Many people have expressed concern to me following recent news stories about a government report on the safety of ginkgo biloba extract. I view the stories about this study as misleading.
It is the weight of cumulative evidence that drives changes in health care provider behavior as well as changes in funding priorities. But do changes in clinical practice alone get the job done? Absolutely not.
Studies have shown that a mother's education level is an important factor in the educational success and health of her children and that supporting mothers' educational achievement ultimately benefits our communities.
Researchers created an artificial rat kidney in the laboratory that was then transplanted into another rat and ultimately produced urine -- a huge advance in the field of bioengineering.
The bulk of the scientific evidence indicates that carnitine is beneficial for the heart, and the conclusion circulated by the media that carnitine is harmful is unwarranted.
At a moment when mental health is so much at the forefront of the minds of Americans and our media, it seems time, again, to try to understand the damaging views so commonly held about people with mental illness.
Sugar in excess is a toxin, unrelated to its calories. The dose determines the poison. Like alcohol, a little sugar is fine, but a lot is not. And the food industry has put us way over our limit.
While there have been a few very important insights into breast cancer that have come from the mouse model, there are many more studies that have not translated into humans. If we want to understand the cause and treatment of breast cancer in women we have to study women.
In the scientific world, we live by the tenet "association does not assume causation." That is, just because two things happen to be related, does not mean that one caused the other.
Opportunities are being missed, and time and money are being wasted. We all know people who are struggling with cancer and the intense challenges of the current treatment protocols. The needs are urgent and the time to act is now.
Many unpatentable modalities in the realm of complementary and alternative medicine do not inspire huge and costly trials. We need such trials to know for sure what does and doesn't work. In the absence of them, we need to avoid a rush to judgment.
When you hear the pundits or politicians on TV talking about the only or the best way to reduce gun violence, ask yourself if you have heard the person talk about the different types of gun violence. Not all gun violence is the same.
The surprising revelation in a recent report is that the rising burden of disease is similar among all countries regardless of socioeconomic status, and these increases are in cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases, which have historically been considered "Western diseases."
Governor Jerry Brown is working on the new California state budget, the first in more than a decade to be free of the state's deep chronic fiscal crisis. It's an agenda which his two most immediate predecessors, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis, in large measure promoted themselves.
At the population level, epidemic obesity is incontrovertibly established as a clear and all-but-omnipresent danger. It is absurd to suggest otherwise. And it's those who do so -- who play ping-pong with science -- who frighten the hell out of me.
Are you a lark, someone who likes being up and active in the early morning? Or are you a night owl, someone who tends to wake later and perhaps gains energy and focus as the day progresses, someone who likes to work (and play) in the evening hours?
Science research is the bedrock of innovation, an economic engine we can't give up on. And the wonder of invention is that it changes the world in unpredictable ways. To paraphrase Mark Twain, it's the things you do not do that cause the most regret. If you agree, join us and make your voice heard.
The pace of change is increasing and we believe that the initiatives you will read about below are so close that you'll probably be experiencing them in the next 12 months.
The holiday season is a time to reflect. For me, I'm especially thankful for ongoing pediatric cancer research that enables the lives of children like Ishani to be saved.
Are we more excited by people who seem to care about us? Can being a good, caring listener feed the flames of desire? Research offers some clues to the answer.
