Latest news with #USFoodandDrugAdministration
India Today
20 hours ago
- Health
- India Today
Don't drink raw milk directly from animal: Liver Doc's warning on health risks
Milk is an important source of nutrients like calcium, protein, and vitamins. But to be safe and healthy, it must be handled and prepared India, many people still drink raw milk - milk that hasn't been boiled or pasteurised - because they believe it's more natural or healthier. But health experts warn this trend is risky and even do not feed your child cow's milk directly from the animal's udder,' he wrote. 'Raw milk has become a 'trad fad' among so-called educated people who don't understand how diseases spread. This level of child endangerment is beyond irresponsible.' He added that microbes on the cow's udder can be even more dangerous than those in the milk itself. 'Always drink pasteurised milk,' he stressed. WHAT'S SO DANGEROUS ABOUT RAW MILK?Raw milk can contain harmful bacteria such as:E. coli – Can release deadly toxins in the gut, causing bloody diarrhoea and, in severe cases, kidney – Causes food poisoning and – Can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and serious infections, especially in pregnant women and the – Leads to food poisoning and stomach bacteria – Indicates poor hygiene in milk bacteria are invisible and cannot be detected by taste or smell. Drinking milk with these germs can result in severe a detailed social media post, Dr. Philips described how just one untreated glass of raw milk could lead to a child suffering from kidney failure, seizures, and hospitalisation. He warned that even seemingly 'fresh' milk can hide deadly RAW MILK A CURE FOR LACTOSE INTOLERANCE?Some people believe raw milk contains natural probiotics (good bacteria) that help with digestion and prevent lactose according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), raw milk does not contain probiotics that are proven to help the gut. Instead, it can contain dangerous VS. SAFETYIn many Indian households, people get milk directly from dairy farms and boil it before drinking - a practice that helps kill harmful bacteria. But some are now skipping this step and consuming raw milk straight from the source, influenced by online health Vibhu Kawatra, Senior Consultant Paediatric Pulmonologist at Vibhu Nursing Home in New Delhi, warned against this. 'Raw milk can carry bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and Campylobacter, which cause serious infections. It's especially risky for children, pregnant women, and the elderly,' he told Kawatra added that repeated exposure to such bacteria can even lead to kidney THE EXPERTS RECOMMENDBoil milk as soon as possible after purchase to kill pasteurised milk from trusted giving raw milk to children, elderly people, pregnant women, and those with weakened viral trends that promote raw milk without scientific US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also warns that drinking raw milk can lead to vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, and other flu-like symptoms, especially in vulnerable a process where milk is heated to kill harmful microbes, makes milk safer without significantly affecting its nutritional value. With rising concerns over unregulated milk production and chemical use in dairy farming, buying pasteurised milk from a reliable source is the safest option.- EndsMust Watch
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
US may revise hormone replacement therapy warnings
US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary signaled Thursday that he is open to revising strict warning labels on Hormone Replacement Therapy, following testimony from experts who said the treatment's risks have long been exaggerated. HRT is taken to replace estrogen the body stops producing after menopause -- when periods end permanently -- and helps relieve symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal discomfort, and pain during sex. But its use has plummeted in recent years amid concerns including a possible link to invasive breast cancer. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Marty Makary, who convened Thursday's meeting of outside experts, told AFP: "We have to revisit these topics." He argued that the framework that led to so-called "black box warnings" -- the strongest warning the FDA can require for prescription drugs -- "came from a different era." "Not only is there no clinical trial showing an increase in breast cancer mortality, but there are also other tremendous long term health benefits," Makary added. The 12 experts convened by the agency said HRT's benefits go beyond easing menopausal symptoms. They cited evidence for reduced fracture risk, improved cardiovascular and cognitive health, and fewer urinary tract infections. "Estrogen is the only well-established intervention to reduce the frequency of osteoporotic fracture in postmenopausal women, to the tune of 30 to 50 percent," said Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Central Florida. Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, said her research suggests the reason two-thirds of people globally with Alzheimer's are women is not because they live slightly longer than men, but because the disease begins during the menopausal transition. "Depending upon when hormone therapy is introduced... there's a significant reduction in risk of developing Alzheimer's disease," she said. The University of Arizona researcher linked menopause to a drop in the brain's ability to metabolize glucose and a rise in protein plaque deposits. Panelists blamed the collapse in HRT use on the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a landmark clinical trial halted in 2002 after flagging a possible increased breast cancer risk -- findings they say were misinterpreted. "Prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy plummeted in the United States, women flushed their pills down the toilet," Makary said in his opening remarks, mentioning his own mother's experience of multiple bone fractures in old age. Critics of the WHI argue it included participants well past menopause -- when risks are higher and benefits lower -- and used outdated formulations no longer common today. Label changes Still, the issue remains divisive within the medical community. HRT can be administered through various means including orally, through skin patches, or vaginally; and is given either as estrogen alone or with progesterone. The FDA's own warning label for it cites risks including endometrial cancer, breast cancer, and life-threatening blood clots. Adriane Fugh-Berman, who directs a project that promotes rational prescribing at Georgetown University, attended as an observer and criticised the lack of dissenting voices. "This was a very one-sided panel of people who are all proponents of hormone therapy and who seem to have a very poor understanding of the evidence," she told AFP. "While hormones can be a useful treatment for severe menopausal symptoms, they should not be used for chronic disease prevention," she added, noting that no randomised clinical trial -- the gold standard of evidence -- has found HRT beneficial for cognition or dementia prevention. She also said that after the WHI findings were released, hormone use fell globally -- and breast cancer rates dropped across registries tracking them. Several of the panelists had ties to companies offering menopause treatments or are affiliated with the advocacy group "Let's Talk Menopause," which receives pharmaceutical funding and campaigns to revise FDA warning labels.
