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It s not an infection that sits on the tip of your tongue, but an effective treatment for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an unmet medical need that has been shrugging off attempts to control it for many years.

Perhaps some day, 3D printers will be spitting out replacement organs made from your own DNA, and like Amazon.com, they will show up in your mailbox an hour after you order them.

Medical marijuana is a booming industry in this country. A recent estimate puts industry growth at 74 percent from 2013 to 2014, with over 2.5 billion in sales in 2014 alone. This is incredible when you factor in that just under half the states allow its sale. From coast to

Here s a simple question with nothing even close to a simple answer:
Do cancer drugs cost too much?
ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, who has written frequently on this subject, including an op-ed the New York Post thinks that al too often they are.
He says, There are obvious cases of recently approved cancer drugs that offer very little benefit in terms of either disease-free progression or extension of life. The annual cost for these drugs is roughly $100,000, but

A new study of non-solid lung nodules, followed via annual spiral/low-dose CT scans among smokers and ex-smokers, shows that that type of nodule can be safely followed with imaging, avoiding needless surgical interventions. Some lung cancers were found: none caused significant illness.

A blog posting on the NYTimes site discusses the Green Revolution in Africa. While gratifying to read about progress being made, some major omissions need to be addressed in this piece, including the lack of Dr. Norman Borlaug s contributions.

The winner in this month s I need a chemistry lesson, and fast award goes to Anthony Dunton of Acworth, Georgia. Hands down. Dunton was arrested last week for trying to poison a co-worker by putting the weed killer Roundup (glyphosate) into his water.

Another apparently-beneficial screening program lung CT scans for smokers becomes controversial, when Medicare officials decide it should be covered, contradicting its own coverage advisory committee s recommendation. Who needs it? The scan, that is.

Fear of chemicals (chemophobia): superstitious, baseless, energy- and resources-draining. Thankfully, an occasional voice of tranquility amidst hysteria appears. Thanks, Dr. Joe (and Boo, Sen. Feinstein!).

The American College of Physicians has come out with a report that questions the value of current screening recommendations and protocols. The report, released yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, calls into question whether current screening practices exhibit high

Have you heard the one about the bees collapsing? Bees and other pollinators are of crucial importance to agriculture. Over the past few years, the media has been replete with scary stories about bee colony collapse. Science 2.0 s Hank Campbell lends perspective.

After decades of concerns and warnings about Americans obesity and related encroaching health problems, there does seem to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

An old, and weakened Mahatma Gandhi went 21 days without eating. Other reports have humans living as many as 40 days without food. But to go this long without food, people still have to consume water. Seven days is believed to be the most a person can go without water, but some estimates put that length at closer to three. We are 60 percent water and we need to keep it that way by consuming as much as 4 liters of fluid a day.

Corporate flights from science, Part 2 and 3: Caving to consumer concerns. (For Part 1: see Mac/Cheese). Chipotle rids itself of GMOs, while Pepsi eliminates aspartame from Diet Pepsi for sucralose. Major benefit for...public health? Not.

Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is a reactivation of the dormant chickenpox virus in the body. Often, this reactivation that leads to the disease occurs years or even decades after a chickenpox infection. The first symptoms of shingles are extreme sensitivity or pain in a

Football is an extremely popular sport in the United States. The number of boys playing football in the US is greater than the combined number of boys playing the second and third most popular sports, according to the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS). Approximately 3 million youth athletes play

A couple who had adapted the vegan diet fad in Pisa, Italy had to rush their infant to a hospital because their child was suffering from severe malnutrition. At 11 months, the child could not sit up or crawl.

Environmentalists want you to worry that plastic is causing the uterus of pregnant women to change. Here is the actual science.

Ever since the Vioxx withdrawal in 2004, studies have linked nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to elevated risk of cardiovascular events (CVD). A boxed warning by the FDA on these common painkillers is now going to be augmented with stronger warnings.

This week saw the unfortunate passing of Vice President Joe Biden s son Beau, who succumbed to brain cancer. What happened to Beau, who was just 46 years old, is a sad reminder of just how far we are from having effective treatments for many deadly cancers, in particular brain cancer.
It however is not a sad reminder for everyone. For those who oppose superfluous things like logic and reason, Beau s untimely passing is a golden opportunity to remind

Follow-up on two of our recent, important Dispatch items. California s Assembly has cleared the next-to-last legislative hurdle toward removing the state s non-medical exemptions for children s vaccinations. And an FDA panel has approved overwhelmingly a new type of cholesterol-lowering medication.

We have to give a shout-out to Levi Gadye over at io9.com for his informative article You Can Thank Genetic Engineering For Your Delicious Cheese. Unbeknown to most, GMOs are used to make about 80 to 90 percent of cheese

It must be nice to have a job with so much free time on your hands that you can do just about anything, regardless of merit, and not only get away with it, but, rather, be rewarded for it.

Bananas are one of the most popular fruits in the world, but a rapidly spreading fungus has the potential to wipe them out. The fungus, called Fusarium Oxysporum Tropical Race 4 (TR4) is sickening the Cavendish banana.

Many people count the days until their permanent vacation from work. But a new study indicates that you may want to hold off from leaving your job too soon, since it might be detrimental to your health. Working a few more years may be the healthy -- and smart -- alternative.