Vaccines aren’t pharmaceuticals—but they might as well be. A friend told me about a visit to his doctor who, knowing better than to recommend a flu shot, nevertheless urged him to be vaccinated for conditions associated with aging.  Continue reading →

One of the reasons I read the New York Times is that it keeps me up to date on what the ruling class wants us to think, one of which is that genetically modified organisms used in agriculture are perfectly safe and that opposition isn’t really rational. Continue reading →

An article published in the journal Cancer Research shows what’s wrong with cancer research. Science Daily reports on it under the title “Newly Discovered Gene Interaction Could Lead to Novel Cancer Therapies.” Continue reading →

Dioxin, as I’m sure you know, is an extremely harmful chemical. Sucralose, under the brand name Splenda®, is, as I’m sure you also know, a widely used sugar substitute produced by a subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson corporate giant. Continue reading →

When I worked in Silicon Valley many years ago, we called software that didn’t work well “user hostile.” That memory came to me, of course, because of the embarrassing performance of the Obama administration in enabling (or more accurately, preventing) enrollment in a medical insurance plan under the so-called Affordable Care Act—which should be more accurately called, not Obamacare, but the Health Insurance Industry Guaranteed Profit Act. Continue reading →

The Guardian published a report recently about the health effects of Apple’s new operating system for iPhones and iPads. The operating system relies heavily on animations for its user interface. Since its introduction, users have reported experiencing dizziness, nausea, and vertigo. Continue reading →

Science is supposed to tell us what causes ill health so that we can do something about it. At least that’s one version of what science is supposed to do. Armed with health science, public health institutions can focus on the causes of illness and work to eliminate them. It’s called prevention. Continue reading →

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has created something called the Social and Behavioral Science Team. It is intended to draw upon these fields in order to make government policies more effective and efficient. Continue reading →

You have an organ that is essential for your health. The cells of that organ have none of your DNA. I’m speaking, of course, about your gut microbiome—the ecosystem of over 500 species of bacteria that live in your large intestine. Continue reading →

Computer scientists at Notre Dame have come up with a technology for delivering personalized medical care. What’s noteworthy is that until now, the promise of personalized medical care has been synonymous with genetic testing. Not so with these researchers who are applying Big Data to medical practice. Continue reading →