Al-Ahram Weekly
4 days ago
- Health
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Experts to revise hormone replacement therapy warnings - Health - Life & Style
US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary signaled that he is open to revising strict warning labels on Hormone Replacement Therapy, following testimony from experts who said the treatment's risks have long been exaggerated. HRT is taken to replace estrogen the body stops producing after menopause -- when periods end permanently -- and helps relieve symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal discomfort, and pain during sex. But its use has plummeted in recent years amid concerns including a possible link to invasive breast cancer. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Marty Makary, who convened Thursday's meeting of outside experts, told AFP: "We have to revisit these topics." He argued that the framework that led to so-called "black box warnings" -- the strongest warning the FDA can require for prescription drugs -- "came from a different era." "Not only is there no clinical trial showing an increase in breast cancer mortality, but there are also other tremendous long term health benefits," Makary added. The 12 experts convened by the agency said HRT's benefits go beyond easing menopausal symptoms. They cited evidence for reduced fracture risk, improved cardiovascular and cognitive health, and fewer urinary tract infections. "Estrogen is the only well-established intervention to reduce the frequency of osteoporotic fracture in postmenopausal women, to the tune of 30 to 50 percent," said Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Central Florida. Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, said her research suggests the reason two-thirds of people globally with Alzheimer's are women is not because they live slightly longer than men, but because the disease begins during the menopausal transition. "Depending upon when hormone therapy is introduced... there's a significant reduction in risk of developing Alzheimer's disease," she said. The University of Arizona researcher linked menopause to a drop in the brain's ability to metabolize glucose and a rise in protein plaque deposits. Panelists blamed the collapse in HRT use on the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a landmark clinical trial halted in 2002 after flagging a possible increased breast cancer risk -- findings they say were misinterpreted. "Prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy plummeted in the United States, women flushed their pills down the toilet," Makary said in his opening remarks, mentioning his own mother's experience of multiple bone fractures in old age. Critics of the WHI argue it included participants well past menopause -- when risks are higher and benefits lower -- and used outdated formulations no longer common today. Still, the issue remains divisive within the medical community. HRT can be administered through various means including orally, through skin patches, or vaginally; and is given either as estrogen alone or with progesterone. The FDA's own warning label for it cites risks including endometrial cancer, breast cancer, and life-threatening blood clots. Adriane Fugh-Berman, who directs a project that promotes rational prescribing at Georgetown University, attended as an observer and criticized the lack of dissenting voices. "This was a very one-sided panel of people who are all proponents of hormone therapy and who seem to have a very poor understanding of the evidence," she told AFP. "While hormones can be a useful treatment for severe menopausal symptoms, they should not be used for chronic disease prevention," she added, noting that no randomized clinical trial -- the gold standard of evidence -- has found HRT beneficial for cognition or dementia prevention. She also said that after the WHI findings were released, hormone use fell globally -- and breast cancer rates dropped across registries tracking them. Several of the panelists had ties to companies offering menopause treatments or are affiliated with the advocacy group "Let's Talk Menopause," which receives pharmaceutical funding and campaigns to revise FDA warning labels. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
AFP
5 days ago
- Health
- AFP
Health influencer falsely claims nicotine can cure neurological disorders
"Nicotine is not addictive. Parkinson's disease can be prevented and can be cured, and its symptoms reversed, with nicotine alone," health influencer Byran Ardis says in a video teasing an episode of the "Culture Apothecary" podcast from Alex Clark, a leading voice in the "Make America Healthy Again" movement. Ardis, whom AFP has previously fact-checked for spreading health misinformation, goes on to claim: "Nicotine is known by medical science to be a curative agent and a preventative agent for Alzheimer's. Did you know nicotine could also cure the symptoms of hypothyroidism?" He also asserts that "glioblastomas were proven in 2021 to be cured by nicotine alone." The clip has attracted tens of thousands of interactions on Instagram since May 19, 2025. Ardis's endorsement of nicotine patches continued to be shared across platforms in July, alongside other edits of the conversation, including one Clark posted on YouTube. Image