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The Centers for Medicare Services released its ratings of our nation’s hospitals last week, which caused considerable consternation among hospitals and academic medical centers. But when you consider its only reporting the average star ratings for New York hospitals based on a star rating that itself is a weighted average of 64 measures, the report doesn't contain a great deal of useful information.

Now that Zika has hit the United States, people will be deciding which, if any, mosquito repellents to use. You can have something that is "natural," or something that works. But not both.

There may be something about complementary sensations: sometimes we remember food or drink as tasting better because of the setting or the company. So what if, instead of alcohol making music sound better, it's the other way around?

Over-prescription of antibiotics for non-bacterial illnesses contributes to the overuse of these drugs and to antibiotic resistance by the bacteria — a real threat to human health. Some preliminary research suggests that testing for CRP might help decrease the rate of overprescription.

Seeking entry into the annals of Perceived Threats That Makes Parenting Needlessly More Frightening, we now have a new "study" claiming that kids playing within enclosed, inflatable, trampoline-like enclosures in warmer climates are potentially at risk of dying from heat stroke. "Researchers" please stop scaring parents.

Despite what eugenics proponents thought -- and their population control descendants still think now -- more people actually lead to more innovation. A new study makes the case again that, when stressed, human ingenuity is likely to win out, even in the short term.

Krypton and xenon serve practical and important purposes. But harvesting them from the air is energy intensive, as it requires a temperature of -300 degrees F. So chemists constructed a molecular sieve that easily separates the noble gases at room temperature.

Here's a good place to avoid: Rio de Janeiro. What a mess. And it's not only because of the Zika virus. The ocean is going to make many athletes very sick -- and possibly even reading this will make you feel the same way.

Assuming that the company Ava is able to successfully replicate wine by simply combining chemicals in a laboratory, a big question still remains: Would people actually buy it? ACSH President Hank Campbell and Senior Fellow of Biomedical Science Dr. Alex Berezow debate the issue.

A new study presents calculations suggesting that increasing intake of peanuts and tree nuts might dampen levels of inflammation and thereby decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But this type of study can't prove causality — so take these nuts with a grain of salt.

To sports fans, it wasn't even that big of a story when it broke in late July. But for those keeping tabs on the medical machinations of professional football, the retirement of Eugene Monroe -- the NFL's only active player calling for the league to allow marijuana as a pain-reduction option to opioids -- was a noteworthy event.

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If you are not trying to sell a diet book or get on an afternoon medical news program, you probably don't think giving up a food group is a magic bullet for weight loss. Actually, it is. So is a cleanse. That is what crash diets are, even if they don't work in the long term.

We spend our lives surrounded by hi-tech materials and chemicals that make our batteries, solar cells and mobile phones work. But developing new technologies requires time-consuming, expensive and even dangerous experiments.

Social media, with all of its anonymous participants, can be a little daunting, especially when strangers are just firing questions at you.

Dehydration can be dangerous for the elderly, since their thirst mechanisms and kidneys may not be as well tuned in to the body's status as compared to those of younger people. But the current urine tests don't accurately reflect what's happening in the body, according to a recent study.

What's the secret to a happy marriage? Hint: it ain't love. Apparently, it's alcohol (P.S. There are so many jokes here...)
A recent study claims couples who drink alcohol together have a happier marital quality over time. Sound too good to be true? It probably is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9bBF9RktAA
 
 

Here’s the story on this preventable problem that plagues the world: Hepatitis is a viral infection of the liver.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released their hospital rankings, and New York isn't happy about being last among 50 states.

Medical practitioners and patients live in “a sea of uncertainty, where the stressful unknown drives us “to seek more information through testing” to increase our certainty. But more data is not necessarily helpful, according to an online report in JAMA Oncology examining the impact of evidence-based recommendations on physician behavior.

A group of activists at the Democratic National Convention are going to make themselves be heard. And smelled. Chemistry call explain the latter.

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With rising costs, an inundated healthcare system, and limited resources, physicians have been known to ration medical services. According to a recent study, over half of the physicians surveyed reported withholding beneficial clinical services to patients over the past six months, with prescription drugs and MRIs at the top of the restricted list.

Amidst the talks at the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics annual conference this December will be a session on "vaccines and autism." Chiropractors performing spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) on children and babies is bad enough - by including the session on vaccines and autism at the conference, they are offering children a one - two punch. Now babies that are getting their backs cracked will have whooping cough, too.

Yet another cancer has been found in yet another ancient fossil, further relegating claims that 'modern food and trace chemicals cause more cancer' to the dustbin of history.

The presence of a molecule that strongly enhances the flavor of other molecules may explain why garlic powder is such a commonly used ingredient in cooked foods.