If you think chewing on tobacco is any better for your health than smoking it, the American Heart Association (AHA) respectfully disagrees. The national nonprofit group released a statement Monday discouraging smokers from …
New Study: Gay Parents = Great Kids
Let’s see, so far, California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage has been found to be unconstitutional, unnecessary (or did we miss the collapse of traditional marriage in Massachusetts, Connecticut or the four other …
Family MattersParenting
Would You Like Some BPA With That Dental Sealant, Dear?
Over the summer, my second-grader apparently binged on BPA, that controversial chemical that may or may not act as a hormone disrupter, depending whom you believe.
No, he hadn’t been sipping from contaminated SIGG bottles or …
Meet the Man Behind Health Care Reform
If you’ve heard of Donald Berwick, the new chief of Medicare and Medicaid, chances are good that what you’ve heard has been pretty scary. Charges levels by Republicans critical of the new Affordable Care Act (ACA) include: He wants to create a British-style health care in the U.S.! He wants to ration care! He has secret ambitions to …
Study: Brain Injuries On the Rise Among Teen Basketball Players
As childhood obesity reaches epidemic levels, anything that gets kids moving should be encouraged. But children’s sports are competitive these days. Whether at school or on traveling or club teams, young athletes are training …
Even More Evidence for the Health Benefits of Drinking
After TIME.com ran my story about how moderate and even heavy drinking are both associated with living longer than average, lots of readers e-mailed me their skepticism.
Drug Use in the Over-50 Crowd Doubles
Getting old and getting wasted didn’t used to have a lot to do with each other. But oldsters love a buzz just like anyone else, and increasingly, they’re indulging.
CommittedParenting
School’s Back: How’s That Schedule Working Out?
School days are here for pretty much the whole country now. This means hundreds of thousands of parents have just gone from zero to 60 in about two early morning hours, especially if summer was spent somewhat indolently, as mine …
Survey: Cesarean Sections Are More Likely at For-Profit Hospitals
Pregnant and hoping to avoid a cesarean section? Chances are you’d be better off checking into a nonprofit hospital, according to a new survey released by California Watch.
The Strange World of Drug Origins: Nuns’ Urine, Yew Trees and Rooster Combs
Some people go to infamous extremes to get high — smoking dried toad venom, for example, or in one Northern culture, drinking the urine of reindeer that are tripping on psychedelic mushrooms. And yet, stranger sources than …
Post-H1N1, Why You Still Need to Worry About Flu
The H1N1 pandemic has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the flu strain that started it all.
CommittedCulture
Kids Fashion Week in New York: Cute or Crass?
The lights go down, the music cranks up and Jasmine struts down the runway, wearing nothing but a teensy shiny orange bikini and a smile. At the end of the catwalk she pauses and poses as cameras flash. It’s just like any other …
Evidence Review: Anti-Drinking Drug Shows Modest Success
Only three medications are approved by the government to treat alcoholism: Antabuse (disulfiram), Revia (naltrexone) and Campral (acamprosate). None is anything close to a cure, but a new review of the research on acamprosate …