Content about University of California

WASHINGTON — A recently released report that analyzed and measured the level of metals in 32 lip products does not provide any “new meaningful information” and the traces of metals found were not “unexpected given their natural presence in air, soil and water,” according to a statement issued Thursday by the Personal Care Products Council.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Former Division I basketball player and all-pro tight end Tony Gonzalez is teaming up with Clear Men Scalp Therapy to share his tips on executing the Perfect Play during March Madness this year.

All over the United States and Canada, retail pharmacy innovators keep stepping up to fill in more of the gaps that separate people from quality, proactive resources for health, wellness and preventive care.

NEW YORK — Safeway pharmacists will use a program developed by the University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy to help people quit smoking, under a partnership with the supermarket operator announced by the university.

Safeway pharmacists will receive training in smoking-cessation counseling techniques developed by the UCSF pharmacy faculty, while stores will locate OTC nicotine-replacement therapies near pharmacy areas, giving customers convenient access to the pharmacist.

NEW YORK — An article recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine examines the role that impulse marketing and customer psychology in supermarkets contributes to obesity and related health problems.

WASHINGTON — The Council for Responsible Nutrition added two keynote speakers to its annual meeting docket: Balz Frei, director of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, and Lawrence Green, professor at the University of California at San Francisco.

The two speakers will keynote the first and last sessions, respectively, at the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s one-day scientific symposium, held Oct. 3 in Laguna Beach, Calif.

WASHINGTON — The Natural Products Foundation on Monday named the three recipients of its 2012 NPF Scholarship.

“Supporting academics to deepen the research and more widely share the evidence behind our products is critical to ensuring that natural products are embraced by the market, endorsed by regulators and accessible to consumers," stated David Matteson, chairman of the NPF Scholarship Committee.

The three students are Lauren Au of Tufts University, Taylor Kaufmann of Bastyr University and Vanessa Mardones of Memorial University.

TUSTIN, Calif. — A new meta-analysis released Wednesday of eight clinical trials examining the effect of cinnamon consumption in people with Type 2 diabetes and/or prediabetes concluded cinnamon extract and/or cinnamon helps lower blood-glucose levels. The analysis was published in the Journal of Medicinal Foods.

LOS ANGELES — Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles said they have found a possible link between two new drugs for Type 2 diabetes and cancers of the pancreas and thyroid, according to a new study published in the journal Gastroenterology.

The researchers, at UCLA's Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center, examined incidents reported in the Food and Drug Administration's adverse event database between 2004 and 2009 among patients using Byetta (exenatide), made by Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and Merck's Januvia (sitagliptin).

NEW YORK — Such mood disorders as anxiety and depression may be a precursor to diabetes in Latinos, according to a study by University of California at San Diego researchers scheduled for presentation at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in Honolulu.

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the researchers found that while Latinos have higher-than-average rates of diabetes, they also seem to have higher-than-average risk of having both diabetes and a mood disorder.

CHICAGO — Between 1965 and 2007, the number of people with a pack-a-day habit significantly declined, as did the number of people who smoked 10 or more cigarettes a day, according to a study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble on Tuesday afternoon named a healthcare veteran to its board. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, 53, chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco, was named to the board, effective Dec. 13.