Last Word

The new system generally gives higher scores to fruits, vegetables and minimally processed foods. RapidEye/iStock via Getty Images Plus ~~~~~~~~~~ Many people aim to start the year off with healthier food choices. But how do you choose between seemingly similar foods, snacks or beverages? How does a bagel with cream cheese compare to toast topped with avocado, for instance? Or a protein-based...

California’s “COVID-19 misinformation” law went into effect on January 1, 2023. The purpose of the law is to prevent the spread of false or misleading information, in other words, the most used word of the pandemic era, “misinformation” relating to COVID-19 by physicians during direct patient care. So, what does the law mean? What we do know is that the law is a vague, a no-no in the legal...

A lot of us likely remember the glee we felt as children at the onset of summer vacation, followed by the anxious anticipation of back-to-school time. For some children and teenagers, the start of a new school year generates intolerable levels of anxiety and depression. For a desperate portion of these young people, suicide seems like the only exit. A new study, published last month by the...

With time running out in the 2022 congressional session, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and infectious disease specialists is scrambling to pass a bill aimed at spurring the development of antibiotics to combat the deadly spread of drug-resistant pathogens. The PASTEUR Act, as amended, would provide $6 billion in federal funding over several years to give drugmakers incentive to develop and...

Q&A — Visual neuroscientist Jenny Bosten The way we see and describe hues varies widely for many reasons: from our individual eye structure, to how our brain processes images, to what language we speak, or even if we live near a body of water  What color is a tree, or the sky, or a sunset? At first glance, the answers seem obvious. But it turns out there is plenty of variation in how people...

Let’s play a game…I am going to list the diagnoses on the Assessment section of a specialist’s consult note in the order he listed them, and you try to guess the provider’s medical specialty: Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation Coronary artery disease Hypertension GERD Gastric polyps GI bleed Chronic kidney disease Hyperlipidemia Diabetes Hypogonadism Iron deficiency anemia We’re going to pause our...