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Given the low mortality from slow-growing, localized prostate cancers and the side effects of many treatments, deciding whether to opt for monitoring or treatment can be excruciatingly difficult.

Social media influencers (SMI) are a growing advertising market, returning nearly six dollars for every dollar invested – a return on investment of 5.78. These SMI are the next step in direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing. A new study looks at the patient influencers in healthcare.

When on a diet, especially one that requires 25% fewer calories, time seems to go so slowly between meals. Does that perception of time result in a slowing of our aging? A new study considers the relationship between calorie reduction and the clocks that measure our biological, rather than chronological, aging.

It's the end and beginning of an era. With this in mind, I provide a retrospective of blogs going back over a decade.

AI. Blah blah blah. You can’t turn on the news without hearing about it constantly. So I decided to see if it knew chemistry. With a few exceptions, it did very well. Even when I tried to trick it.

Roughly 2.4 billion people use “polluting fuels … to meet their daily cooking needs.” That includes 83% of the population living in sub-Saharan Africa. A study in Nature Sustainability suggests that for these low-income populations cooking with gas is a big step forward. Is this the invisible hand of Big Gas, some form of economic imperialism, or the best fit for the circumstances?

An abundance of caution, we have all heard the phrase. And while there are nuances, its gist is, for this particular situation, we are extra careful. And in what situations does that apply? For the most part, situations in which there is a remote chance of a catastrophic outcome that puts its thumb on the scale when measuring risk and benefit. But like the thumb on the grocery scale, it throws off the enterprising of weighing choices and often has stealth costs of its own.

Is it really asking too much to have a few weeks of microbiological peace? Apparently, it is. Just as we are finally chucking the masks, upchucking is waiting in the wings. There are some signs of a bad norovirus ("stomach flu") season. Lovely.

The simple formulation "calories in vs. calories out," somewhat explains weight gain or loss. A new study takes a deeper look at four components of calorie intake and how they change across various dietary patterns. Are tasty hyper-palatable foods the “Great Satan?”

The Texas Two-Step is a law allowing for the creation of a corporation that subsequently files for bankruptcy, thereby allowing product liability claims to move into bankruptcy court. J&J was the latest corporate filer until a federal judge said, not so fast.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its recommendations on stockpiling medications to be used in the aftermath of a radiological or nuclear attack or a nuclear power plant emergency. It seems like an excellent opportunity to review some of the different types of “anti-radiation” meds and what they do.

Bees are vital to our lives; without them, there would be no almonds, and few apples, onions, blueberries, carrots, or even, perish the thought, coffee. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, "more than half of North America’s 4,000 native bee species are in decline, with 1 in 4 species at risk of extinction.” The standard narrative in the words of Food and Water Watch is that “Bee colonies are in the midst of a massive die-off, thanks to dangerous pesticides that poison them and destroy their habitats.” A new study in Nature debunks that belief.  

A new study looks at an old “problem.” How do primary care physicians decide on referrals to specialists, such as surgeons? Hint: It is not the same way they choose medications.

Accelerated approval is intended to get needed drugs to patients, but there are sometimes distortions and complications in the process that should be addressed.

Spring brings new growth and new hopes. COVID infections continue, as do vaccine-driven hopes for relief. The White House announced that COVID-19 national and public health emergencies (PHE) will expire on May 11, but a Lancet editorial pronounced that the pandemic is “far from over.” We have been tracking its progress for three years - It’s time to take stock and go out on the shaky limb of prediction.

In February, 2021, the CDC published its mask mandate in the federal register requiring a person to “wear a mask while boarding, disembarking or traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States.” Exemptions were provided for specific medical conditions. Several plaintiffs suffering anxiety disturbances from masking  (which was not exempted) sued the CDC in Florida district court for exceeding its statutory authority (and for other issues). The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and is on appeal. The case directly addresses the powers of the CDC to act during public health emergencies in interstate transport and commerce.

If you're one of the 100% of viewers who want to put a brick through your TV when one of the ceaseless, nauseating Ozempic ads comes on there's hope on the horizon. Pfizer has a pill that seems to work as well as the O-O-O-Ozempic injections. Perhaps this will shut up those wretched ads. A look at Pfizer's clinical trial data.

Chatbots – trainable software applications capable of conducting intelligent, informed conversations with users – have tremendous potential for vast societal benefits but also tremendous mischief. We are at the earliest stage of the learning curve.

Nitrates – widely used preservatives – are found in a variety of foods. Are they good or bad? After all, they can form nitrosamines, recognized carcinogens. A new study uses the metaphor of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to separate science truth from science fiction. Here’s what I learned.

A recent prospective study of post-surgical patients confirms what many other studies have already shown: prescribing opioids to control pain carries a very low risk of addiction or misuse.

The nightly news often brings a surfeit of environmental disasters: forest fires, floods, tornados, drought, iceberg melting. What have we done to deserve them? Here I draw on various sources of climate change data to provide some understanding of what may lie ahead.

New York State's legislators are about to place drastic restrictions on neonicotinoids ("neonics"), a popular, safe, and effective class of pesticides. They're putting the bogus claims of activists ahead of the welfare of consumers and farmers. Let's hope Governor Hochul will be more sensible and veto the bill.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) cited a new toxicology study that linked PM2.5 air pollution with the growth of lung cells having “pre-existing oncogenic variants” that could promote lung cancer in mice. Because “the light is better underneath the lamppost,” there is an epidemiologic predilection for ascribing blame to the pollutants for which we have the most data, like PM2.5

Long COVID burdens tens of millions of Americans and the nation's healthcare system, but our response to it has been fragmented and chaotic. We need to address it without delay, with more research and better access to treatment.

A new study in the journal Nature examines what happens when pancreatic cancer cells are deprived of glucose, their normal fuel. Do the cells stop growing? No, they adapt by switching "fuels" to a different, ubiquitous biomolecule: uridine. The authors suggest that this discovery could lead to new treatments for this deadly cancer.