Weight loss and Weight Chat Blog

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 […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

I’ve recently seen a number of TV commercials for a product called Glymetrol that are extremely troubling. In fact, I find the marketing of Glymetrol offensive on so many levels it’s hard to know where to begin telling you about it. First is the cavalier manner in which this “natural” product is being marketed to people with diabetes, a potentially life-threatening disease, with severe long-term consequences if not managed properly, even though it has neither been reviewed nor approved by the FDA. People with diabetes should be under the close care of a physician fully knowledgeable about their condition, their blood sugar levels, their diet, their weight, their insulin sensitivity and their medications. Only at the bottom of the Glymetrol FAQs page does it even remotely suggest consulting a physician, and even then it’s only in regard to whether the product might negatively interact with other prescription medications one might […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

It’s an unfortunate reality, but as a widespread, somewhat mysterious illness that has more questions than answers, the swine flu is a ripe target for scam artists. So along with protecting yourself and your family from infection, you’ve also got to be on guard against unscrupulous and shady marketers. There are three main types of swine flu-related scams:

Swine spam
Swine malware
Swine “cures,” “remedies,” and “vaccines”

Swine spam are e-mail messages that have the words “swine flu” in the subject line. The senders are simply using swine flu as a hook to get you to open the e-mail. When you open a spam e-mail, the sender may be notified that yours is a valid address and that you are amenable to opening messages. At a minimum they can collect these “good” addresses and either use them in other marketing campaigns or sell them to other marketers. Once you’ve opened the e-mail, […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

As Stephen Colbert would say: “Welcome to the Report ladies and gentlemen.” Dr. Z’s Medical Report has a new home here on Everyday Health, and I am happy to welcome both old and new readers to my blog, which began in 2006 on HealthTalk. Although HealthTalk no longer exists as its own website, much of its content has been incorporated into the Everyday Health website, including all the postings of Dr. Z’s Medical Report. You can still search the blog using the little search box on the right side of the page and can still subscribe to it via RSS. Nothing has changed except for the owner of the website; namely, Everyday Health and I’m happy to be part of their team.
For those new to the Report, here’s a brief overview. I usually write twice a week with postings on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. The easiest way to stay informed is […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

The first time I came across Kinoki detox foot pads I knew immediately that they were a scam and wrote a piece in these pages entitled “Kinoki detox foot pads - a scambuster report.”  In that blog I went so far as to say that Kinoki foot pads were such a blatant scam that they gave other scams a bad name. That blog became one of the most widely read items I’ve ever written, generating nearly 500 comments at last count. While some respondents disagreed and said that the pads had helped them, many writers agreed with my assessment of Kinoki as being a scam. Well, now the federal government has weighed in and guess what? They agree with me and have officially called Kinoki detox foot pads a scam.
I’d always held that it was just a matter of time before the feds came down on Kinoki and on January […]

Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com

I’ve long held that most bottled water is a scam either because it’s simply way overpriced or because it’s falsely and/or misleadingly advertised as being good for you thanks to some added ingredient gimmick its marketers came up with. In fact, I previously wrote Water: A scambuster report, which deals with the issues of cost, the amount of water you need to drink each day, and safety (as in which is safer, tap or bottled water?). So it came as no surprise to me, and with a resounding “here, here” when I learned that the Center for Science in the Public Interest  (CSPI) had sued the Coca-Cola company for “deceptive and unsubstantiated claims” on its vitaminwater line of beverages.  The vitaminwater products are made by a company Coke owns called “glacéau,” which, according to the Coca Cola website is never capitalized, even at the beginning of a sentence (and neither […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

It’s the time of year when annual “top” lists begin appearing everywhere like so many ornaments on the tree. So here’s Dr. Z’s roundup of the top five health scams of 2008:

Kinoki Detox Foot Pads

Kinoki and all other so-called detox foot pads top the list because of the sheer audacity involved in their shameless marketing and the utter lack of either a scientific basis through which they might work or any medical studies proving that they do. Yet we’ve received over 400 comments on my blog about them, attesting to the surprising interest people have in these worthless products. Despite their having been debunked on National Public Radio and the ABC news program “20/20″ inquiring minds still want to know, likely due to relentless marketing and widespread distribution. Users of these pads seem quite impressed that they turn brown or black after being worn overnight […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine that was made up 200 years ago by a German physician named Samuel Hahnemann who was trying to improve on the then current medical practice of blood letting. But while homeopathy is usually less dangerous than blood letting, which was fatal to many of its patients, including most likely, George Washington, it is equally as effective. By which I mean to say categorically that it’s equally ineffective, which is why it might be dangerous - if truly effective medication is either not sought or refused. Homeopathy is based on the notion that “like cures like” - that a little of something causing illness would somehow cure it (and we’ll talk later about what is meant in homeopathy by the word “little,” which is more like non-existent). Bear in mind, however, that 200 years ago they had no idea what caused […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

Last time, I wrote about Ginkgo biloba being ineffective for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, which may have led you to wonder what actually can prevent it? In your Internet search, you might have been drawn in by the headline at CNN: “Five ways to keep Alzheimer’s away.” Unfortunately, that article, as with many similar ones that abound on the Internet, is long on hype and short on hard evidence. The article is so misleading, in fact, that before I tell you what’s really known about preventing Alzheimer’s I’d like to briefly puncture that particular hot air balloon.The CNN list of five ways to prevent Alzheimer’s begins with antioxidants, and in particular, vitamins A, C and E. They quote a psychiatrist who claims that “There are studies that suggest antioxidants might prevent dementia.” Yes, but those studies are seriously flawed and by no means definitive. […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

Recently, I noticed a flyer in my local newspaper advertising an upcoming stroke prevention screening and since the flyer was so misleading and from a national company that screens all over the U.S., I thought I’d give you some facts to consider in case one of these screenings comes to your town and you wonder whether it’s worthwhile.
The company involved is called Life Line Screening and their flyer claims “We Can Help You Avoid a Stroke.” They offer a package of four tests for $139 in which they look at your carotid arteries and your abdominal aorta using ultrasound technology, your heart rhythm using ECG technology, and the blood flow in the arteries of your legs using blood pressure technology (but actually, only the carotid exam and the heart rhythm have anything to do with stroke prevention). The entire process only takes an hour and is perfectly safe, […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com