Free Republic

The future scares a lot of people. Climate change, a growing population, and fewer natural resources will certainly pose new challenges for the human race in the next few decades. But when you consider ongoing social and economic progress and all of the coming innovations in science and technology, there’s plenty of room for optimism. We’ve pulled out some of our favorite ideas about the future of our world. Child mortality rates will be vastly lower. During the 20th century, the sharpest declined in mortality involved deaths of children under 5 years old, according to the assessment on human health...

CNN reporter Drew Griffin has owned the revelations surrounding the Department of Veterans Affairs and their scandalous treatment of military veterans. After a year of investigation, he broke the story involving the creation of secret waiting lists at a Phoenix VA hospital where 40 vets died awaiting care. Griffin’s reporting led to the uncovering of several more secret waiting lists – a revelation that forced President Barack Obama to accept the resignation of his VA secretary, Gen. Eric Shinseki. On Monday, Griffin discussed a new report from an independent government oversight agency which found that VA has been ignoring whistleblowers...

"Pee in a cup" is a phrase you should prepare to hear frequently this election season. A requirement that doctors be subject to random drug and alcohol testing is the curb-appeal provision in a measure that will be on the California ballot in November. The brains behind the initiative titled the Troy and Alana Pack Patient Safety Act -- named after two Danville children killed by a substance-abusing driver in 2003 -- clearly figured out that voters are more likely warm to the part that promises drug tests for doctors than the measure's more important provision, which would lift the...

Benjamin LaMontagne, who died at his home in February four days after wisdom tooth extraction, was killed by a tissue infection of his gums, neck and jaw... after routine oral surgery, was killed by a rare, aggressive bacterial infection that caused swelling of his jaw and neck, according to the state Medical Examiner’s Office. The medical examiner’s report, released Thursday to the Portland Press Herald in response to a public records request, lists the cause of death as cervical necrotizing fasciitis, commonly called “flesh-eating bacteria.” The infection is caused by a powerful strain of streptococcus A, a group of pathogens...

Scientists at the University of East Anglia have made a breakthrough in the race to solve antibiotic resistance. New research published today in the journal Nature reveals an Achilles’ heel in the defensive barrier which surrounds drug-resistant bacterial cells. The findings pave the way for a new wave of drugs that kill superbugs by bringing down their defensive walls rather than attacking the bacteria itself. It means that in future, bacteria may not develop drug-resistance at all. The discovery doesn’t come a moment too soon. The World Health Organization has warned that antibiotic-resistance in bacteria is spreading globally, causing severe...

Sarah Knapton, The TelegraphJune. 18, 2014 The global threat of antibiotic resistance could finally be tackled after British scientists discovered a chink in the armour of deadly bacteria. Health experts have warned that within 20 years even routine operations like hip replacements and organ transplants could be deadly because of the risk of infection. But now scientists at the University of East Anglia have discovered how the bug responsible for E-coli and salmonella builds an impenetrable wall to keep out antibiotics. They believe that within a few years they could develop a drug which switches off the wall-building mechanism, making...

Flu experts have made a mutant version of the 1918 “Spanish flu” virus that killed tens of millions of people, sparking a new debate over whether such work is too dangerous. Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin says the experiments are important for helping scientists understand how new pandemics start, and for designing better flu vaccines.

As the Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass legislation designed to fix problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the amount of new spending in the measure began to clarify. And the price tag could be a gut-check when it comes to understanding what it really costs to fulfill sacred obligations to America’s veterans. The cost of the measure could be astronomical. That’s according to preliminary numbers circulated by the Congressional Budget Office Wednesday afternoon. The bill would give veterans new opportunities to seek care outside of the health care system provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. CBO said in...

American developed hairy tongue 10 years ago and tried several treatments but could not be curedAn American who suffered for 10 years from a ‘hairy tongue’ has finally found a cure for his condition in Dubai. Clay Irwin visited several doctors in several countries, including his home country, to treat his embarrassing condition which impacted his social life as he suffered from constant bad breath due to food and saliva getting stuck in the hair on his tongue. “I developed a rare medical condition some time back. I went to several places in the US, but none could help. I...

Public sector unions are out of control. They are extracting wealth from the productive economy and playing taxpayers for chumps. Simple as that. Whether the it’s the teachers unions, the municipal unions, the SEIU, the workers at the myriad of of alphabet soup agencies, the assumption is that somehow taxpayers work for government employees, for the low level cronies. Our money is supposed to fund their pensions and above market salaries. We owe it to them. The average federal worker makes over $120,000 in total compensation. A comparable private sector worker? About $50,000. This should not be. To some degree...

