Placebo Responses in Migraine Prevention Trials Tick Upward Over Time
Placebo responses in migraine prevention trials appear to have risen over time, a systematic review and meta-analysis showed. A significant increase in placebo response was seen by publication year in migraine prevention studies that involved oral placebo (rho 0.39, P=0.047) but not in studies with injectable placebo (rho -0.07, P=0.724), reported Stewart Tepper, MD, of […]
Growing ‘mortality gap’ detected between Democratic and Republican counties
A new study highlights how closely connected politics and health outcomes have grown over time. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital examined mortality rates and federal and state election data for all counties in the U.S. from 2001 to 2019. The team found what they call a “mortality gap” — a widening difference between age-adjusted […]
Opinion | LGBTQ+ Basics: 10 Things Your Queer Patient Wishes You Knew
Several months ago, I wrote a post on a Facebook community of over 17,000 Black physicians. The post asked them what they would do and how they would react if their child told them they were gay. The responses I received ranged from “I will love and accept them” to “Heaven forbid!” to “I will […]
Physicists announce first results from The Daya Bay Neutrino Experiment’s final dataset
Over nearly nine years, the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment captured an unprecedented five and a half million interactions from subatomic particles called neutrinos. Now, the international team of physicists of the Daya Bay collaboration has reported the first result from the experiment’s full dataset — the most precise measurement yet of theta13, a key […]
Abbott Formula Plant Was ‘Unacceptably Insanitary,’ FDA Chief Tells Lawmakers
WASHINGTON — FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, expressed disgust and disappointment over the conditions at the Abbott baby formula manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan, while an Abbott official apologized and vowed to ensure that the problem would not return. “There is no dispute that the facility was unacceptably insanitary” when FDA inspectors went to see […]
Men with obesity can double their sperm count
Men all over the world are suffering from deteriorating semen quality — often referred to as an outright fertility crisis. Now, however, there may be good news for some of the men who are experiencing problems. In a new clinical study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Hvidovre Hospital show that men with obesity […]
Long-hypothesized ‘next generation wonder material’ created: Scientists have successfully synthesized graphyne, which has been theorized for decades
For over a decade, scientists have attempted to synthesize a new form of carbon called graphyne with limited success. That endeavor is now at an end, though, thanks to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder. Graphyne has long been of interest to scientists because of its similarities to the “wonder material” graphene — […]
Where do ‘Hawaiian box jellies’ come from?
An insightful cross-disciplinary team of University of Hawai’i (UH) at Manoa researchers, working for over a decade, published a study recently revealing that a key number of hours of darkness during the lunar cycle triggers mature “Hawaiian box jellyfish” (Alatina alata) to swim to leeward O’ahu shores to spawn. Led by Angel Yanagihara, associate research […]
Donald Trump’s Bizarre Appearance On ‘Dr. Oz’
Trump’s golf swing and hand motions have kept him in great shape over the years.
New York Doc Tries to Take Down No Surprises Act
Healthcare organizations have already sued the federal government over its interpretation of the No Surprises Act, but one Long Island physician has declared the new law designed to protect patients from surprise billing flat-out unconstitutional. Acute care surgeon Daniel Haller, MD, of Rockville Centre, New York, filed a lawsuit in December 2021 against HHS, among […]