Calories really do count. A new study of more than 800 overweight people showed that it didn’t matter if they followed a low-carbohydrate,  high-carbohydrate,  high-protein diets, low fat or high fat diet. What mattered most was reducing calories, according to the study in “The New England Journal of Medicine”:http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/9/859?query=TOC.

After six months, participants assigned to each diet had lost an average of seven percent of their weight. But after a year, many regained that weight, according to the study.

Investigators are now looking at a Virginia plant owned by the same company responsible for a nationwide outbreak of salmonella in peanuts and peanut products.

Two plants run by Peanut Corp., one in Georgia and one in Texas, have already been closed down. Now inspectors are looking at a third plant in Suffolk, Va., that is owned by the same company.

As recently as October, a Virginia inspector found “an accumulation of black, green and yellow mold” on blanched peanuts and 43 containers each holding 2,000-pounds of peanuts, according to The Associated Press. The plant manager told the inspector after the discovery that those peanuts would be destroyed if not used for animal feed and oil stock.

Peanut Corp. has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into allegations the company knowingly shipped tainted food. Peanut Corp. also faces a growing number of federal lawsuits seeking millions of dollars of damages from victims of the outbreak.

The “Food and Drug Administration”:http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm has a database of more than 2,600 foods that might contain peanut butter or peanut paste linked to the outbreak that were manufactured by Peanut Corp.

Actress Joan Lunden will be the guest speaker  at a Women’s Health symposium scheduled for March 29 at the JCC in Rockland. The day long event will feature yoga and pilates demonstrations, talks about cooking, menopause, audiology testing and information about blood pressure, bone density and genetic diseases.

A light breakfast and lunch will be served. Cost is $60 for people who register before March 15 and $75 for those who register after that date.

The event is sponsored by Nyack Hospital, Valley Hospital, Hudson Valley Radiology Associates and Linda and Jim Gerstley.

For more information call the JCC at 845.362.4400 or register online at http://jccrockland.org/symposium/WHS_registraiton_form_09.pdf.

The state Health Department has designated the Mount Kisco Medical Group as a yellow fever vaccination center.

Yellow fever is a viral disease found in certain parts of Africa and South America.  Jungle yellow fever, of tropical Central and South America, occurs predominantly among adult males 20 to 40 years old who are exposed in the tropical forests.

Initial symptoms may be dengue-like and include fever, headache, vomiting and backache. As the disease progresses, the pulse slows and weakens, and bleeding of the gums and bloody urine occur. Jaundice may also occur, according to the state Health Department’s Web site.

Anyone planning to travel to those regions are advised to get the vaccine at least 10 days prior to departure.

For more information or to schedule an appointment call the medical group’s office at 914-241-1050.

A coalition of community groups is lobbying Albany to maintain funding for New York’s free cancer screening program. Last year, the state allocated $29 million for the program, which provides low-income, uninsured New Yorkers with access to clinical breast exams, mammograms, pap tests, pelvic examinations, colorectal cancer screening, surgical consultation and diagnostic testing.

This year, Gov. David Paterson has proposed cutting the amount to $20.7 million.

The coalition includes the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the American Cancer Society. Community Health Care Association of New York State, Project Renewal, Family Planning Advocates and Planned Parenthood of New York City.

Members of the group testified before lawmakers in Albany earlier this month to pleade with them not to cut the program. They are urging residents to call the governor’s office to urge him to restore funding.

A 10-year-old in Long Island, a 12-year-old in Boston and a 6-year-old in North Carolina are among the first fatal victims of the flu virus this season.

The child in North Carolina was the first reported death on Feb. 10. The two other children died over the weekend.

This was the first season when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended children older than six months old get vaccinated for the flu.

Getting the flu shot lessens the severity of flu symptoms, public health officials say.

The flu season typically peaks in February and early March.

The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteers to drive cancer patients to medical appointments. Anyone willing to help out is asked to call the Rockland division of the group at 845-368-1252.

Cancer survivors in the United States and Europe were more likely to be unemployed than their healthy peers, a new medical study shows.

Researchers analyzed data from several other studies and found that joblessness among cancer survivors was 37 percent higher. The report appeared today in the The Journal of the American Medical Association.

In a story in today’s New York Times, reporter Roni Caryn Rabin notes that it is just one more report looking at the financial burdens of cancer.

“Have Doctors Lost Their Authority in American Culture?” will be the focus of a discussion at 7:30 p.m. on March 12 at The Jewish Theological Seminary, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), New York City.

The featured speaker will be Jonathan Imber, author of Trusting Doctors: The Decline of Moral Authority in American Medicine and professor of Ethics and Sociology at Wellesley College. Dr. Nancy Berlinger, deputy director and research scholar at the Hastings Center for Bioethics, will respond. The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit bioethics research institute located in Garrison that addresses fundamental ethical issues in the areas of health, medicine, and the environment.

In his book, Imber attributes the development of patients’ faith in doctors to the inspiration and influence of Protestant and Catholic clergymen during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He explains that as the influence of clergymen waned, and as reliance on medical technology increased, patients’ trust in doctors steadily declined. The author argues that with rapid medical advances, a profit-driven industry, and anxious patients, the future for a renewed trust in doctors will be confronted by even greater challenges.

Admission is free; reservations are required. For further information or to RVSP, please call (212) 280-6093 or email publicevents@jtsa.edu. Attendees are requested to have photo IDs available and arrive at least fifteen minutes prior to the program to allow sufficient time for registration.

In a federal case that could help determine what appears on menus throughout the Lower Hudson  Valley, a judge has upheld New York City’s regulation requiring some chain restaurants to post calories alongside prices.
The calorie rule, the court wrote, “mandates a simple factual disclosure of caloric information and is reasonably related to New York City’s goals of combating obesity.”

New York City is believed to have been the first U.S. city to enact a regulation requiring calories on menus. Westchester passed a similar one in November. Rockland is also considering the idea.
New York City’s rule applies to restaurants that are part of chains with at least 15 outlets across the country.

Restaurant associations have launched unsuccessful challenges of the laws.