By Dr. Devra Lee Davis

By the turn of the 18th century, the path-breaking Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini had documented more than three dozen different cancer-prone professions. At that point the disease was still uncommon and usually lethal. But the good doctor understood something that public health experts appear to have forgotten—diseases can be prevented or reduced by taking basic steps to restrain exposures even when the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

From The PCN Board

In the Fall 2012 issue of An Ounce, we presented an article on organic food (Confused? Don’t be. Organic food IS better for you!). In this issue, we explain why it is better for the planet too, and why PCN opposes the use of pesticides in agriculture.

By Kathy Freston

You may have heard a lot recently about how a chemical that is formed from cooking meat is carcinogenic (cancer-causing), but recent studies show that the scope of what’s bad for you in terms of meat is actually expanding.

By Kathleen Ruff

A report published by the European Environmental Agency (EEA), ‘Late Lessons from Early Warnings, volume II’, provides historical case studies, which show that warnings about asbestos were ignored or sidelined until damage to health and the environment was inevitable.

The ensuing human, social and economic costs were extremely high.

By Meg Sears and Sandra Madray, PCN Board Members

We all know that good food helps you be healthy; bad food, well, not so much. So, maybe it is not all that surprising that researchers found that eating deep-fried foods such as chicken, fish, French fries or doughnuts increases men’s risk of prostate cancer by about a third over the risk for men who eat less deep-fried foods.

By Bev Thorpe

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canadian women and for more than two decades now we have known that some endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are known to cause breast cell proliferation and other reproductive harm.

Read the Article »

By Danni Stor

I must warn you it’s addictive, AND healthy enough to eat 3 times a day! It’s fast and easy to make and only has a few ingredients – all healthy.

By Meg Sears, PCN Board Member

This year’s World Cancer Day was celebrated by the Globe and Mail newspaper with a piece based on a new ‘mythbuster’ from Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH). Unfortunately, one of the so-called ‘myths’ challenged by PMH was a notion that underarm antiperspirants don’t cause breast cancer. In truth we lack evidence, because no human epidemiology study has reported a group that used neither antiperspirant nor deodorant.

Read the Article »

By Linda Gasser

By Gideon Forman

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) has created an open letter allowing Canada’s health professionals to support a lawn pesticide ban across British Columbia. The letter — which was signed by nearly 100 doctors, nurses, and other health experts in its first week alone — will soon be presented to the B.C. government.

Read the Article »

By PCN Staff

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Read the Article »