A real-world experiment in Berkeley, California might help settle the debate over whether taxing sugary soft drinks can make people healthier. A new study found that the drinking habits of Berkeley residents got better and stayed better over the three years after a 2014 soda tax was passed. Residents not only drank…

The U.S. is in the middle of a devastating drug overdose crisis, one led by opioid-related deaths. But new research out of the University of Southern California highlights just how historically awful the situation really is. It found that the drug overdose mortality in America has shot clear past any similarly wealthy…

Accepting medical help in this country is often no easy task, especially given rising health care costs. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that plenty of people in need of emergency care first turn to Dr. Google for advice, according to a new study out Thursday.

Taking a morning stroll can do wonders for your blood pressure, according to a study out Wednesday, especially if you’re not moving around much to begin with. The research found that sedentary older adults who walked in the morning for 30 minutes experienced a noticeable drop in blood pressure. And women who also took…

The Food and Drug Administration is officially not a fan of Elizabeth Báthory. On Tuesday, the agency sent out an advisory warning people to avoid clinics and companies that promise to rejuvenate health with infusions of blood plasma taken from young people. Among other things, they noted, there’s no proof these…

The great white shark is impressively terrifying (though not actually much of a threat to humans). But a new study shows that the animal is also an impressive feat of evolution. For the first time, scientists say they’ve fully unspooled the genome of the great white, a discovery that will help us better understand why…

That drug companies have fueled the opioid crisis by flooding the market with deceptively advertised, highly addictive painkillers is no secret. But the antics of Insys Therapeutics, now being revealed in an ongoing federal court battle, seem especially evil. Well, evil and incredibly, supremely ridiculous.

This winter’s U.S. flu season hasn’t been and won’t be anywhere near as devastating as the historic season that killed 80,000 Americans last year. That might make latecomers eager to brush aside the idea of getting a flu vaccine. But a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should hopefully…

Researchers in France are calling their six-legged creation the “AntBot.” This 9-inch robot doesn’t just skitter around like a desert ant, though—it also borrows their unique navigational skills.

One of the largest hurdles to ketamine becoming a mainstream depression treatment may have just been cleared.

It’s safe to say that the dangers of cannabis have long been overhyped by moral crusaders and the war-on-drugs crew. But a new case study suggests that, under the right circumstances, pot can indeed cause serious health problems. According to the new paper, a 70-year-old Canadian man with preexisting cardiovascular…

On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its strongest condemnation of teen vaping yet, following the release of new data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. According to the CDC, one in five high-schoolers took up vaping in 2018, a significant jump from 2017. FDA chief Scott Gottlieb…

The latest update on the current outbreak of Ebola ravaging Africa shows the situation there continues to worsen. This past weekend, the Health Ministry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported that, as of February 10, there have been 811 confirmed or probable cases of the viral disease since August 2018…

There’s a good chance you’ve had at least one disgusting cold this winter. And if you’re the least bit courteous, you probably took steps to keep from spreading your misery to others, whether by staying at home, washing your hands regularly, or minding where you coughed and sneezed. But if you’re the kind of person…

Anyone who pays close attention to television drug commercials—perhaps because they enjoy the ominous, rapid muttering of side effects—will soon notice something new. On Thursday, Johnson & Johnson announced it would begin showing drug prices alongside photogenic actors doing mundane things in its televised ads next…

Much of the attention surrounding the opioid crisis has focused on the lives tragically lost to it. That focus is understandable, given the rapid climb in opioid-related fatalities in recent years, with nearly 50,000 deaths in the U.S. seen in 2017 alone. But rarely do we hear from those most personally affected by…

Losing weight is definitely tough. So tough, in fact, that scientists have tried to whip up drugs that trick us into feeling full and suppress our appetite. But these concoctions might not just work in people, suggest the authors of a new study out Thursday in Cell. They found that some of these same drugs could also…

Most of the time, it’s easy to tell when someone is consciously aware. But there are many tragic cases when it’s unclear whether a person who is unresponsive after a serious brain injury is truly no longer conscious. That ambiguity can raise ethical questions about how to manage or ultimately end such a person’s…

A new study out of Harvard might complicate the narrative around pot’s potential health risks, at least when it comes to men’s fertility. It found that men who reported ever using cannabis actually had higher sperm counts on average than men who claimed to have never touched the stuff. Male cannabis users were also…