Medicare offers free preventive medicine visits for those over 65: the Welcome to Medicare visit and the Annual Wellness Visit. Increased awareness of these benefits would improve health care, save taxpayer money, and reduce inequities of preventive medicine care for underserved populations. Welcome to Medicare The Welcome to Medicare visit… read more "Geriatric Preventive Medicine Appointments Covered by Medicare"
Supplements: Misguided Marketing
If marketers want to persuade me to take a dietary supplement, they are going about it the wrong way. A typical recent email said I could fight aging, boost immunity, and feel energized with doctor-endorsed NMN supplement Elevant. They even offered to send me free samples. Probably worth the price!… read more "Supplements: Misguided Marketing"
Does a Baby Aspirin a Day Keep the Doctor Away?
For years, we have been told that most adults should take a baby aspirin every day to help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Now we are told not to do that because it doesn’t work. What is going on? Why can’t science make up its mind? The recommendations are not… read more "Does a Baby Aspirin a Day Keep the Doctor Away?"
Nugenix Total T
Nugenix Total T is one of many so-called testosterone boosters on the market. Vague claims, insufficient evidence. The commercials insult my intelligence. They show men on a golf course commiserating with each other about how their performance had gone downhill since the good old days of their youthful manhood, and… read more "Nugenix Total T"
¿Estas gotas para leer pueden reemplazar a los anteojos?
[This article is also available in English. Thanks to Pensar for this Spanish translation.] Vuity es un nuevo colirio que se vende bajo receta. Un artículo de Scientific American dice: “Estas gotas podrían reemplazar sus anteojos para leer”. ¿Podrían realmente? ¿Como puede ser? ¿Realmente funcionan? Más o menos, más o menos… para… read more "¿Estas gotas para leer pueden reemplazar a los anteojos?"
Can These Eyedrops Replace Reading Glasses?
[Este artículo está disponible en español. La traducción al español apareció por primera vez en la revista Pensar.] You’ve probably seen the ads. Vuity is a new prescription eyedrop. An article in Scientific American says, “These drops could replace your reading glasses.” Could they really? How can that be? Do they really work?… read more "Can These Eyedrops Replace Reading Glasses?"
Eat for Life: Joel Fuhrman’s Nutritarian Diet
Joel Fuhrman thinks his Nutritarian diet will increase longevity and prevent or treat most chronic diseases. He claims it is based on science, but his evidence is far from convincing. Joel Fuhrman, MD is a celebrity doctor, entrepreneur, and best-selling author whose latest book, Eat for Life, advocates his “Nutritarian” or… read more "Eat for Life: Joel Fuhrman’s Nutritarian Diet"
The Science and Pseudoscience of Aging
Some animals (such as hydras and some jellyfish) can apparently live forever, but we humans are all going to die. Longevity is desirable, but aging—a slow process of deterioration—is not. Hearing declines (half of those older than seventy-five have disabling hearing loss), as does visual acuity (by age eighty, 70… read more "The Science and Pseudoscience of Aging"