause mercury poisoning and other toxicity. Supporters of amalgam fillings point out that it is safe, durable, relatively inexpensive, and easy to use. On average, amalgam lasts twice as long as resin composites, takes less time to place, is tolerant of saliva or blood contamination during placement (unlike composites), and is often about 20–30% less expensive. ''Consumer Reports'' has suggested that many who claim dental amalgam is not safe are "prospecting for disease" and using pseudoscience to scare patients into more lucrative treatment options. Those opposed to amalgam use suggest that modern composites are improving in strength. In addition to their claims of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspartame Controversy
The artificial sweetener aspartame has been the subject of several controversies since its initial approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974. The FDA approval of aspartame was highly contested, beginning with suspicions of its involvement in brain cancer, alleging that the quality of the initial research supporting its safety was inadequate and flawed, and that conflicts of interest marred the 1981 approval of aspartame, previously evaluated by two FDA panels that concluded to keep the approval on hold before further investigation. In 1987, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded that the food additive approval process had been followed properly for aspartame. The irregularities fueled a conspiracy theory, which the "Nancy Markle" email hoax circulated, along with claims—counter to the weight of medical evidence—that numerous health conditions (such as multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, methanol toxicity, blindness, spasms, shooting pains, seizu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Health Crisis
A health crisis or public health crisis is a difficult situation or complex health system that affects humans in one or more geographic areas (mainly occurred in natural hazards), from a particular locality to encompass the entire planet. Health crises generally have significant impacts on community health, loss of life, and on the economy. They may result from disease, industrial processes or poor policy. Its severity is often measured by the number of people affected by its geographical extent, or the disease or death of the pathogenic process which it originates. Features Generally there are three key components in health crises: * Public health problem * Problem health coordination * Alarm care: Poor communication of risks to the population resulting in social upheaval. Types * Environmental * Food * Toxic Examples * 1858: Swill milk scandal * 1905: American meat scandal due to the publishing of Upton Sinclair's book "The Jungle". * 1918-1920: Spanish flu * 1963: B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Health Scares
A health scare is a widely reported story about the danger of something, usually a consumer good or medical product. Such scares have been promoted for decades but have become more popular with the advent of the Internet. They may be based on a misinterpretation of scientific studies, or, as has happened more recently, complete fabrication. This page lists widely reported media stories about how some good or product may have a certain adverse health effect, regardless of whether subsequent research confirmed the proposed link, debunked it, or has been inconclusive. MMR vaccine controversy In 1998, a paper, of which Andrew Wakefield was the lead author, was published in ''The Lancet'' suggesting that the MMR vaccine might cause autism. Since then, many epidemiological studies have refuted this hypothesis, and Wakefield has been found guilty of scientific fraud. The vaccine-autism link, since it has led to declining vaccination rates and, in turn, epidemics and deaths of vaccine-pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The skin form presents with a small blister with surrounding swelling that often turns into a painless ulcer with a black center. The inhalation form presents with fever, chest pain and shortness of breath. The intestinal form presents with diarrhea (which may contain blood), abdominal pains, nausea and vomiting. The injection form presents with fever and an abscess at the site of drug injection. According to the USA's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first clinical descriptions of cutaneous anthrax were given by Maret in 1752 and Fournier in 1769. Before that anthrax had been described only through historical accounts. The Prussian scientist Robert Koch (1843–1910) was the first to identify ''Bacillus anthracis'' as the ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swine Flu
Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As of 2009, identified SIV strains include influenza C and the subtypes of influenza A known as H1N1, H1N2, H2N1, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3. Swine influenza virus is common throughout pig populations worldwide. Transmission of the virus from pigs to humans is rare, and does not always lead to human flu, often resulting only in the production of antibodies in the blood. If transmission causes human flu, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People with regular exposure to pigs are at increased risk of swine flu infections. Around the mid-20th century, identification of influenza subtypes was made possible, allowing accurate diagnosis of transmission to humans. Since then, only 50 such transmissions have been confirmed. These strains of swine flu ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hormone Replacement Therapy (menopause)
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal atrophy, accelerated skin aging, vaginal dryness, decreased muscle mass, sexual dysfunction, and bone loss or osteoporosis. They are in large part related to the diminished levels of sex hormones that occur during menopause. Estrogens and progestogens are the main hormone drugs used in HRT. Progesterone is the main female sex hormone that occurs naturally and is also manufactured into a drug that is used in menopausal hormone therapy. Although both classes of hormones can have symptomatic benefit, progestogen is specifically added to estrogen regimens, unless the uterus has been removed, to avoid the increased risk of endometrial cancer. Unopposed estrogen therapy promotes endometrial hyperplasia and increases the risk of cancer, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Hormone Replacement Therapy (menopause)")