50 health scares that fizzled / Joan R. Callahan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Callahan, Joan R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medical misconceptions.

Health risk assessment.

Health Education.

Mass Media.

Fear--psychology.

Fraud--psychology.

Health Behavior.

Medical Subjects:

Health Education.

Mass Media.

Fear--psychology.

Fraud--psychology.

Health Behavior.

Physical Description:

xvi, 361 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Other Title:

Fifty health scares that fizzled

Place of Publication:

Santa Barbara, Calif. : Greenwood, [2011]

Summary:

A consultant and researcher for 30-plus years, Callahan is an award-winning author of numerous biological journal papers, environmental reports, and science books. In this text, she tackles a number of recent and not-so-recent media events known as health scares that held the promise of a dramatic conclusion but ended without fanfare. The 50 events are organized into seven categories: medical interventions, such as vaccines and drugs; infectious diseases or specific disease outbreaks; food scares and recalls; chemical additives in foods and beverages; other potential biological hazards, such as spiders and killer bees; other chemical and radiological exposures, such as pesticides, cell phones, and radon; and actions and reactions, such as lifestyle choices. Each chapter includes a summary of the health scare, source, the science relating to the issue, history, consequences, assessment of what went wrong, and list of references and recommended reading. Academic but accessible to the general reader. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Part 1 Medical Interventions 1

1 Measles Vaccine and Autism 3

2 Hepatitis B Vaccine and Multiple Sclerosis 9

3 Fear of Menopause and HRT 15

4 The DES Generation 21

5 Aspirin and Reye's Syndrome 27

Part 2 Infectious Diseases 33

6 Fear of Lyme Disease 35

7 Swine Flu 1976 41

8 Swine Flu 2009 47

9 Ebola Reston 1989 53

10 The Second War on Smallpox 59

11 Fear of Flesh-Eating Bacteria 65

12 Monkeypox 2003 71

Part 3 Food Scares 77

13 Fear of Canned Food 79

14 Potatoes and Birth Defects 85

15 Fear of Oleomargarine 91

16 Fear of Tomatoes 97

17 Fear of Watercress 103

18 Fear of Beef 109

19 Coca-Cola and Polio 115

20 Fear of Foreign Cheese 121

21 Fear of Mercury in Seafood 127

22 Java Madness 133

23 Fear of Salmonella 139

Part 4 Additives in Foods and Beverages 147

24 Fear of Red Dye 149

25 Fear of Artificial Sweeteners 155

26 Fear of Fluoridation and Chlorination 161

27 Fear of MSG 167

28 Fear of Other Additives and Preservatives 173

Part 5 Other Biological Hazards 179

29 Fear of Mites 181

30 Fear of Toxic Mold 187

31 The Cell from Hell 193

32 Shoo Fly 199

33 Fear of Frankenfood 205

34 Fear of Spiders 211

35 Fear of Killer Bees 217

Part 6 Other Chemical and Radiological Exposures 223

36 Three Mile Island 225

37 The Alar Scare of 1989 231

38 Fear and Worship of Silver 237

39 The Cranberry Scare of 1959 243

40 Fear of Aluminum Containers 249

41 Fear of Cell Phones 255

42 Fear of Power Lines 261

43 Fear of Radon 267

Part 7 Actions and Reactions 273

44 Fear of Bottle Feeding 275

45 Solitary Pursuits 281

46 Fear of Autointoxication 287

47 Fear of Not Drinking 293

48 Fear of Involuntary Fatness 299

49 Fear of Sunlight 305

50 Junk Food Addiction: The Twinkie Defense 311.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780313385384

0313385386

9780313385391

0313385394

OCLC:

672979599