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As the August sun sets on another summer, it's time to dive into conversations and debates across various spectrums. From the contentious discussions surrounding the banning of cell phones in schools to the emotional undercurrents fueling riots in the UK, the mounting criticism of ultra-processed foods, likened by some to the early battles against tobacco, and a visit to the timeless insights of Tom Wolfe, whose sharp observations continue to resonate. Here's a look at what I'm reading this August 22nd.

We live in a country where becoming ill might as well come with a foreclosure notice. Despite insurance, many of us are saddled with medical debt, and "land of the free" doesn’t quite describe a bill that’ll outlive you.

Keto this. Keto that. Does anyone really know what it means? This may – or may not – help.

There are over 38 million people with diabetes in the U.S. They owe their treatment to the pioneering work of Gerty Cori, and her husband. Although strongly admonished that she was impeding her husband’s career, Cori's joint involvement was critical to their co-discovery: the Cori cycle of sugar metabolism, for which they won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. And in the laboratory they shared for 30 years, the duo mentored scores of important scientists, producing six Nobel Prize winners.

The quest for a guilt-free sweet fix has led us to erythritol and xylitol, sugar substitutes once hailed as the saviors of our waistlines and blood sugar levels. But hold on to your sugar-free desserts. The latest research suggests that these sweet stand-ins might be doing more than just keeping the calories at bay. They could be inviting a one-way ticket to heart disease. Could this really be true?

Aging is far more complex than just an advancing clock. It's a tangled web of molecular changes that don’t play by linear rules. Recent studies reveal that the risk of diseases – like cardiovascular issues, diabetes, and cognitive decline – don’t just creep up steadily with age but instead can spike after certain chronologic milestones (e.g. reaching 60). These findings, powered by cutting-edge "omics" technologies, expose the inadequacies of traditional aging models that treat the process as a straightforward slouch towards old age. Instead, they suggest a dynamic and multifaceted aging process where each organ, system, and individual follows a unique trajectory.

The latest "villain" in the never-ending war against sugar substitutes is erythritol, a sugar alcohol. Is this a sugar? An alcohol? Steve and Irving, our miserable hosts of The Dreaded Chemistry Lesson From Hell (tm) will answer this and more.

The confluence of events that have engulfed the discovery, clinical development, and the market for antibiotics over the last two decades is evolving. And not for the better.

With Chevron’s demise come predictions of gloom and doom, especially with a science-averse (and illiterate) Supreme Court, although most concerns raised are theoretical and amorphous. But there are real and worrisome science-laden issues on the radar. Here’s one concerning food and FDA product classification begging for vigilance.

Why is it that brilliant ideas proven in research seem to lose their spark faster than a cheap battery in the real world? Welcome to the Voltage Effect. In today’s episode, aspirin triumphs in the lab, but in the wild? Well, let's just say doctors are sticking to their old scripts.

Chernobyl's ghost
Plants have their tale to tell,
The label tells a story where science and compromise unfold.
Restaurants built for fleeting trust

I recently joined Lars Larson on his show to discuss a historic and controversial topic — the dropping of the atomic bombs in August 1945 that ended WWII.

A recent study claimed that excessive sitting – all too common in our modern, hyper-connected world – is more deadly than smoking and HIV. The solution, the researchers claimed, is a novel creation known as the treadmill desk, which allows people to exercise during their work days. How truthful is all this? Not very.

America's prohibitionist assault on prescription opioids has left an untold number of chronically ill patients without access to adequate pain control, encouraging them to use illicit substances like heroin – or even take their own lives, to end their suffering. Some drug policy reformers say the solution to this tragic situation is outright legalization of all drugs. How well would that policy actually work? Let's take a look.

Cilantro. Whether you love it or hate it can be partly determined by a difference in a single gene in your nasal passage. Roughly 10-20% of us think it tastes like soap. The chemistry of odor concentration can explain some of this. Or you can just hate it for no good reason.

Legionnaires’ Disease, the underappreciated invisible villain quietly thriving in your local cooling towers and causing more deaths than foodborne illnesses, is the "cool" threat nobody's talking about. It's literally that, because Legionnaires’ Disease is spread by air conditioning. It’s high time we give it the attention it deserves.

Despite early optimism, recent research suggests that increasing ventilation, in places like schools, might not be the silver bullet we imagined it to be in limiting airborne virus transmission. While mechanical ventilation and open windows became staples of post-COVID safety protocols, a new study shows that even high ventilation rates have little impact on preventing the spread of infections, like influenza.

The opioid crisis is a tangled web of statistics and assumptions, where numbers are often granted undue certainty, and pain is quantified through imperfect means. A recent study in Addiction explores the complexities of opioid prescribing for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) and the problematic use of pharmaceuticals, unearthing biases and inconsistencies in definitions and diagnoses. The perceived prevalence of opioid misuse in pain management is as varied as it is misunderstood, raising questions about the reliability of data and the motivations behind its interpretation.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications will range from simple triage and the evaluation of psychotherapy sessions to extraordinary science fiction-like diagnosis.

Public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court has plummeted in recent years. Restoring it will require the Court to demonstrate a greater willingness to engage with, and defer to, scientific expertise, as well as prioritizing the well-being of patients in healthcare and public health rulings.

As courts bash sound science and generate questionable decisions, an old cry for constituting “science courts” has been revived. Ethical dilemmas created by scientific advances also cry for resolution. Some believe that special tribunals dedicated to scientific questions might be a panacea. I advise against this facile solution.

When it comes to sustainability, we all love a good glass half-full of self-righteousness. But now, your orange juice-sipping habits are a battlefield for eco-consciousness, with glass bottles glowing in their saintly aura. Meanwhile, plastic sits in the corner like a misunderstood villain. But here’s the juicy bit — our wallets seem to have more influence than our planet-saving intentions.

United Healthcare's schemes unfold, Peripheral diseases for profit sold.
Sociologic studies are hard to define, Qualitative truths are a different kind.
"The Bear" reveals high cuisine's toll, While Google stands as monopoly's role.

Greenpeace may be committed to "saving the whales," but it's happy to let poor children go blind and die.

The field of nutrition is fertile ground for health misinformation. A quick Google search for any food reveals sensationalist articles extolling numerous benefits or emphasizing extreme risks. Unfortunately, this is not a recent phenomenon.