To Serve and Protect FDA Employees Voice Their Concerns The FDA is supposed to protect us -- from bad drugs, contaminated foods, dangerous vaccines, and much more. But that mandate seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle somewhere, as more and more drugs that have been given the FDA stamp of approval are turning out to be unsafe. A lobby group called the Union of Concerned Scientists decided to find out just what's going on with the agency. They sent out almost 6,000 questionnaires to FDA scientists, asking them questions about things like data tampering, pressure from outside sources (like Congress), and morale within the agency. Only 997 FDA employees replied, but the results are pretty alarming. - 32 percent of the scientists that responded do not believe that the agency "routinely provides complete and accurate information to the public."
- 20 percent of respondents indicated they had been "asked explicitly by FDA decision makers to provide incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading information to the public."
- On top of that, 26 percent believe that FDA bigwigs expect them to provide "incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading information," even when they did not come right out and say that.
- A full 40 percent of the respondents felt they would face retaliation if they spoke up about their concerns publicly
- And 36 percent were afraid to express concerns "even inside the confines of the agency."
Hopefully this will serve as an alarm for the new head of the agency, and things will begin to turn around. Until then, use extreme caution if your doctor prescribes a brand new drug...and don't fall for slick ads that make it seem like a new medication can provide miraculous results. If something with a proven track record exists and it works for whatever ails you, go with that instead. In this case, tried and true beats cutting edge.
Vitamin Beats Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease packs a one-two punch: The debilitating condition is both chronic and progressive, which means the symptoms last a very long time (years, decades)...and that they get worse over time. The more common symptoms include things like muscle tremors, stiff limbs, impaired balance, diminished coordination, and bradykinesia (the medical term for slowness of movement). The numbers are equally worrying: About 1 million Americans suffer from Parkinson's, and about 40,000 new diagnoses will be made this year. Those numbers don't include people who remain undiagnosed, and estimates put that group in the thousands. Your risk also goes up as you get older. About 85 percent of sufferers are stricken after age 50. And the combined costs of this disease (including things like medications to treat symptoms and lost work days) are estimated to exceed $5.6 billion per year in the U.S. alone. No one knows yet just what causes this condition, and there is no cure. But a groundbreaking new study may help ubstantially lower your risk of developing Parkinson's disease...simply by getting more vitamin B6. Dutch researchers tracked 5,289 people for almost 10 years. The scientists found that the participants who took the most B6 developed Parkinson's less than half as often as the people who took the least. That makes sense, considering that vitamin B6 plays a key role proper nervous system function, and Parkinson's is a neurological disease. Don't count on getting enough from a standard multi-vitamin, though. The current RDA for vitamin B6 is a mere 2 mg per day...but you can safely take up to 100 mg per day. To get the most out of your B6, it's best to take it along with the other B vitamins -- so look for a B complex supplement that contains a plentiful dose of B6. You can also find this essential nutrient in dozens of foods, including: - bananas
- garbanzo beans
- chicken breast
- baked potatoes
- rainbow trout
- spinach
- avocado
The Genetic Side of OCD For a long time, doctors have searched for clues into the causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). And two groups of researchers have simultaneously come up with a single answer -- a newly discovered genetic factor explains why OCD tends to run in families. In both studies (one American, one Canadian), researchers learned that OCD is strongly associated with a particular transporter gene called SLC1A1, which regulates the flow of a compound called glutamate in and out of your brain cells. When the flow veers away from normal patterns, one result is a increased risk of OCD. And it turns out that people who have close relatives with this disorder are almost nine times more likely to have it themselves. Now that scientists have a better idea of what to look for -- a genetic predisposition and an altered gluatmate flow -- they may be able to come up with better treatments, and possibly even prevent or delay full onset of OCD. | 
