Ghosts of Science - love science, not the scientist?
Twitter as Townsquare – a broken metaphor?
Twins – Identical or Similar?
Sesame and penicillin
Search
Can autonomous vehicles be made safe?
Is Sabbath the cure for burnout?
It’s back – in this case, Tulare Lake
Smoking Cessation Victorian Edition
And A Bonus Meme
Far too many scientific papers are being retracted from prestigious scientific journals because scientists fabricated or falsified data. Although no one defends scientific fraud, few recognize its long-lasting impacts on governmental policy and society.
“Electronic cigarettes are the most used tobacco products among youths in the U.S.” So begins a new report in JAMA Network Open. Given all the attempts to reduce use, how are we doing?
Reading and understanding legal decisions
Boeing is not the only company with a trust problem
Can bad science result in good regulation?
How much Vitamin D should you be taking?
Benjamin Franklin's adage linking health and wealth has persisted through time, suggesting that financial security correlates with better health and increased lifespan. A recent study delves into this relationship, specifically exploring the impact of wealth inequality on longevity in the U.S. and considering potential increases in lifespan associated with reduced wealth inequality.
There's a vital need for new and effective pain medications. Vertex just announced results from a Phase III study of its experimental drug VX-548. How well does the drug work? It's hard to tell. Here's why.
Having posted 60+ COVID articles since 2020, we both acknowledge our ongoing fixation on the subject as well as the effort to try to address the 5 W’s of journalism: who, what, when, where, and why.
Who? Everybody.
What? COVID diagnoses.
When? During 2023.
Where? The US, 10 Federal Regions, and 48 contiguous states
Why? Because the public is still getting ill, the data are out there for anyone to use.
News reports say that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working hard to regain the public’s trust after the COVID failures, by pledging to put science ahead of politics. However, its recent announcement that doctors may want to test their patients’ blood for PFAS – the “forever chemicals” – is a step back from scientifically-driven decisions.
Mutualism describes a relationship that benefits both parties – the win-win of our world. A new study reports on a mutualism that goes from ants to trees to elephants to lions and zebras. It serves as a reminder of the mutualism around us.
With the EPA finding that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans and the plaintiffs’ five-case winning streak against Bayer broken, things had been looking up on the Roundup event horizon. Alas, last week’s verdict dinged Roundup yet again. and some 40,000 cases are still pending. What can we expect next?
In December, Federal Rule of Evidence 702, the federal statutory law governing expert witness opinion's admissibility, changed. This change was made to emphasize “[E]ach expert opinion must stay within the bounds of what can be concluded from a reliable application of the expert’s basis and methodology.” This will have profound implications for mass tort cases that rely heavily on scientific evidence and the testimony of expert witnesses.
Plant-based foods
Banning Kools
A dress with a mystery
Dishing the dirt on the discovery of DNA
Just as the sun rises and sets, it's inevitable that the New Year comes with resolutions to be more active and to finally lose those pounds, holiday or otherwise. This year, social media is talking about "sequential meals" – the “natural” form of semaglutide (i.e., Wegovy).
Research to find a vaccine to prevent norovirus infection has been going on forever, with little to show for it. But a new study uses a novel approach with llama-derived (yes, you read that correctly) antibodies called nanobodies. I hope they get over the "hump." (1)
“Let food be thy medicine, let medicine be thee food” – Hippocrates. That ancient wisdom, in an era where our dietary choices impact metabolic disorders, specifically Type II diabetes, has spawned an interest in food-as-medicine programs. A new study suggests that Hippocrates might have been overselling his dictum.
Just before Christmas, the FDA approved a new tool in the government’s unrelenting and largely unsuccessful battle on opioid abuse. The tool screens for a genetic susceptibility to opioid use disorder (OUD).
And here’s a soundoff of my favorite articles of the last year.
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of the topics I have covered this past year.
[apologies to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II]
Food loss and waste is a global concern. 30 to 40% of our annual production, 80 billion pounds of food, are wasted annually, or, in more human terms, 242 pounds per person. 22% of our landfills are filled with wasted food. A new study examines the intersection of environmental concerns and meat-related food loss.
Methadone has been known to be an effective treatment for opioid addiction and dependency since the 1960s. Unfortunately, in this country, since 1972, the federal government segregates people with opioid use disorder from people with other health conditions that doctors treat in their offices by requiring them to travel miles each day to take a daily dose of methadone at government-approved clinics. Congress may soon undertake the first serious reform in how people get methadone in more than a half-century.
A vacation is a tough time to get sick or hurt. It's even tougher when you might have a perfectly legitimate need for a controlled substance, but can't get it from any urgent care facility. The result? Instead of getting an effective drug for what ails you you get tossed out with something nearly worthless. This just happened to my wife. Here's the story. It's infuriating.
The wellness world loves science washing. By using technical-sounding jargon, it’s easy to add a sheen of legitimacy to an otherwise nonsensical product or offering. One of the most recent examples is Functional Blood Chemistry Analysis, or FBCA.
Congestive heart failure refers to the inability of the heart to perform its basic function, which is pumping blood throughout the body. It comes in various forms, causing swelling of the legs and shortness of breath. It is a very debilitating condition that few outside medicine are aware of. A new study offers a unique treatment, but more importantly for our discussion, it sheds light on how “science” advances and looks at an infrequently used term, hormesis.
Anuses are like martinis. Some like 'em dry and some don't. And in the bathroom, a similar debate continues. Hardly a day goes by when the bidet vs. toilet paper war fails to rear its ugly head. This is only one more reason why ACSH – flush with newsworthy articles – is the place to go to learn about this and similarly vital issues. Buckle up.
Pagination
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