Search results

Pancreatic cancer is the most aggressive, least treatable form of the disease, and in a large majority of cases it reduces the victim's life expectancy to a matter of months. German researchers say they've discovered why it's so ravenous, and they've traced the cancer's aggressiveness to a key factor in its earliest growth and composition.

It's one year after Berkeley, CA instituted a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, and the results are in. Among them: there was no significant  drop in caloric intake, even using self-reports and their known limitations. So consumers paid a bit more and saw no benefit. 

How does a physician medically disqualify someone from serving on a jury? One potential consideration might include those who have a profound disability or illness. However, the guidelines vary from state to state.

The Trump Administration has convened a panel to address America's opioid epidemic. Its first mission should be to find convincing data to identify the actual cause(s) of the problem. That will be much harder than it sounds, since ideologues are always in plentiful supply.

Metabolomics is an emerging field that studies the "unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind." In this case, it's applied to what we eat. And coupled with machine learning, this may well give us very personalized diets to improve our health.

One in 10 have a major depressive disorder during their lives, which makes depression the most common mental illness. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression. Depression has both a genetic component and it's connected to environmental factors. But the genetic component has been difficult to determine.

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.

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.

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. 

Energy emissions are in the news, but some claims are just more politicization of science. To paraphrase Virgil, Americans should beware environmental Greeks bearing expensive gifts.

The meme that "natural is safe" can get you into trouble in many ways. It's one that's appropriate at this time of year, when gardens and flowers are on our minds, since some plants are naturally deadly. Here are a few commonly found in our gardens and often available from nurseries, as well.

Childbirth is an unpredictable, sometimes traumatic event – in even the best of situations. Fortunately, most babies do quite well. Now, imagine having a condition where the act itself causes innumerable bones to break, making it life-threatening. 

There's been enough devastation on the street caused by fentanyl replacing heroin. Now there's a new twist to the story: Fentanyl, with or without other drugs, is showing up in the form of copycats of Vicodin and Percoset. They're coming from Mexico, manufactured by cartels, which have reportedly produced overdoses and deaths. 

Flight operations for the F-35 fighter jet were suspended until further notice due to multiple episodes of apparent oxygen deprivation to pilots. Aviation physiology is quite complex. Here's the impact of hypoxia, gravitational forces and altitude.

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?

Drug shortages are being reported more frequently; physicians are asked to postpone elective care. Rather than continue to blame greed or hidden agendas perhaps we might consider the findings of the Government Accountability Office.

Here's something encouraging for people who buy pain cream for minor, short-term issues: It actually works.

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.

The common belief that hot water must be used to wash hands effectively just received a chilly reception from researchers from Rutgers University. Their study concluded that the temperature of the water doesn't matter, and that it's not linked to cleanliness. What does matter is using soap, and washing thoroughly for 10 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.

When it comes to coconut oil, the greasy stuff is best used on your skin, not melted in a pan meant for eating. The 100% fat in this oil isn't healthier than olive oil, or any other cooking oil. Has mainstream media finally caught on?