Search results

A purportedly serious publication in a serious forum that was recently published has given rise to a bunch of breathless headlines related to Complementary and Alternative Therapies. I presume that this is what was intended, as the supposed good news story is, in fact, one of the most blatant examples of quackacademic confabulation seen in ages.

It might be wise to consider that while Dr. Amir Attaran was completely wrong in his predictions that the Summer Olympics in Brazil might possibly lead to worldwide Zika virus transmission, there are reasons to believe that the Canadian professor's clarion call turned out to be notably, if inadvertently, beneficial to global health.

Twin pregnancies are at high risk of stillbirths, as compared to mothers carrying just one baby. This risk increases five-fold when they each has their own placenta, and 13-fold if twins share it. Complications can often happen in pregnancies near term that have otherwise gone well, with no single cause identified for this occurrence.
 

By now, anyone who has perused the grocery aisles has seen the plethora of products that proudly proclaim they're "gluten-free." But the number of people that need gluten-free foods — those with celiac disease — hasn't increased. Are people being seduced by ads, or is there some other rationale for making gluten-free choices?

WebMD earned its recently-bestowed moniker, WebBM, by spewing out one poop-related story after another. But they have really stepped in it now. The site, which we will now also refer to as WebD-U-M-B, published an article on fast-food scares that was really, really stupid. 

A major protein inside the egg, called ovalbumin, possesses the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine. When heated, these sulfur atoms are converted to hydrogen sulfide, the nasty gas associated with rotten eggs and bodily functions. It doesn't take much to wrinkle our noses.

A recent paper took brain scans and noted changes in response to beer flavor, namely increased activity in the right ventral striatum. Beer caused the scans there to light up more, which the authors believe signaled a desire for more beer, while Gatorade didn't increase beer desire at all.

A new story in the British press reveals that very few lunches brought from home are actually meeting nutritional guidelines. But the way to ameliorate the situation is not pass laws to regulate what can be included in that brown bag. Nutritional guidelines should be used to educate, not punish.

Gene drives change the way that certain genes (and therefore traits) are inherited, or passed down through generations. Using CRISPR gene editing technology, the gene drives have the ability to cut and paste a desired gene into each organism, making a trait present in an entire population of organisms.

Preservation of vision should be a cherished, lifetime goal. So let’s talk high velocity projectiles -- or their avoidance -- chemical splashes, particle fragments and creepy crawlers.  

Parents across the country are celebrating the first week of school. But back to school also means back to germs — eek!  Here's a few tips from Dr. Jamie Wells on how to avoid spreading the germs this school year. 

Shutterstock

Concussions: Fact v. Fiction

Dr. David Shlaes, American Council advisor and infectious disease expert, has been blogging about antibiotics since 2009. His latest entry concerning the FDA is rather encouraging, but it's also a bit disturbing.

A mammogram might do more than just screen for breast cancer. A recent study says the test might also help detect a women's risk of heart disease by assessing what's called breast arterial calcification. BAC levels are highly correlated with coronary artery calcium deposits, a key indicator of heart disease.

While on first glance this story appears to be an April Fool's joke, it isn't. Really. The giant African pouched rat may be the latest weapon in the fight to eradicate tuberculosis. It's already proved its usefulness in detecting landmines, and the rodent is now being trained to detect TB.

For more than a decade New York City schools have offered "Breakfast in the Classroom," a program that had hoped to boost academic performance as well as school attendance. However, the BIC program fell short on both counts, according to a study that concluded that there was no evidence of success for the initiative.

When it comes to environmental politics, history and improved scientific understanding often fail to inform. And according to guest writer Angela Logomasini, an author and Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, alarmism and irrationality are prominent in the current debate involving flame retardant chemicals.

When a company selling a naturalistic fallacy has to claim that the cleaning agent in a regular product, as compared to the one in a Whole Foods version, are different -- saying that the Whole Foods version “is plant-based and not the same” -- you know science has left the discussion.

Night owls, we all know one, or we are ourselves. Humans show variable preference in diurnal phase – meaning late risers. These individuals could be diagnosed with delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD) which accounts for nearly 10 percent of all patients seen in sleep clinics.

Millions of Americans are, mistakenly, big believers in the power of dietary supplements. At the same time many remain completely ignorant about the inherent risks associated with them, especially since they can interfere with prescription drug medications. And in some cases combining the two can have severe consequences.

Brad Harris, owner of Novus Health Care Services, Inc., in Frisco, Texas, which says it "offers hospice and home health-care services", regularly directed nurses to give hospice patients overdoses of drugs to speed up their deaths, according to FBI documents filed to obtain a search warrant.
The FBI says he sent text messages like, "You need to make this patient go bye-bye."

Cat-haters are always eager to find reasons to bad-mouth our feline friends. The latest is road rage — blaming a cat-carried parasite for aggressive behavior. But that concept just doesn't hold water. Ailurophobes, or those who fear cats, will just have to try harder to malign them.

The Federal Trade Commission and 58 law enforcement groups across the United States have shut down four sham cancer charities that bilked over $187 million from consumers.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals seems to be trying to cement its place as the worst company in the world. After doing virtually everything wrong over the past year, its officials have taken it to an even lower level — price gouging dying patients who have chosen to end their lives.