Jamie Wells
Dr. Jamie Wells, MD, FAAP, is a Board-Certified physician with over a decade of experience caring for patients and the Director of Medicine at the American Council on Science and Health. She served as a Clinical Instructor/Attending at NYU Langone, Mt. Sinai-Beth Israel and St. Vincent's Medical Centers in Manhattan.
Watch as she talks about her early love for public service and medicine, and her new role at the council in educating the public on the differences between health threats and health scares.
Search
By Stephanie Bucklin, Live Science Contributor
Men still aren't living as long as women — and that holds true for humans' primate cousins as well, a new study shows.
Your noggin is not as special as you think. That is, in terms of losing heat in the winter. Here's why you can skip the hat and not be entirely doomed.
It's been nearly one year since the Food and Drug Administration recommended that teens be prevented from using tanning beds, however the agency has yet to make its final ruling. But a new study estimating significant financial and life-saving benefits of such a ban will hopefully prompt the FDA to finally act.
What do consumers think about organic or genetically modified foods? Demographics don't seem to make a difference, but according to a recent survey "food ideology" does.
Even if you have healthy, adult teeth and gums your dentist may recommend X-rays be taken every year. The dental profession, however, says otherwise. Annual preventive X-rays, called bitewings, for healthy dental patients are not necessary, according to the American Dental Association.
Lost in the synthetic-natural debate is something that actually matter. It is called semisynthesis, and it has saved many lives. Here's how it works.
Check it out: the latest sleep device from Apple — the Sleep Pill for Sense, sits on your nightstand, helps you fall asleep, and helps you wake up at consistent times each day.
Maternal opioid use is growing nationally. A new study reflects this, its impact on babies and regional disparities. As a result, babies are suffering withdrawal at alarming rates. Our directives must address the symbiotic relationships that perpetuate the current and intergenerational struggles of families.
A debate is on over the benefits of taking aspirin for those without a history of prior cardiovascular disease. The current thinking advocates using low-dose aspirin, for primary prevention, in certain high risk groups: those with advanced age, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking. But not so, says a new study from Japan.
Here at ACSH, we cover nearly every topic under the sun related to biomedicine, chemistry, health, epidemiology, and sports science.
We are sometimes surprised to learn which articles are most popular with our readers. This year, our work on herpes vaccines resonated across the globe. In fact, one of them was the most popular article we wrote all year! (Kudos to Dr. Josh Bloom.)
So, in case you missed them, here are the ten most popular articles we wrote in 2016 (yes, including two on herpes):
To start the second week of our Christmas song, we're presenting seven wacky weight-loss diets — ranging from blood types to tapeworms — that have all reached fad proportions at some point. Read them ... and avoid them!
When submitting a scientific manuscript to a journal for review, it's usually safe to say that the worst possible outcome is that it will be rejected. However, a far worse fate is indeed possible – plagiarism – and it happened to Dr. Michael Dansinger.
Paraquat, the herbicide that the DEA once used to try to wipe out domestic marijuana production is back in the news because it is a neurotoxin. What is paraquat and how bad is it really?
Continuing our 12 Days of Christmas series, we dedicate Day 5 to homeopathic products – which can be found in the aisles of almost every pharmacy. However, over the course of this past year, one in particular found itself more and more in the news – and less and less on the shelves.
There are a lot of Seattle Seahawks haters out there. Apparently, a popular insult hurled at the NFL team is that it is a "Johnny-come-lately" franchise supported by a bunch of fair-weather fans, now that the team is good. The problem for the haters, however, is that statistics show it's not true.
You swear you were sooo careful last year but nevertheless, the tangled Christmas lights prevail. It's knot science, and here's why!
If you have been procrastinating getting your flu shot - it's time to get to a healthcare provider or local pharmacy and get it off of your 'to-do' list. Flu statistics are watched closely at this time of year, and the last few weeks of data have shown a notable increase in the number of flu cases with experts predicting that flu activity will be increasing in the near future - specifically over the next several weeks.
2016 was a year to forget. A rough-and-tumble election, partisan rhetoric and "fake news," and the loss of many beloved and talented people -- from Prince to Carrie Fisher -- made this calendar cycle a bit more difficult than most. Surely, 2017 must have something better in store.
To ensure that it does, we all must resolve to make it so. And as a science journalist, I can do my part by adopting these four resolutions. I hope other journalists join me.
Led by the World Health Organization, a group of scientists has pulled off a miracle: a vaccine that protects again deadly Ebola 100 percent of the time. It's a remarkable moment in medicine.
We are constantly swimming in (and dying from) oceans of chemicals. But, unlike the rest of us, the chemicals never take a day off. Not even Christmas. Ya better watch out.....
The national newspaper recently published a guest essay that finally got the opioid story straight – something it previously has been unwilling, or unable, to do. The chilling essay was written by a pain management specialist who was unable to get pain meds for her dying mother-in-law, because of the takeover of medicine by the runaway DEA. The Times may have finally gotten it right (but it's worth noting that here at ACSH, we've been doing so for more than a decade).
The surge in fatal "heroin" overdoses are not really from heroin. They're from heroin spiked with, or replaced by, fentanyl, which is far more dangerous. But thanks to the power of synthetic organic chemistry, new fentanyl derivatives are unimaginably potent. One ounce of ohmefentanyl is enough to kill half the U.S. population.
In the last week, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated a demonstration project involving the bundling of care for two new diagnostic categories. First, acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) – heart attacks including their medical and minimally invasive treatment (coronary artery angioplasty and stents) and second, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) – surgery to improve/restore circulation to the heart arteries.
And I should care why? ... the presumptive new Health and Human Services Secretary is expected to cancel the demonstration, but it is more important to look at the underlying economics CMS envisions because they are the savings part of Obamacare.
If weight gain means anything to you, perhaps take a look at how many calories some of our favorite holiday beverages — champagne and eggnog — contain. (On the other hand, maybe just wait 'til after New Year's and the next resolution!)
Pagination
ACSH relies on donors like you. If you enjoy our work, please contribute.
Make your tax-deductible gift today!