Madely Health Headlines Commentary for December 1, 2010

Health risks of the flu ignored by many at-risk individuals Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Flout flu at your peril, warns new poll

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for October 4 , 2010

Universal infant vaccination against diarrhea-causing rotavirus recommended by Canadian Pediatric Society Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Pediatricians want kids to get rotavirus vaccine

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for September 27, 2010

Report states doctors prescribing too much Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for August 4, 2010

Age not a factor for angioplasty and implications for our health care system Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Aging hearts: Over-80s may benefit from angioplasty

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for July 30, 2010

Where politics and salt science collide; food industry sets science policy Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Food industry urged to pinch sodium from products

Reference:

Recommendations of the Sodium Working Group

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for April 19, 2010

April 18-25 is National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for April 2, 2010

City of Ottawa looking at "Fitness chill" with proposed new helmet rules Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for March 19, 2010

Seniors' prescription drug use rises: CIHI report Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Seniors’ prescription drug use rises

Reference:

Nearly two-thirds of seniors using five or more types of prescription drugs

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for

American Cancer Society states prostate cancer screening test is of questionable value Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

U.S. cancer society casts more doubt on prostate tests

Reference:

Mortality Results from a Randomized Prostate-Cancer Screening Trial

Screening and Prostate-Cancer Mortality in a Randomized European Study

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for February 25, 2010

Mandatory checklist to be implemented in Ontario beginning April 1 to prevent surgical errors Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Mistaken mastectomies probe widens

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for February 24, 2010

Gatineau hospital clears out cafeteria junk food/Danny Williams' health decision Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Hospitals kick junk food habit

Our health, our choice

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for February 19, 2010

Patients advised to keep track of medical care Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Patients advised to keep track of medical care

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for January 21, 2010

Avoiding the salt of the Earth Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Half a teaspoon less salt a day could save 100,000 lives, study finds

Reference:

Projected Effect of Dietary Salt Reductions on Future Cardiovascular Disease

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for January 11, 2010

Do nut-free zones on airplanes make sense to you Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Air Canada ordered to create nut-free buffer zones

A CFRA web poll asked this question and I discussed this with Steve Madely. This is a continuation of our discussion from last week.

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for January 8, 2010

Nut free zones on planes Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source:

Air Canada ordered to create nut-free buffer zones

Comment:

This is a classic illustration of poor risk evaluation. There is no information available in this article to help me answer the basic questions when examining a health claim.

How many people suffer anaphylactic reactions on airplanes that require emergency treatment? How many have died? What is the incidence of these occurrences?

Has there been any evidence to show what the risk reduction would be with setting this policy? Will there be any subsequent evaluation to look at outcomes? And if the outcome demonstrates little to no reduction of risk or incidence, will there be a push to rescind this edict?

Have proactive measures by people who have nut allergies prior to boarding the plane been sufficient to prevent anaphylaxis?

This is a classic illustration of the precautionary principle eloquently discussed by this man.

An exerpt from the website Junkfood Science illustrates this point.

Food allergy deaths have only been tracked by the CDC since 1998, using death certificates coded using ICD-10 classifications (the 10^th edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases). ICD-10 hasn’t yet been universally adopted, which makes the accuracy of its figure unreliable. It reports that of 2.5 million deaths among all ages in the U.S. in 2005, 11 people died from a food allergy in 2005, with the number from peanuts unknown.

Perhaps the most accurate population data on peanut-related deaths among children comes from the UK. Its national death statistics and pediatric surveillance system has recorded death statistics for nearly all children and it reported that only one child, a 15-year old, died from a peanut allergy between 1990 and 2000.

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for November 12, 2009

Hobson's choice: the H1N1 vaccine initiative Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Source: Cost of vaccinating the nation hits $1.5-billion and climbing

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for October 27, 2009

Why your doctor's office does not have H1N1 vaccine Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for October 14, 2009

Should Canadian Olympic athletes receive immediate priority for the H1N1 vaccine Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sources:

Ottawa’s plan to shelve flu vaccines breeds dissent in health ranks

Medical official urges flu vaccine for athletes

Madely Health Headlines Commentary for October 5, 2009

Washing hands does not protect against catching the flu Play Now | Play in Popup | Download