Author: Erin Elizabeth

By Carey Gillam  It’s been a rough year for Big Soda, sellers of those sugary soft drinks that kids (and adults) love to chug. A June 16 decision by city leaders in Philadelphia to impose a “soda tax” as a means to discourage consumption of beverages seen as unhealthy is only the latest in a string of bad news for companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, which have seen soft drink sales steadily declining. Nervous investors drove shares in those companies lower after the Philadelphia move in recognition of what is but the latest evidence that consumers, lawmakers and health experts...

A recent analysis, the largest to date, has found that antidepressants can raise the risk of suicide. The analysis looked at 70 trials of the most common antidepressants and involved more than 18,000 people. What they found was that the drug doubled the risk of suicide and aggressive behaviour in those under 18s. The review was carried out by the Nordic Cochrane Centre and analysed by University College London who endorsed the findings in an editorial in the British Medical Journal. The drugs reviewed were duloxetine, fluoxetine (also known as Prozac), paroxetine, sertraline and venlafaxine which belong to two classes,...