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It's time doctors and patients take charge of what goes on in the exam room or at the hospital bedside. Inane, tedious tasks that co-opt such visits are out of touch with real world medical practice.

A lawsuit recently filed in Brooklyn, NY against an orange juice company that uses the term "natural" on its label is ridiculous. But it does provide a perfect example of how meaningless the term is. Taken to its logical conclusion nothing on Earth is natural. Except – maybe – drinking milk directly from a cow. Udder stupidity.

Phobias are associated with various mental health issues. The strongest associations were with anxiety disorders, panic disorders, and social phobia. This does not mean that phobias cause these other problems (or vice versa), but simply that if a person has a phobia, he or she is likelier to experience other mental health issues, as well.

Results of a study about soccer and the effects that "heading" the ball has on the brain delivered one key message: women's brain matter appears to be more sensitive than men's. While this may be true, it's important that we be somewhat cautious in making too much of this, given the many limitations of the study. 

Non-Emergency Medical Transportation helps Medicaid patients keep their medical appointments. As some states expand Medicaid, they want to drop the service. A whitepaper by the industrial leaders tries to make a case for the benefit of the service using MathMagic. It doesn't, but should. 

The game, Clue Master Detective, requires eight potential weapons. The CDC finds two are the most popular.

Due to the endlessly creative ways we inadvertently harm ourselves, health officials felt compelled to step in to reduce unintentional injury.

There are very few genetic diseases, but there's increasing evidence that our genes can predispose us to specific problems. Our chemical signals provide the linkage.

Diets – along with dietary advice – are everywhere. Medical nutrition therapy slows the progression of failing kidneys. So why is it prescribed so infrequently?

Marijuana, the 1930's gateway drug to hell, has become both an accepted sin and the source of a very lucrative new sin tax. Irrespective of how you may view the change, we know little about pot's long-term health effects or what individual states are doing with all this new revenue. That said, our dysfunctional Congress is proposing a reasonable means of informing this debate.

The Mercatus Center's report on the financial impact of Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for All" proposal reveals the details. The media insists on feeding us biased headlines and soundbites. That just an informational meal of empty calories. Let's do better here.

When ideology not medical reasoning guides infant feeding policy, nobody wins.

Covering some 40,000 square miles with an average elevation of 13,000 feet, the Atacama is located mostly in Chile. But its outer regions stretch into nearby Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. What's more, it's home to the driest spot on Earth.

The main reason the 82-year-old actor decided to publicly disclose that he has Parkinson's disease is that Alda is a self-proclaimed science communicator. And he's sharing what he's learning about dealing with this condition, so others can learn how to live with it more effectively and not be "immobilized by fear."

This plant-based chemical is found in a number of growths, especially spearmint and caraway, and it's commonly used to flavor foods. In addition, there's an interesting chemical factoid here: Carvone actually comes in two almost-identical forms, which have different scents and flavors. Welcome to stereo-chemistry. 

The 21st Century Cures Bill is a huge piece of legislation that's soon expected to become law. Part of the bill facilitates antibiotic research, but a number of anti-pharmaceutical groups and individuals object to it because it benefits the pharmaceutical industry. None is worse than Public Citizen. They want to kill you, not bacteria. 

What do consumers think about organic or genetically modified foods? Demographics don't seem to make a difference, but according to a recent survey "food ideology" does.

Red Lawhern believes that the CDC is responsible for the mess that we're in. He contends the agency had an agenda, one pushed by cherry picking data from key studies.

No one looks forward to chugging a gallon of gag-inducing bowel-prep and spending hours running to the bathroom, all as a prelude to an even more pleasant experience involving a snaking tube and a camera. So if you're averse to a colonoscopy, here are other options you can consider -- albeit with some caveats.

A high-profile paper published in Science earlier this year is in jeopardy because of events that started out with a theft of a laptop may end up being a big enough transgression to have it erased from the scientific literature. Meanwhile, the paper on microbeads has a major problem, one that the journal is taking its time dealing with. 
 

At age 86, living legend Dr. Buzz Aldrin was recently medically evacuated from the South Pole. In the first of a two-part series, Dr. Jamie Wells shares an experience she had at high elevation with the former astronaut when addressing altitude illnesses, prevention and treatment.  

Here's the first in a new series called Annoying Studies. These typically include research that is already known, redundant and possibly pushing an agenda. We start with a work just published in the journal Pediatrics on weight changes and regaining birth weight in the newborn period. 

New research published in the American Journal of Infection Control suggests that professionals who administer breath alcohol tests should stay away from hand sanitizers that contain ethanol, as they can cause breathalyzers to produce a false positive result. That's because the active ingredient is often some kind of alcohol.

Right now it's a recommendation, but what a very smart one it is.
Hats off to the American Heart Association for raising the visibility and importance of aerobic fitness, and declaring that the metric be considered a vital sign which should be monitored and measured in physical checkups administered by physicians.
The scientific statement makes it clear that exercising the heart and lungs is essential to an individual's overall health, and that those prone to inactivity are at greater risk for life-threatening conditions.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an activist group known for nuisance lawsuits related to health issues and scaremongering just about every food in the modern world, wants the Department of Agriculture to put warning labels on bacon. Yes, bacon.