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Leeches used to be used as a medical cure-all, but today are of course almost entirely discredited. It’s worth wondering how many other medical tests — from the prostate-specific antigen to routine mammography — will one day be relegated to the dust bin of history. The latest exam to undergo scrutiny are routine pelvic exams [...]
The post Routine pelvic exams may be harming women appeared first on Health & Science Dispatch.

Yesterday we reported on the alarming rise in the incidence of C. difficile (Clostridium difficile) bacterial infections and deaths due to increases in both its prevalence and its antibiotic resistance. The development and discovery of new antibiotic drugs would help counter the problem, but pharmaceutical companies are largely unmotivated to enter this research arena, mainly because investing in such drugs is not profitable.

Harm reduction has been an effective tool in relieving the plight of drug addicts who are at an increased risk of contracting severe infections especially hepatitis and HIV, but also drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA as a result of using contaminated shared needles.

The development of new antibiotics is as much about money as it is about science. ACSH advisor Dr. David Shlaes writes about biotechs, IPOs, disappointed investors, market cap, and CEO egos.

Remember the wisdom of the not-so-distant past? Leaving delivered boxes outside for 24 hours, then donning gloves to wipe them down before carefully opening the cartons? It’s time to shed a bit of scientific light on what we know now. 

Remdesivir, an antiviral drug that many are pinning their hopes on to help solve this pandemic nightmare, is now being tested in hundreds of trials. Results are expected within weeks. But the drug has already been tested in monkeys. And it worked.

The views of Dr. Merrit, a physician, on COVID-19’s origin story, biologic effects, and organized medicine’s response is classic misdirection and misinformation. It is time to debunk the distortions that cast more shadow than light.

Politicians fail to understand that "gain of function" research on microorganisms can enhance public health preparedness.

As the COVID pandemic moves further into our rearview mirrors, questions have been raised about a more prolonged manifestation of COVID, Long COVID. Now, there seems to be a concern about more prolonged symptoms from the COVID vaccines; we can call it Long Vax. What do we know and don’t know?

Until recently, little was known about the safety of COVID vaccines for pregnant women. We have much more to learn, but the preliminary evidence now coming in is reassuring.

This allergy test, a sometimes unpleasant childhood right of passage, may be a thing of the past someday. New research shows that a urine test can determine if a person has an allergy to a specific substance.

A British microbiologist found that some beard bacteria contains anti-adhesion molecules, which prevent bacterial binding to surfaces. That means that hipster beards may harbor bacteria capable of killing drug-resistant bacteria.

As we reported last month, a recent federal appeals court decision may have a dramatic impact on the Food and Drug Administration's complex drug approval process. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan ruled (by a 2-to-1 vote) that pharmaceutical companies have a free-speech right to promote approved drugs for uses that are "off-label," such as using an anti-epilepsy drug to control appetite and weight.

At last, there is a reliable source of information to help us differentiate real health threats from alarmist nonsense. The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has researched and published a reliable reference to help the consumer discern the comparative risk of dying from various illnesses, behaviors and exposures. On our new website, Riskometer.org, a simple graphic-illustration diagram of relative threat magnitudes is accompanied by clear text and references to source material.

For a minute, let’s suspend political views about COVID-19 vaccinations, masking, drugs; let’s put aside beliefs about vaccine acceptance, hesitancy, or refusal. Ethical considerations might help address the conflict between the forces that drive current positions: individualism and autonomy on one side versus solidarity and collectivism on the other. An ethical inquiry may promote a more equitable, practical, and effective approach. Let’s tease out the principles and see.

A group from University of Arizona's College of Biomedical Engineering has figured out how to turn a smartphone into an analytical instrument. It's capable of measuring an insanely small quantity of norovirus – the bug the causes viral gastroenteritis. Water samples can now be checked for viral contamination. Very clever, indeed.

There's been a lot of news, some of it fear-mongering, about Pfizer's Covid drug Paxlovid. Some people are having their symptoms return after completing the five-day course. Does that mean there is something wrong with the drug, or it's simply a property of the virus? Drs. Henry Miller and Josh Bloom try to provide an answer in Issues & Insights.

Despite evidence that all the approved COVID-19 shots drastically cut the risk of transmission, the CDC insists that vaccinated individuals still have to mask up and keep their distance. This policy may do more harm than good as we try to further boost vaccine uptake.

COVID vaccination is no longer one-size-fits-all: US health officials now leave booster decisions to individuals, and the WHO urges “focused protection” for those at highest risk. Yet without hard numbers on whose immunity fades fastest, personal choice is a shot in the dark. A new study maps each person’s immune rise and fall—offering the data we need to turn guesswork into tailored guidance.

An old wives tale makes a comeback: Cranberry juice

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

Another study highlights the overlap between genetic engineering in medicine and agriculture, offering another example of why the anti-GMO movement is losing its cultural relevance.

A group at Mount Sinai Medical School has made a rather startling discovery. People who died from Alzheimer's Disease had brains that contained more of two herpes viruses than controls. Could we have been looking in the wrong direction for therapies for this disease? This is a potentially huge discovery. 

The black and orange patches that define the coloring of a calico cat beautifully illustrate the genetic mechanism known as "dosage compensation" through X chromosome inactivation.

If you've been tracking efforts to combat the Hepatitis C virus, you know that 2015 has been a year full of advances and hope for the future. First, there was FDA's approval of the treatment Viekira Pax, and recently California researchers have unearthed diagnostic gold with their latest screening process.