We know from many studies that there is an inverse association between our intake of dietary fiber and the development of cardiovascular disease. The mechanism joining fiber to cardiovascular disease is thought to be mediated by INFLAMMATION! A new study strongly suggests that it is time to give that hypothesis a rest – as always, it is more complicated and unclear.
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Hear about the German guy who got arrested for getting selling forged vaccine cards to anti-vaxxers? That should be funny enough, right? Nope. ACSH goes the extra kilometer, as usual.
Antibiotic R&D is hard. Getting to approval is harder. Surviving the commercialization step today is almost impossible. Government-based funding to fix the broken antibiotic market is essential to stop this march of the lemmings. Private investment will follow a government incentive and amplify its effect.
When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars for making a joke about his wife’s bald head, it brought attention to a disease that is often invisible, misunderstood, or treated as a punchline for jokes: alopecia areata. What is this disease? Why does it create such intense feelings that Will Smith lost all control on stage in front of millions?
Polling the population for their opinions and views has a long history. But are we most informed by the opinions categorized by race and gender, or might we learn more by viewing thoughts among like-minded individuals – like birds of a feather? A new study suggests how we consider how we cluster and flock.
Jane Campion takes home the 2022 Oscar for Best Director in "The Power of the Dog," an unsettling, psychological Western drama. The tension is due to the relationship of the main character, Phil Burbank, with his brother's new wife and her son, Peter. Phil, to put it bluntly, is a bully. However, young Peter is training to become a medical doctor and [spoiler alert] uses his knowledge of pathogens to destroy an unwitting Phil. How did making a rawhide rope lead to death?
On January 2, 2022, the Israeli government began the Pfizer vaccine's 4th dose or 2nd booster. The data from Israel's vaccination program is the basis of the decision by the FDA and CDC to recommend a second booster shoot for selected populations. What should you do?
Plastics are ubiquitous in our environment. Much has been made about the increasing amounts all around us, in intended and unintended places. A new study indicates that one of those unintended places is now our bloodstream. This is the first step to understanding their potential toxicity, so it pays us to look carefully at what the scientists did and did not find.
Since the CDC, DEA, and Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing have become experts in dispensing prescription drugs, why stop there? Well, in Massachusetts, it didn't stop there. Judges were dictating specific medications to help addicts recover. Judges? Who's quoted in the article? Andrew Kolodny, of course. Why?
How many of you have read any of the user agreements we have with Google or Facebook? Neither have I. Why are legal contracts so “notoriously difficult for non-lawyers to understand?” A new study in Cognition provides some clues.
A new systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that drinks sweetened with sugar substitutes may promote weight loss. Could these results end the dispute over the benefits of diet soda? Let's take a closer look.
A new randomized controlled study pits the oft-maligned potato against the virtuous almond. Which of the two causes weight gain? Should we eat this, not that? What does the research say?
A contrarian view of microplastic in our oceans, upcoming elections seem to be settled at primaries, not the general, and China clamps down on algorithms. Will that become our law too?
Recently Dr. Jeffrey Singer wrote about the one hiccup in the COVID-19 plan to “test and treat.” Pharmacists are not allowed to prescribe Paxlovid. He makes a compelling argument, but there are some downstream consequences that we should also consider.
It seems that COVID-19 is, finally and hopefully, waning from the American scene. Before we face another wave or a new threat, it might make sense to review some of the legal fallout, notably the interplay between freedom of religion, the obligation of the state to protect public health, and the prevalence of changing attitudes championing solidarity versus those advocating autonomy.
MIT’s first female student and professor, why nutritional studies go awry, a Carl Sagan Moment, and “clandestine” Chinese scientists and our northern neighbor.
Just like a trip to the dentist, it's time for The Dreaded Chemistry Lesson From Hell. This time we'll discuss the element xenon. Also, Dr. Charles "Chuckie D." Dinerstein gets his comeuppance. And a mini-book review. No extra charge!
The Biden administration announced a "test to treat" plan to provide easy access to Paxlovid – an effective COVID antiviral drug – for anyone who's infected. It's not perfect, but it's sorely needed.
A new study looks at how those, who vape and use hookahs, inhale and exhale. It's an examination of duration, volume, and velocity. In other words, constructing product-specific puff topographies.
Explaining a paradox of science, let nature bury the excess carbon, Power, and letting go – at least of our notes.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to what's been described as heavy fighting at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power station, near the Ukraine-Belarus border. There have also been reports of rising radiation levels in some places, and concerns about possible damage to the entombed reactor that was damaged in the 1986 accident.
The Michelson Philanthropy Prize in Immunology was awarded on Feb. 24 to Dr. Paul Bastard at the Necker Hospital for Sick Children in Paris. Why should you care? Because his work helps us better understand the biology of why some die from COVID-19, while others are seemingly – and are – immune.
A new study in JAMA Network Open is a follow-up to a 2015 study done by the same researchers. The questions are: Do you store loaded guns at home? Are they locked or not? Do you store guns that are loaded and unlocked? This is not about the right to bear arms, but the responsibility to store them safely around children.
There’s a new study of the benefits of eating your vegetables. It has the usual measurement problems – and concludes that vegetables are good for your health. But it clarifies the issue that your food selection has little effect, as compared to your other life choices.
Although the 2022 revision of the 2016 CDC Opioid Prescribing Advice is an improvement over the original document, it still refers to Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MME) as a guide to physicians. Unfortunately, this number does not accurately reflect the relative strength of opioid painkillers. Dr. Jeff Singer and I explain why in a new op-ed in the NY Daily News.
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