Search results

It is an understatement to say that antibiotic resistance is a major problem facing our healthcare system. Every year 2 million Americans are infected with resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 people die each year from these infections. Each year MRSA kills about as many people as HIV. Compounding this problem is the fact that companies (factory farms?) are actively contributing to this problem (

ACSH friend, Dr. Robert Popovian, the Senior Director of Healthcare, Science and Economic Advocacy and U.S. Government Relations at Pfizer, is arguably one of the world s premier experts in all aspects of the industry, from early stage discovery to development, as well as innovation, economics, and government policy.

This week, Senate Republicans released a budget proposal that would significantly cut funding for Title X (the federal family planning program) and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program. This comes just a week after the House of Representatives proposed eliminating Title X altogether.

It s summer time and the living s easy. Time to fire up the BBQ, pull the summer clothes down from the attic (hopefully they still fit) and relax around the pool and if we are talking pools, than we also have to talk about chlorine.
Chlorine and pools go hand in hand. Any pool owner will tell you that keeping your chlorine levels (a

A new study of non-solid lung nodules, followed via annual spiral/low-dose CT scans among smokers and ex-smokers, shows that that type of nodule can be safely followed with imaging, avoiding needless surgical interventions. Some lung cancers were found: none caused significant illness.

Since 2006, there has been a slow and steady drumbeat against trans fats in foods. Decades ago, when Natural Resources Defense Council and various other food fallacy groups latched onto saturated fats, we cautioned that the studies were epidemiological correlation, not science, and that the alternative might be worse.

scientists are working on a way to make domestic pigs resistant to African swine fever, a highly contagious ailment that requires slaughtering of infected animals.

Here s a simple question with nothing even close to a simple answer:
Do cancer drugs cost too much?
ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, who has written frequently on this subject, including an op-ed the New York Post thinks that al too often they are.
He says, There are obvious cases of recently approved cancer drugs that offer very little benefit in terms of either disease-free progression or extension of life. The annual cost for these drugs is roughly $100,000, but

There is a perception out there that the technology and social media booms of the last decade have been detrimental to public health. In particular hookup apps are being blamed by many for having contributed to the increases in sexually transmitted diseases and infections (STD/STIs). This belief is not entirely unwarranted; earlier this year the state

Yesterday, we noted that the HPV vaccine, one of the few methods we have to actually prevent cancer, was not being utilized as much as it should. Today we read that young adult women have a significantly reduced incidence of HPV-related cervical lesions.

Some 30 to 40 percent of purchased foods are simply discarded by Americans.

Yes, if you have hypertension (HTN, or high blood pressure), your risk of cardiovascular ills heart attack or stroke is increased.

Yet another study shows that the HPV vaccine is safe and effective in generating protection against cancer-causing strains of the virus. Since it's one of the very few vaccines against cancer, protecting against cancer of the cervix and other areas, why isn't it being utilized more often?

It seems like every week, there s another study on the health benefits of chocolate getting major news coverage. There s a reason for this people like to eat chocolate, and they re eager to read coverage of health studies that justify their chocolate habit. They ll click on the article with the catchy,

Medical marijuana is a booming industry in this country. A recent estimate puts industry growth at 74 percent from 2013 to 2014, with over 2.5 billion in sales in 2014 alone. This is incredible when you factor in that just under half the states allow its sale. From coast to

We have to wonder if Environmental Working Group is having a really bad fiscal quarter because their website has become littered with even more anti-science, scary chemical verbiage than usual. It's clear they know what their donors think about actual science and evidence, since now they are going after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for its "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) classification, which applies to food additives that can't harm anyone.

You may remember a large study published last year that seemed to find a link between Viagra use and melanoma. The study, from Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women s Hospital, included data on more than 51,000 men aged 40-75, and reported recent use of Viagra (sildenafil) with a near-doubling of the risk of malignant melanoma.

A new series of articles by the NYTimes Gina Kolata focuses on improvements in dealing with emergency cardiac events, and indeed the progress has been remarkable. But that s not the solution to reducing the toll of our nation s leading killer: coronary disease.

It s been an issue for as long as scientists sought to quantify what people do and don t eat. How does one get the data? According to Dr. Edward Archer of the University of Alabama, Birmingham and colleagues, the current data have been based on inaccurate methodologies that make most of these

ACSH medical director Dr. Gilbert Ross and ACSH friend, the Hoover Institution s Dr. Henry Miller, have taken to Forbes.com to discuss the current state of Alzheimer s disease (AD) in our country. The article imparts a thorough discussion on the state of diagnostics, treatment and research of a disease whose prevalence is on the rise in America. The writers point out that in comparison with higher profile diseases (such as heart dis

The 2009 law which gave the FDA oversight over tobacco products the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA, the TCA) is one of the worst laws ever enacted. In the guise of reining in the health risks of tobacco products, promulgated to a great extent by the fraudulent, deceptive manipulations of the Big Tobacco companies last century, the law instead does close to nothing of the sort while erecting substantial obstacle

Last year a Senate committee dragged Dr. Mehmet Oz over the coals for his promotion of dubious supplements on his TV show. Earlier this year Eric T. Schneiderman, the NY State attorney general, accused several stores of selling mislabeled and adulterated herbal supplements. After that, 14 state attorneys general asked Congress to further investigate the supplement industry.

Pope Francis can claim many firsts; he is the first non-European Pope since 741 AD, the first from the Americas and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. Given his nuanced positions on science issues like climate change and agriculture, some might also consider him the first scientific Pope. That isn't correct, but he may be the most scientific in history.
Francis is not scientific due to credentialism, he does not have any advanced degree in chemistry. Instead, he is scientific by behavior.

A New York Post op-ed calls out songwriter and activist Neil Young for his misguided beliefs about sound agricultural practices, specifically his loud-mouthed (but widely heard) ignorance about GMO technology and its potential for saving lives threatened by malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies.

A family in rural Pennsylvania bore the sad fruits of believing in products that could not possibly help when illness struck. We hope this tragedy can be a lesson for others possibly vulnerable to the siren call of phony health remedies: this time it s homeopathy.
Eighteen-month old toddler Ho