In the never-ending campaign to demonize any drug that could possibly be abused, a physicians group at the University of Pennsylvania claims that music is a viable alternative to Versed (a benzodiazepine) in calming patients before outpatient surgery. But it is not. All you have to do is read the paper and this becomes obvious. Better orthodoxy, worse medicine.
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The problem of high drug prices is multifaceted and complex. Referring to the pharmaceutical industry employing "crooks" might be good for some cheap applause, but it's demoralizing to the thousands of scientists who work in it. Senator Sanders should apologize.
Here's what's in store this time: A bit of beautiful writing (really a meditation) on working with your hands. A possible explanation for why some objects become tainted, i.e. wrapped in the shadows of its origins, like "blood diamonds." Wealth work in the gig economy. And finally, another rapidly diminishing resource: sand.
Some migraine sufferers are easily treated with triptans or opioids. Other migraine sufferers, however, aren't so lucky. Perhaps immunotherapy will provide relief. Several companies are working on injections of anti-migraine antibodies.
Here's what's on tap this week: Why are seatbelts and airbags designed based on male morphology? Banning plastics is gaining traction, so are unintended consequences. Mosquitos can impact us culturally, as you need to look no further than a gin and tonic. Finally, a bit of eye candy: What those tiny holes in medicine capsules really do.
Just when you think "alternative medicine" can't get any worse, an article in The Week will prove you wrong. It's about leech therapy. You will learn that there is an approved use for these creatures, and also something so ghastly that you may regret reading about it. But you will anyhow. Morbid curiosity is very powerful. Just don't say we didn't warn you.
We all make mistakes, but errors by physicians can lead to significant harm to patients. Can we learn from our mistakes? A new study looks for common threads in one area: misdiagnosis.
Various forms of calorie-restricted diets are all the rage. A study in The Lancet takes a detailed look at one version. It changes our biomarkers, but does it alter our health?
Here's what's on tap: a video on the Top 5 poisons from the American Chemical Society; a look at how Darwin's theory keeps evolving; and Boeing's 737Max is a safety problem that's now becoming a big economic issue (and who do you think will be picking up that tab?) And finally, the Cosmic Crisp (pictured) coming to your grocery this fall.
It's not often that a politician is openly pro-GMO, particularly in Europe. But the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom just praised genetic modification in his first speech to Parliament.
There's more tree cover on Earth now than there was 35 years ago. Why? Because of technology and wealth. If we want to save the planet we should encourage more of both.
Surgery can be risky business. A new study looks at how complications can result in patient death. It doesn't add new information, but it was peer-reviewed. Replication is fine, but is it always necessary?
The protection of intellectual property is vital to innovation. If anyone can just take something you created -- be it a song or a drug -- without proper compensation, there would be little reason to develop anything new. That, however, is predicated upon innovators playing fairly. In other words, they cannot seek patent protection for things that are not patentable. Yet, some pharmaceutical companies are doing just that.
Last month, we discussed the risks associated with traveling to the Dominican Republic, where nine Americans died under mysterious circumstances. Now, a recent development should point investigators in a particular direction: a huge number of deaths in Costa Rica, linked to consuming alcohol adulterated with methanol, or wood alcohol.
Unless he has a miraculous change of mind and heart, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be remembered as a scourge on public health. He'll also be the Kennedy whose words and actions encouraged the spread of not only measles, mumps, and rubella but influenza and cervical cancer as well. What a legacy.
With the calendar turning to September, football fans across America rejoice as NFL and college football teams once again take the field. In between watching our favorites, we have continued to fight the good fight for science and health. Here's where ACSH appeared over the past couple of weeks.
A recent survey shows that Americans despise the pharmaceutical industry not only more than ever before, but also more than any other business sector. Dr. Chris Gerry closely examines the factors -- both sensible and nonsensical -- that have contributed to Big Pharma's rock-bottom reputation.
Sometimes physicians learn on-the-job as it were - they don't call it a practice for nothing. A new study looks at how well interventional cardiologists learn new techniques and what mayhem may occur on the way.
This hypothesis suggests that pregnancy may protect women from auto-immune diseases, and further, that not being constantly pregnant and breastfeeding dysregulates the immune system.
An alarmist article by NPR wants us to believe that we're in grave danger. That's because some deli meats have labels that are inaccurate, regarding the presence (or absence) of nitrate, a preservative. Here's the science that explains why the whole thing is nothing but a silly scare.
While indoor air pollution in the U.S. involves cleaning or hygiene products, as well as cosmetics, for most of the world's population the source of indoor air pollution is cooking. India tries to move to a more sustainable fuel source, but with unintended consequences.
Fasting for a full day, or any part of it, will certainly reduce one's caloric intake. But can food avoidance, which mimics the activity of our hunter-gatherer forebears, be safe? And can it improve our health? Let's take a look.
The nine-valent HPV vaccine -- which targets nine different HPV strains -- could prevent about 3 in 4 HPV-associated cancers. However, only about half of all adolescents have completed the vaccine series. If everyone was fully vaccinated we could prevent some 32,100 cancers each year.
Scientific facts and pleas for personal responsibility to protect the most vulnerable among us. Those are the immunocompromised and children too young to be vaccinated. They apparently don't matter to the selfish fools who continue to reject vaccines. These selfish people have blood on their hands, and society has not chosen to hold them accountable.
Homebirths, formerly the norm, have been replaced by hospital births. Some say it needlessly medicalizes a normal human activity. A new study looks at whether home births in low-risk situations result in harm.
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