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Within the timeframe of the legalization of recreational cannabis, there's been a rise in cannabis “use disorder” and the diagnosis of schizophrenia. It's become a chicken or egg which-came-first problem. A new study suggests cannabis is the gateway, creating 15% of new cases of schizophrenia annually.

A group of Harvard scientists claims that it has discovered cocktails of certain drugs that will help people live longer. Slow down fellas, you're not even close.

A new study in the journal Nature examines what happens when pancreatic cancer cells are deprived of glucose, their normal fuel. Do the cells stop growing? No, they adapt by switching "fuels" to a different, ubiquitous biomolecule: uridine. The authors suggest that this discovery could lead to new treatments for this deadly cancer.

Cooking – work you can eat, and enjoy
Writing a novel
Being an apprentice
Add a smidge, perhaps even a pinch.

The Sixth Amendment states, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial….” In 2019, felony charges required a median of 424 days “to reach some final resolution.” Fourteen months in pretrial custody is not speedy. Bail “reform” seeks to end cash bail for certain crimes in the hopes of reducing pretrial jail populations. A new study tries to get past the sound bites of the media.

Following reports of infant illness last year, the FDA investigated and subsequently issued a warning not to use products manufactured at the Abbott baby food plant. Abbott responded by voluntarily shutting the facility resulting in an acute shortage of baby formula in the US – and rampant hysteria. Given Abbott’s strenuous denial that its products caused harm, one cannot help wondering if this closure was an overreaction or a calculated ploy.

The EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) was founded in 1985 to assure scientific integrity and present intra-Agency consensus on health effects information on environmental chemicals.  It is an excellent example of how a government agency can misuse a well-intentioned idea to meet a political agenda resulting in flawed public policy decisions with significant implications.

Last week an article in City Journal wrote about a “scoping review” of the physical harms of masks. It is time for a bit of debunking. A note to the tl:dr – the too long, didn't read among us, it takes more words to correct a mistruth than to propagate one.

Long COVID burdens tens of millions of Americans and the nation's healthcare system, but our response to it has been fragmented and chaotic. We need to address it without delay, with more research and better access to treatment.

Using the criteria contained within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the diagnostic standard, almost 1 in 5 individuals smoking weed for medical therapeutic reasons develop cannabis use disorder within three months of initiating therapy. Yet there is no cry to greatly restrict medical marijuana in the same way we over-control opioids. Whether marijuana or opioids are that addictive depends on your definition of a substance use disorder. Is our current definition the best?

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) cited a new toxicology study that linked PM2.5 air pollution with the growth of lung cells having “pre-existing oncogenic variants” that could promote lung cancer in mice. Because “the light is better underneath the lamppost,” there is an epidemiologic predilection for ascribing blame to the pollutants for which we have the most data, like PM2.5

It should come as no surprise to anyone trying to get or fill a prescription for a controlled substance that our drug laws are nuts. But you probably don't fully appreciate how nutty they really are. This article just scratches the surface of the nut. But that's still plenty.

An FDA expert panel just recommended unanimously that one type of birth control pill should be sold over the counter. Drs. Jeffrey Singer and Josh Bloom argue in their opinion piece in Reason Magazine that the FDA should not only approve the so-called "mini-pill" but allow other types of oral contraceptives to be sold OTC as well – something that is permitted in 100 countries around the world.

The two long-term drivers for weight loss and control are your basal metabolic rate, the number of calories you burn while your carcass is at rest, and your muscle tissue’s ability to perform and sustain physical activity for extended periods moving your carcass. Both are dependent on the amount of muscle tissue you have developed through conditioning or granted through genetics. So, before you decide to withdraw from your 401K to pay for your hit of Wegovy or Ozempic or any other miraculously pitched expensive weight loss drug, you need to consider some basic physiology.

“Every hour, across the world, around 742,000 freshly hatched male chicks are born. A few hours later…” they are killed. The males are obviously of no value to the egg-laying sector of the egg economy; and of no value to the meat-producing sector, where their slow weight gain makes them an “inefficient” source of meat. Could there possibly be lessons in the global annual slaughter of 6.5 billion male chicks?

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently released its Strategic Plan for 2023-27. Most strategic plans are full of fluff and are meant only to check an administrator’s to-do box and end up sitting in a file drawer, never to see the light of day again. This plan is no exception, lacking a clear vision for a path to take on the nation’s agricultural threats. For this to happen, leadership must be held accountable for the agency’s progress.

Eat to beat it – disease, that is.
I can’t walk and chew gum – multi-tasking
Win-win, low price and high quality
The best of our technology disappears

In February, 2021, the CDC published its mask mandate in the federal register requiring a person to “wear a mask while boarding, disembarking or traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States.” Exemptions were provided for specific medical conditions. Several plaintiffs suffering anxiety disturbances from masking  (which was not exempted) sued the CDC in Florida district court for exceeding its statutory authority (and for other issues). The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and is on appeal. The case directly addresses the powers of the CDC to act during public health emergencies in interstate transport and commerce.

A record of bias and incompetence disqualifies the The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from further roles in creating public policy for treating patients in pain.

Cutting the dose of Tylenol in opioids makes the drugs safer. Why? Pharma company Johnson & Johnson is developing a drug that could reduce liver damage caused by Tylenol — which J&J also sells.

Spring brings new growth and new hopes. COVID infections continue, as do vaccine-driven hopes for relief. The White House announced that COVID-19 national and public health emergencies (PHE) will expire on May 11, but a Lancet editorial pronounced that the pandemic is “far from over.” We have been tracking its progress for three years - It’s time to take stock and go out on the shaky limb of prediction.

There's considerable ongoing research to develop analgesic medications that don't have the liabilities of NSAIDs and opioids. Many potential drugs are in various stages of development. Most will fail. This multi-part series will examine drugs in development and their potential utility. First up is VX-458, a Phase III candidate from Vertex.

The use of dicamba, an herbicide, has become an extremely contentious issue in some farm states. It has been accused of “tearing apart the fabric of rural life.” The issues surrounding dicamba present a fascinating study on modern agriculture and problems that arise when technological advances impact farming choices and basic livelihood.

From an evolutionary view, becoming alarmed over dangerous situations is adaptive. Our fight-or-flee response has been honed over the millennium. Now, our prompt and focused attention on alarming information has been used by media – old, main, or social – to capture our eyes and ears (and wallets). What might science tell us about our increasingly alarming media diets? For that, let's first turn to hospitals.

To reduce swab testing for COVID, the ultimate goal is to have dogs able to perform rapid, large-scale, non-invasive screening, with antigen testing necessary only for confirmation after positive dog screening results.