In 1966, Dr. Donald Henderson, M.D., M.P.H spearheaded the World Health Organization’s war on smallpox virus and by 1977 science had won. Thanks to him and fellow ACSH scientific advisor Dr. William H. Foege, the smallpox vaccine was added to the measles program in West Africa during the 1970s and the disease was eradicated.
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Sharing is caring, right? Researchers from Belgium have discovered that, after some years, married couples' immune systems tend to look alike. This isn't surprising, given that many couples share the same lifestyle habits; from eating the same meals, exercising together, and sharing the same germs when one spouse is sick.. Gross. Kinda cute, but gross.
Online weight-loss programs are convenient — you can access them from home whenever it suits you. But how good are they? It's hard to tell sometimes just from looking at the site. A new study suggests that consumers and their healthcare providers take a close look before advising or using many of these sites.
If you have a hidden agenda, it’s best to try and hide it. That's what we’d recommend after reading a misleading, unbalanced report on the website Quartz. The reporter's unsupported piece isn’t really about meat consumption and how it’s making men sick — it's about meat and how it’s making her sick.
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio winning his first-ever Oscar at the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday was every bit as satisfying as it should have been. But It was during DiCaprio's acceptance speech that left me, and a few others, a bit confused.
Mosquito season is around the corner, and there may be an extra surprise this year, depending on how Zika behaves. So, do you slop DEET all over your kids? Spray to kill the mosquitoes? Some are calling for the use of DDT. But if you're scared of chemicals, you might actually prefer DDT to DEET. Here's how they compare.
With the nation's sharp rise of marijuana use over the last decade, researchers sought to determine how the drug affects a user's ability to recognize the emotions of others. A recent Colorado State University study found that cannabis users were less able to identify moods and to express empathy.
Competitive eater Molly Schuyler stands 5-foot-7 and weighs just 125 pounds. Her petite frame appears to be at odds with her staggering prowess to gorge herself, which left us scratching our heads in incredulity. How does someone manage to eat so much, yet maintain such a seemingly healthy physique?
Why does cursing feel so darn satisfying? And why is it so taboo?
Science says, expletives can help express many emotions, and in some cases, they can relieve pain! It's true, we swear!
Several previous studies have shown that common baseball overuse injuries in the U.S. have become a serious concern. But the first study focusing on the effects of a "well-monitored preseason training program" involving teenaged pitchers found that the regimen improved strength and arm flexibility, while reducing risk of injury.
Duke University researchers are developing a blood test that is able to accurately identify -- 87 percent of the time -- whether the source of an upper respiratory infection is caused by a viral or bacterial agent.
Bariatric, or weight loss, surgery works. A severely obese person might lose 50 percent of his or her excess body fat in the first year after such surgery. One question that has lingered for decades is: How long do such effects last? Another is: Do people gain back the weight that they've lost and, if so, how quickly does that happen?
As of now, all Zika infections that were transmitted by mosquitoes have been a result of the Aedes mosquito, which is found in warm areas. But now, the 800-pound pest in the room is whether the far more common Culex family of mosquitoes might be able to transmit the virus, which can make this issue more disturbing.
Ever feel like you walk into a room and forget why you went in there in the first place? Relax, you don't have early onset memory loss. Scientists have pegged this phenomenon the "Doorway Effect." Watch our video to see how it works.
Black and white Americans, especially men, differ with respect to their risk of lung cancer from smoking exposure. But depending on the metric used, the reasons for this difference is not clear. A new study uses a more detailed computation of exposure to help clarify the different exposure levels.
Rather than working up a sweat by using weights and machines, some are instead embracing a growing trend that claims to provide a reprieve from daily stress by curling themselves into hammocks and meditation pods. But when a class encourages relaxation to the point where it puts people to sleep, we can't help but be a bit skeptical.
Thanks to a really idiotic Vermont law, food companies all over the U.S. are scrambling to make thoroughly useless changes to their labels, specifying whether any GM ingredients are in their products. Providing no scientific merit, the law seems to be designed simply to benefit Vermont. Guess who will pay the higher prices for this nonsense?
The use of intrauterine devices (IUDs) and hormonal implants, while helping protect against unwanted pregnancy, also have their downsides. That's because teens and young women who use them frequently forgo using condoms, which heightens the risk of getting sexually-transmitted diseases.
In trying to determine whether nightmares and suicidal behavior are in any way related, perhaps the first question that surfaces relates to causation. Yet while a new study, claiming new findings, tries to build a connection between the two issues, the research appears suspect in more ways that one.
What started off as a company which gleefully offered revolutionary technology and promises of breakthrough performance, Theranos seems to have failed miserably. Egregious errors were found when California investigators paid a visit to one of its facilities.
A recent published study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center claims that 16,000 premature births are linked to air pollution, with costs exceeding $4 billion. But how accurate are these estimates? What's more, studies like this are rarely able to prove causation.
An analysis of 87 studies squashed the notion that moderate consumption of alcohol (including wine) has any benefit to longevity. This comes after earlier research seemed to indicate the opposite. We wish science would make up its mind.
Each bottle of beer you drink makes you a bit more inebriated. Each cigarette you smoke increases your chances of damaging your lungs. Now, researchers say they've learned that each hour worked increases an individual's chances of developing heart disease. However, there are caveats to this finding.
The news about Zika keeps coming, and it's not good. A new Lancet study estimates that the fetuses of 1 in 100 women who become infected with the virus during their first trimester will be microcephalic, meaning that they'll be born with undersized heads. Given the number of infections in Brazil alone, this is a disturbingly high number.
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