Aside from suffocation and strangulation which are responsible for 25 percent of all sleep-related deaths, other causes of SIDS remain somewhat of a mystery to scientists and parents. But in recent years, much research has explored neurological variants, like serotonin levels in the brain, and a gene variant that could provide some insight.
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You may have met someone – a child or adult – who was instantly friendly and inquisitive. But soon after, you felt this extrovert's interaction may have crossed normal social boundaries. It's possible you spoke with someone afflicted with Williams syndrome, a behavioral disorder that can produce both joyful and heartbreaking results.
The Krebs cycle explains how the body's biochemistry produces energy. It is an intellectual rite of passage that many feel we can eliminate from physician's education. Perhaps so, but in our haste to "eliminate wasteful knowledge and compress time to "create more doctors," what kind of doctors do we create?
A recent JAMA paper which concluded that opioid drugs are ineffective for long-term pain relief is flawed, perhaps intentionally so. American Council advisor Richard "Red" Lawhern explains.
America's GDP is shifting from small-town America to the cities, and at the same time the opioid overdose epidemic has hit rural states, like Kentucky and West Virginia, especially hard. As a result, from 1999 to 2015 suicides in rural America have increased over 40%, according to the CDC.
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.
When your doctor insists that you must exercise, that's often received as necessary drudgery. But what if that mandate was to go out and play? A new European study found that recreational soccer can lower "blood pressure, fat mass, and LDL cholesterol" regardless of age or gender, and can do so "after only 12 weeks of training."
The origin of life is a profound mystery. Once life arose, natural selection and evolution took over. But the question of how a mixture of various gases created life-giving molecules that arranged into structures capable of reproducing themselves remains unanswered.
FDA chairman Dr. Scott Gottlieb has warned us once again that sunscreen pills are nothing but a worthless supplement. But, is it possible that he is wrong on this one? Let's see what Mr. Melonhead has to say.
When a gene is copied into a strand of RNA, the DNA in and around the gene must be loosened from its packaged state. Then, Spt6 helps DNA become re-wound when the copying process is completed. It also facilitates RNA degradation. This may lead to ways to understand disease.
A male physician disparages female doctors. Things don't go well for him. However, we now can have an honest discussion about the issue.
The rise of the industrial turkey is a story large enough to contain many narratives, which range from the salvation of agriculture to the rise of TV dinners. Indeed, it is a tale of American exceptionalism.
Disgust is an emotional cue, and it helps us avoid situations fraught with disease. Are we responding to how infectious diseases are transmitted, or how they appear?
Asthma is a very serious public health problem. Although traditional drugs work well for most, they're not good enough for others with a more severe disease. The approach to asthma has shifted to immune system modulation by biological drugs, and they're making a difference. But how good are they, and what else is out there?
Here are some of the Council's media hits from over the past seven days.
Recently the incidence of syphilis has been increasing in newborn babies and pregnant women, and the United States Preventive Services Task Force has reaffirmed guidelines emphasizing the importance of pregnant women being screened for the disease. It's relatively easy to cure syphilis with antibiotic treatment, and caught early it would prevent devastating effects on both babies and moms.
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.
Without actually knowing how many hours participants watched TV, and by comparing groups with very different risks, researchers concluded that TV watching is associated with clot formation. By extension, does this mean that binge-watching is harmful to our health?
Now with more than 35 million participants nationwide, yoga's popularity surge has prompted researchers to study whether "hot" yoga, conducted in a 100-degree studio, is more beneficial for healthy, middle-aged adults than sessions held at room temperature. The study, the first of its kind say its authors, produced intriguing results.
Assessing the Safety of the Chemical PFOA
Project Coordinator: Rivka Weiser
Editor: Gilbert L. Ross, M.D.
The American Council on Science and Health gratefully acknowledges the comments and contributions of the following individuals, who reviewed all or part of the longer position paper on which this booklet is based:
Larry Beeson, Dr.P.H., Loma Linda University
Hinrich L. Bohn, Ph.D., University of Arizona
Joseph F. Borzelleca, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University
John Doull, M.D., Ph.D., University of Kansas
The Florida man who was arrested for synthesizing the "Mother of Satan" claims that he was just making fireworks. Uh-huh. Celebrating the Fourth of July early, we suppose? Here, we explain the chemistry behind the explosive.
A new study in JAMA Surgery reports that a crucial decision – whether a breast cancer patient should undergo a double mastectomy when only one breast is affected – is heavily influenced by her surgeon's recommendation.
With the opioid epidemic occupying center stage in media and political arenas, what's gone largely overlooked is that pediatric opioid-related hospitalizations, warranting the highest level of intensive care unit admission, doubled between 2004 and 2015.
Municipalities may feel justified in trying to up the ante in the vaccine wars. Drunk drivers who kill somebody can be charged with manslaughter. Perhaps they have a point in saying this law should be extended to those who, through negligence, sicken or kill another person with a vaccine-preventable illness. That is certainly a far more palatable option than filling up tiny coffins.
The IARC monograph program on Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks must be reformed and brought into the 21st century – or it should be abolished
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