Health & Medicine

Study warns women to avoid dioxins

WASHINGTON - An independent health-policy institute Tuesday warned all Americans, but particularly young women and children, to avoid consuming dioxins, long-lasting compounds in the body fat of animals that have been linked to endocrine-related conditions, developmental problems and susceptibility to cancer.

The Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization that provides health-policy advice under a congressional charter, also suggested that the federal government "develop and implement an integrated risk-management strategy and action plan to reduce human exposure to dioxins in foods."

Dioxins are most concentrated in the fats of meat, poultry, fish, whole milk and full-fat dairy products. The Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, which asked for the study, did not request the exact risk of exposure or the current amount of the compound in foods and animal feeds, and the institute did not provide them.

Instead, the report's authors asked administrators of the government's school-lunch program to increase the availability of food and milk low in animal fat. And they suggested that young women, especially those who are or could become pregnant, minimize their intake of these foods to reduce exposure to fetuses and nursing infants.

Linda Greer, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's environment and health program, said she was disappointed by the recommendations.

"They didn't recommend federal regulation - anything that limits the amount of dioxins in food," Greer said. "Rather than making food safe, they are opting to educate people that food may not be safe."

Robert Lawrence, the chairman of the committee that wrote the report, said the Institute of Medicine did not want to get out ahead of the federal agencies that would have to implement any regulations.

CHICAGO - Getting a colorectal screening test every three years instead of the recommended five can detect dangerous tumors earlier, but not enough to warrant a switch to more frequent exams, a study suggests.

The findings, however, raise concerns about a move by some doctors toward less frequent screenings for colon cancer, the nation's third leading cause of cancer deaths.

The study looked at sigmoidoscopy, in which a flexible, lighted tube is inserted in the rectum to examine about half of the large intestine, where most dangerous tumors form. Medical guidelines recommend this exam every five years after age 50 along with a yearly test for blood in the stool.

Recent studies have shown that a more thorough and costly test, the colonoscopy, does a superior job of detecting tumors because it examines the entire large intestine. It is generally recommended every 10 years after age 50, and some doctors say this alone should be the routine screening method.

The new study involved 9,317 men and women with an average age of about 66 who had a repeat sigmoidoscopy exam three years after receiving normal results. The findings appear in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

WASHINGTON - Two companies that promoted ephedra dietary supplements with promises of safe and miraculous weight loss have agreed to repay customers $370,000 to resolve federal charges of deceptive advertising, regulators said.

The Federal Trade Commission also is taking to court an operation based in California and Canada that it says made unsupported claims for weight-loss and arthritis products.

"There is no such thing as weight loss in a bottle," said Howard Beales of the FTC. "Claims that you'll lose substantial amounts of weight and still eat everything you want are simply false."

The FTC said the two companies made false claims that their products could cause rapid and substantial weight loss.

USA Pharmacal Sales Inc., based in Palm Harbor, sold three weight-loss products and a supplement to treat male impotence, advertising with mailings and newspaper inserts. The products included Fat Sponge in a Pill and Meta-Biological, a weight-loss cocktail containing ephedrine, ephedra's active ingredient.

The other company was Health Laboratories of North America Inc., based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

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