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Will "Adiposity-Based Chronic Disease" change personal behavior, the way the term "obesity" could not? Two scientific associations that made the switch hope it will.

As the nation gears up for today's inauguration of the 45th President Donald J. Trump of the United States, sadly, the Bushes will be unable to be in attendance. In an all too common turn of events, former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara were admitted to the same hospital for respiratory issues-- pneumonia and bronchitis, respectively.  

Before Election Day 2016, I wrote an article reminding everyone that no matter what happens, America will be #1 in science. President Obama shares my optimism. In his final press conference, the outgoing President said, "At my core, I think we're going to be OK."

A third vaccine against herpes has entered the race, and it's gotten some rave reviews for its protection of guinea pigs. But it didn't so well with monkeys. Which is more important? Testing in humans will decide, but the answer won't be known for about two years. 

Science is one of the few institutions in America that has largely remained above the hyperpartisanship gripping our nation. However, there is a small but growing perception among Americans that scientists are becoming politically biased. Indeed, surveys have confirmed that Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans in academia.

When healthier food choices are available, high school sporting events don't have to be the exclusive domain of burgers, fries and ice cream. Based on findings from a limited study by researchers from Cornell University and the University of Iowa, an existing desire for healthier fare should prompt concession stands to offer smarter choices.

A new study estimates that adding an MRI test - a short-term cost in increasingly stretched government health care budgets - would yield savings because 27 percent of men could avoid an unnecessary biopsy and also reduce over-diagnosis by 5 percent. An over-diagnosis is when a patient is diagnosed with a cancer that does not go on to cause any harm during their lifetime.

The American Council on Science and Health, since 1978 America's premiere pro-science consumer advocacy non-profit, is pleased to announce our new book, "Natural and Artificial Flavors: What's the Difference?", in order to combat growing confusion about health issues related to food.
During the last decade, it has become increasingly fashionable to tout "natural" on product labels. It isn't just fringe companies that prey on the chemophobia evident among less-informed members of the public, larger brands have also been exploiting consumers in this fashion.

McKesson Corp. has been repeatedly fined for failing to report suspicious opioid orders, which is required by the Drug Enforcement Agency for all parties in the opioid supply chain. This is not the corporate citizenship and good stewardship its officials claim – and there is little we can do about it.

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. or SNAP, has successfully addressed food security – but it hasn't helped improve the diets of at-risk consumers. But now, the availability of online sales provides an opportunity where data and consumer feedback can be used to improve food choices for those facing significant health problems.

Brown marmorated stink bugs are fond of fruit such as grapes. During winemaking, the critters become stressed (being squashed tends to do that), and the stink bugs live up to their name by producing a compound.  

The World Marathon Challenge of 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days is about to get underway. Are such extreme endurance sports healthy? Worth the risks?

A new study by a team of University of Washington researchers focusing on the mating habits of fruit flies reached a somewhat surprising discovery, concluding that "mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive."
 
 

An online support campaign has taken women on FB by storm. The idea: put a simple red heart on your wall in support of Breast Cancer Prevention Week. But given the grim tale of metastatic breast cancer, we ought to do more than update our Facebook status.

Given that optics and buzzwords can sometimes influence more than a concept or specific technology, nothing baffles us more than how the start-up Theranos was able to rise so precipitously and garner a multi-billion dollar valuation – before its famous fall. That said, here's why Theranos' technology wasn't groundbreaking.

At one time, "The Three R's" (reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic) were considered the marks of a person who possessed at least a rudimentary education. How about as part of national education reform, we bring back that concept – and update it to include civics, economics, science, and technology? We could call it CRRREST.

If you're a regular, longtime reader of our daily Dispatch newsletter, you may recall that about three years ago, in response to California's severe, on-going drought we urged the public and policy makers alike to embrace genetically modified farming for many reasons, including that some GM crops grow well despite drought conditions. We were strong supporters of the science then, as we are today.

The first member of the cephalosporin class of antibiotics was discovered in the 1940s, in a sewage pipe in Sardinia. Now a group has isolated some novel compounds from lichens gathered in northern Quebec. Three of these have modest antibacterial activity. Can chemists make them more potent? 

1. A student at Emerson College has gone John Birch Society, alleging he just sort of knows fluoridated water must be bad for us because he read it somewhere on the Internet and thinks being contrarian to accepted science and medicine is journalism. Well, it is. Shoddy journalism, anyway, and the world is already deep in that.

One of the latest fads—turmeric—was supposed to cure everything from Alzheimer's to baldness. But it doesn't do anything. Why? It's all about how herbs, spices, supplements... are tested. A review in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry makes this very clear. 

Food and nutrition companies always capitalize on whatever fad diets are currently in fashion to shamelessly promote their products. Science is usually of secondary concern. Now, Nestlé wants in on the action, promoting an alleged nutritional drink, claiming that it's low in FODMAPs. Huh? What are those?

New research shows that when it comes to packaged foods and beverages sold in Canada, two of every three items contain added sugar of some kind. That jarring news comes from a report by Public Health Ontario and the University of Waterloo, a joint venture that included studying labels of more than 40,000 supermarket products. 

In 1976, Barry Kidston, a chemistry grad student, would find out the hard way that you had better be careful with your reaction conditions when making psychoactive drugs. He got a little sloppy, and instead of making a pure derivative of Demerol, got an impurity in the batch, which gave him Parkinson's with one injection. Six years later, a group of six "frozen addicts" suffered the same fate. Crazy brain chemistry.

Sex is considered an essential component of life and wellness. Touch, intimacy and the resultant pleasurable physiologic responses bestow a number of benefits. So is sex-on-prescription insurance coverage in our future?  

Ellie is the "first ever digital UV sterilizing pod." Do you still need to wash and sterilize baby bottles? Yes, of course – drinking milk from unwashed containers would make anyone sick. But does everything that newborns place in their mouths need to undergo UV irradiation? Absolutely not.