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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

The winner in this month s I need a chemistry lesson, and fast award goes to Anthony Dunton of Acworth, Georgia. Hands down. Dunton was arrested last week for trying to poison a co-worker by putting the weed killer Roundup (glyphosate) into his water.

Thanks to movies like Animal House, American Pie, and Old School, binge drinking in college has been tightly woven into the fabric of our society.
Unfortunately, binge drinking is not as glamorous as Van Wilder makes it seem. Instead it is a major problem for public health. Each year 2,000 college aged kids die from alcohol related deaths. Another 600,000 are seriously injured. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 4 out of 5 college students

Although it may seem that when California legislators and governors relate to public health they get it wrong (for example with Proposition 65), but sometimes they really do the right thing.

A study published online in Annals of Surgical Oncology reports that a week-long course of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) after lumpectomy reduced rates of breast cancer recurrence and led to a 10-year survival rate of 96 percent. APBI is a localized form of radiation treatment meant to eliminate breast cancer cells that may remain after lumpectomy surgery.

While a field trial of genetically-modified wheat failed to reach its goal (of repelling destructive aphids), the progress made in incorporating relevant genetic traits into the wheat genome will yield more information for better outcomes later.

The investigators found significant associations between the occurrence of melanoma and consumption of citrus fruits and citrus juices particularly oranges and grapefruit.