Physicians from low ranked medical schools prescribed nearly three times as many opioids as physicians trained from top medical schools, according to a study. But is their take real?
Drugs & Pharmaceuticals
The myth that "natural is better" is widespread and pernicious. Though it can manifest in relatively harmless ways (e.g., consuming overpriced organic food), the relentless pursuit of all-things natural can be dangerous or even deadly. It is not an exaggeration to say that society's obsession with natural remedies is itself an illness.
The latest weirdness comes from Germany, which according to New Scientist, is considering approval of parasite eggs as a food additive. After eating the eggs, little worms hatch, and people believe that these worms will cure them of their maladies. Most likely, they won't.
Proton pump inhibitors have some mild, treatable side effects. Other reported side effects, such as heart attacks, kidney disease, and dementia are sensationalist and based on weak evidence.
Telling the difference between a viral and bacterial infection isn't always easy. Physicians end up guessing, which results in prescriptions being given for unnecessary antibiotics. A group is working on a new tool that could take the guesswork out of this important issue.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. To learn why, along with how best to prevent it and to clarify any misperceptions about the dynamic nature of the female cardiovascular system ...
Seven of the 10 most profitable hospitals in the United States in 2013 – each earning more than $163 million in profits from patient care services – were non-profit hospitals.
How can that be?
With medication errors outside of health facilities on the rise, learn more here about the unique challenges to proper medication use and where prevention strategies need to be directed.
Versed, in the same drug class as Valium (but better), may be the only pleasant thing you'll experience in the hospital. Once it takes effect, you won't care what happens. Even if you're helicoptered into Damascus with a yarmulke on your head. It's that good but it doesn't completely knock you out. Its chemistry is pretty cool, too.
A drug used to treat depression appears to work by blocking the detrimental effects of stress on brain structure.
The Food and Drug Administration proposes to study not the value of direct-to-consumer ads, but whether we are over-warned by them.
One of the many medical myths that we are bombarded with is the idea of "chronic Lyme disease." Lyme is real and can be serious if not treated. But attempts to "cure" chronic Lyme can be dangerous or even deadly, especially when long courses of antibiotics are given. Here's the latest on this from the CDC.
Otto Warmbier, the Ohio college student detained in North Korea, returned to the United States in a "coma" that has endured since March 2016. With an etiology already in dispute, there's a tendency for wrong information to spread. So let's shift gears to focus on comas, in general, to clarify any falsehoods.