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We are really starchemotherapyting to get creative in the way we treat cancer. In April we brought you the story of researchers who used the polio virus to treat brain cancer. Earlier this month we discussed some big advances in personalized medicine drugs and last week we discus

A new Reuters survey confirms what those interested and involved in smoking and tobacco-related issues have observed: more and more Americans are using e-cigarettes and vapor products (vaping), to quit or reduce their consumption of deadly cigarettes.

Dr. Josh Bloom in Science 2.0
If men have a low libido drug, isn t it only fair that women have one too? Unfortunately, that s not the way drug development works. While some argue that sexism is what s keeping female Viagra from getting approved

Yet another prominent anti-GMO advocate has come forward to publicly announce that he has reassessed his opinion on GMOs. Earlier this year, the co-founder of Greenpeace, Dr. Patrick Moore, did likewise, calling the campaign against genetic science baseless. Following shortly thereafter was Mark Lynas, who penned a New York Times op-ed titled How I Got Converted to GMO food this past

The US government s most comprehensive examination of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and drinking water, which spanned four years, concluded that fracking, as it is being carried out and regulated, is not a threat to drinking water.

We wish we could say that an advanced academic degree leads one to respect scientific truth, but it ain t necessarily so. In a hard-hitting opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune, Ms. Erin Gallagher counters every point made by an anti-GMO professor (St. Xavier University assistant professor Tatiana C. Tatum Parker) in an earlier commentary. The Trib describes Ms. Gallagher as a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown and a work-from-home mom with a small garden business. She is an active member of the Will County Farm Bureau and is on a volunteer advisory committee for the

It s well known that breastfeeding is beneficial for both mother and child in a variety of ways in addition to the transfer of natural antibodies, it is associated with lower risks of allergic diseases, lower respiratory infections and middle ear infections.

Instead of the WHO s World No Tobacco Day, we d be better off with a new event: World No Tobacco Control Day

Why are there so many scary stories about common foods and products causing cancer? An excellent blog-essay explains quite a lot about how science (or science-y) journalism works. It may confuse or scare you, but not as much as the so-called research does.

When it comes to which foods are healthy and which foods are not, everyone has an opinion and whether you re right or wrong there s probably science to back you up. This makes it difficult for you, the consumer, to make the right choices.

The 2009 law which gave the FDA oversight over tobacco products the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA, the TCA) is one of the worst laws ever enacted. In the guise of reining in the health risks of tobacco products, promulgated to a great extent by the fraudulent, deceptive manipulations of the Big Tobacco companies last century, the law instead does close to nothing of the sort while erecting substantial obstacle

The field of personalized medicine continues to explode. We have discussed the nascent approach of tailoring cancer treatments to specific gene mutations rather than the type of cancer. Although results have been mixed, many researchers believe that this is the future of cancer therapy, replacing the traditional scattershot approach.

Since 2006, there has been a slow and steady drumbeat against trans fats in foods. Decades ago, when Natural Resources Defense Council and various other food fallacy groups latched onto saturated fats, we cautioned that the studies were epidemiological correlation, not science, and that the alternative might be worse.

Everyone wants transparency about their food, at least on surveys, but few people actually read the labels.

Most people believe that paid Conflict of Interest King Andrew Wakefield launched the anti-vaccination movement with his infamous Lancet article which described a purported relationship between vaccines and autism. However, the anti-vaccination movement is almost as old as vaccines themselves.

The Lancet, the same journal that brought the world Andrew Wakefield's vaccine-autism link, may have done the same thing for the people who think bees are dying. They have published a paper that makes some bold statements on the relatio

It is an understatement to say that antibiotic resistance is a major problem facing our healthcare system. Every year 2 million Americans are infected with resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 people die each year from these infections. Each year MRSA kills about as many people as HIV. Compounding this problem is the fact that companies (factory farms?) are actively contributing to this problem (

The latest CDC report on waterborne illnesses reveals an unexpected villain: Cryptosporidium is a parasite that seems to have been responsible for about one-half of the 90 outbreaks over the two years 2011-12. Simple precautionary measures will help avert illness.

Few industries evoke an emotional response greater than the pharmaceutical industry. This cannot be surprising, since drug companies are typically viewed by the public as either providing miraculous life-altering therapies, or greedy instruments of Satan. There is little middle ground.
So, it is rather surprising that a new law, called the 21st Century Cures Act, has been overwhelmingly approved by the House, 344-77 on July 10th.
The new law, also known as H.R. 6, gives more latitude to the FDA in tailoring its safety and efficacy requirements for the approval of breakthrough medicines. Such drugs (as well as breakthrough medical devices) that are given this designation will no

A new study published in JAMA reports that the labels on most edible marijuana products either overstate or understate the amount of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC -- the active component in cannabis) that they contain.

Genius or Dangerous? We say the latter.
Mothers who are not able to breastfeed are now starting to accept breast milk donations from other mothers or paying for breast milk obtained from online services. These breast milk donations and purchases the method sounds eerily similar to E-bay are unregulated and may actually be very dangerous for the baby.

In an op-ed in the NYTimes, a cardiologist bemoans the unintended consequences of state-mandated report cards designed to evaluate care by individual practitioners. He shows how these reports, created to enhance transparency, do the opposite and harm patients and doctors.

We ve been avidly following the progress of California s vaccine law, and we are pleased to note that it is slated to take effect in 2016.

One medical topic that is now widely debated is breast cancer screening especially when should women begin being screened, and how effective screening is in decreasing deaths from the disease.

It has been 13 years since the publication of the Women s Health Initiative (WHI) studies in 2002 that examined the role of menopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. It can be argued that never before or since has a medical study generated such controversy by the media and scientific community.