High blood pressure is not a static event, it's dynamic, the result of multiple causes changing at different rates. Treating high blood pressure, or any disease, as a static process makes our models more inaccurate.
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The CDC recently cautioned that there's a wide range of diseases being transmitted by ticks, and the caseload is growing. Some, like Lyme’s disease, we are familiar with. To take it an important step further, let's take a look at some others that aren't necessarily on our radar – but should be.
Researchers in New Hampshire, citing a trend of warmer winters over the last decade, found that 70 percent of moose calves that were monitored between 2014-16 had died. For nearly all of them, the cause of death was attributed to the dramatic rise in winter ticks, which feast on the calves' blood.
If your TV doesn't work, it's annoying. If your AC goes on the fritz during a heat wave, that's annoying and possibly dangerous. But when a fire extinguisher fails, that's a disaster. There are 40 million potential disasters in North America right now.
Plants can be turned into fuels and chemicals, but much of their stored value is lost in the woody component that's hard to break down. A sea creature, among others, has found a way to get at that additional value. It provides both something we can use – and a reminder about the power of nature and evolution.
Theranos had been staying afloat on the waves of Elizabeth's Holmes' smoke-and-mirrors act. But what its famed CEO lacked was evidence to support the technology upon which the would-be, blood-test innovator was founded. Unfortunately for Holmes – some, like the SEC – call that fraud. And that's something even Holmes couldn't talk her way out of.
How can you identify a scientifically ignorant person? Ask him if he's concerned about the health effects of GMOs. If the answer is yes, you've identified somebody who probably couldn't pass an 8th grade science test. Too harsh? Not according to the latest Pew poll.
The uber-restrictive nature of the power couple's diet, along with his claim that he never cheats (deflated footballs aside) is, like all things Brady, a bit super human. Now, an online meal delivery service has teamed with the QB to help you achieve top athletic performance – or to deliver gingered amaranth greens for your TV-game viewing.
Tom Petty, the rock 'n roll guitarist who first gained fame in the late 1970's with his band, The Heartbreakers, and maintained his popularity ever since, went into cardiac arrest before dying Monday night. But what is cardiac arrest, and how does differ from a heart attack? We explain.
Tylenol (acetaminophen) is very widely used for various types of pain, and to reduce fevers. The drug is also largely perceived as safe and effective. We've already written that it's not all that safe. But does it work well? The answer is: Not even close. Multiple Cochrane reviews make this clear.
Rapid, accurate detection of a tuberculosis infection still remains a healthcare challenge. Developing an assay that's able to definitively diagnose TB, and one that's cheap, should be high on our priority list. Especially, as we annually see increases in TB's prevalence.
One of the many medical myths that we are bombarded with is the idea of "chronic Lyme disease." Lyme is real and can be serious if not treated. But attempts to "cure" chronic Lyme can be dangerous or even deadly, especially when long courses of antibiotics are given. Here's the latest on this from the CDC.
The World Health Organization wants global views on trans-fats. It remains common in middle and lower income countries and what to do remains a problem, After all, the devil is in the details.
Over time, wealth makes people desire a clean environment. That’s why environmentalists, if they are to be successful, must be pro-human at heart.
Regarding the negative effects of antibiotics, an Australian research group sought to understand the effect that non-antibiotic, antimicrobial (NAAM) chemicals have on increasing antibiotic resistance. One of the more infamous of these is Triclosan, which was present in many over-the-counter antimicrobial products before its use in hand soaps was banned.
Sometimes, even we are surprised by some of the new anti-vaccine ideas that make the rounds. But this one, which was hatched on Twitter, maybe the nuttiest one to date. Thankfully, the pro-science community on this social media site won't let the person who started this imbecilic idea to get away with anything.
The weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the dead and dying is morbidly fascinating. In both men and women, heart disease and cancer are #1 and #2 killers, respectively. However, everything changes after that.
Vaccines against the bacteria that cause middle ear infections in young children have been very effective in preventing some of them. A new report found that decreasing the probability that one type of bacteria will grow, can provide an opportunity for others. To keep up with this change (to say nothing of evolving bacterial resistance), it's important to track what happens when a vaccine has an impact on one type of infection.
Tucker Carlson had Robert Kennedy Jr. on his show, giving him five minutes of almost-uninterrupted time to spew his misinformation on vaccines. We hope the Fox News cable host got what he wanted (presuming in the form of ratings). And that it was worth a few more children getting sick with measles and dying of whooping cough.
An amazing new technology that uses silk to deliver vaccines just got a nice boost – to the tune of $6M – from Bill and Melinda Gates. Maybe with novel approaches like this, we'll finally see polio eradicated once and for all.
The University of California, San Francisco is hosting documents acquired by anti-chemical, anti-pharmaceutical, and anti-biotech activists. This is not "transparency" but propaganda. Taxpayer-funded propaganda.
Even birds know when they're paired up with a mate that's "out of their league." New research from the journal Biology Letters demonstrates that unattractive, male, red-backed fairy-wrens spend more time guarding their female mates – while their sexy competitors spend more time seeking "extramarital" affairs.
U.S. public health agencies struggle to endorse an obvious solution to a true public health menace. Hopefully, the UK Parliament will provide a much-needed boost to the forces of common sense.
Yet another food-cancer story is in the news. But folks, there's little "there" there. It's a correlational study, and the risks for several types of cancer don't increase much at all. This is a finding that should not keep you up at night.
John McCain’s office released a statement from the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, providing details of his Glioblastoma brain tumor. It was disclosed that the 80-year old senior Senator from Arizona was recovering from a surgical excision of a blood clot performed on July 14 that was discovered during a routine annual physical.
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