Just when you think it's reached its peak, WebDumB comes through once again. The folks there have taken a look at places where germs lurk. Unfortunately, their "wisdom" is nowhere to be seen.
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A recently-released study touting how preoperative oral treatment can lower the risk of suffering postoperative pneumonia appears to have bitten off more than it can chew.
You're athletic. You run regularly. You swim, cycle or lift weights to keep your muscles strong. And you watch what you eat for the purposes of remaining lean – and so that you can remain athletic. So you have all the bases covered, right? Well, almost, because a new study says "you still can’t outrun your risk factors” for cardiovascular disease, making doctor's visits essential.
Probiotics are one of the recent darlings of the supplement world. But do they do anything? A small human study says yes. But what they do isn't good.
In seeking to nail down an exact day when chemophobia – an irrational fear of harmless trace chemicals – came into existence, one must consider a singular government act that occurred on Sept. 6, 1958.
Superhyped: superfoods. The concept is ridiculous, yet wealthy Americans are buying into it -- big time. Depending on how you define them, superfoods either don't exist at all ... or we're surrounded by them. One ACSH advisor, the Director of Medical Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center, weighs in.
With a growing number of teenage pitchers having surgery because of elbow-joint overuse, the former Major Leaguer can no longer observe this trend without wincing. And he has an urgent message for parents whose kids concentrate on playing one sport nearly year-round. Spare your still-developing teen a lifetime of pain and discomfort: Stop focusing on a single sport.
Some chemicals are nasty. Some are plain evil. Then, there's methyl fluorosulfonate, aka "Magic Methyl." It's so bad that you have to be out of your mind to use it. Unless you want to dissolve a chicken breast.
Like a broken clock that accidentally gets the time right, California has finally stumbled upon the correct approach to coffee. Sort of. After widespread mockery and condemnation, the Golden State has had an epiphany: Maybe coffee doesn't cause cancer. The FDA agrees.
Sleep is governed by the circadian rhythm, which is typically entrained to the 24-hour solar day. As the sun rises and sets the human body's metabolism responds accordingly. But in this case study, the circadian rhythm of a patient with bipolar disorder was also linked to the 24.8-hour lunar cycle, which contributed to his manic-depressive episodes.
Contrary to wide-eyed speculation and fearmongering, coffee is not going extinct. Coffee bean production is up, and prices are down.
Marketing executives at General Mills insisted that if their personal Twitter feeds were evidence, people were in a panic about GMOs. Then they discovered the awful truth.
The chemophobia-for-profit crowd has a very good trick up their sleeve and they play it constantly because it works. Let's use this trick against them and show why a very scary chemical may not be scary at all.
Surgeons are frequently the first to prescribe opioids to patients. Of course, surgery usually hurts. After a year of government agencies and legislators practicing "medicine," it's time to hear from the actual physicians. They have practical solutions we can use today.
This study shows that the crisis in overdose deaths is, unfortunately, not new. It goes back nearly 40 years. Three graphs reveal a tapestry over time of drugs, demographics and geography. It's not simply a new problem due to prescription drugs.
The FDA just announced that it is no longer allowing seven chemicals to be used as artificial flavors in foods because of cancer concerns. Sounds reasonable, no? NO- it's not. The agency is allowing the same seven chemicals to be used as long as they are derived from natural sources, not synthetic - something that an Organic 101 student knows is a meaningless distinction because there is no difference. Let's give them an F in chemistry.
Caravaggio famously painted various biblical scenes, such as the beheadings of John the Baptist, Holofernes and Goliath. Though the artist did not meet such a violent demise in the early 17th century, he may have suffered an unpleasant one: Sepsis due to Staphylococcus aureus.
A recent Supreme Court case presents the question of whether it's ethical to execute an inmate suffering from dementia, one who can no longer recall the crime.
The research has been going on for years. The hypothesis is that cannabidiol, derived from the marijuana plants, combined with an anesthetic, can reduce brain inflammation after a concussive event, as well as relieve the pain and headaches associated with brain injuries. Studies with mice may soon lead to human trials.
A group of academics, bureaucrats and self-appointed addiction experts put their collective heads together and their collective noses where they didn't belong. They produced the 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, an abysmal failure. Here are what's wrong with it and some ways to undo the damage.
In discussions about pollution and lives saved, it's hard to get straight answers. But one thing is clear: exempting the biggest polluters as "developing nations" is a mistake. And focusing on PM2.5 instead of real smog is worse.
Loss of bone density can be a significant issue for adults later in life. A new study found that those who regularly played sports as children and teens had stronger bones as an adult, as compared to those who gave up sports or never played them to begin with.
Clinical guidelines are increasingly influential but they're written by experts in the field. Are guidelines a faithful compilation of evidence, or instead, just biased, perhaps self-serving, self-regulation? Dr. John Ioannidis, one of medicine's important voices, weighs in.
Could it be that where we go to medical school makes us better, or worse, physicians? Or rather, is the old joke true? "Q: What do you call the student graduating at the bottom of their medical school class? A: Doctor."
It turns out that Type 2 diabetes is not one monolithic disease. There are at least five identified genetic dispositions affecting our metabolism in different ways. Precision medicine may be more difficult than we are led to believe.
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