Health & Wellness

Food Writer Strips Away Whole Foods Myths

Staff / Truthdig Apr 12, 2006 Author Michael Pollan tells Truthdig: "[Whole Foods is] very cleverly designed, but it's based on illusions If you go to the farm depicted on those labels, you find that in fact things look a little bit different" . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Newspaper Punctures Myth of ‘the Boy Crisis’

Staff / Truthdig Apr 11, 2006 The Washington Post refutes an earlier Newsweek cover story that claimed boys are falling badly behind girls in public school education. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Poll: For More Women, Man’s Looks More Important Than His Money

Staff / Truthdig Apr 10, 2006 Researchers from the UK have found that as women make more money themselves, they value a man's physical attractiveness more highly than his financial status. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

FEMA’s Got a Handle on Bird Flu … if There’s a Stiff Breeze

Andy Borowitz / Truthdig Apr 8, 2006 Satirist Andy Borowitz reports that our emergency preparedness experts have the bird flu situation under control. Mostly, they're counting on a natural disaster to wipe out the bird population. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Study: Men Getting Fatter, Women Holding Steady

Staff / Truthdig Apr 7, 2006 OK, don't pop out the champagne--or the pork rinds--yet, but scientists think the leveling off of obesity rates in women may signal a turning point in the nation's epidemic. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

GAO: Bush’s Abstinence Plan Hampering AIDS Efforts

Staff / Truthdig Apr 5, 2006 Countries with AIDS epidemics actually have to cut the money they spend on treatment in order to conform to Bush's requirements for spending on abstinence programs, reports the government watchdog. But it's all good, because this way, God isn't being offended by people having sex before marriage. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mass. Pushes Mandatory Health Insurance

Staff / Truthdig Apr 5, 2006 In what would amount to the country's first universal coverage plan, the Massachusetts Legislature approved a bill that will require all its residents to buy health insurace or face legal penalties. How did they finally eke out a winning strategy for such a long-sought goal? The program is modeled on the state's policy on auto insurance. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Shocker: Study Shrugs Off Prayer’s Power to Heal

Staff / Truthdig Mar 31, 2006 A nationwide study finds that having strangers pray for heart patients does not help their health. In fact, the prayed-for are actually more likely to suffer complications. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Texas Arresting People in Bars for Being Drunk

Staff / Truthdig Mar 23, 2006 Undercover agents will bust you in a bar for public intoxication--so you don't get behind the wheel of a car, or something like that. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Breast Cancer More Deadly to Blacks Than Whites

Staff / Truthdig Mar 22, 2006 Black American women are 19% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women, according to a new study. This is just the most recent of many studies illustrating that within our healthcare system, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors, blacks still receive a poorer quality of healthcare than whites. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Now They Have John Paul Performing Miracles From the Grave

Staff / Truthdig Mar 14, 2006 A French nun inflicted with Parkinson's disease is suddenly cured--after fellow nuns pray to the dead pope. The Associated Press ran this story without a hint of irony or skepticism. Check out Truthdig's Sam Harris for a little perspective. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Big Bucks Being Made on Cancer Pain

Staff / Truthdig Mar 13, 2006 The New York Times brings us another example of how those drug companies that the president loves so much are ripping off the elderly. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )