Almost 100 years ago, Sinclair Lewis wrote a novel about a doctor trying to elevate scientific discovery over the pursuit of wealth that often accompanies the practice of medicine.
The story was about young Dr. Martin Arrowsmith, who discovers a new treatment for bubonic plague. It appears the drug works – but without rigorous controlled experiments, who can be sure? Arrowsmith wants to play by the scientific rules and hold off universal dispensation until he can "prove" the efficacy of the treatment using controlled studies -- all the while people are dying around him.
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There are three major reasons why SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, will never be eradicated.
There’s a new diet that’s the talk of the town. It advocates eating more calories, not less. So is it all fad, or is there a grain of truth to it?
An especially malignant fallacy is now circulating in the news, that the spike in COVID deaths can be explained by financial gain to physicians. That is totally untrue, and it's an unprecedented slap in the face to doctors and other healthcare workers. In a lesser-noticed moment, HHS moves towards more transparent healthcare costs.
It's looking like winter will arrive with rising numbers of cases in the U.S. and Europe. Hospitals are again beginning to fill up. But there's some evidence that the hard-won lessons in treating COVID-19 are beginning to improve outcomes.
There's nothing like fear to generate abnormal behavior. And in the age of COVID-19 there's plenty of fear going around (so expect a lot of it). In the past few months, we've seen that one of these odd behaviors is attributed to a significant number of health-news headlines recommending vitamin C to purportedly assist one's immune response to COVID-19. Let's take a closer look.
For your consideration this time 'round: An American woodworker ... the neurology of being in "the flow" ... a guide to reading in the tsunami of information and misinformation ... and a consideration of whether cells "think."
In these uncertain times, the annual celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a welcomed tradition. While it's true that many of our in-person gatherings have converted to virtual ones, this has not dampened the power of pink in our lives.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo would rather allow more Americans to become infected with and die from coronavirus than to allow an imperfect vaccine distribution plan to proceed.
We've finally had some amazing (and badly needed) news about COVID. Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are about 95 percent protective against COVID. But perhaps more importantly, according to interim analyses, Moderna's vaccine is 100% protective against severe COVID. This number is not only more impressive but may also be more clinically relevant.
Reports of an H5N8 influenza virus spreading among birds across the globe understandably have generated concern. However, H5 viruses do not pose a direct threat to the health of the vast majority of humans on the planet, at least not yet.
From vaping to cutting-edge biotechnology, UK health regulators do a far better job than their American counterparts. This was proven yet again when the UK beat the U.S. FDA at approving a coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer, an American company.
Statistics and science aren't the same thing. Moreover, statisticians aren't fortune tellers, yet we continue to treat them as if they are. It's time to stop.
A new paper attempts to create the best estimate for the COVID infection-fatality rate (IFR), which answers the question, "If I get sick, what is the chance that I will die?" Beware: The virus discriminates.
Antioxidants are one of the holy grails for marketers of a wide variety of food and supplemental products. For many, the term "antioxidant" has become synonymous through repetition with better health and the prevention of a myriad of ailments. In essence, antioxidants have been misconceived to be a magic bullet for health and longevity.
Being discharged from the hospital after illness or surgery is only the beginning of recovery. As with many infrequently-spoken moments in healthcare, COVID-19 has revealed the long road to recovery for "long-haulers," those whose symptoms linger for months. As a new study reports, this isn’t a new finding specific to the virus. (Of course, any experienced physician might have told you that already.)
Toilet paper always flies off the shelves when there's a crisis, whether it's real or perceived. But after nine months of COVID, there's a new "panic item": antacids. Here's why.
Millions of consumers believe that organics are more nutritious than conventionally grown foods. But this defies basic plant physiology.
The Pew Research Center released a survey of 12,648 Americans on their current views on COVID-19. The headline was the increasing interest in vaccinations, up now to 60% of those surveyed, since Pfizer and Moderna's announcements. But the headline left a lot of great information "below the fold," if mentioned at all. This special edition of Every Picture Tells A Story shares a few of the salient findings.
'Tis the Season. And while shopping has changed, what to get someone remains a problem for all of us. A new paper by the scientists of commerce, marketers, reminds us of what gives the greatest happiness.
Many people have a very legitimate question: "Should I get immunized with the coronavirus vaccine if I already had COVID?" The answer is yes.
Though we spent about nine months of the year focused almost exclusively on COVID, we did find time to debunk pseudoscientific nonsense. Here are the top 10 junk science and bogus health claims we debunked in 2020.
We need new coronavirus variants like a duodenal ulcer, but they're here – something any virologist would have said was inevitable. Here's a lesson on how mutation works. Plus an explanation of what those crazy letters and numbers mean that you see in the news.
On Nov. 25, 2020, the Supreme Court decided Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Andrew Cuomo [1] in a 5-4 ruling. That decision struck down Gov. Cuomo's executive order limiting to ten the number of individuals who could gather in places of worship in hard-hit “red zones.” As COVID's US toll continues to increase and vaccination efforts fumble, we can expect frustrated governors and public health officials to seek to enforce a broader panoply of lockdown orders. The Diocese case teaches a few lessons to assure new orders don’t trespass on the new-found Religious devotion of the Supreme Court.
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