Why Does Coffee Make Me Poop?
It’s not clear why coffee can stimulate a bowel movement, but the speed of this effect suggests it’s mediated by the brain.
Counterfeit Covid Masks Are Still Sold Everywhere
The domestic industry’s woes extend beyond the consumer mask market. In recent months, the medical supply giants that serve the country’s large hospital systems have eagerly resumed buying lower cost protective equipment from overseas. The companies, among them McKesson, Henry Schein and Cardinal Health, have been lobbying the Biden administration to retain a tariff exemption…
With Scant Information on Omicron, Biden Turned to Travel Ban to Buy Time
WASHINGTON — By the time President Biden was briefed on the emergence of a fast-moving new Covid variant on the morning after Thanksgiving, he had a choice to make — and little information to base it on. In a secure conference call from a vacation compound overlooking Nantucket Harbor, the president listened as his health…
Letter From Catherine the Great Shows Her Support for Inoculations
As smallpox outbreaks ravaged communities in the 18th century, one of the first people in Russia to embrace a precursor to vaccines was Catherine the Great, the empress famed for promoting the latest knowledge in the arts and sciences from her throne. Catherine’s support for an early form of inoculation is captured in a letter…
What Is Cardiac Angiosarcoma?
Virgil Abloh, the celebrated fashion designer, died at 41 after being diagnosed with the rare cancer. Here’s what we know about it.
Omicron Has Scary Mutations. That Doesn’t Mean They Work Well Together
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has alarmed many scientists because of the sheer number of genetic mutations it carries — about 50 in all, including at least 26 that are unique to it. But more does not necessarily mean worse: Mutations sometimes work together to make a virus more fearsome, but they may also…
Antiviral Covid-19 Pills Are Coming. Will There Be Enough Tests?
Still, the antiviral pills raise the stakes of a missed diagnosis, said Susan Butler-Wu, a clinical microbiologist at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. “It’s not just knowing my status,” she said. “It’s now like, ‘Oh, this result could get me this really lifesaving medication.’” Antigen tests are generally less…
Stamping Bar Codes on Cells to Solve Medical Mysteries
No one really knew why some patients with a white blood cell cancer called chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or C.L.L., relapsed after treatment and got a second cancer. Were some cancer cells just resistant? An unexpected answer to this mystery has been found using a new technique that researchers call bar coding: The treatment does not…
Your Heart and Diet: A Heart-Healthy Way to Eat
Experts have long known that animal products like beef, lamb, pork and veal have a disproportionately negative impact on the environment. Raising animals requires more water and land and generates more greenhouse gases than growing protein-rich plants does. “This is a win-win for individuals and our environment,” Dr. Lichtenstein said. However, she cautioned, if a…
As World Shuts Borders to Stop Omicron, Japan Offers a Cautionary Tale
TOKYO — With the emergence of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus late last week, countries across the globe rushed to close their borders to travelers from southern Africa, even in the absence of scientific information about whether such measures were necessary or likely to be effective in stopping the virus’s spread. Japan has…