Search results

The tale of an eggplant's exit from the body. Always a fun experience! 

Unless they're eradicated smallpox-style, infectious diseases never disappear. Like an unlucky penny, they can show up at any time. Three stories from around the U.S. serve to underscore a crucial lesson.

Does closer supervision of doctors in training result in greater patient safety? Does the practice make for better physicians? It seems that it's all about the stress and anxiety of taking off training wheels.

While not formally approved by the FDA, the concept is simple: Replenish the good bacteria and control the disease-causing bacteria.

Humans suffer from "do something syndrome." New research shows that 51% of Americans want to be screened for cancer, even if explicitly told that the cancer screen is completely ineffective.

More than a third of kids are using dietary supplements. Due to the many preventable, adverse drug reactions they cause – such as arrhythmias and cardiovascular events – researchers set out to quantify pediatric and adolescent intake.

When it comes to cigarettes vs. vaping, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Here's why we can't preach an abstinence-only approach to nicotine.

Coffee is alternately championed and derided for its health effects. A new study introduces the genetics of caffeine metabolism into the conversation. 

It was discovered that Ali Watkins, the newspaper's national security reporter, slept with a source who was an aide to the Senate Intelligence Committee. That source has now been arrested as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information. A breakdown in journalistic ethics, to say the least.

1. The BBC was into poop - the still-ongoing trend of public serial poopers - and linked to work by Dr. Jamie Wells on it. That wasn't the only place this fad was noted. 

Keith Humphreys, a psychologist, writes about opioids for The Washington Post. But he has an unusual take on the matter. Does Humphreys know what he's talking about? Let's see. 

The recent reporting on Flint's water crisis by CNN's Christiane Amanpour has a tenuous grasp of the data and the reality. 

The cost of the annual cookout is down. But as we thank our farmers we should remember that what is good for the consumer may not be as good for the producer.

The departure of Soup CEO Denise Morrison is the fifteenth CEO change at a large packaged food company in the last two-and-a-half years. What do they all share in common? They apologized for being in business and chased a vocal consumer segment that hates them - the "nocebo" community that seeks out products based on what they claim not to have on the label.

Infectious disease remains a national and global security threat. With the ease in which people can travel around the world, we should expect other exotic diseases to arrive in America. Ebola, Lassa, and Zika have already done so, and yet-to-be-identified microbes are also likely to be imported.

This law firm shows no concern for the truth. It fits comfortably and profitably into our postmodern world, in which truth and lies are no longer distinguishable. Unscrupulous people can make a lot of money by exploiting the public's confusion over vaccines, chemicals and pharmaceutical products.

When business models drive medical systems, low-value care ensues. The concern is compounded by the tremendous growth in urgent-care and retail clinics. These facilities are now contributing to 40 percent of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions.

Asbestos is used in many building construction materials and vehicle products, due to its strength and ability to resist heat, fire and chemical and biological degradation. But as thousands of New York City residents are now aware, those who live near last week's steam-pipe explosion that sent a geyser of asbestos particles airborne, there's so much more to know about it.

A ruling last May in the UK Court of Appeal may have set an important precedent – that genetic testing extends the duty of a healthcare professional beyond the patient. Yet, extending that duty also risks damaging the underlying trust between doctor and patient. 

The Guardian's health page is scaremongering about e-cigarettes and pushing bizarre solutions to obesity. This is what happens when political activists write about public health.

Plants, marine organisms and bacteria have the capacity to biosynthesize extraordinarily complex organic molecules. Those are the ones that drive chemists nuts when they try to make them synthetically. Here's the story of monensin, an antibiotic used in livestock. While it's a monumental effort to make it in the lab, bacteria can make it in their sleep. 

From the supposed need to take more time off, to accusations of being less productive on the job, there are plenty of falsehoods surrounding workers over the age of 50. Let's take a look at these dubious claims – and put them to bed once and for all.

The pediatric group recently issued a policy statement riddled with chemophobic nonsense. Why are officials there whining so much? Here's why.

Virtual reality devices track our body language, which can pick us out in a crowd. A pediatrician ponders whether this is yet another way we are robbing our youth of its innocence.

It seems that salt's association blood pressure and heart disease along with the recommended amount of salt needs to be reconsidered in light of this new study.