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Politicians and community leaders have long used the line that marijuana is a gateway drug when trying to sound tough on drugs. The idea is that marijuana makes you more sensitized toward trying harder and potentially more dangerous drugs. Some data back this up as most hard drug users also used marijuana.
However, the overwhelming majority of marijuana users never progress to other drugs, which has lead many to back down on the gateway claim. But a new st

A newly-approved Novartis drug combination showed impressive efficacy in reducing cardiac death and morbidity from congestive heart failure, one of the most common ailments taking the lives and health of America s senior population.

The evolution and spread of genetic disease is fascinating because genetic diseases (spread through inheritance only) really shouldn't exist. They are caused by having alleles (versions of a gene) that are detrimental to health and biological fitness, so they should not remain established in a population.

It has long been known that women live longer than men, on average. What has remained a puzzle is why. Some new studies provide intriguing insight.

In 1816 the ubiquitous stethoscope, in modern times a symbol of medicine itself, made its first appearance - but it may be coming close to extinction.

An informative Washington Examiner article by T. Becket Adams hits the nail on the head in explaining the major problem plaguing science that ACSH has worked to combat: junk studies, and the sloppy media coverage that ensues. The piece also includes quotes from many experts associated with ACSH.

Since about 1990, the PSA blood test has been dramatically over-utilized as a screening test for prostate cancer. That changed in 2012 when a federal panel advised against its routine use. Now, a urologist says, let s try PSAs again. Really?

If you just read the headline, you d be confused. It says More People Dying From Cancer, But the Risk is Lower. Sounds like a total contradiction, but it s a red herring.

One medical topic that is now widely debated is breast cancer screening especially when should women begin being screened, and how effective screening is in decreasing deaths from the disease.

Hank Campbell, founder of Science 2.0, named ACSH president

Recently we wrote about the importance of family planning services and the significant role they play in public health. And now, a recent New York Times article covers Colorado s success in reducing unwanted pregnancy by giving away free long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) to teenagers and low-income women as part of a program called the Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI).

The Green Revolution, pioneered by Dr. Norman Borlaug, a co-founder of ACSH and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is credited with saving perhaps a billion people from starvation. India was a prime beneficiary of increased crop yields in the 1960s. Now a second green revolution is needed there.

A couple who had adapted the vegan diet fad in Pisa, Italy had to rush their infant to a hospital because their child was suffering from severe malnutrition. At 11 months, the child could not sit up or crawl.

Saxenda (liraglutide) is a drug currently prescribed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. A new study has demonstrated that the drug may well be useful in helping people lose weight, even if they are not diabetic.

With low-fat milk, lactose-free substitutes and a firm place in culture and nutrition, it wouldn't seem like dairy products need a new science approach, but there are still things to optimize.

Mitochondrial disease is essentially a disease that impacts how our bodies produce energy. Mitochondria are quite literally the energy factories in most of our cells, they are an integral part in how we convert lots of different food sources into a common energy currency, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), that can be used in the brain or the liver or wherever it is needed.

Last November, Maui voters through a ballot initiative passed a ban on the cultivation of genetically engineered crops.

Researchers often delve into the obvious and sometimes find surprising results. That s not true in the case of a report in the bulletin from the World Health Organization.

If you are 40 or younger, it is virtually impossible to fully comprehend the absolute horror of what life was like when AIDS first made its appearance. The infection was so new, and the brutal way in which it killed HIV-infected people could have easily been a post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel.

So-called environmentalists had their way with New York s Gov. Cuomo: they made him ban fracking, a safe, economical and carbon- and health-friendly technology to provide natural gas. An op-ed highlights the hypocrisy of the fractavists and the cowardice of the Governor.

Herb popular in China for knee arthritis failed to surpass placebo effect in randomized trial. Many OA patients will remain unconvinced, however, and stick with the soothing belief in its efficacy, as have generations gone by, science notwithstanding.

At last: we in public health have been awaiting an expert opinion on vaccine safety from media celebrity Jim Carrey for such a long time and now he has spoken! He has strong opinions, but each one is Dumb and Dumber than the last. And his words can do much harm.

Parkinson s Disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system, currently affects one million people in the United States, and an estimated 50,000 60,000 new cases of PD are diagnosed each year.

Jim Carrey's now famous twitter anti-vaxx rant got us thinking: what would his movie career look like if they were all about being anti-vaxx:

Back in May, the British government sponsored a review, headed up by former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill, regarding solutions to the antibiotic resistance crisis. O Neill s final report suggested that we de-link profits fr