Acai breakfast bowls are available in nearly every trendy smoothie and juice bar. But if you haven’t indulged in this particular "superfood" fad yet, you haven’t missed out. Turns out acai bowls don’t actually provide a healthy start to the day after all. That's because they're nutritionally equivalent to three bowls of Froot Loops.
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In the face of unethical behavior, we treat corporations differently than we treat individuals. Corporate crisis managers, using our cognitive biases, know how to deflect blame.
When it comes to antibiotic research, what does the word "innovation" mean? It's a bit different for antibiotics. Dr. David Shlaes argues that a difference in clinical utility is a better measure, even when a new drug or combination of drugs may be structurally similar to older drugs. This, from his blog "Antibiotics, the Perfect Storm."
Followers of the opioid crisis know that nothing much makes sense. And if you follow Proposition 65 madness in California, you know that doesn't add up either. So if you're in the mood for something that puts the Crazyometer® needle in the red, here it is. You will not be disappointed.
Loneliness, as compared to solitude, resulted in a 2-to-3 fold increase in one-year mortality. For social creatures like us, loneliness can detrimentally affect our health.
How's education in the U.S. right now? According to ACSH advisor Dr. Henry Miller and co-author Andrew I. Fillat, not so great. They explain why, in this excerpt of an article they wrote for the website, American Greatness.
The science that is being used to tackle the Wuhan coronavirus is impressive. The viral genome was solved in days and released to the world. Companies and academic institutes are working like mad to come up with a vaccine. But it may not matter. Here's why.
This article is the first of a three-part series adapted from an essay written by Dr. Alex Berezow, which is now archived at Suzzallo Library's Special Collections at the University of Washington. In Part I, he discusses the most famous unsolved problem in mathematics, the Riemann Hypothesis.
This article is the third in a three-part series that is adapted from an essay written by Dr. Alex Berezow, now archived at Suzzallo Library's Special Collections at the University of Washington. In Part III, he discusses the societal problem of willful ignorance.
It has been my long-held belief that my hair turned gray principally due to my children's antics and travails. A new study suggests that I was partially correct. [1]
Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health published one of the dumbest papers we've ever seen. They claim that some areas in which fracking takes place (Texas only) have more sexually transmitted diseases. Embarrassingly funny and, yes, "fracking" stupid.
Ontario may be cold, but the same cannot be said of its chief medical officer. Let's hear it for Dr. Nancy Whitmore, the head of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. She has the ethics and the courage to make changes in policy that should have never been in place to begin with. Barbaric forced tapering will no longer be permitted, and doctors and patients will make treatment plans together. The U.S. should be looking north.
Here's a Q&A on the impacts of the coronavirus in the USA, and other countries around the world.
Bone broth is promoted as a “super-soup," rich in collagen and minerals. But in reality, this eye-watering expensive broth is a poor source of nutrition and it can’t boost your skin or help your joints, as claimed.
In 1997, the BMJ reported that GlaxoSmithKline had withheld data in a clinical trial, specifically, that Paxil was ineffective in adolescents and often caused suicidal thoughts. From the subsequent justifiable uproar rose ClinicalTrials.gov, a registry for clinical trials requiring the posting of their results when the study was completed. A new study shows that this regulation is routinely ignored. And like a labradoodle, is all bark and no bite.
Heroin is like a box of chocolates. And it wasn't invented in Germany. And it's (technically) harmless. To make sense of all this gibberish you better read the article. A bunch of stuff you might not know about H.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that men and women have significant differences in their physiology, and subsequent manifestation of disease phenotypes. At the same time, scientists increasingly view physiology as it changes, rather than as static points in time. Those trends come together in a new paper in JAMA Cardiology, which looks at the most ubiquitous of cardiovascular diseases: high blood pressure.
There is a naturally-occurring chemical called skatole. Its claim to fame is that it is named after, and smells like, fecal matter. It's "synthetic" but also "man-made" and there's a revolting distinction in this case. It's also an additive used in cigarettes and strawberry ice cream (??). Do your "duty" and read this article.
High-tech medical advances make for sexy headlines, but the use of common-sense low-tech checklists can provide more than an ounce of prevention. ACSH advisor Dr. Henry Miller explains.
The World Health Organization does a tremendous job advancing the cause of global public health. But two recent, major screw-ups show that the institution is far from perfect. In one instance, a group of UK scientists accused the WHO of spreading "blatant misinformation."
The most deadly tree in the world, the Manchineel, can only be found in one place in the United States: South Florida, mainly the Everglades. We should all be thankful for this because the Manchineel is so dangerous that you can't even touch any part of it. And eating it is an especially bad idea.
The Fox News host says cell phones cause cancer and the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) might have escaped from a biological weapons lab. Both claims are ridiculous.
When last I looked, J&J had $325 million in judgments against them in lawsuits over talc baby powder and its presumed role as a cause of ovarian cancer in several women. Even the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the people that believe hot beverages are probably carcinogenic, "… has since concluded there is only 'possible' evidence that perineal use of talc-based body powder may be carcinogenic." A new study in JAMA looks at four cohort studies with long-term information on talc use and subsequent self-reported ovarian cancer. It seems that possible may be too strong; they found no linkage.
In these sensitive times, stereotypes are a big no-no. Hopefully, this doesn't apply to chemicals, because there is one group of them called esters. They smell really nice, even though the two components that combine to form esters can smell like foot odor or vomit. A stinky chemistry lesson. Hold your nose and read.
As is the case every year, 2019 was full of junk science, bogus health claims, misinformation, and outright lies. We debunked scores of them this year, but the following list is what we consider the top 10.
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