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New reports out of Australia contain some sobering news. The number of influenza cases this year is 2.5-times that of the same time period last year. Does this mean that the US is looking at a bad flu season? Probably yes, but there are many factors involved. Several experts explain. 

A new survey from Michigan State University provides a somewhat depressing glimpse of the current understanding of food by the American public. And this is particularly disturbing because younger folks are less well informed than their elders.

Kurt Eichenwald, a journalist with enormous influence, claims to have predicted features of Hurricane Irma using a climate change equation. A contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a New York Times bestselling author, he took to Twitter to boast about his accomplishment. It didn't take long for him to be rightfully mocked.

Worried about North Korea tossing nukes around? Ebola? Killer hurricanes? While all of these are dreadful, you might as well forget about them and every other threat around. They are irrelevant. We are already doomed. Because someone put a fleece jacket in the dryer. 

People with red hair tend to have a greater health risk from sun exposure, and for developing skin cancer. But now researchers at Boston University report that they've found a way to potentially reduce that risk by altering a protein involved with pigmentation in humans.

Heparin, which has primarily been used for the treatment of blood clots, is one of the oldest medications still in use. New research indicates that heparin has a more diverse physiological role, one of which stimulates food intake and decreases metabolism. This could have profound clinical implications, both in its current clinical use and for the future of developing weight-loss drugs.

While for some women it's been a lifesaver, the utility of mammography screening for breast cancer has been a bone of contention since it's unpleasant and can be downright painful. One way to make it more bearable would to give women more control over the procedure – and the FDA recently approved a device to do just that.

Starting a forest fire is a reckless, destructive, inconsiderate act, especially at this true natural treasure in the Pacific Northwest. And the negligence and complete lack of empathy exhibited by the teenagers who did it is chilling.

Pregnancy comes with so many symptoms. Some are completely normal; others can be alarming. And some can be both. How can you tell when to call the doc? 

Over-the-counter drugs – especially for coughs, colds and insomnia – are routinely combined with pain medications. This is usually unnecessary and possibly dangerous. So why are these drugs in there? It's due to unethical marketing by drug companies. Not cool, guys. 

The "wellness" platform is the sexy new term added to our lexicon.  Wellness clinics and gurus have hijacked medicine and have gone so far as creating fake medical problems to manipulate the public.  It's time to out them for the hacks that they are.

A story involving a toxic teething product is being made public by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But this time it's not a part of the ongoing FDA investigation into homeopathic teething tablets that have been shown to contain high levels of belladonna.

Sleep deprivation has been associated with an increased risk of obesity in several studies. A new one, based on a large British survey, assessed whether that link could be due to over-eating by bleary-eyed people. But the data didn't support that hypothesis, so researchers will have to look harder to explain that link.

Injecting an ethanol-based gel directly into a specific type of tumor, called squamous cell carcinoma, resulted in a 100% cure rate in a hamster model.

Utah nurse Alex Wubbels was handcuffed while screaming, as she tried to do her job. At issue: whether a police officer could obtain a blood sample from her patient, who was hurt from a July 26 collision that involved a fatality. 

Very few have heard about this. It's over 100 years old and explains why bread smells so good and turns brown. But baking also produces a few chemicals of concern – or are they? Here you get a chemistry lesson! Whether you want one or not.

A small study showed promising results for a new app that can detect increased bilirubin levels in one's eyes — an early indicator of pancreatic cancer.

Whether one supports or opposes the death penalty, the debate should be based upon ethics and morality informed by evidence-based biomedical science. Not distortions and half-truths.

With the ever-changing healthcare landscape, it's important for patients to know that not every member of their care team has interchangeable training, especially when it comes to invoking the term "doctor."

Last week's FDA approval of a novel cancer treatment is nothing short of historic. Not only does it give long-overdue hope to patients suffering from pediatric leukemia, but it also opens up a world of new treatment possibilities for other forms of this horrific disease. 

"Perfect" infant feeding should not be the enemy of the good in messaging during disasters like hurricane Harvey.

What's more disturbing: The revelation that roughly a third of the athletes at the 2011 track world championships were doping – undetected – or that it took six years for the news of such a remarkable breakdown to become public? If this was a race, using the sport's parlance, you might say they'd break the tape simultaneously. 

A chemical plant in nearby Crosby, TX manufactures a class of unstable compounds called organic peroxides. One is TATP, the explosive the infamous "Shoe Bomber" attempted to use aboard a flight. Peroxides must be kept cold, so when the electricity goes the chance of a massive explosion grows. And there's little that can be done.

Facebook, a site from which a substantial number of people acquire their daily news, has decided that pages that post fake stories will be banned from advertising. That's a perfectly fine decision, but it raises a bigger and more profound question: Who decides which news is fake? Mark Zuckerberg?

Lost in the noise of all the medical stories is the issue of bacterial resistance. Although it's not a sexy topic, it's almost certainly more important than anything in the news, as PBS showed by broadcasting its sobering series "Stopping Superbugs."