On the Today show, actor Charlie Sheen told the world that he is HIV-positive. This was once considered a death sentence. However, it is now possible to manage this chronic disease, and nearly eliminate the risk of transmission by suppressing the viral load. Here's an explanation on how that's done.
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Some new, alarming information from the World Health Organization shows that we need a better understanding of how to correct the problem of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. A large, multi-country survey revealed widespread confusion of how antibiotics should be used.
It's a popular product found in many sugar-free foods in your kitchen, but if your furry friend gets a hold of it, it could be deadly.
A new questionnaire assesses fear of not having your smartphone - they call it nomophobia - no mobile phone phobia.
Omega 3 fatty acids (from fish oil) have been touted as a cure-all for pretty much every malady on the planet. With very rare exceptions, once studied properly, they end up being useless. If this depresses you, don't take fish oil. It just failed in a trial that examined whether it could treat depression. With commentary from ACSH advisor, Dr. David Seres.
Implanted insulin pumps deliver regular, blood-sugar-based insulin doses to Type 1 diabetes patients, who are often children and teens. This study documents the variability in utilizing this state-of-the-art therapy among various nations, and asks why such variability exists and how it can be remedied.
Trained first responders need to stick to interrupted rescue breathing when performing CPR, as opposed to chest compressions only. According to the largest study of its kind, continuous chest compressions did not offer a better chance of survival, when compared to interrupted chest pumping for performing rescue breathing.
On Dec. 10, 1990, Connie Chung generated a shock wave of fear over silicone breast implants. The impact of a TV report by the former CBS News reporter was instantaneous and powerful, producing a new low in one-sided, fear-mongering journalism. Yet today, it remains in the pantheon of all false-science reporting ever perpetrated on the American public.
How obesity feeds into insulin resistance remains somewhat of a mystery. A new study, which confined normal-weight men to hospital beds while having them consume 6,000 calories per day, sheds some light onto the possible cause of insulin resistance in the obese.
A new study just published in the journal Reproductive Toxicology warns that chemicals commonly found in cleaning products quartenary ammonium compounds can reduce fertility. But there are problems with this study. Here's what we found.
The genome editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9 is changing many fields in biology with its precision and simplicity. Here's what you need to know.
An unusual deer with fangs,would make Bambi from Disney sprint for his life, was spotted last year in a remote forest in Afghanistan. This mysterious and peculiar animal has survived decades of poaching and hunting.
"Tis the season to be wary, what with vampires and ghouls roaming around the neighborhood. But what may be more scary is coffee.
Roughly 200 million people contract the malarial parasite annually, and in 2013 malaria was the cause of 500,000 deaths worldwide. According to a recent study, a new genetic engineering technique is showing great promise in eliminating the mosquitos that carry the deadly disease.
The battle of medicine vs. bacteria has been going quite poorly for more than two decades, primarily due to antibiotic resistance. The last thing we need is giving these bugs another edge. But in China, a newly-discovered gene can spread to many types of bacteria, and render useless some antibiotics that are our last line of defense against unresponsive infections.
A new study in JAMA Oncology proves that a type of the human papillomavirus, known to cause cervical and anal cancer, also causes cancers of the throat and head and neck. The proof of this revelation came via a simple, yet elegant method.
An advancement in online optometry is giving patients in need of a doctor's eye exam another option. Easy, convenient and affordable, this newest approach simplifies the check-up and prescription process. But without overall eye care being addressed, any hoopla over this kind of internet access might be premature.
A recent meta-analysis concluded, counterintuitively, that e-cigarettes might actually increase smoking instead of reducing it. How could that be? Dr. Stan Young, a ACSH Scientific Advisory Panel member, details how a meta-analysis works, and how it is so often misused.
In a sense, you could describe most modern medications as judiciously applied poisons. And as guest writer Frank Schnell explains, that is just one facet to grasp if you're seeking the understand the confusing concept known as hormesis.
It's holiday time, and time for holiday drinks, too. But should we be concerned about the alcohol consumption that seems to proliferate at this time of year? Recent research is reassuring, as long as you consume moderate amounts and don't overdo it.
Sexual dysfunction occurs in about 40 percent of women, yet it frequently goes underreported. Depending on the etiology, various treatment options exist that can help women who may be too shy to ask.
Counterfeit drugs are readily available online. Indeed, a nonprofit group has found that 94 percent of drugs bought over the web were fake, substandard or toxic. So do yourself a favor: Don't buy drugs online, period.
Eating too red much meat is not only a public health concern, but according to some it's also contributing to the climate change crisis. Thats's the take-home message from a published report saying that the livestock sector contributes almost 15 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions towards the global total.
As the year winds down, we share with you some of our notable videos of the year; some made us laugh, some made us cringe, and some made us better advocates for sound science.
While consumers across the U.S. have embraced, and are enjoying, the benefits of genetically-modified products, papaya-loving Hawaiians had less of a choice when an agricultural crisis struck the state in the 1990s. But by using a cell-inserting device, plant specialists eradicated a deadly virus and saved a vital industry.
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