Search results

You may have met someone – a child or adult – who was instantly friendly and inquisitive. But soon after, you felt this extrovert's interaction may have crossed normal social boundaries. It's possible you spoke with someone afflicted with Williams syndrome, a behavioral disorder that can produce both joyful and heartbreaking results.
 

Just because a current smoker first started with e-cigarettes does not mean that e-cigarettes caused that person to smoke. It's probably true that teenage tobacco users also consume alcohol and caffeine. According to the CDC's faulty logic, therefore, we could also conclude that beer and soda are gateway drugs.

Recently, a crazy story went viral, which called into question the media's ability to separate fact from fiction. When confronted with claims that some folks don't eat, but sustain themselves on the energy of the universe, some in the media failed to challenge this nonsense. Letting this slide can produce dangerous consequences for those who fall for it.

In what can be considered nothing short of a scientific quantum leap, it's been discovered that when you add hot water to wax it melts. Who knew? But a cadre of internet idiots would have you believe that the viral video of boiling water being poured onto an apple is evidence of toxic pesticides being released from the fruit rather than plain old melting wax. D.U.H.

When the anti-gluten craze dies down, there's another just waiting in the wings — the anti-lectin craze. According to food guru Steven Gundry, lectins are mostly what ails us. Unfortunately, they're in supposedly healthful foods such as beans, nuts and legumes. So what's a person supposed to eat? 

It's one thing to read countless stories about pain patients being subjected to indescribable suffering, thanks to a thoroughly misguided, foolish CDC attempt to "address" the opioid overdose epidemic. It's quite another to actually speak with one of them, whose story is haunting and profoundly upsetting. 

Sulphoraphane, found in broccoli and other vegetables of that group, has been touted as an anti-oxidant for years – but without much evidence that it has a real beneficial health effect. However, recent research suggests that it might actually be useful to help people with type 2 diabetes maintain normal levels of blood glucose.

1. Friday was the premiere of "Food Evolution", a documentary about the many beneficial advances in agricultural science we have had, in New York City and Los Angeles. I had seen it before, two weeks ago, at the University of Guelph when they flew me in to give a talk. Guelph is an agriculture town, everyone knows a scientist or a farmer, they see the benefits of science and farming, and I wanted to see how that compared to New York City, where anti-science beliefs about food are the norm.  

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.

With a Prop 65 warning on glyphosate, environmentalists outmaneuvered the science community once again.

Sunburn is not only painful, but can be a precursor to skin cancer, and thus is to be avoided as much as possible. But if you're unable to avoid too much exposure, a preliminary study suggests that vitamin D just might be able to help.

Studying how cells heal themselves potentially has a wide application in medical research. And for the last 100 years slicing a single cell into two equal parts has only been done by hand. But a young, observant scientist and her fellow Stanford University researchers have just developed a method that's 200 times faster than the current process. 

An international team of medical experts recently published a global call to action in an effort to curb the unethical, unsubstantiated use of stem-cell based therapies driving medical tourism. When greed trumps science, we all lose. 

To stay in business, media outlets need viewers. So they give readers what they want, which apparently consists largely of pointless political bickering, epic acts of stupidity and naked people.

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. 

John Mackey of Whole Foods, which sells products at a 45% markup over other stores by claiming that its food is cleaner and healthier and holier, is adorably complaining about investor greed and propaganda.

Any donor may request our latest publication free of charge, and everyone at the event got a copy. If you prefer to avoid paper, it's available as a PDF inside this article. Along with national coverage, the news was carried by regional papers from Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Salt Lake Tribune to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Buffalo News.

An abundance of caution; we have all heard the phrase. And in what situations does that apply? For the most part, situations where there's a remote chance of a catastrophic outcome that puts its thumb on the scale.

Heavy metals get a bad rap. For the most part, it is deserved because they are usually toxic. Except when they aren't. You have probably consumed a whole lot of at least one or two of them and are just fine. Here's why.

"The Little Black Book of Junk Science is just what it sounds like," says Dr. Alex Berezow, Senior Fellow in Biomedical Science for the Council and author of the work. "Everyone talks about fake news but it is a little harder to know what junk science is if you are not an expert. This book is a pocket-sized reference that will allow the public to do just that. Family barbecues will never be the same!"

Preservatives help keep our food supply safe and reduce food waste. Apparently, Panera Bread is unaware of this.

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.

Conventional wisdom suggests that occupations associated with low socioeconomic status – such as construction, extraction and maintenance jobs – would be linked to the greatest number of ALS and Parkinson's deaths because of workers' environmental exposures to chemicals. But the CDC found the opposite to be true.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. To learn why, along with how best to prevent it and to clarify any misperceptions about the dynamic nature of the female cardiovascular system ... 

Senator John McCain has been in the news over his health issues this past week. It is ironic that another Republican senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater is being invoked over the role of medical experts and what they say to the media. What should the talking heads of the media, especially media physicians, say in these political times.