food and nutrition

We have learned a lot about the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the four years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the virus replicates its RNA and mutates in every infection, its spike proteins keep changing. Thus, by the time a vaccine targeting a specific spike protein becomes available, a new variant of the virus with a new spike protein emerges that might be both more transmissible or cause more severe disease.

For example, new viral variants such as the original Omicron and the many subtypes descended from it were less susceptible to the vaccines developed to protect against the original Wuhan SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, even when the vaccine and virus are a good match, protection from the vaccine wanes substantially with time. For those reasons and because vaccine uptake, especially of...

Disclaimer: For those of you who read this article for purely prurient reasons I must regretfully inform you that there is a real chance you may actually learn something. If this is unacceptable and you don't want to learn anything – at least anything factually accurate perhaps you might try Dr. Axe's website, which Katie Suleta thoroughly eviscerated in a recent article.

One of the maniacs I work with sent me a paper titled "Why urine is yellow" article as if I'm the "Kidney King" or "Wizard of Whiz." (The actual title of the article is a bit more obscure: "[Bilirubin reductase] is a gut microbial enzyme that reduces bilirubin to urobilinogen.") This...

Dietary supplements are a big business. The industry made almost US$39 billion in revenue in 2022, and with very little regulation and oversight, it stands to keep growing.

The marketing of dietary supplements has been quite effective, with 77% of Americans reporting feeling that the supplement industry is trustworthy. The idea of taking your health into your own hands is appealing, and supplements are popular with athletes, parents and people trying to recover more quickly from a cold or flu, just to name a few....

Anti-Spike Formula

Inchauspe recently debuted her newest product, a supplement for sale: Anti-Spike Formula. It is currently on pre-order, with shipments slated to begin in April of this year. Anti-Spike is marketed to decrease the natural sugar spike your body experiences after eating. It’s also touted as made with 100% natural ingredients, gut-friendly, sugar-free, vegan, and gluten-free. The Anti-Spike Formula has four-ish ingredients: white mulberry leaf, lemon extract, cinnamon extract, and something called Glucose Goddess Antioxidants - a proprietary blend of vegetable extracts.

According to her website...

Join Cameron English and Dr. Chuck Dinerstein as they examine a case of opioid research with "a side of corruption" on Episode 62 of the Science Dispatch podcast:

More than a third of patients with cancer report experiencing "moderate-to-severe cancer-related pain;” 40% of these patients experience “breakthrough pain” on their pain regimens. Opioid analgesics remain the mainstay for the treatment of moderate-to-severe cancer-associated pain. There is a new meta-analysis concerning opioid efficacy in this setting.

Buckle up;...

The ACSH has written extensively about the safety of conventionally grown food for many years. However, many consumers continue to embrace the concept of “where there is smoke, there is a fire” when it comes to pesticides, believing that the mere presence of any pesticide on food, organic or conventionally raised, is a health concern. However, this is a false impression.

“a child could eat hundreds to thousands of servings of a fruit or vegetable in a day, which shows how minute residues are on produce, if they are present at all.”

Alliance for Food and Farming

The...

“Bad is stronger than Good.”

The "fight or flight" and "rest and relax" responses represent distinct physiological adaptations. The sympathetic nervous system primes the body for immediate action in the face of perceived danger, while the parasympathetic nervous system gradually promotes relaxation and digestion. The balance between these two responses is essential for overall well-being. However, fear sells far more than good tidings when sharing information in conversation, gossip, or the news. The phrase, “When it bleeds, it leads,” has been translated in psychological terms to a negativity bias; potential danger is more powerful than potential benefit. [1]

Studies in communication have highlighted that factors such...

During my lifetime, there have been several seminal breakthroughs in medicine that greatly changed our ability to prevent or treat disease. Part 1, below, describes several of them. I have a good idea of what some of the next ones will be. Several of my personal, idiosyncratic predictions are discussed in Part 2, which will be published next week. (And yes, I do remember Yogi Berra's memorable observation, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”)

Vaccines

I can still recall the palpable excitement in the neighborhood when, at the age of 8, I joined scores of other kids to get the Salk polio ...

Last weekend, Senate negotiators announced a bipartisan compromise on a supplemental spending package that will create tougher immigration and asylum laws aimed at addressing the chaotic flow of migrants across the southern border. The package also contains aid to Ukraine and Israel and the FEND OFF Fentanyl Act  (Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence Off Fentanyl Act).

The FEND OFF Fentanyl Act targets individuals and international drug trafficking organizations that are linked to trading illicit fentanyl and fentanyl precursors with financial and property sanctions. President Biden...

End-of-life care is an uncomfortable topic for many if not all of us. Many individuals express a preference for dying in their own homes, providing a sense of control, privacy, and the ability to be surrounded by family and friends. Home hospice care allows for the provision of more skilled care in the home. For others, the nature of their illness, the need for medical interventions, or the lack of adequate support for home-based care means they end their lives in institutions, nursing homes, or inpatient care.

The study in BMC Geriatrics looked at a 10% cohort of all Medicare beneficiaries dying in 2018, where and how their care changed during the last three years of their life. There were...