Public/Global Health

A group of Democrats want to revise a policy that forbids healthy gay and bisexual men from donating blood.

A public-interest health group fired back at the Obama administration Monday with a poll showing wide support for calorie listings in movie theaters and other venues that would be exempted from the disclosure under a new federal rule.

The release comes as the obesity crisis, and regulatory attempts to fight it, dominate the headlines.

Seventy percent of Americans want movie theaters to list calorie counts on their menu boards, and 68 percent want that information posted for alcoholic beverages in chain restaurants, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Making unhealthy foods less available to dieters is not a silver bullet for weight loss, a new study found.

The report, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, comes on the heels of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (I) announcement of a ban on the sale of large sugary drinks throughout the city.

The first-in-the-nation plan is meant to curb obesity by reducing the size of unhealthy drinks available to consumers. It would bar the sale of any soda or other sweetened drink larger than 16 ounces at places including restaurants, sports venues and movie theaters. It could take effect as soon as March 2013, according to reports.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) released a report slamming the tanning industry for providing 'misleading health' info

A presidential commission will weigh in on whether anthrax vaccines should be tested on children, The Associated Press reports.

Scientists have mapped the genetic codes related to 21 breast cancers, Reuters reports.

A study found, however, that genetic mapping does not increase patients' healthcare use. Modern Healthcare (registration required) has the story.

Obesity dropped among children in Mississippi, from 43 percent in 2005 to 37.3 percent in 2011, the Clarion-Ledger reports.

A cancer-stricken judge in New York is making the case for medical marijuana, Reuters reports.

Does social media lead to narcissism? The New York Times wonders.

The House approved a GOP-backed bill mostly along party lines in a 222-205 vote.

Democrats argue that the Republican bill should be scrapped to consider a bipartisan Senate bill.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released what is being hailed as an ambitious plan to fight Alzheimer's disease in the United States.

The plan calls for the development of new prevention and treatment approaches by 2025 and invests in Alzheimer's research, including two major clinical trials, and training for doctors.

"These actions are the cornerstones of an historic effort to fight Alzheimer’s disease," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

"This is a national plan — not a federal one, because reducing the burden of Alzheimer’s will require the active engagement of both the public and private sectors."

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) introduced a bill Monday to stop the amount of tomato paste used on a children's slice of pizza from counting as a serving of vegetables in school lunches, arguing that the standard effectively qualifies pizza as a vegetable.

He said he hopes the measure can be included in this year's farm bill.

"Pizza has a place in school meals but equating it with broccoli, carrots and celery seriously undermines this nation’s efforts to support children’s health," a fact sheet from Polis's office stated.

Legislative language passed last year blocked stricter school nutrition standards proposed by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and allowed an eighth of a cup of tomato paste — roughly the amount used on a children's slice of pizza — to count as one serving of vegetables.

Polis called the decision "absurd" and blamed both Congress and the frozen food lobby. 

A group of House Democrats blasted Republicans Monday for budget language that pared back an effort against lead poisoning.

In a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 27 members pressed the agency to adopt a new exposure standard that would make more children eligible for treatment in spite of overall cuts to the prevention program.

"We understand that these budget decisions have put the agency under great constraints, but we urge ... that the CDC does not allow politics to get in the way of adopting a threshold that would protect our nation’s children," the lawmakers wrote to CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden.

The new exposure threshold was recommended by a CDC advisory committee in January. It would cut the amount of lead necessary in the body for a poisoning diagnosis by half.