Earlier this month, the headline “New Study Finds PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' in Drinking Water from 45% of Faucets Across US” led many news reports. That's after 32 individual PFAS were tested and found in both private and public water supplies, presenting potential hazards to our nation’s health. What did the study really say?
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in health care. This could lower costs and streamline patient interactions—but the technology has a dark side, too. Critics of "ultra-processed" food often claim that certain snacks aren't even food. Let's debunk this myth, with a special focus on Pop-Tarts.
If you’ve been following the news, you’ll have noticed that Japan started discharging its tritiated water into the ocean last week, over the objections of China and South Korea and with the concurrence of the International Atomic Energy Agency. I noticed there were a few comments on my recent ACSH piece on this matter and thought I’d address a few of the points raised in the comments.
Wegovy and Ozempic, both GLP-1 agonists, have taken the world by storm, providing a simple way to lose weight without changing our lifestyle. A new report in Science helps us understand what we do not know: the known unknowns of obesity. Let me summarize.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer's (IARC) conclusion that the sweetener aspartame "possibly" causes cancer is ... definitely stupid. Meanwhile, you can eat a diet consisting of 91 percent "ultra-processed" food and be healthy. So says a new study. Let's take a closer look.
Could the news on the environment get any worse? Every day, we are inundated by stories about extreme weather events, including floods, hurricanes, extreme heat, a global water crisis due to severe droughts, and a food crisis resulting from declining land suitable for agriculture. But there is some good news to report. Innovation is driving solutions to many of these problems. Perhaps the situation is not as dire as the news reports.
Now that prospective parents have the option to genetically design their kids (at least to a point), what does this mean to society in terms of other responsibilities involved in child-making?
I still remember the thrill I felt when I made my first scientific discovery – feeling that the late nights and hard work had all been worth it. I remember, too, the feeling that, at that moment, I knew something that nobody else – anywhere – knew or had ever known. It was a heady feeling. And then I wanted to tell everyone!
Microbiomes are the collective and highly personal assortment of microorganisms that live in, on, and around us. If genetically modified effectively, these "black boxes" may help us cure cancer, understand how we can adapt to rising temperatures, play a role in mental health, and improve nutrition in children.
Peer-reviewed research is the gold standard for science. We rely on that system to weed out the discoveries from the detritus. However, growing concerns over how the peer-review system operates are forcing the academic community to take a long, hard look at the process and ask, “How can we improve this?”
Are impending drug DUI laws scientifically justified, accurate, or fair? If you're pulled over for a traffic violation in certain locations and asked to take a roadside saliva test, you may learn they're anything but. Drs. Josh Bloom and Henry Miller discuss this in an opinion piece published in the law journal Law360.
Remember plant-based meats? Ok, then how about plant-based yogurt? Roughly 6.3% of the dairy consumed finds its way into yogurt. The environmental footprint of the producers of that yogurt is significant. How does plant-based yogurt measure up nutritionally against the classic?
Perhaps you've seen the television ads asking women whether they know about VMS. Pharma has wrapped an old symptom – the hot flashes associated with menopause – in its medical description: vasomotor symptoms. Of course, now that it's a “medically recognized” condition, it follows that medical therapy and its payment should be covered costs.
The media reports that colchicine, a very old drug, has now been discovered to reduce the risk of recurrent heart disease and has a new FDA indication. Of course, the “discovery” has taken 10 years, and the data for the FDA approval is from 2020. Just how helpful will colchicine be to you and me?
A new study suggests that the antiviral Molnupiravir may “paradoxically” be driving COVID-19 mutations, creating variants of concern. What is going on? It is all about molnupiravir’s mode of action and evolution.
In case you haven’t noticed, the coronavirus is still with us. The First Lady has COVID-19, and cases and hospitalizations are rising. Some people where I live are wearing masks, and one of them has Long Covid. The virus is likely in our sanitary sewer systems, and we are responsible for putting it there.
You may want to procure an air sickness bag before you read this. What's worse: A cigarette company portraying smoking as sexy (and it's not the least bit subtle) or a 1970 ad proudly proclaiming, "You've come a long way, baby" (as if the women's rights movement somehow empowered women by giving them their own brand of cigarettes)?
The weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic portend a massive impact on the “obesity epidemic.” Users may even be able to get insurance coverage, as the FDA just approved a third drug specifically for weight loss treatment, signaling greater coverage for all drugs in the class. Sounds promising, right? But, alas, there are unintended consequences.
A teenager died recently after taking the "One Chip Challenge," eating Paqui's uber-spicy tortilla chip and going as long as possible without eating or drinking anything else. The cause of death remains unclear, but there's an interesting lesson here about the uselessness of "non-GMO" food labels. Meanwhile, actress Jessica Biel sells all-natural Tylenol — which is identical to plain ole' Tylenol. Another case of dubious health marketing? Yep.
COVID-19 vaccination significantly lowers the risks of severe neonatal morbidity, neonatal death, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit in infants during the first month after birth. Protection continues for six months after birth.
Advil, aka, ibuprofen, is one of the most widely used drugs in the world. It's effective for relief of pain, inflammation, and fever. It can also wreak holy hell on your stomach. Unfortunately, the two effects go together. Grab the Rolaids. It's time for an Advil lesson.
Our behavior seems to be built by evolution, and it's sometimes paradoxical. To borrow from the hard sciences, our behavior exhibits complementarity. We are largely felicitous to our family and friends, yet stand-offish (if not aggressive) to “others” we may encounter. Willful ignorance straddles that complementarity borderline. A new study offers insight into what's really going on.
“Last month, California lawmakers passed a bill that would decriminalize the personal possession of small amounts of a few plant-based psychedelics. This raised hopes that this could be the first of many reforms to unlock the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. Unfortunately, Governor Newsom vetoed the bill, citing reasons that can only be characterized as specious.”
Some people drink coffee, and the next thing you know, they're trying to climb the Empire State Building. But others feel little or nothing. What's going on?
Can being one with nature harm nature?
For Climate Change - Having your meat and eating it too.
“VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.
Advice from a bad mother
Pagination
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