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Stopping the transmission of Zika and dengue viruses is a top priority in the fields of infectious disease and global health. A novel strategy, one that infects the mosquitoes with bacteria, may just be the key to stopping these viruses in their tracks. 

For many major league baseball players, the placebo effect is alive and well. This is indisputable, especially following a bizarre, public display of one of the most extreme cases of "cupping" – the dubious practice of applying suction to the skin to supposedly enhance muscle relief. Really, who'd do this? The answer is right here.
 

We all tend to do certain things because “it’s just what you do,” or it's out of passive acceptance of conventional wisdom. And especially in the medical realm, it's important not to overlook issues that could be of even greater importance.

Some say that energy drinks are the worst thing that you can do to your body, and that they cause everything from nausea to seizures. But the fears are overdone. Way overdone. Here's why.

Why would Canada spend $512 million on blood products from the United States when it has perfectly good sources of their own? The short answer is regulation of market forces, but there's more to it than that.

Intermountain Health, a Utah-based non-profit, announced it will be leading an effort that controls 450 U.S. hospitals to make a strategic play in the generic drug market. But will fighting a consolidated industry with consolidation reduce drug costs?

Research shows mounting evidence that a man's erectile dysfunction can be linked to higher rates of cardiovascular events.

Foodborne illness happens; it's one of the hazards of eating. But when a company makes a concerted effort to claim its food is holy and righteous – while everybody else serves poison – management shouldn't be surprised when public backlash is severe. It's entirely predictable, self-inflicted and deserved.
 

Hoping against hope, cell phone conversations – hands-free or not – continue to distract drivers. No two ways around that. But so does talking to the car's other occupants. 

Welcome to the latest "Hypocrisy Alert." Today, we feature Barbra Streisand, who's an outspoken opponent of biotechnology – at least when it applies to genetic food modification. Yet she fails to see the irony of having two cloned dogs. Let us begin ... Cue the music ... Hit it ... 

Society told PhD students that the world would be theirs one day. In truth, after six (or more) years of grueling work, PhDs find themselves exhausted, indebted and unemployable. Facing this reality, is it really any wonder there's evidence of a serious mental health crisis among graduate students?

A recent report from the CDC shows about half of millennials aren't getting tested for HIV — a virus that was a sure killer in the 90s, but thanks to advancements in science has become a manageable illness. Still, millennials aren't taken it seriously. Why?

What turns a relatively minor skin injury into the life-threatening horror show? That would be necrotizing soft tissue infection, otherwise known as a flesh-eating bacterial infection. New research suggests that a lack of antibodies against Streptococcus bacteria is a likely risk factor.

From a physical standpoint, life's late stages don't have to be progressively difficult. A new study by researchers from two British institutions found that adults who regularly exercise – not just several times a week, but also year in, year out – can remain healthy and function as if they were much younger than their actual ages. 

One of the many problems with academia is that it allows nutcases to flourish.

Heartburn does not involve the heart or a burn, although the discomfort may be described as burning. What underlies this common complaint?

Researchers from Harvard, UC and Duke universities have collaborated on a 'study' of the effect of an Ayurveda-based program on people's sense of "nondual awareness and spiritual awakening." Their work supports what seems to be a profitable program at the Chopra Foundation.

In a proof-of-concept study, bioengineers have created a designer cell able to release an effective – and apparently non-addictive – analgesic. And it triggers its release by smelling a volatile component of spearmint.  

http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/With much fanfare, the International Agency for Research on Cancer announced that hot beverages are carcinogenic. But a new study shows that tea is not a culprit. 

James Cagney might call these "dirty, double-crossing rats," but they're likely not dirty, and they don't mean to do it. But according to the CDC, pet rats can carry and pass along a type of hantavirus – the Seoul virus – that can make their owners pretty sick.

A new study says that among high-risk women, how they approached treatment and prevention was clearly related to whether they personally knew of family members or friends who died of breast cancer. Those who did were more likely to take aggressive measures to battle the disease; those who didn't took a more conservative approach.

In the early days of microbiology experiments, when researchers needed test subjects they frequently went to those closest nearby which included their family or themselves.
Now, we have animals to use for experimentation or humans, if the right permission is granted and protocols obtained. 

Using data on scientific citations and impact, a group of scientists reflect on what makes for innovative science in the hopes of crafting a formula.

The allure of evidence-based medicine is that it sounds so objective: free of bias, and free of judgment. But at its core, the evidence-based recommendations from the American College of Physicians are a collective subjective judgment, or a balancing act of tradeoffs. 

I have had the flu for two weeks. Well, to be honest, I never did get the test to confirm that it was, indeed, the flu. But, I am ok self-diagnosing this one based on the high fever, aches, chills, headache, sore throat, and barking cough. Rapid flu test or not, I'm going to call flu on this one. 
Did I get the flu shot? Yes. 
Was it worth it even though I ended up with the flu? Yes.