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Women who use estrogen-containing contraceptives may have an increased level of vitamin D in their blood. However, a recent study suggests that the vitamin level can drop if she decides to become pregnant and stops taking the pills. It's important for women and their doctors to be aware of this possibility.

In the first article of this series we discussed the last of four measures that the Center for Medicare Services uses to establish hospital star ratings — the patient experience — which heavily weighted in determining hospital ratings.
New York hospitals had significantly longer delays than national averages, and the ratings reflect this.

A novel (and sorely needed) asthma drug is making some noise during Phase II clinical trials in Great Britain. Inflammation and constriction of the airways was shown in a small number of subjects. Should this hold up in larger trials, it could be a game changer for all asthmatics.

Spoilage in milk, and risk of food poisoning, happens because of the presence of harmful bacteria. That is why pasteurization saves so many lives and the raw milk food fad has orders of magnitude greater risk of causing illness.
So do you want milk to last for two months? A new science study shows it's affordable and works.

One of the profoundest mysteries of medical microbiology is why some people become deathly sick from rare infections while the vast majority remain unscathed. Now, a common horse bacterium has killed a Seattle area woman.

1. Organic honey is disappearing in the US, and for a reason that makes sense. Beehive keepers have learned that there is no organic solution for varroa mites, the pests implicated as the key reason why honey bees sometimes have greater than average seasonal deaths. And they would rather lose their organic sticker than lose their business.

A study in the Malaria Journal suggests that chickens may be helpful in the fight against malaria. Unlike humans who in the United States last year consumed 90 pounds of chicken each, mosquitos are a bit fussier. Who knew?

Although the vaccine for Human Papilloma Virus has been available for a decade, people are still warming up to it. The HPV vaccine, which offers protection against various cancers -- in men and women -- is only approved for those ages 9 to 26. so people really should get it while they can. And that is why the indifference is a concern.

A drop in T-cell production may mean that astronauts are at least temporarily immunocompromised by space flight. To those of you who are eager for a trip to Mars, add "immunosuppression" to your list of concerns.

The latest anthropometric data from NHANES have been released — and the picture isn't pretty. Over a period of approximately 20 years, both men and women have added weight, especially around the middle.

Hot enough for you? No problem, just go back inside into your air conditioned house. But animals don't have the same luxuries. Here's how some creatures beat the heat in the hot summer sun.

Researchers in England say they're the first to "monitor injury risk using the GPS technology used to track players' speed and acceleration" in soccer. The overarching concept is that if a correlation can be made between the amount of sprinting players do, and the related injuries they sustain, then practices can be altered to reduce injurious situations.

Here is an insider's look on how to know when data should be taken seriously and when they should be ignored. (Hint ... it's all about where you find it.)

Starting in middle age, the brains of obese people show startling differences as compared to those of normal weight, according to an analysis of fMRI images. White matter tissue connects regions of the brain and allows for information to be communicated between those regions.

Parasitism evolved at least 223 times, far more than the previous estimate of 60. It arose more times in certain phyla (e.g., arthropods, nematodes, flatworms, and mollusks) than in others. Today, about half of all animal species are parasitic.

Bayer's Belt insecticide, which was given conditional approval by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2008, has seen its registration pulled. Though labeled for use in almonds, pistachios, walnuts and various vegetable crops in 49 states, it wasn't used much.

Using population-based data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program of the National Cancer Institute, two new studies looked at testicular germ cell tumors and glioblastoma and found that only private insurance had better outcomes for patients.

The New York Attorney General has issued a cease-and-desist order on hucksters using fraudulent marketing to claim they can protect against Zika transmission. Unsurprisingly, these woo claims cater to the mindset that believes all chemicals are bad and some natural approach is better.

Beverages sweetened with fructose, and High Fructose Corn Syrup, have often been blamed for causing or exacerbating cardiometabolic ills. But a new randomized, controlled study presents data that doesn't support this hypothesis.

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.