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Epidurals are the most common method of labor pain relief in the United States. The procedure involves injecting medication near the spinal column to provide continuous pain relief to the lower body. In the past, many health professionals would not administer epidurals until a

The National Center for Health Statistics released their annual report on mortality last week, and not so surprisingly, they found that the life expectancy in 2012 for older adults has continued to increase. Currently, a 65 year old will live on an average an additional 19.3 years: about 18 years for men and almost 21 years for

ACSH S Dr. Gil Ross was quoted in the Washington Examiner yesterday in an article dealing with a House committee member s concerns about the FDA and the USDA s approach to handling evaluations and reporting on pesticide residues on food. His opinion differed from a rep. from the Pesticide Action Network, as you would imagine.

Eggs were once thought to be linked to an increased risk of heart disease due to the cholesterol-rich yolks. Groups like the American Heart Association quickly promoted this idea, advising people not to consume the

A cogent commentary in the Teton Valley News notes that advocates of labeling laws are trying to solve a problem that does not exist.

California s Proposition 65 is a law that helps no one except perhaps trial lawyers and bounty hunters.

Dr. Alan Moghissi of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (and former chairman of the ACSH Board of Directors) and colleagues cogently reviewed the evolution of

In today s don t believe what you read entry, we have a real doozy.
It s all over the news. Girls who drink more sugar sweetened soda have their first period a few months earlier than those who don t.

Last month, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) weighed in on bisphenol A (BPA), saying exactly what we ve said all along, BPA poses no health risk to

Some junk science studies can be difficult to detect. Some, however, require no effort at all. Here we have one shining example of the latter not that you could tell from all the media hype surrounding this nonsense.
The new Nature article, claiming that artificial sweeteners might contribute to obesity, seemed to be so chemically naive, that ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, after a brief perusal of the authors and their affiliations, saw that the answer was obvious.

A new, large cohort analysis from the prospective Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, indicates that

According to a report in the New York Times, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its latest masterpiece of misdirection an 80,000 item database of foods that purports to help consumers decide which foods are most healthful.

Atrial fibrillation (A-fib), a common irregularity of the heartbeat (arrhythmia), has been shown to be a major cause of strokes. Now even silent strokes are linked to this condition. Blood thinning is a necessity to prevent them.

An op-ed by family medicine practitioner Victoria Dooley, MD, in today s New York Times discusses the problems engendered when people who say they are allergic to certain antibiotics actually aren t and why this is a deadly problem.

In yesterday s New York Times Well Column, Jane E. Brody discusses memory and cognitive aging solutions and the science (or lack thereof) behind them. There are a variety of these remedies and devices currently on the

Sandra Lee, well-known TV chef and Gov. Cuomo s domestic partner, has decided to deal with her DCIS with bilateral mastectomies. She is of course entitled to make her own decision, but her example and statements may lead other women astray.

Well before its media talking points were released, it was assumed the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) would name the herbicide glyphosate a probable human carcinogen - in sharp contrast to findings by the EPA, the American Council on Science and Health and every legitimate science body.
How could that be? The short answer is that IARC does no original research, they review studies and their metric for inclusion, along with their metric for picking the panels that meet in secret to make their conclusions, are unknown.

When it comes to using microwave ovens, all the usual suspects line up to attack the appliance. The fountain of misinformation, Joe Mercola warns it kills more people than cigarettes and asbestos. Natural news, which is run by Mike Adams (who makes Mercola seem like Louis Pasteur) claims that everything from obesity to erectile dysfunction is

An op-ed in Forbes.com by James Conca notes the benefits of nuclear power in helping to ameliorate, to some extent, the disastrous drought now gripping California (and to a lesser extent, Oregon and Washington). Specifically, he notes the nuclear reactor at Diablo

If there is a better example of what happens when junk science meets reality, good luck finding it. Look no further than today s New York Times article about how a misguided attempt to solve a non-problem turned into a real problem.

A family in rural Pennsylvania bore the sad fruits of believing in products that could not possibly help when illness struck. We hope this tragedy can be a lesson for others possibly vulnerable to the siren call of phony health remedies: this time it s homeopathy.
Eighteen-month old toddler Ho

Pope Francis can claim many firsts; he is the first non-European Pope since 741 AD, the first from the Americas and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. Given his nuanced positions on science issues like climate change and agriculture, some might also consider him the first scientific Pope. That isn't correct, but he may be the most scientific in history.
Francis is not scientific due to credentialism, he does not have any advanced degree in chemistry. Instead, he is scientific by behavior.

Well-known vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the Sacramento screening of anti-vaccine documentary Trace Amounts on Tuesday and gave a speech to the audience, and as expected, it was filled with dangerous and unscientific misinformation. In light of the upcoming hearing for California Senate Bill

Unless you re living under a rock, you must be aware that overweight and obesity are rampant among the American population, and that these conditions (especially obesity) are linked to a myriad of chronic ills such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Despite an increase in awareness and public health efforts, the diabetes epidemic in America persists. The CDC estimates 21 million Americans were living with diabetes as of 2010 with 1.5 million new cases being diagnosed each year