Medical interventions. Measles vaccine and autism -- Hepatitis B vaccine and multiple sclerosis -- Fear of menopause and HRT -- The DES generation -- Aspirin and Reye's syndrome -- Infectious diseases. Fear of Lyme disease -- Swine flu 1976 -- Swine flu 2009 -- Ebola Reston 1989 -- The second war on smallpox -- Fear of flesh-eating bacteria -- Monkeypox 2003 -- Food scares. Fear of canned food -- Potatoes and birth defects -- Fear of oleomargarine -- Fear of tomatoes -- Fear of watercress -- Fear of beef -- Coca-Cola and polio -- Fear of foreign cheese -- Fear of mercury in seafood -- Java madness -- Fear of salmonella -- Additives in foods and beverages. Fear of red dye -- Fear of artificial sweeteners -- Fear of fluoridation and chlorination -- Fear of MSG -- Fear of other additives and preservatives -- Other biological hazards. Fear of mites -- Fear of toxic mold -- The cell from hell -- Shoo fly -- Fear of Frankenfood -- Fear of spiders -- Fear of killer bees -- Other chemical and radiological exposures. Three Mile Island -- The Alar scare of 1989 -- Fear and worship of silver -- The cranberry scare of 1959 -- Fear of aluminum containers -- Fear of cell phones -- Fear of power lines -- Fear of radon -- Actions and reactions. Fear of bottle feeding -- Solitary pursuits -- Fear of autointoxication -- Fear of not drinking -- Fear of involuntary fatness -- Fear of sunlight -- Junk food addiction : the Twinkie defense
Summary
Killer bees. The measles vaccine. Three Mile Island. Artificial sweeteners. The swine flu. All of these health risks and news stories took us by surprise, caused great alarm, and created controversyÑuntil they quietly dropped off our collective radar screens and we forgot about them. What were the real stories behind these health scares?
