The health headlines move fast and most coverage gets the science wrong. Every day, Dr. Ravi Kumar, MD, a board-certified neurosurgeon, cuts through the noise: what a new study or story actually says, what it doesn’t, and what it means for you. Researched, sourced, and reviewed before it’s published.
A 27-dataset genetic study of more than 63,000 people with eating disorders found that anorexia and binge eating pull in opposite genetic directions on body size, and that most of their genetic signal is not the genetics of BMI.
A content analysis of 837 Instagram posts from the nine leading intoxicating hemp brands found youth-oriented imagery in 49.6% and health or age warnings in 2.5%, weeks before a federal ban on these products is scheduled to start.
A new NHANES analysis of 13,514 adults found that serologic protection against hepatitis B and hepatitis A is lowest in the patients who need it most, four years after the vaccine was recommended for every adult under 60.
A national analysis of US poison center data found kratom cases rose 65-fold in 13 years, and states that banned retail sale had the lowest rates of severe outcomes and hospital use.
A new Nature Communications study found eight molecules in stored blood that tracked both with air pollution exposure and with a later lung cancer diagnosis, but the finding says more about who screening misses than about any test you could order.
A Swedish nationwide registry study of 7,308 people with both atrial fibrillation and Alzheimer's disease found that those on newer anticoagulants declined more slowly on a standard memory test, and had fewer strokes, fractures and deaths, than those on no blood thinner at all.
A Florida Atlantic University analysis of 17,024 US men found that those getting more of their calories from ultra-processed foods reported prostate cancer 29% more often, though the survey design cannot show which came first.
A UC San Francisco crossover trial found habitual cannabis users had about 9% fewer extra heartbeats on days they were assigned to inhale, the opposite of what the researchers predicted.
A Finnish trial of 465 screened children found that a 10-module internet CBT program with weekly telephone coaching still beat digital psychoeducation on child-reported anxiety 24 months after randomization, though the effect was modest and the parent-reported gap shrank.
A blood biomarker panel barely moved the diagnosis at specialist memory clinics, even as the same technology is being credited with a large accuracy jump in primary care.
A nine study meta-analysis of 480,479 adults links habitual stair climbing to sharply lower cardiovascular and overall death rates, but every study in it was observational.
The order sorts childhood vaccines into three tiers, moves hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal, flu and COVID out of the universal list, and asks for a split MMR shot that no company currently makes in the United States.