Several years after Obamacare was approved, healthcare costs continue to rise in America. The question of why – and, perhaps more importantly, how much of these costs should be covered by the government – continue to spark intense political debate. New research may shed some light on this issue.
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Is there gender discrimination in payments made to physicians? Not by Medicare, Medicaid or insurance companies. So why does Doximity, a social network of physicians, say it exists? It all depends on what you're measuring.
With warm weather, it's necessary to be aware of the usual tick-transmitted suspects, Lyme disease and the West Nile virus. These are nasty enough, but there's a bad boy out there that makes them look like creamed spinach. Meet the Powassan virus. It is pure evil.
Leishmaniasis, transmitted by a sandfly bite, causes 500,000 cases of visceral disease and 1.5 million cases of cutaneous disease – resulting in 50,000 deaths annually. The drugs to treat it are terrible. If the parasite doesn’t kill you, the treatment may make you wish it had.
Poor people are forced to eat junk food because of cost, and that's why they are obese. Right? That's a great narrative, but it's simply not true. Here's how it really is.
Roughly 30-40% of the population has a genetic predisposition to celiac disease. However the amount of people who actually have it is about only 1%. Beyond genetics, what makes this autoimmune disorder affect those in this group? A new study suggests it might be a viral infection – one that often goes unnoticed.
Recently the comedian and late-night TV host told a "terrifying" tale of the discovery and treatment of his newborn son's unexpected congenital heart defect. Let's analyze the timeline of events.
The American College of Surgeons recently announced submissions of their plan for attribution of care and physician payment to the Health and Human Services Department’s Planning and Evaluation Office of Health Policy. Let's discuss their approach to attribution, since surgery is a team activity.
Recently, in a room full of microbiologists, this question was posed: "How many of you believe climate change is the world's #1 threat?" Silence. Not a single person's hand was raised. Were they all rejecting science? No, not at all. They just didn't see it as threatening as antibiotic resistance, pandemic disease or geopolitical instability.
High-profile incidents in which a mentally ill person commits a violent crime has led to the stereotype that these struggling people all pose a dire threat to society. But a team of researchers, studying data from more than 75,000 patients, has developed a model that accurately predicts which patients are unlikely to become violent.
Immunology studies the way we maintain our body’s integrity – “immunity’s central motif” – as well as our definition of self. Differentiating our self from "other" has many scales, and it's been used to separate tribes, ethnicities, nations. So in addition to cells, can immunology also help us understand the interactions of humans?
Following the multi-year drought in the west and northwest, the question being raised is whether the mighty sequoia – which requires massive amounts of water – has been weakened or otherwise compromised. While there's no precise answer to that now, arborists are seeing signs that water depletion could be a real threat.
By demonizing biotechnology and conventional agriculture, Whole Foods has profited handsomely. But with its recent financial struggles, it would be nice if the sales downturn was the result of Americans waking up to the fact that the chain has been lying to them for years.
For those who want raw fish, such as sushi, freshness is absolutely mandatory. However, old fish is still problematic even if cooked. So a group of Taiwanese researchers developed a semiconductor sensor that detects fish freshness in 60 seconds.
Medical researchers with the Navy in San Diego concluded that young male adults who watched pornography were more likely to be dissatisfied with actual sexual encounters. And the more porn they consumed the more desensitized they became to human interaction – while increasing their risk of experiencing erectile dysfunction.
1. Organic Consumers Association, and the groups it funds, like US Right To Know and the lawyer-run partisan attack site Sourcewatch, may be in a lot of trouble.
NYU physicist Alan Sokal thought very little of the research performed by his colleagues in the social sciences. To prove his point, he wrote a paper that used plenty of trendy buzz words but made absolutely no sense. As he later explained, Dr. Sokal wanted to find out if a humanities journal would "publish an article liberally salted with nonsense if (a) it sounded good and (b) it flattered the editors' ideological preconceptions."
Whole Foods lies 9 different times, and that is just on the landing page of its Organics section.
Here's something encouraging for people who buy pain cream for minor, short-term issues: It actually works.
Soliris is a drug for an orphan disease, one which affects relatively few people. While these types of drugs are inherently more expensive, the market expected a price tag of $100,000 – not the actual cost of $500,000. How did the manufacturer Alexion come up with this astronomical price?
In Part 1, we considered "the spread," which is the difference between the cost of a product or service and the price charged for it. Here it Part 2, we examine the factors and pressures that create this difference.
For smokers who want to quit, nicotine vaping devices are safer alternatives to cigarettes. The use of E-cigarettes has recently been approved, with some common-sense restrictions, in New Zealand.
It glistens, oozes, sometimes sparkles and seems to be everywhere: in homes, schools and offices, and on travel gear and key chains. So it's no wonder that kids are accidentally – and even intentionally – ingesting hand sanitizer. The result can be signs of alcohol toxicity.
How would you feel about unlicensed pilots flying commercial airliners? Or if we allowed every motorist to determine which side of the street to drive on? Council advisor Dr. David Seres ponders why we allow untested supplements to be used as drugs.
Older mothers may be better – or maybe not. But when a study is based on moms' answers to a questionnaire about their own children, it's also possible that older mothers just think their children are more perfect than how younger moms view their kids.
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