Much of the concern regarding CDC guidelines for COVID-19 involves the perception that, at times, they are contradictory. And these perceived flip-flops can be used as political fodder. While some mix-messaging is due to our changing understanding of the deadly virus, it may often stem from the struggle between messages directed at overall public health, versus those for individuals.

It has been a tough year for the CDC, with missteps and mixed messaging. The end result, as a new RAND study shows, is declining trust.

Urgent care centers offer more than first aid, but less than a full-service Emergency Department. It was hoped that they would reduce the number of expensive ED visits, and save money. Well, at least half of that hope has been met.

Like a number of our friends, my wife and I are switching to a more plant-based diet but still find a steak or fish a good occasional choice. That got us to talking about why some people choose to restrict their diet. In looking for an answer I ran across a plausible explanation, that generalizes to other issues.

Last week, it was colonoscopy time again. Oh, joy! But it gave me an excuse to look up alternate bowel preps – and it's a damn good thing I did. Which prep is the one to have? Which is best to avoid? It's not so easy to tell. As a bonus, here are some hilarious quotes.

COVID-19 has taken a toll on our mental health. With more and more cases of depression, the deadly virus has made us more aware of our fragile existence. Perhaps, as a result, more attention is being paid to end-of-life issues, including hospice, and more controversially, euthanasia. Are we going down a slippery slope?

Conflicted interests in Boston healthcare, gene sequences powering a change in medicine, inheriting more than genes from our parents, and the cancel culture comes to medicine.

Whether you call it pandemic waves or surges, there’s little doubt that we’re in the midst of one. It’s not necessarily as virulent as the initial wave, but it's problematic nonetheless. Are we opening up too soon, over-relaxing our vigilance? A new study suggests the surges are linked to behavior – not ours, but the virus’.

It’s been a year since we've focused on the greying of hair. The pandemic may have caused you to lose more of it than normal, either by pulling it out in frustration or because of stress. Yes, stress can cause hair loss (at least in mice).

Plumbum is the Latin word for lead. It’s also the root of the term, plumber. Part of President Biden’s infrastructure bill proposes to remove the last of our country’s lead pipes. But why do we have lead pipes anyway?