Doctors often continue to push medical procedures even when research clearly shows they do no good, or even are harmful.
Sometimes it’s because the physician hasn’t kept up on the research. He or she may not know that a treatment has been debunked.
Other times, it’s because of a financial incentive. High-profit surgeries are important to a physician’s bottom line.
If your doctor urges you to have any of the following procedures, you should think twice.… Read More
Running a marathon involves a lot of sweating. So you might figure that runners would be awfully dehydrated by the end of a race, even if they are conscientious about drinking plenty of water.
A study in The New England Journal of Medicine tested this idea. It looked at hydration among runners in the Boston Marathon.
The results were surprising.
Researchers found that 13% actually were suffering from over-hydration after the race.… Read More
You’d probably never guess what the world’s biggest killer is.
It’s not heart disease… Or cancer… Or malaria… Or war.
It’s not even COVID-19.
A study in the journal The Lancet found that pollution causes an estimated 9 million premature deaths a year. That’s 15 times more than all wars and terrorism combined.
It’s eight times more than COVID-19.[1]
It’s three times more than malaria, AIDS, and tuberculosis combined.… Read More
It’s long been known that probiotics help with digestive troubles. But a new study shows that “good” bacteria offer a surprising bonus: They relieve depression.[1]
Researchers at McMaster University in Canada recruited 44 adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and mild to moderate anxiety or depression. IBS is the world’s most common digestive disorder. It causes stomach pain as well as constipation and/or diarrhea.… Read More
The last time the supplement EPO (erythropoietin) made headlines was in 2013.
That’s when cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted he cheated by using the performance-enhancing hormone to win all seven of his Tour de France titles.[1]
Now, EPO is in the news again. Researchers say early findings show that it may have the potential to become a treatment for COVID-19.
What’s more, since it is completely natural, it has fewer side effects than many of the drugs now being tested against coronavirus.… Read More
When you go to the doctor for your check-up, your doctor probably talks to you about your weight if you could stand to lose a few pounds. If you smoke, he or she likely mentions that you should quit.
But there’s something else that is a bigger health threat than either obesity or smoking…and doctors almost never discuss it.
Brigham Young University researchers looked at 218 studies of the health effects of social isolation.… Read More