Credit: Shutterstock

BMJ Global Health, a new publication, reports that five billion people around the world lack access to surgery, at a total cost of roughly $12.3 trillion in lost GDP by 2030. The authors call for various agencies to pull together in a concerted effort to provide access to those who need it most.

Many vocal California women are outraged by the sales tax imposed on feminine products, and they have teamed up with state legislators to demand that these essential goods be made exempt, like they are in just a handful of other states around the country.

In the continuing effort to curb childhood obesity, researchers are focusing on ways to keep kids active while encouraging healthy behaviors. According to a recent article published in the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers believe that parents of young children can be a big part of the solution by getting more involved. 

When assessing the treatment of heroin addicts, many wonder whether the current approved options, methadone and suboxone, are effective pathways to recovery. But now that a recent study has found promise in the pain medication hydromorphone, we’re left to wonder how well heroin addiction can be treated with an addictive drug.

The saying that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” doesn’t mean that the squeaky wheel isn’t a huge pain in the neck. And according to a new study published in BMJ, when it comes to medical treatment difficult patients can cause physicians to make inaccurate diagnoses.

One of the most notable changes in Coca-Cola's so-called natural marketing campaign is the company's decision to drop high fructose corn syrup in favor of cane sugar. But could it be that there really isn't any difference in the chemical content of the products? Apparently it depends on storage and transport temperature, and the time span between production and consumption.

Sleep disorders have also kept many researchers up at night, perhaps until now. Because according to a recent study, insomniacs brains may be wired differently than non-insomnia sufferers, which may lend credence to the long-suspected theory that anxiety and depression may not be the sole contributors to the pillow-time problem.

Sequencing a genome is quick and inexpensive, but a DNA sequence alone is not useful if we can't interpret the information that it holds. New research has developed an analysis using yeast that has the ability to determine whether a genetic mutation causes a disease. This work may help narrow the gap between having information and being able to use it to diagnose and treat patients.

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital have been able to engineer a pill which can attach to the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, and withstand its abrasive environment.