Screenshot from Instagram taken July 18, 2025 But nicotine is an addictive chemical, and the only use for nicotine patches approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to quit smoking (archived here and here). "Don't use nicotine, other than trying to help quit smoking," Edward Levin, chief of the Neurobehavioral Research Lab at Duke University Medical Center, told AFP July 14 (archived here). He said the effect of nicotine on cognition, depression, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's "has not been proved, so it's still under investigation." Parkinson's disease In the podcast, Ardis claims nicotine by itself can prevent, cure or reverse symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Scientists are exploring nicotine's potential as a Parkinson's treatment due to the chemical's dopamine-increasing properties and the fact that smokers develop Parkinson's at a lower rate, but research has yielded mixed results (archived here). "Nicotine does potentially up the release of dopamine, and dopamine is what is impaired in Parkinson's disease. So the rationale for it is there, but the proof of it is not," Levin said. "To say flat out that it does prevent or cure Parkinson's just is not true." A 2015 study by the Parkinson's Institute concluded that nicotine could hold promise in terms of protecting against nerve degeneration, alleviating symptoms and reducing side effects of other drugs used to treat the disease (archived here). However, the study stops short of recommending nicotine as a proven treatment, saying instead that it "may represent a new disease modifying approach." A 2021 literature review published in Molecular Medicine Reports said nicotine may slow the progression of the disease by improving memory impairment and dyskinesia (archived here). Conversely, a trial supported by the Michael J. Fox Foundation showed nicotine patches did not slow the progression (archived here). "Despite some initially promising findings from animal models and correlational studies in humans, this has not translated well to clinical trials," Maggie Sweitzer, an associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University, told AFP in a July 15 email (archived here). "I am not aware of any solid evidence to support nicotine as a treatment in Parkinson's disease." Alzheimer's disease Ardis's second claim is that nicotine is "known by medical science" to be a curative and preventative agent for Alzheimer's disease. Researchers in the United States are currently investigating the effects of nicotine on mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to Alzheimer's, as part of the "Memory Improvement Through Nicotine Dosing" (MIND) study (archived here). But nicotine has not been incorporated into human treatment beyond clinical trials. A 2012 trial focused on 67 subjects concluded that nicotine led to cognitive improvement in attention, memory and processing, but it said further study would be necessary to determine if the findings were clinically important (archived here). A much larger follow-up is currently in progress, with results expected later in 2025 (archived here). Levin, a researcher on the MIND study, said despite promising findings, nicotine patches have not yet been FDA approved to protect against cognitive decline. "I can't recommend it," Levin said. "It's not FDA approved for that purpose. It's under investigation." Levin said that if nicotine patches were implemented as a treatment for Alzheimer's or other cognitive diseases, they would likely be used alongside other drugs, rather than alone. He also pushed back on Ardis's claim that it is safe to place nicotine patches on children, saying the drug is toxic from early fetal development through adolescence and can adversely impact the nervous system (archived here). Glioblastoma Ardis then claims nicotine alone was proven in 2021 to cure glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. AFP did not find a reference with such clear proof. Instead, a 2021 paper in Pharmacological Research showed nicotine can promote the proliferation of glioblastoma cells, with nicotinic receptors potentially contributing to the tumor's aggressive behavior (archived here). The paper also discovered that drugs that block nicotinic receptors can decrease glioblastoma cell growth. An earlier literature review said smoking and other uses of tobacco and nicotine during treatment can detrimentally affect a patient's prognosis (archived here). Keyword searches did reveal a 2022 in vivo study which found that nicotine, in conjunction with lithium carbonate, can suppress and kill glioblastoma cells, although the study also warns of health risks resulting from nicotine's cytotoxicity (archived here). But such findings have not been replicated outside of in vivo cell studies, and Sweitzer said it would be difficult to study the isolated effect of nicotine on glioblastoma in a clinical setting. "It would be unethical for researchers to assign patients with glioblastomas to a treatment condition where they received 'nicotine alone' in the absence of usual standard of care, because this would deprive the patients of treatment that they would receive if they were not in the study," Sweitzer said. "In general, people should be highly skeptical about claims that something