Can Friends Make You Fat? Apr 18 08:47pm A recent study gave us some important clues about the causes of obesity, which as we all know is a serious, and worsening, national health problem. It appears that obesity is "socially contagious." For 32 years, researchers from the... Read more

Medical Tourism: Heading Overseas for Surgery Apr 10 09:24pm The spiraling cost of American medical care has birthed the phenomenon known as "medical tourism." It is being employed by individuals who can't afford medical treatment here, or who want better quality care than they can get... Read more

Viagra Plant Hoax Revealed Apr 01 12:14pm I've been asked about the "Viagra" plant - featured in a tale that got lots of Internet mileage - and decided to track down the real story. The tale comes from England and was an April Fool's hoax published by the newspaper, The... Read more

Saliva Tests for Hormones Untrustworthy Mar 28 08:29am Saliva tests are widely touted as useful, less-invasive alternatives to blood tests for determining hormone levels. My take: beware. Saliva testing is not a reliable method of assessing levels of any hormone. If you're approaching or believe you... Read more

Basics of Brittle Bone Disease Mar 22 08:51am Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) affects an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 Americans. The main symptom is bones that break easily. The disorder results from a genetic mutation that affects the body's production of collagen, a critical protein used to... Read more

Cholesterol Control: What's the Latest, Greatest? Mar 21 12:09pm I was recently asked about pantethine as a possible means of natural cholesterol control. Also known as pantothenic acid or vitamin B5, is a member of the B-complex of vitamins. The body needs it to make red blood cells and sex hormones, among other... Read more

Does Ribose Really Energize? Mar 14 11:43am Ribose is a naturally occurring sugar made in the body from glucose and is an essential component of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the compound that stores and delivers energy in all cells. Ribose also occurs in RNA (ribonucleic acid), one of the... Read more

Fighting Fat With Injections? Mar 11 06:00am A technique known as lipo-dissolve is being touted on the Internet and elsewhere as being relatively new, but it's really an update of mesotherapy, a method I've criticized in the past. Like mesotherapy, lipo-dissolve is used for "spot... Read more

Sores on Your Skin? It May be Vasculitis Mar 01 11:54pm Vasculitis is a disconcerting disease, often marked by the seemingly random appearance of sores on the skin. But it need not be confined to the skin - it is an inflammatory disease of blood vessels that can affect any number of organs. The sores... Read more

Questioning Cholesterol? Feb 27 11:49am I recently received a letter in which the writer expressed shock over a good friend's serious heart attack - the friend had registered "perfect" cholesterol numbers just a week earlier. My response: cholesterol levels are important, but... Read more