SmartMEDInfo Blog
SmartMEDInfo Blog by Moira Dolan, MD
Coronavirus Facts
Relax. You are unlikely to be killed by the coronavirus that is spreading from China. In fact, if you were in China right now, strolling around with no mask on, you’d be statistically highly unlikely to fall seriously ill with the virus, much le...
Foods — Not supplements — Give You Nutrients for Better Health
A new study has demonstrated that getting adequate nutrients from real food promotes health, unlike most of the same nutrients taken merely as supplement tablets. Researchers at Tufts University used nutritional survey answers from over 27,000 sub...
Exercise Makes You Smarter
If you want to be mentally sharper, then get off the couch and exercise! Yet another study has found that physical fitness correlates with cognition. In a new study of over 1,000 young adults (mean age about 29 years), the distance covered in a 2-...
School Shootings and Mental Screening: What Do The Stats Show?
The number and deadly impact of school shootings are alarming, from Columbine and Virginia Tech to Sandy Hook and more recent tragedies in Florida and Texas. These events have prompted calls for widespread increases in mental health funding for scree...
More Recess, Less ADHD: An Alternative Solution to School Violence
Texas schools have proven that more recess – totally unstructured playtime – results in less psychiatric diagnoses (anxiety, anger, and ADHD). When kids at Eagle Mountain Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas were allowed 4 unstructured recess breaks, ...
Benzos: the other prescription drug epidemic
While national attention is focused on the abuse of narcotics like opioids, massive increases in prescriptions and illegal use of benzodiazepines is going unnoticed. “Benzos” are in a class called sedative/hypnotics. Three of the benzodiazepine...
Nutritional interventions shown to be valuable in serious bowel diseases, despite your doctor’s contrary advice.
Low inflammation foods, probiotics, and a couple of well-known nutritional supplements really do help the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. A new study reports on a detailed review of scientific evidence weighing the value of non-drug inter...
Broken bones, kidney failure, pneumonia – is it time to wean off your stomach pill?
Drug makers are in the business of selling drugs, not helping you get off of them. But the dangers of long term acid-reducing drugs for reflux puts millions of patients at risk for kidney damage, hip fractures, and pneumonia, to name a few of the nas...
Memo to DOJ: Celexa Drug Maker Hid Mistakes, Harming Children
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is being asked to reopen investigations into the makers of Celexa (Forest, now owned by Allergan) for deliberately misleading the government. Earlier lawsuits in 2010 eventually resolved when Forest paid out a total of...
New Study: Screening Mammograms Do Not Significantly Improve Cancer Survival
Screening mammograms in women over 50 do not significantly improve cancer survival, and instead lead to a 32% increase in dangerous over-diagnosis. A new study tracked the death rates in women 50 and older in the Netherlands, where every-other-year m...
