Healthy Update - November 13, 2007

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update (HealthWorld Online)

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HEALTH NEWS BRIEFS

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COLD MEDICINE SCAM FINALLY EXPOSED AFTER DECADES OF HARMING CHILDREN

Another example of outright quackery by pharmaceutical companies has

finally gathered enough steam to achieve mainstream news coverage: Cold

medicines are useless, say pediatricians who petitioned the FDA to ban

the marketing of such products to children. Last month, an FDA advisory

panel partially agreed with the recommendation, and voted to declare

that such medicines should not be used in children younger than six.

http://healthy.net/scr/news.asp?id=9508

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HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: SALT IN OUR FOOD IS A MAJOR CAUSE, BUT DON'T TELL

THE FDA

Salt in our food is a major cause of high blood pressure (hypertension)

- but it’s news to the American food industry. In the US, salt

intake from food has increased by 50 per cent since 1970 - and it's

reckoned that 90 per cent of Americans will suffer from hypertension

some time in their lives. The blame can be placed at the door of

America's drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which

has decreed that salt is " generally recognized as safe. "

http://healthy.net/scr/news.asp?id=9494

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LONG-HAUL FLIGHTS: WHAT ARE YOUR CHANCES OF DVT?

If you regularly take long-haul flights, what are your chances of

developing life-threatening DVT (deep vein thrombosis)? The average risk

is just one event in 5,000 flights, but this can increase depending on

the length of the flight, frequency of flying, whether you are a woman -

and especially one taking the pill - and whether you are short or tall.

http://healthy.net/scr/news.asp?id=9492