Overindulging during holiday festivities can cause more than heartburn. You could end up in the emergency room. Prevention is the best course.
alcohol
Federal regulators and anti-tobacco campaigners are on the warpath against flavored vaping products. Though alcohol and marijuana use are more common (and more harmful) teenage vices, there seems to be little interest in restricting access to these products.
Introducing the ACSH Science Dispatch Podcast — the weekly show where we separate science fact from science fiction.
A recent study found that moderate alcohol consumption — even one drink a day — could shrink your brain. The explosion of context-free headlines predictably followed. Let's dive a little deeper and examine what most reporters missed.
Dietary guidelines must be realistic, not idealistic, in order for people to follow them.
A blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% while driving is considered impaired, and it's associated with an increase in motor vehicle accidents. But what about a “quick pop”? You know, being buzzed? How does that figure into the thinking? A new study sifts through the data.
Completely banning alcohol would only prevent about 3.5% of cancer deaths. That, of course, means the other 96.5% of fatal cancers are caused by things other than alcohol. Given that cancer is the #2 leading cause of death in America, there's a good chance that you're going to die of cancer no matter what you do. So chill out and have a drink.
As a society, we have done a good job stigmatizing the completely unacceptable behavior of driving under the influence of alcohol. But because marijuana has been destigmatized, people are driving while high. It's time to take action.
A new study suggests that there is no safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed. Do the flaws of the study mean we can ignore the findings? Pour yourself a glass and read on.
From a public health perspective, what's the biggest preventable cause of cancer? Pesticides? Poor diet? Pollution? UV light? No, no, no, and nope. It's tobacco, by far. Obesity and infectious diseases are #2 and #3.
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.
This is what the CDC is proposing because binge drinkers tend to abuse opioids. But that makes no sense. It would be like adding a special tax to automobiles because some people drive them at 100 mph.