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Humans, like the rest of our primate family, are social creatures. We need and crave company. That’s one reason solitary confinement is a very real punishment. There’s some interesting physiology behind our social needs.

Can we agree that the COVID-19 virus is spread through the air by those infected, by people like you and me, who exhale the virus with every breath we take?  If you think not, read no further.  I can’t convince you of this scientific fact. The breath from virus-infected persons contains particles that, like bullets shot from a gun, transmit the virus to the uninfected. 

Kombucha is a popular high-acid, low-alcoholic beverage composed of fermented tea and sugar. Kombucha lovers tout its use as a remedy for everything, calling it a miracle elixir. It has grown from a regional beverage to a global market. Are its health claims factual, or is it just another trendy “bubbly” beverage?

Scientific American says there's good evidence to support mandatory masking in schools. A careful look at the data suggest the situation is more complicated.

Everything about COVID-19 is subject to scrutiny by informed and ill-informed media, by experts, by eminence. Booster shots are the latest in the communication apocalypse. Do we need them? Pick your data; there is a great deal to choose from.

The FDA just took a significant step toward killing the vaping industry. While ostensibly acting to "protect public health," the agency has effectively banned millions of products and made it harder for smokers to give up their deadly habit.

Over the past 20 months, some formerly unknown terms have become part of our vernacular, thanks to COVID-19. Do most non-scientists understand them? We’re guessing: Probably not. So, here’s a primer that may help you better understand what you're hearing and reading.

Is there a political perspective on nature vs. nurture? What to do about losing “the grid” during storms. A whale of a tale! PETA and the fashionistas. And what I am listening to.

Scope of practice, who can do what to whom, is a contentious area. There is fighting between those with large scopes of practice, such as physicians, and those with a lesser range, like advanced nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and specialty nurses, like those working the critical care areas. Who decides one’s scope of practice? 

A recent article in The Washington Post demonstrates that when opioid medications become less available to veterans, suicide rates go up. And not by a little. This only serves to further show the extent of damage done by foolish U.S. drug policies.

The Ivermectin battle rages on. The consensus of scientific and public health opinion is not only that the drug doesn’t work but that it could be dangerous in COVID care. The placebo effect, small sample sizes, improper or absent controls are cited as demeaning the value of studies showing positive results. On the other hand, a coterie of activist proponents aggressively champion its use, both prophylactically and as last-resort care. Case-series and individual miracle results are touted as proof-positive of the drug’s effectiveness. 

Given the abundance of readily available, free, effective (albeit imperfect) vaccines for many months, why are we seeing a surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations? Let's examine the three primary factors that dictate the severity of an outbreak of a viral illness.

As the Biden Administration's booster shot roll out approaches, we have plenty of evidence that the primary COVID vaccines are still very effective, a growing number of experts say, but very little data to justify widespread use of boosters. This kind of open policy debate is exactly what we need.

Both mRNA vaccines target COVID-19’s spike, involve two doses, at least currently, and have been widely effective. That hasn’t stopped inquiring minds from wondering whether there are some head-to-head differences in the real world.

Those of us without evidence of cognitive impairment certainly remember the hubbub over the release of Aducanumab, the first FDA-approved drug to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. A short, to-the-point research letter in JAMA clarifies why it has the potential for abuse – and what the FDA needs to do to prevent it.

The federal government has proposed a nationwide vaccine mandate. It's a terrible idea.

A group at Sloan Kettering is proposing the use of certain types of chemotherapy drugs to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. One cannot help thinking of the old adage about what everything looks like when you only have a hammer.

Of all the organs that fail – among them the heart, lungs, and liver – treating kidney failure has produced the best results. This is due to the use of medications and dietary restrictions, but more importantly by taking over declining kidney function with dialysis and transplantation. A new study looks at the kidney availability imbalance that hinders more transplants from taking place.

Public health, in much of this country, is in crisis. Hospitals are overwhelmed and understaffed, vaccination is widely resisted, state governments present mixed messages -- and COVID-19 is out of control and headed for a 4th wave. The more-contagious Delta variant has been spreading rapidly and may challenge the efficacy of our vaccines. We address this situation with population-based statistics in two modes: progression over time and geographic variation.

Earlier this year, Sri Lanka banned imports of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, part of its effort to embrace organic-only farming. The project has left farmers without access to vital tools and sent food prices soaring.

Although dermatology may not automatically command the respect of other disciplines such as oncology, Drs. Henry Miller and Renata H. Mullen explain why dermatology is one of modern medicine’s most complex and fascinating specialties.

For regulatory science, from Covid-19 to environmental regulations, today’s mantra is to “follow the science.” If only we had more and better science, they exclaim, we would know the correct answers and better protect public health. But “more” and “better science” often result in the opposite effect – i.e., less protection of public health. By trying to do “perfect science,” we often get in the way of good results in the protection of public health.

"... the public in these areas are not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances … Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C., that their air is safe to breathe, and their water is safe to drink."
Christine Todd Whitman, EPA Administrator, Sept. 2001

How many of us have had COVID-19 or received vaccinations? The numbers of those inoculated are a bit easier to come by, but to count all those infected we’d have to test everybody. (That hasn’t happened – and won’t be happening.) Knowing the number of asymptomatic transmitters is helpful in both understanding who’s most impacted by COVID-19 and achieving the nirvana of herd immunity. A new study looks at a different population among us: blood donors.

Storytelling in science, finding the narrative. The simultaneous rise of literacy and misogyny, heavy metal harp, the mushroom mind, and a Twitter Ivermectin thread and media bias