Opioids are commonly prescribed and used for the management and treatment of muscle pain in humans. Research is showing, however, that they work no better for muscle pain than other safer treatments. While opioids can be effective, for instance, for “short-term relief of other types of severe pain, such as right after surgery and with broken bones” (Dr. Hance Clarke, medical director of the pain…
See more
Drew Shindell, Duke University from (The Conservation) As the eastern U.S. and Canada reeled from days of thick wildfire smoke in early June 2023, millions of people faced the reality of climate change for the first time. Shocking images of New York under apocalyptic orange skies left many people glued to air quality indices and wondering whether it was safe to go outside. What they…
See more
Christopher T. Migliaccio, University of Montana (from The Conservation) Smoke from more than 100 wildfires burning across Canada has been turning skies hazy in North American cities far from the flames. We asked Chris Migliaccio, a toxicologist at the University of Montana who studies the impact of wildfire smoke on human health, about the health risks people can face when smoke blows in from distant…
See more
The Great Plains and Midwest regions of the Unted States are seeing more and larger dust storms and higher levels of dust in the atmosphere. The increase has corresponded to an intensification of corporate agricultural practices in these regions–an example is the plowing of grasslands and marginal agricultural land in order to grow more corn for the production of biofuels. Even modest corn production on…
See more
Jeremy P. Shapiro, Case Western Reserve University (The Conversation). Cold spells often bring climate change deniers out in force on social media, with hashtags like #ClimateHoax and #ClimateScam. Former President Donald Trump often chimes in, repeatedly claiming that each cold snap disproves the existence of global warming. From a scientific standpoint, these claims of disproof are absurd. Fluctuations in the weather don’t refute clear long-term…
See more
Does drinking alcohol have any positive health outcomes? In particular, some past studies have implied that moderate drinking could have some benefit. A journal article that reviewed past research says “no.” Moderate drinking has no health benefits. “This systematic review and meta-analysis of 107 cohort studies involving more than 4.8 million participants found no significant reductions in risk of all-cause mortality for drinkers who drank…
See more
