More in Science


6 years

Is Any Alcohol Dangerous to Your Health?

In a word: yes. In two words: of course. But crossing a street is dangerous to your health. Driving a car or riding a bike is dangerous to your health. So that’s not really very helpful information.

6 years

Nutrition and the Art of Disparaging Science: Of Smoke and Fire

It is back to school season, so let’s start this with a pop quiz:

6 years

Parsing the Pros and Cons of Breast Cancer Screening

You might think that screening for breast cancer by mammography is a slam-dunk. It was not the last time I wrote about it; and it is not now. 

6 years

Addressing Physician Self-Care Means Getting Doctors More Sleep

Walking through the dark construction zone of my now demolished kitchen, I made my way to the garage and out into the still, hot, humid July night. The air felt so thick, it was hard to breathe. At 1 a.m. I was headed to the hospital for a patient that just arrived in active labor. On the drive in, I had the air conditioner blasting to cool off the car and to wake the slumber from my head. By the time I reached the bright lights of the hospital 20 minutes later, I was fully awake. It was time to work.

6 years

Politics, Propaganda, and Perspective: How Preventive Medicine Pertains

In any political campaign season, fidelity to facts is often sacrificed for the persuasiveness of propaganda. In this campaign season of roiling discontent, that is only all the more so. In particular, the identification of every act of terrorism or violence as a systemic failure of the current power structure is as specious as it is seductive. Preventive Medicine can lend some very relevant perspective.

6 years

Why Do Some Foods Taste Good?

Can a leaf taste sunlight? I have never seen the question posed before, let alone answered, by someone with the botanical qualifications I lack. But I will hazard a guess just the same. I guess: no.

6 years

Ketogenic Leftovers, Reheated - Just for You!

I can’t seem to make it through a full conversation these days without some variant on the theme of: “so what about that keto diet, anyway?” Perhaps that’s an occupational hazard of being a “nutrition guy,” but I suspect you are tripping over those discussions, too. Such is the nature of diet fads.