Federal health officials recommended two weeks ago that hundreds of thousands of Americans at risk for AIDS take a daily pill that has been shown to prevent infection with the virus that causes it. If broadly followed, the advice could transform AIDS prevention in the United States — from reliance on condoms, which are effective but unpopular with many men, to a regimen that relies on an antiretroviral drug. . . . . . The first is psychological. Doctors and policy makers need to admit that 30 years of the ABC mantra — abstain, be faithful, use condoms — has...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)RALEIGH, N.C. - The emerging process of 3D printing, which uses computer-created digital models to create real-world objects, has produced everything from toys to jewelry to food. Soon, however, 3D printers may be spitting out something far more complex, and controversial: human organs. Researchers are working diligently to create human organs and body parts through the use of a 3D printer. The 3D printer works in much the same way an inkjet printer does - with a needle that squirts material in a predetermined pattern. Instead of ink, the printer uses cells or human tissue. The cells would be purified...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Recently, my wife approached me with the unwelcome news that our health insurance plan — which we like — will likely be cancelled next year. Her employer, a healthcare provider, generously provides benefits even for those working part-time. Due to the devastation wrecked upon the industry by Obamacare, they anticipate the need to drop coverage for all employees working less than 60 hours per pay period. My wife works 56. Since my employer’s offering proves virtually worthless, far too expensive for far too little coverage, we will be left effectively uninsured. We may consider Samaritan Ministries as an alternative to...

Another Republican is now weighing in on Hillary Clinton’s health. Sarah Palin slammed the mainstream media for treating Clinton with a double standard after Republican strategist Karl Rove raised controversial concerns about the likely presidential candidate’s health. “Thank goodness liberals are consistent in refusing to apply double standards, thanks to their disdain for hypocrisy – so they’ll come through once again,” the former vice presidential candidate wrote sarcastically on her Facebook page Monday evening. ”Rest assured these self-designated protectors of what they obviously believe is the ‘weaker sex’ needing protection in the political arena will elevate political discourse.” Palin doubled...

Debate between plant based diet and Paleo diet.

A woman with an incurable cancer is now in remission, thanks, doctors say, to a highly concentrated dose of the measles virus. For 10 years, Stacy Erholtz, 49, battled multiple myeloma, a deadly cancer of the blood. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic say she had received every type of chemotherapy drug available.... Then researchers gave her and five other multiple myeloma patients a dose of a highly concentrated, lab-engineered measles virus similar to the measles vaccine. In fact, the dose Erholtz received contained enough of the virus to vaccinate approximately 10 million people.

The white-marble Rayburn House Office Building, in Washington DC, looks like a giant courts building or a central bank, fully intimidating and imposing in its hulking stony blockiness. And the US Congress, of course, is an institution best known for its tedium, albeit a tedium that is regularly punctuated by fiery partisan combat. On a typical day, the Rayburn building--acronymed as RHOB--is a place where politicos and bureaucrats struggle for and against some special interest, yea or nay, on regulation or appropriation. And the biggest single activity in RHOB, or in any of the other five office edifices on Capitol...

Researchers at the Medical College of Qingdao University in Qingdao, China, saw a 32% decrease of stroke risk with every 200 grams of fruit consumed each day, and an 11% decrease for every 200 g of vegetables eaten daily. High fruit and vegetable intake can lower blood pressure and improve microvascular function, the researchers said in the study, which was published in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.

A Veterans Affairs hospital in Colorado falsified the wait times faced by thousands of its patients—the second VA facility to be found cooking its books in what has become a national scandal—USA Today reports: Clerks at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Fort Collins were instructed last year how to falsify appointment records so it appeared the small staff of doctors was seeing patients within the agency’s goal of 14 days, according to the investigation. A copy of the findings by the VA’s Office of Medical Inspector was provided to USA TODAY. Many of the 6,300 veterans treated at...

Two teams of scientists published studies on Sunday showing that blood from young mice reverses aging in old mice, rejuvenating their muscles and brains. As ghoulish as the research may sound, experts said that it could lead to treatments for disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease. “I am extremely excited,” said Rudolph Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the research. “These findings could be a game changer.” The research builds on centuries of speculation that the blood of young people contains substances that might rejuvenate older adults. In the 1950s, Clive...