Weight loss and Weight Chat Blog

Depending on which headlines you’ve seen recently, you may think that some pain relievers are being recalled because they’re dangerous and you might be wondering if you need to clean out the medicine cabinet and throw out any number of these products. I’m going to try to explain this highly complex situation, but the bottom line is that when taken as directed, all of the pain relievers currently on the market, be they prescription or over the counter (OTC), are still considered to be safe and effective and you don’t need to throw them away (and nothing is being recalled at the moment either).
The bottom line problem, however, is that when it comes to pain relievers many people don’t follow directions and wind up taking far more pills than they should. And when those products contain acetaminophen it can lead to toxic levels of that drug, which can and all […]

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Although Nestle has recalled some 300,000 cases of its refrigerated Toll House cookie dough from store shelves, as of June 22, 2009, none of their product had actually tested positive for the E. coli that’s caused illness in at least 70 people in 30 states. And since it’s highly unusual for E. coli, an intestinal bacterium of cattle (i.e., it’s in their feces) to be present in something like cookie dough, investigators are so far at a loss to explain exactly what is going on. But, since all of the people who became sick ate the same raw cookie dough product, it seems obvious that it’s the cookie dough that’s to blame. The question is, from where did the E. coli come? If it were inadequately cooked hamburgers that were responsible, it would be easy to link E. coli with beef mishandled during processing.
In fact, according to an article in […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

Although Nestle has recalled some 300,000 cases of its refrigerated Toll House cookie dough from store shelves, as of June 22, 2009, none of their product had actually tested positive for the E. coli that’s caused illness in at least 70 people in 30 states. And since it’s highly unusual for E. coli, an intestinal bacterium of cattle (i.e., it’s in their feces) to be present in something like cookie dough, investigators are so far at a loss to explain exactly what is going on. But, since all of the people who became sick ate the same raw cookie dough product, it seems obvious that it’s the cookie dough that’s to blame. The question is, from where did the E. coli come? If it were inadequately cooked hamburgers that were responsible, it would be easy to link E. coli with beef mishandled during processing.
In fact, according to an article in […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

In an unusual move earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted consumers that Zicam Cold Remedy products have been associated with long lasting or even permanent loss of smell. FDA recommends that consumers stop using these products and that they throw away any that might still be in their homes. The affected products include Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel, Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs, and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size (the last one is a previously discontinued product). The products had been sold by Matrixx Initiatives to reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms; however, they have never been shown to be effective.
These products were formulated and sold for intranasal use and may have contained zinc, which is potentially toxic to the nasal membranes. The FDA emphasized that their advisory does not concern oral zinc tablets and lozenges that are taken by mouth. Ironically, oral […]

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Using someone else’s prescription medicine is a lot like playing Russian roulette – you might get away unscathed, and then again you might not. And it could have devastating consequences. Just because we see prescription medicines advertised on TV doesn’t mean they are safe for everyone. There are good reasons why you can’t buy them over the counter. A physician takes many factors into account before prescribing a medication for you, including your current condition, your past medical history, your other medications and the likely risks and benefits of the drug to you as an individual. After making this decision he or she will then explain how to take the medication, when to take it, how much and how long to take it, what else you can and can’t take with it, and what to expect after you take it – both the good and the bad. And after all […]

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The current swine flu outbreak has many people worrying, and even more wondering, about how to avoid getting sick. And because of all the media photos and videos of people in Mexico walking around wearing face masks, people in this country naturally want to know if these are an effective means of prevention? Unfortunately, however, as with many aspects of this unusual epidemic there aren’t adequate answers for all the questions. It turns out, that there just haven’t been enough studies to say whether or not wearing a face mask would help prevent infection.
Some people will doubtless say that it’s obvious that wearing a mask would reduce the chance of your inhaling a respiratory virus that can be spread by coughing and sneezing. But it’s not nearly as obvious as they would have you believe. There are several reasons why you could still become infected in spite of wearing a […]

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As I wrote earlier if you’re an average person living in the U.S. there’s absolutely no reason now to panic about the current swine flu situation in spite of the media hysteria. That may change as time passes, but it could just as easily go the other way and not become a full-blown pandemic. That’s what happened in 1976, when a swine flu scare led to emergency vaccination of some 40 million Americans in 10 weeks but the feared pandemic just never panned out. The Los Angeles Times has a nice piece on that story.
But many people have questions about the flu vaccine right now. Does this year’s vaccine cover the current swine flu strain? Why doesn’t the flu vaccine cover all strains? Why do I need to get a new flu immunization every year when I don’t have to do that for most of the other illnesses I got […]

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As of today, Monday April 27, I agree completely with President Obama when he says that while swine flu is an issue of concern, it is “not a cause for alarm.” There are several reasons why you should not panic in spite of the incessant media drum beat and the minute by minute updates. First, so far this is an extremely uncommon illness affecting a very small number of people in the United States, all of whom had mild illness and recovered without incident. Yes, it might spread further, but even so, let’s take a step back and remember that we’re talking about influenza, not Ebola or smallpox. And while full-blown influenza is no walk in the park, for most people it’s not even remotely life-threatening. It’s an unpleasant upper respiratory illness with systemic symptoms of fever, weakness and body aches, that can knock you out for a week, but […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

As of today, Monday April 27, I agree completely with President Obama when he says that while swine flu is an issue of concern, it is “not a cause for alarm.” There are several reasons why you should not panic in spite of the incessant media drum beat and the minute by minute updates. First, so far this is an extremely uncommon illness affecting a very small number of people in the United States, all of whom had mild illness and recovered without incident. Yes, it might spread further, but even so, let’s take a step back and remember that we’re talking about influenza, not Ebola or smallpox. And while full-blown influenza is no walk in the park, for most people it’s not even remotely life-threatening. It’s an unpleasant upper respiratory illness with systemic symptoms of fever, weakness and body aches, that can knock you out for a week, but […]

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Eating red meat increases your chances of dying prematurely. That’s the stark finding of a very large and very well done clinical study just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.  The study found that eating red and processed meat was associated with increases in total mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality. They found that eating just 4 ounces of red meat a day raises your overall risk of dying prematurely, raises your risk of dying from cancer and raises your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. I’d say that means it’s time to decrease your consumption of red meat, which includes beef, pork and processed meats like sausage, bacon and cold cuts.
There are a number of reasons why eating red meat might be bad for your health. Red meat is loaded with cholesterol and saturated fat. The cooking of red meat produces cancer-causing compounds. Red meat contains a […]

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