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Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome
The scent of a woman
Chaos is present everywhere, in physical and biological worlds.
The meat paradox

The last several years have even given skeptics reasons to consider reducing our fossil fuel use and replacing it with something else. The problem is that so many of the “something else” alternatives can’t be counted on to keep our cities powered up (try using solar energy at night), and we currently don’t have the technology to store excess energy for a (literal) rainy or windless day. Sure, lithium-ion batteries are growing in capacity, but they’re not yet city-sized and tend to catch fire from time to time. We need a stable, safe, reliable source of power that doesn’t rely on burning fuel – something like nuclear energy.

Similar to the Wizard of Oz, surprising facts are revealed when the curtain is pulled back on EPA’s PFAS Health Advisories. Why did EPA set protective “safe levels” against adverse outcomes not seen in the U.S. population? In this article, I will examine why EPA set the health advisories using methodology as they did, which I believe, allows scare tactics against PFAS to continue and flourish.

In the last few weeks, there was a skirmish in the political battles involving the veterans of our efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the rest of the Middle East, Jon Stewart, and PACT, the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. After a bit of posturing and strategy, PACT was passed. But what do we know about the burn pits beyond the sound bites?

A paper in the journal Science describes a new method for breaking down forever chemicals (PFAS), which, as their name implies are not so easy to destroy. Can this method be used to remove traces of these chemicals from our water? Or for anything else?

The global population is becoming increasingly sedentary, an inevitable result of labor-saving technologies. Some might argue that our couch-potato ways go against our evolutionary design; we were hunters and gatherers, and that rarely allowed time for sitting around. A new study considers whether sitting is the great Satan of a healthy life.

Politics vs. public health. California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have authorized safe consumption sites to help prevent drug overdoses, an example of harm reduction. Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and member of the ACSH Scientific Advisory Board strenuously disagrees.

In the first year of medical school, the first lecture in any class often began by explaining why this was the most crucial subject. I learned that the skin was important because it kept all the other pieces inside and that the intestine was the most important because when you spread out its inner surface, it would cover the globe. I even learned that the brain was the most important, but as George Carlin pointed out, “Look who is telling you that.” In any event, a new study tries to determine which disease is most important to us based on linguistic analysis. You are going to love this.

Fat-acceptance advocates are pressuring TV executives to turn popular reality shows into platforms for social-justice advocacy. There is no better example of science-free cynicism.

Minnesota has become the leader in restoring the rights of patients to receive necessary pain medications as well as the doctors who prescribe them. It's a huge step. One down, 49 to go. Drs. Bloom and Singer in Newsweek.

If you haven't taken Paxlovid you cannot possibly fathom the vile sensory experience called "Paxlovid tongue." What to do? Write a song. The Blues, of course.

With respect to COVID, children experience less severe disease but remain transmitters of the infection, especially within their immediate and extended households. Should we vaccinate or not? A new study looks at the demographics of NY City school children receiving the complete (2 shot) initial vaccination.

If you're sick and tired of hearing about yet another Omicron subvariant taking over the world you're not alone. But there is one subvariant called Centaurus, aka B.27.5, that provides a fascinating example of how a seemingly-minuscule mutation can have a profound effect on the virus. And, at no extra cost, a Dreaded Chemistry Lesson From Hell! Plus a gratuitous shot at Dr. Oz.

One measure of the safety and quality of nursing home care is the presence of a pressure ulcer on its residents. CMS reports these numbers to the public as a star-ranking on Nursing Home Compares and penalizes nursing homes with more observed pressure ulcers than anticipated. The system relies on the self-reporting of pressure ulcers to CMS. A new study finds that nursing homes “substantially underreport” these events.

Tracking cookies, those bite-size snippets of code that log your internet behavior come in as many forms as recipes for chocolate-chip cookies. Let us make a few quick distinctions. Some “session” cookies are bound to your browser and expire when you close the browser. Other cookies can have “best-by” dates or may last forever, like Twinkies. More importantly to this study, some cookies are issued by the site you are visiting, first-party cookies; others, ghostwritten by obscure code, serve the need of external third parties. Those are the subject of some new research.

Climate change has now largely supplanted COVID as the main source of hand-wringing and angst in the popular press. Carbon is directly involved in climate change through carbon dioxide (CO2) and airborne elemental carbon particles (EC). COVID-19 has an indirect impact as well. Here I add some details to the fray to insert some clarity and reason.

You can file this under “those who don't know history are destined to repeat it,” according to George Santayana. At least that was part of my takeaway on a Smithsonian article on coal, which, in the early 1800s was a new-fangled fuel. Understanding the slow acceptance of this fuel source may provide some context as today’s alternative sources come online.

Sri Lanka's ban on imported synthetic fertilizers and pesticides devastated the country's farm sector, causing mass food shortages that helped drive the president out of office—and out of the country. ACSH director of bio-sciences Cameron English appeared on the Lars Larson show to explain the situation in more detail.

Regulatory capture refers to a type of “corruption,” in which a member of a regulatory body goes on to join those they once regulated. It's best thought of as having the fox guard the hen house. Last week, the FDA’s “top” tobacco scientist left for ... Philip Morris International (PMI), the makers of, among other brands, Marlboro cigarettes.

What is being called "Paxlovid rebound" is not uncommon. In fact, President Biden experienced just this after a course of the drug. What should be done? Drs. Henry Miller and Josh Bloom discuss just this.

If you're worried about Monkeypox, school shootings, car accidents, or any other possible threat to your health, stop this instant. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has identified a greater risk for you to fret about—frozen pizza.

Once in a while, a light bulb goes on, and a theory that turns medical knowledge on its head is born. Could this be one of those times? A group at Cambridge just published a study on the mechanism of cancer metastasis, which could fundamentally change how the spread of cancer is viewed. Here's what they discovered.

A new CDC survey shows that teen vaping is still declining. Oddly, the agency maintains that e-cigarette use among adolescents is an "epidemic."

We love our dogs and puppies. They are faithful, non-judgmental companions who delight in our presence. Many pet owners return this affection by feeding them treats. But some human foods and household products are poisonous to dogs. Can we kill them with kindness?

Just what we need, another dangerous street drug. It's called xylazine aka Tranq and is approved only as an animal sedative. But it's increasingly being used along with fentanyl, making both more dangerous. And there is no antidote. Our drug policy continues to result in more dangerous drugs on the street - something we should have (but did not) learn long ago. And a short DCLFH for all you masochists out there.