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In other species, greater height merely provides the ability to reach the highest branch or scare off potential predators. And thinness can mean residing at the lower end of the food pyramid. But being tall and thin, particularly for humans? A recent study says these folks are likely to thrive in their socioeconomic environment.

It’s fair to say that frozen food has a bit of an image problem. Surveys indicate that more that 40 percent of consumers have a strong aversion to it. But as Emma Boyland, Lecturer in Appetite and Obesity from the University of Liverpool explains, for the sake of our health, our wallets and the environment it may be time to stop turning up our noses to food in the freezer.

We here at ACSH are in a health war against smoking, not a war with Philip Morris or Altria or any other tobacco group. So if Big Tobacco can make money selling something besides cigarettes, great -- that is exactly what we have long said they should be doing. Meanwhile, nicotine, while addictive but relatively harmless by itself, is actually helping save lives, as it's being used by those who make their money in the cigarette business to get out of it.

A Florida woman who consumed raw chocolate milk produced by Miller's Organic Farm in Pennsylvania passed away after getting Listeria. Ironically, she thought she was drinking something more "natural" that would make her immune system stronger.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a drug which blocks messages that direct stem cells to differentiate, forcing them to reverse course to a more embryonic state.

So another know-nothing celebrity is promoting her own take on infant feeding — Kristin Cavallari is pushing her goat's milk formula. But accepted experts in the field, like those at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, advise against following her weird lead. As do we.

According to a major study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, researchers have linked public transport usage with key health outcomes. Using a sample of over 150,000 British residents, they gave added credence to an important health principle known as active transportation.

Being around smokers is almost as weird for e-cigarette users as it is non-smokers.

One of the latest contributions from the Huffington Post to the national dialogue comes courtesy of self-described teenage "food safety activist" Rachel Parent, who skyrocketed to fame after giving an anti-GMO talk for Tedx, and debating Kevin O'Leary. Her new article is titled "GMO Propaganda Has No Place In Your Child's Classroom." She then goes on to regurgitate her own propaganda.

In case you're wondering, it isn't just you that has more than your share of accidents. Hundreds of thousands of people per year do, as well. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that unintentional injuries are the No. 3 cause of death in the United States and account for 1 of every 4 visits to the emergency room.

Researchers in Pittsburgh studying the effectiveness of email say that the electronic process is rife with miscommunication, exchanges between parties often have a difficult time conveying feelings properly, and most interestingly that emails among friends are no more effective than those between total strangers. 

We all know aerobic exercise -- running, swimming, walking briskly -- is good for the heart. Apparently it's also good for the brain, too. Researchers wanted to know what happens to the brains of older folks who exercised vigorously and often, if they stopped exercising. The report of their study was published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

When it comes to picking produce at the grocery store, don't judge a book by its cover! Spotted fruits and veggies aren't spoiled or harmful — they've simply been through a lot, and they need a little TLC.
 
 

The American Academy of Pediatrics wants to guide clinicians on “Countering Vaccine Hesitancy” among parents. This policy statement, published in the journal Pediatrics, rightly champions vaccination as "one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century." There is just one problem; pediatricians actually don't need more guidelines and protocols.

Roughly 1 in 3 women douche, but there is no good health reason to do so. Douching can change the makeup of the bacteria that normally live in the vagina, and it can even make women more susceptible to STDs. Now, researchers have added another concern: Douching appears to increase the risk of infection with HPV (human papillomavirus), which causes cervical cancer. 

Sometimes drugs behave very well. They do what they are supposed to do, and do it well, maybe even without side effects. We are fortunate to have one of these that works against a very common infection — herpes simplex virus.

Over the course of the past few weeks Mylan has replaced Turing and Valeant as the most scrutinized and critiqued pharmaceutical companies in the United States. Though politicians and pundits have claimed the problem is Big Pharma, the issue of price-gouging is far more pervasive among generic drugs.

We understand that a hungry child needs help and that school systems are socially efficient means of providing this assistance. But really: criticizing school principals for prioritizing academics over meals? What's next -- McDonald’s stressing reading over Happy Meals? 

Fortification of enriched grain foods with the B vitamin folate has been mandated in the U.S. and Canada since 1998. Since then, the prevalence of central nervous system defects in babies has decreased, as was the purpose of the fortification. A recent Canadian study indicates that such fortification has also reduced the prevalence of several heart malformation — an unexpected benefit.

Breastfed babies who consume a particular type of sugar in their milk are more likely to be protected from colonization by Group B Streptococcus — a bacteria, which is a major cause of meningitis and other serious ailments in newborns. These sugars — oligosaccharides — are thought to encourage the growth of non-pathogenic bacteria in the baby's GI tract which, in effect, "crowds out" the dangerous ones.

A new study confirms something that we believed was true, yet couldn't be sure of. Research published online in the journal Pediatrics concludes that when concussion victims are removed more quickly from physical activity after a collision and have additional time to recover before resuming play, the intervention significantly speeds recovery time and reduces concussive symptoms.

A vaccine for herpes? Is it possible? Maybe.

While you were out barefoot skiing this summer, we were holding down the fort in steamy Manhattan, defending evidence-based science and medicine and debunking hype. (But we're not complaining; that's what we do!) So, in case you missed it, here are the top 10 most popular articles we published this summer.

In an effort to halt what some pediatricians are calling a rising tide in vaccine hesitancy, the American Academy of Pediatrics have released a statement urging states to crack down on parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. The recommendations go as far as stating that pediatricians reserve the right to exclude anti-vaccine families from the practice who refuse to change their minds.

What is precision medicine?
Precision medicine stands to be the future of healthcare. A future painted as delivering personalized medicine and targeted therapies, doing away with the one-size-fits-all approach and exploiting the root cause of a disease to find curative/therapeutic options. It’s a beautiful, grand concept, that the current medical and scientific world’s infrastructure is simply not prepared for to be more than a concept.