A new study suggests that electronic cigarette users may experience strokes a decade earlier than traditional smokers. But the authors have overlooked a more interesting result: smokers who switch to vaping have a lower overall stroke risk.
Harm Reduction
Everybody wants to know that when they turn on their tap, their drinking water is safe. According to the EPA, the U.S. enjoys one of the world’s most reliable and safest drinking water supplies. But these days, when we question everything, it’s essential to understand the basic facts about drinking water.
Over the last year, the number of immune individuals necessary to achieve herd immunity has risen from 70% to 90%. Is it even possible to achieve herd immunity? Every other disease has herd immunity; why not COVID-19? And another problem, why is COVID-19 different from its siblings SARS or MERS?
A new study suggests that smokers who take up vaping may "relapse" to cigarettes. But this is more a problem of definitions than evidence that e-cigarettes don't promote smoking cessation.
As I have been arguing of late, the gist, the information, and the emotional components all play a role. A new study looks at the helpfulness of consumer reviews in guiding choice. The emotion they chose to consider – anger – is, unfortunately, around us 24/7/365.
Those are the words of Pliny the Elder (except for the COVID part). Coincidentally, he died while trying to save friends during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. As it turns out, today's home is also where COVID-19 comes to visit, brought in by household members.
The title here refers to a saying among surgeons. It applies not only to our reputation, how others view us but to how we view ourselves, at least for a little while. A new study suggests that the sentiment behind the saying also influences our subsequent few medical decisions.
We visit the dentist almost as much as we see physicians. But insurance coverage for dental care for many of us is non-existent. Congress is quietly, to this point, thinking of changing that situation.
The process of respiration – converting oxygen to carbon dioxide and energy – is what life is all about. This metabolic process, which humans and animals must do to live, changes the environment when we inhale air and release our breath back into the world. How does COVID-19 fit into this?
Many tobacco control advocates have attacked vaping by emphasizing the risk it poses to teenagers. While children should never use any nicotine product, there's a strong case to be made that the campaign against teen vaping has distracted us from tackling a critical public health threat: adult smoking.
Beauty and personal care products are a vast industry, for both women and men. In 2019, the personal care products industry generated sales of $49.2 billion in the U.S., and $380 billion globally. Women spend an average of $35/month, while men spend an average of $29/mo. Some believe these products pose significant risks to our health. Is this another case of a big fear and little risk?
The constant barrage of news, cloaked in attention-getting words and images, is playing havoc with instinctual behavior that is millions of years old. There is, for me, a direct connection between fight or flee, chronic stress, and how we have chosen to use the medium of digital communication. Digital media is an out-of-control fear machine.