In his latest article, Alex Berezow asks, "Is the US doctor shortage intentional?" Alex presents some compelling points about high healthcare costs and supply and demand dynamics, but it does not address the complete picture. Here’s my take, not as a rebuttal, but to add some missing nuances to the complexities at play.
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In a world where our love for meat and dairy is anathema to environmental activists, why do we cling to our beef and dairy habits? Forget saving the Earth; as long as it tastes good and doesn't break the bank, toss it in the shopping cart.
The Trump Administration has convened a panel to address America's opioid epidemic. Its first mission should be to find convincing data to identify the actual cause(s) of the problem. That will be much harder than it sounds, since ideologues are always in plentiful supply.
Which nationally-known company acted more reprehensively this week while showing the least sensitivity – United Airlines or Cosmopolitan Magazine? Sure, it could be the Heartless Carrier of the Unfriendly Skies. Or it might be those disingenuous diet hucksters, also known as the new Champs of Click Bait.
The Dutch are famous for windmills, impressive feats of geo-engineering and for being tall and blonde. And at just over 6-feet, Dutch men are widely hailed as the world's tallest. But new data suggests that men from regions within the Balkan country of Bosnia and Herzegovina stand even a cut above.
The official March for Science Twitter account recently criticized the Trump Administration for bombing ISIS, claiming that the gigantic bomb the U.S. dropped on the terrorists is an "example of how science is weaponized against marginalized people." After a justified mocking, delete went the tweet.
Babies are a little safer today as Hyland's homeopathic teething tablets have been recalled by their manufacturer, Standard Homeopathic Company. It's been a long road to get to this point, with pressure for the recall coming primarily from the FDA.
Every scientific paper should be required to answer a simple question before it's published. So prior to considering whether ingesting too many polyunsaturated fats (e.g., fish and foods cooked with vegetable oil) will make women lazy, TV-watching diabetics, an elementary-school query must first be asked: Does that even make sense?
It's very common for people who eat right, watch their weight and don't smoke to ignore a smart sleeping regimen. The proper amount of nightly sleep is essential to ward off illness and maintain overall good health. And sustained lack of sleep is linked to a myriad of significant health problems.
Pancreatic cancer is the most aggressive, least treatable form of the disease, and in a large majority of cases it reduces the victim's life expectancy to a matter of months. German researchers say they've discovered why it's so ravenous, and they've traced the cancer's aggressiveness to a key factor in its earliest growth and composition.
It's one year after Berkeley, CA instituted a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, and the results are in. Among them: there was no significant drop in caloric intake, even using self-reports and their known limitations. So consumers paid a bit more and saw no benefit.
The IARC monograph program on Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks must be reformed and brought into the 21st century – or it should be abolished
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.
You've heard of being in a fog while pregnant, but is there science to back this up? A little bit. Watch our video to find out.
Plus, a bonus announcement from Ana Dolaskie.
Any effort to fight fake news is noble and should be applauded. But, if Mr. Wales believes his new venture will be the solution to fake news, it will fall short for at least four reasons.
Several years after Obamacare was approved, healthcare costs continue to rise in America. The question of why – and, perhaps more importantly, how much of these costs should be covered by the government – continue to spark intense political debate. New research may shed some light on this issue.
Is there gender discrimination in payments made to physicians? Not by Medicare, Medicaid or insurance companies. So why does Doximity, a social network of physicians, say it exists? It all depends on what you're measuring.
With warm weather, it's necessary to be aware of the usual tick-transmitted suspects, Lyme disease and the West Nile virus. These are nasty enough, but there's a bad boy out there that makes them look like creamed spinach. Meet the Powassan virus. It is pure evil.
Leishmaniasis, transmitted by a sandfly bite, causes 500,000 cases of visceral disease and 1.5 million cases of cutaneous disease – resulting in 50,000 deaths annually. The drugs to treat it are terrible. If the parasite doesn’t kill you, the treatment may make you wish it had.
Poor people are forced to eat junk food because of cost, and that's why they are obese. Right? That's a great narrative, but it's simply not true. Here's how it really is.
Roughly 30-40% of the population has a genetic predisposition to celiac disease. However the amount of people who actually have it is about only 1%. Beyond genetics, what makes this autoimmune disorder affect those in this group? A new study suggests it might be a viral infection – one that often goes unnoticed.
Recently the comedian and late-night TV host told a "terrifying" tale of the discovery and treatment of his newborn son's unexpected congenital heart defect. Let's analyze the timeline of events.
The American College of Surgeons recently announced submissions of their plan for attribution of care and physician payment to the Health and Human Services Department’s Planning and Evaluation Office of Health Policy. Let's discuss their approach to attribution, since surgery is a team activity.
Recently, in a room full of microbiologists, this question was posed: "How many of you believe climate change is the world's #1 threat?" Silence. Not a single person's hand was raised. Were they all rejecting science? No, not at all. They just didn't see it as threatening as antibiotic resistance, pandemic disease or geopolitical instability.
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