Health Buzz: Obama Calls for FDA Review and Other Health News
President Barack Obama Calls for FDA Review Following Salmonella Outbreak
President Obama told the Today show that he is ordering a review of the Food and Drug Administration, following a salmonella outbreak linked to tainted peanut products that has made more than 500 people ill and may be tied to eight deaths. Obama called the outbreak the latest in a series of numerous incidents in the past several years where the FDA has failed to catch problems in a timely matter, according to the T oday show's website. A Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely, Ga., shipped salmonella-tainted food items, according to state and federal officials; hundreds of peanut products have been recalled as a result of the outbreak. Obama said that his 7-year-old daughter, Sasha, regularly eats peanut butter, so he is especially concerned about the outbreak.
The peanut processor knew in 2007 that its plant was contaminated with potentially deadly salmonella. This salmonella outbreak may be the scariest one yet because it involves peanut butter and peanut paste that manufacturers bought by the tanker-load and mixed into hundreds of products on supermarket shelves. Here's how to reduce your risk of becoming ill. During last year's highest-profile salmonella outbreak—which was initially attributed to tomatoes but turned out to be caused by jalapeño peppers—food safety experts said that cooking is the only sure bet to foil salmonella.
Vaccine Schedule: The Pros and Cons of Taking a Flexible Approach
More and more parents these days are deviating from the government's recommended vaccination schedule and either delaying some shots until their kids are closer to elementary-school age or spacing out shots in more frequent office visits, Deborah Kotz reports. Some worry that vaccines may be leading to more autism and allergies in kids or believe that it's unsafe to give their baby five shots against eight different diseases on a single day, as is typically recommended for 2-month-olds.
Given the controversy, should pediatricians work with parents who want a custom-made immunization schedule? U.S. News asked two noteworthy members of the American Academy of Pediatrics to explain their conflicting views. New Jersey pediatrician Lawrence D. Rosen, vice chair of the AAP's section on complementary and integrative medicine, favors a flexible approach to vaccinations, while Margaret Fisher, medical director of the Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, N.J., and chair of the AAP's section on infectious disease, says she doesn't see the rationale for taking a flexible approach.
Aging Skin Doesn't Have to Be Wrinkled
While birthday cakes may gain a candle every year, the appearance of dreaded crow's feet and creases, luckily, isn't so inexorable. To some extent, simple steps can prevent wrinkles from forming, Lindsay Lyon reports. And even when those time-wrought lines start to appear, it's in our power to contain the damage. By far, the most fundamental component of wrinkle prevention is sun protection, because sun exposure, compounded by other environmental insults, accounts for the vast majority of wrinkles. The rest are caused by uncontrollable factors such as genes and years of repetitive muscle movements, says David J. Leffell, a professor of dermatology and surgery at the Yale School of Medicine and author of Total Skin.
As the economy worsens, Americans are cutting back on plastic surgery. Explore whether you should spend money on detox skin care products, and consider these 3 wrinkle treatments that work. Also, acupuncture might help in smoothing crow's feet and wrinkles.
—January W. Payne
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