Ken Perrott • Jan 11, 2017 •
Want to get up to date on research about community water fluoridation (CWF) and the effects of fluoride in dental health in general? Have a read of this new review. It’s published in a special issue of Community Dental Health devoted to the WHO approach to the prevention of dental caries through the use of fluoride. And is also … Read More
Erica Mather • Jun 22, 2016 •
There is no conclusive evidence that drinking coffee causes cancer, but experts report that drinking very hot beverages ‘probably’ causes cancer of the oesophagus. The specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) – the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), held a press call last week where they released the results of a thorough investigation of the … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • May 28, 2016 •
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are in the news again. This time a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin has been spotted in the USA. So why is this newsworthy and should we be scared? A strain of E. coli has been identified in the USA that is resistant to the antibiotic colistin. A paper describing the strain has just been published … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Oct 28, 2015 •
Many media reports are reporting it incorrectly or confusingly. For example, in New Zealand’s TV3 News starts out1 World Health Organisation (WHO) experts have put processed meat in the same cancer-causing category as cigarettes … … it has ranked processed meat in the highest cancer risk category, alongside asbestos and even smoking. Sorry, but … Read More
Ken Perrott • Aug 12, 2015 •
Paul Connett is the Executive Director of the anti-fluoride propagandists group, the Fluoridation Action Network (FAN). His recent presentation to the Denver Water Board’s fluoridation forum was full of scientific misrepresentations and distortions. I debunked his claims on fluoridation and … Continue reading → … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Jun 08, 2015 •
“MERS-CoV electron micrograph1” by Maureen Metcalfe/Cynthia Goldsmith/Azaibi Tamin – http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/photos.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. In 2012 a new virus emerged in the Middle East. Causing severe respiratory and flu-like, the disease was called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)* or “Saudi-SARS”. The virus responsible was found to be a … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Mar 24, 2015 •
For World TB day, here are my top 10 TB facts. Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Nov 24, 2014 •
With Ebola now moving into Mali, I thought it was time for a quick update and some links. According to the CDC and WHO, as of the 16th November 2014 there have been an estimated 15145 cases, including 5420 deaths. Since the end of October there have been 6 cases in neighbouring Mali; all cases have died. American … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Nov 03, 2014 •
Today Wellington’s Dominion Post newspaper ran a piece of (in my opinion..) misleading propaganda they passed of as a cartoon which can be summed up as naturopathy vs science. I assume it is in response to the bad press that homeopathy received last week after Green Party MP Steffan Browning signed a petition calling for … Read More
Eric Crampton • Oct 13, 2014 •
I'm not particularly worried about any large-scale Ebola outbreaks in the developed world. It's easier in the developed world to run effective quarantine and to track down those who might have been exposed to an infected and contagious person.That certainly doesn't mean Ebola isn't worth worrying about. The burden of Ebola in Africa looks likely to be huge. Even where … Read More