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Chances are, on the back of many an ice cream tub, you will see something that reads “modified milk ingredients” in addition to any "cream" or "milk" you expect to see. So what are these?

The FDA just announced the approval of a new drug for psoriasis. But it really isn't new at all -- it's a combination of two generic psoriasis drugs in one tube. The price of the tube is interesting and the company involved even more so. Welcome to the world of insanely expensive generics.

A study of the health effects of alcohol separates the population by a genetic difference: the ability to metabolize alcohol. Researchers found no benefit to drinking, moderate or not. Is it true? Maybe if you're Chinese.

Providing healthcare by region increases experience and improves outcomes. But what happens when you have a complication ... and your doctors and regional care is a few hours away?

A new study links propionate, a food preservative, to alterations in our metabolism, increasing the production of glucose, at least in one mammal: mice. The evidence of an effect on humans is based on 14 lean humans and two meals.

A third of patients started on dialysis die within a year. Does that make the care futile?

How do we decide which species to favor and which to spurn? The law protects dwindling populations of snail darters, but does it apply to nature's creatures that we consider pests, like weeds, or flesh-eating bacteria.

The anti-opioid zealots have benzodiazepines, especially Xanax, in their sights. The drug is being demonized by (more or less) the same people who created the fake opioid crisis. But how dangerous is it? It is nearly impossible to kill yourself with Valium, another member of the benzodiazepine class. Does this hold true for Xanax? Yes, more or less.

A 2018 Washington Post article addressed the methods we use to breed food crops. But it suffered from a common shortcoming -- “pseudo-balance” -- or the seeking out of clueless commentators to contradict advocates of superior modern genetic modification techniques.  We hate to break it to the author, but in spite of what they teach you in journalism classes, not every issue benefits from point-counterpoint.

A new study tries to show that not eating breakfast increases your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. The study has significant limitations, and so it remains unanswered whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Tule fog is a very dense fog found in California's Central Valley, and it's the source of many traffic accidents and fatalities annually. But over the last 30 years Tule fog is seen less often, and for shorter times. Apparently, it's not a result of climate change but of improving air quality.

Is there a magical prescription for how much exercise and activity eliminates the increased risk of premature death, which comes from sedentary behavior? A new paper takes a swing at an elusive target. Spoiler alert: This is an area that continues to defy precision.

There are 14 new HIV infections in an outbreak that's hit homeless drug users in the Seattle area. These are the predictable consequences of a feckless public health policy, and one that lacks compassion.

There are reports that as little as one piece of bacon a day will increase your risk of colon and rectal cancer. A closer look at the study suggests that while bacon is certainly a risk factor in being a pig, its impact on humans may not be as great as the media claims.

Penetrating traumas take on a unique trajectory. They can be erratic, asymmetrical and variable in depth and extent. So real estate in the body, and good fortune, matter most.

"Two lawyers, a zoologist, and a nutritionist walk into a bar to try to write about chemistry." The preceding statement is true, except for the bar. The Environmental Working Group, with the aid of these four experts, wants to tell us how all the chemicals in food are going to lead us to an early dirt nap. They get an F in chemistry. As usual.

Vaxart Inc., a San Francisco based vaccine biotech, just announced that it will begin dosing subjects in a Phase 1b study company's bivalent oral experimental vaccines against norovirus -- the cause of the so-called "stomach flu." Everyone should wish them well.

The formation of air bubbles is the reason joints in our necks, fingers, and other body parts "crack" or "pop." The young woman's stroke was almost certainly a freak accident.

The maker of Keto Breads, allegedly "the world's healthiest bread," claims that all the other bread out there causes autoimmune disease and leaky gut syndrome. The former claim is risible and the latter is "not a recognized medical diagnosis."

As the story goes, British pilots used bilberries to shoot down German fighters during World War II. But they didn’t fire them out of their guns. They ate them. In the form of jam.

Should we turn our nose up at using a dog's keen sense of smell as a cancer screening tool? Or to help identify relevant biomarkers that scientists should be isolating for diagnostic purposes?

Of all the drugs used to treat herpes, acyclovir is the most common. So, how does it work? The devil is in the details ... and the details are fascinating.

A new study channels Frederick Taylor, father of the “scientific management” of the workforce, bringing a stopwatch into the hospital to report on how physicians -- in this case -- first-year internal medicine residents, spend their day. Spoiler alert: they don't spend it at bedside.

If we're not likely to see a significant pull incentive in the United States (or anywhere else) this year, a likely outcome, where can we go next? There are two actions we can take that will help.

Extinction Rebellion, formed in 2018, is a group dedicated to fighting against humanity's imminent risk of extinction. It believes the best way to accomplish that is for activists to block traffic, spray graffiti, smash glass doors, protest naked and glue themselves to street furniture. If that doesn't save the world, what will?