Before the discovery that essential symbiotic bacteria live in and on us, antibiotics were viewed largely as innocuous. As the “gut microbiome” (the microorganisms living in the intestines) becomes better understood, so too do the deleterious effects that antibiotics exert on our health. One immediate effect, as many people who have taken antibiotics know, is…
Beware of These Antibiotic Effects
How Safe Are Anti-Osteoporosis Bone Drugs?
Anti-osteoporosis bone drugs such as Fosamax, Boniva, and Prolia have become a billion-dollar market for drugmakers thanks to aggressive marketing. To sell its “bisphosphonate” bone drug Fosamax, Merck began marketing the dangers of osteoporosis in hopes of reaching a market”far beyond ailing old ladies” according to Fortune magazine. It hired an operative to create the…
Do You Really Need That Nose Job? Selfies Distort Facial Features, Study Shows
With the advent of smartphones came the rise of selfies, shared daily by “like”-seeking millions across social media. But a small new study suggests that, unlike photos taken with regular cameras, smartphone selfies distort facial features in a not-so-flattering way. And those unappealing — if inaccurate — results may be fueling a hankering for plastic surgery….
COVID-19 Beware: Cheap and Widely Accessible Drug Could Fight Virus
Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) have discovered that the cheap and widely used drug, heparin, when inhaled can be a uniquely effective prevention and treatment method for COVID-19. Heparin is currently used to prevent blood from clotting and it is typically administered through an injection. However, early results of an ANU clinical study…
Frequent Interactions Between Clinicans and Big Pharma a Conflict of Interest: Expert
An expert in pharmaceutical policy has said that the frequent interactions between pharmaceutical companies and health professionals can pose a conflict of interest for clinicians. Prof. Barbara Mintzes told The Epoch Times that research has demonstrated that there was a corollary between health professionals receiving a low price meal while being promoted a drug and…
Laughter as Medicine
Saturday nights were a very special night in our house when I was 16. It was a difficult time: my mother was dying of breast cancer, and there was very little laughter or humor during that last summer in 1973—except for Saturday nights at 9 p.m. That’s when “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was on….
What Do You Do If You Don’t Trust Your Doctor Anymore?
Commentary Like it or not—and I certainly don’t—the COVID-19 pandemic changed practically everything about our lives. One of the traditionally most satisfying, even heartwarming, of relationships that has been majorly affected is doctor–patient. On or about New Year’s, I wrote: “Do you trust your doctor anymore? Honestly? I don’t mean Dr. Anthony Fauci. How can anybody…
The Sounds of Healing
I love music, especially some good old-fashioned jazz, such as that performed by Herbie Hancock or Harvey Mason. In fact, those two helped me get through all-night study periods preparing for my exams during medical school. I was even able to thank them in person many years later. Music has a power over us that…
How Medicine – Conventional and Alternative – Is Failing Autoimmune Patients
With the media focus on cancer and heart disease, most people don’t know we are living amid an autoimmune epidemic. Some shocking stats: The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) estimates up to 50 million Americans have an autoimmune disease (AD). In comparison, cancer affects up to 9 million and heart disease up to 22…
Toxicology: The Language of Hazardous and Broken Dreams
As a toxicologist I am often asked exactly what is it I do as a toxicologist? Is there something I do that makes me a toxicologist after over 40 years of work? The closest I can get is to say that I prevent bad things from happening to good things. In other words, by taking…
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