has been 'proven' in health and medicine." Lead Stories and Medical Dialogues previously debunked claims by Ardis that nicotine can cure brain tumors in as little as 72 hours. Hypothyroidism Finally, Ardis poses that nicotine could cure symptoms of hypothyroidism, a thyroid gland condition that can lead to high cholesterol and heart problems. The 2021 Molecular Medicine Reports literature review said nicotine may "activate thyroid receptor signaling pathways" to improve hypothyroidism-induced memory impairment (archived here). But Sweitzer said Ardis's claim misleads. "There are interactions between nicotine and thyroid hormones that have been clearly demonstrated in animal models," Sweitzer said (archived here and here). "But I am not aware of any evidence that would suggest nicotine can be used as a treatment in itself." Rexford Ahima, director of the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Johns Hopkins University, agreed (archived here). "Nicotine does not cure hypothyroidism," Ahima told AFP in a July 15 email. "Nicotine use, especially through smoking, is linked to worsening of autoimmune hyperthyroidism." AFP has debunked other health misinformation here.
eNCA
6 days ago
- Health
- eNCA
US may revise hormone replacement therapy warnings
WASHINGTON - US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary signalled that he is open to revising strict warning labels on Hormone Replacement Therapy, following testimony from experts who said the treatment's risks have long been exaggerated. HRT is taken to replace estrogen, the body stops producing after menopause -- when periods end permanently -- and helps relieve symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal discomfort, and pain during sex. But its use has plummeted in recent years amid concerns, including a possible link to invasive breast cancer. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Marty Makary, who convened Thursday's meeting of outside experts, told AFP: "We have to revisit these topics." He argued that the framework that led to so-called "black box warnings" -- the strongest warning the FDA can require for prescription drugs -- "came from a different era." "Not only is there no clinical trial showing an increase in breast cancer mortality, but there are also other tremendous long-term health benefits," Makary added. The 12 experts convened by the agency said HRT's benefits go beyond easing menopausal symptoms. They cited evidence for reduced fracture risk, improved cardiovascular and cognitive health, and fewer urinary tract infections. "Estrogen is the only well-established intervention to reduce the frequency of osteoporotic fracture in postmenopausal women, to the tune of 30 to 50 percent," said Vonda Wright, an orthopaedic surgeon at the University of Central Florida. Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, said her research suggests the reason two-thirds of people globally with Alzheimer's are women is not because they live slightly longer than men, but because the disease begins during the menopausal transition. "Depending upon when hormone therapy is introduced... there's a significant reduction in risk of developing Alzheimer's disease," she said. The University of Arizona researcher linked menopause to a drop in the brain's ability to metabolise glucose and a rise in protein plaque deposits. Panellists blamed the collapse in HRT use on the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a landmark clinical trial halted in 2002 after flagging a possible increased breast cancer risk -- findings they say were misinterpreted. "Prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy plummeted in the United States, women flushed their pills down the toilet," Makary said in his opening remarks, mentioning his own mother's experience of multiple bone fractures in old age. Critics of the WHI argue it included participants well past menopause -- when risks are higher and benefits lower -- and used outdated formulations no longer common today. - Label changes - Still, the issue remains divisive within the medical community. HRT can be administered through various means and is given either as estrogen alone or with progesterone. The FDA's own warning label for it cites risks including endometrial cancer, breast cancer, and life-threatening blood clots. Adriane Fugh-Berman, who directs a project that promotes rational prescribing at Georgetown University, attended as an observer and criticized the lack of dissenting voices. "This was a very one-sided panel of people who are all proponents of hormone therapy and who seem to have a very poor understanding of the evidence," she told AFP. "While hormones can be a useful treatment for severe menopausal symptoms, they should not be used for chronic disease prevention," she added, noting that no randomised clinical trial -- the gold standard of evidence -- has found HRT beneficial for cognition or dementia prevention. She also said that after the WHI findings were released, hormone use fell globally -- and breast cancer rates dropped across registries tracking them. Several of the panellists had ties to companies offering menopause treatments or are affiliated with the advocacy group "Let's Talk Menopause," which receives pharmaceutical funding and campaigns to revise FDA warning labels.
