As with most politicized topics, science gets quickly drowned out by activists' hyperbole and exaggeration. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, though it falls short of giving the procedure a blanket endorsement.
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In its latest issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC estimates the worldwide impact that vaccination against measles. The results are both encouraging and breathtaking. What would happen if there was no measles vaccine? Roughly 1.5 million people would die of the disease every single year.
In search of a topic that is both health-related and apolitical, we felt that maybe focusing on intentional, unintentional injury could be informative and distracting. Whether recently elated, neutral or forlorn, you'll likely step away from this piece with knowledge of what not to do. Let’s examine further what it means to be human.
Outside of the Western world, insect consumption is common. The Chinese, for instance, will eat just about anything that crawls on six (or more) legs. Centipedes and fried scorpions appear on the menu. Not only is entomophagy widespread, it's also probably healthier for people -- and the planet -- than eating other animals.
Classifying species is a notoriously sticky problem in biology. As a very broad rule, organisms can be classified as belonging to a distinct species if they can successfully mate with each other to produce offspring that can also successfully mate. But this rule completely falls apart for microbes.
Anyone remotely familiar with the scientific method understands that just like a ruler or a telescope, statistics is a tool. Scientists use the tool primarily for one purpose: To answer the question, "Is my data meaningful?" Properly used, statistics is one of science's most powerful tools. But used improperly, statistics can be highly misleading.
There are some unanswered questions about the long-term health safety of e-cigarettes. Studies have suggested that "vaping" is safer than smoking because it doesn't expose a person to the inhaled toxins found in cigarette smoke that can cause cancer. A recent study published in Mutation Research has furthered this thinking, showing that e-cigarettes do not cause mutation in DNA.
The Epstein-Barr virus has always been a bit mysterious. It is responsible for mononucleosis, and is suspected of being a cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, although this disease remains poorly understood. The concept of viruses causing cancer is not new.
Data from emergency room visits shows that over a four-year period roughly 30,000 of them, each year, were for sports-related eye injuries. And that a majority -- two-thirds of females and 60 percent of males -- involved patients under age 18. Injuries were also categorized by sport or activity, to better understand how they occurred, providing information that can help parents.
Florida is in the middle of a major 'not in my backyard' brouhaha at the moment and biotechnology is at the center of the debate.
More than 40 million people across the country watched the Cubs win Game 7 of the World Series. Thinking about America in 1908, when the Cubs last were champs, could be one big reason why their story has resonated with the public. So we compared some of today's public health issues to those of 108 years ago.
While it's true that statins are effective in preventing a recurrence of cardiovascular events (e.g. heart attack or stroke), the evidence that they are useful for primary prevention in older people isn't robust. Should the prescription of these drugs be extended to our expanding geriatric population, or is this an example of over-medicalization?
We are seeing a sharp increase in suicide among children aged 10 to 14. Since 1999, the incidence rate for this group has nearly doubled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014 it was just as likely that a child took his or her own life than it was that he/she died in a traffic accident. What explains this shocking surge?
Homeopathic products are a scam. It's a multi-billion dollar business pedaling its goods for any ailment imaginable, despite any evidence that they're effective. But this sketchy enterprise took a hit this week, one that may result in a change in the industry. The Federal Trade Commission announced several changes as to how homeopathic products must be labeled for marketing.
A preliminary study presented at the American Heart Association meeting provides some puzzling data. The researchers found an association between "yo-yo" dieting and an increased risk of heart disease — but only in normal weight, postmenopausal women. But overweight and obese women didn't exhibit the same finding.
There are a variety of prescription sleep aids available. Some are far better than others. We took considerable time to tabulate and compare commonly-used insomnia drugs. Here's hoping you can stay awake long enough to read about it.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an activist group known for nuisance lawsuits related to health issues and scaremongering just about every food in the modern world, wants the Department of Agriculture to put warning labels on bacon. Yes, bacon.
Americans take comfort knowing that competition works to keep prices in check, which keeps businesses on their toes while they deliver price-trimming benefits to consumers. However, when it comes to the market for medication that treats erectile dysfunction, that assumption simply and shockingly does not apply.
Those who frequently groom or remove their pubic hair are more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections, according to new research. Among the infections, higher rates were found for herpes, syphilis, gonorrhoea and HIV.
The guidelines were born of good intentions; created to make Americans healthier. However, they were not inscribed on stone tablets and handed to mankind. Instead, the guidelines are the result of a bureaucratic process and, as such, are susceptible to dubious conclusions and adverse influence by activist groups.
Research shows that when a teacher is being bullied, the bully is often the head teacher.
The position of Science Czar is just one of thousands that President-Elect Trump must consider in the coming weeks. The incumbent, John Holdren, was a flawed choice. His fringe views on demographics and environmental policy, expressed in a book he co-authored with Paul Ehrlich (who notoriously wrote the now discredited The Population Bomb), should have disqualified him from the post.
A report released by the American Osteopathic Association discusses the potential uses and pitfalls of the controversial (non)supplement kratom. It may have some use in treating pain, but it should not be sold in supplement stores. Nor should it classified as Schedule I by the DEA, since this prevents research from being done. Let's call this "govern-medical malpractice."
Though we didn't invent Mean Tweets, we here at the council are quite familiar with the term. Enjoy nearly 4 minutes of nasty comments from some of our critics read by us... and we weren't quite kind in return.
Does road salt turn female tadpoles into male frogs? A group from Yale says it does. We say, "Bullsalt!"
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