Free Republic

For adults with symptomatic lumbar disc herniation, unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE) microdiscectomy is associated with longer operating times and with lower pain medication consumption in the early postoperative period compared with tubular lumbar microdiscectomy, according to a study Charla Fischer, M.D. and colleagues examined surgical outcomes and pain medication consumption for UBE versus tubular lumbar microdiscectomy in a retrospective cohort study of adults undergoing primary, single-level UBE or tubular lumbar microdiscectomy surgery at a high-volume institution. Data were included for 102 patients: 48 undergoing UBE and 54 tubular lumbar microdiscectomy. The researchers found that the average operative time was higher...

VIVEX Biologics, Inc. sponsored research reports positive outcomes for patients with chronic lumbar discogenic pain treated using a single intradiscal injection of VIA Disc NP, an allogeneic nucleus pulposus product derived from cadaveric disc tissue. Researchers conducted a prospective, single-arm clinical study at six U.S. sites to assess the impact of intradiscal injection of VIA Disc NP on back pain severity and functional impairment in patients with chronic lumbar discogenic pain unresponsive to conservative management. A total of 28 adults were enrolled, with 22 participants completing the 12-month follow-up. Patients received a single injection of 100 mg of VIA Disc...

Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Alex Witt Reports” that the Democratic Party will take the majority in the 2026 midterms and investigate President Donald Trump and his family. Witt said, “I’m curious if the Democrats take over after the midterms next year, the House and or Senate, do you think they’re going to push for investigations into Trump’s family and the whole crypto acquisitions that he has getting?” Crockett said, “Well, Alex, I’m glad you asked. Listen, so long as we end up taking the House, which I fully anticipate that we will do, and we are...

President Donald Trump signed four bills on Friday to roll back Biden-era regulations on appliances like water heaters, refrigerators, walk-in coolers, and household appliances. The first bill Trump signed, H.J.R. 20, rolled back regulations on consumer gas-powered water heaters, White House staff secretary Will Scharf noted. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) introduced the legislation, which was also backed by Rep. Brian Jack (R-GA). Jack noted that the new law “saves a factory” in his district.

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre lost his own seat in Parliament in Monday’s election, but he has not resigned as leader of the party and some prominent Conservatives have spoken up to defend his position. “There is no doubt that Pierre Poilievre and his team ran an incredible campaign,” former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday. Scheer noted that while the Conservatives came up short of forming a government, they won “the highest vote percentage in modern Conservative history” and “the most amount of total votes for our party,...

Andrew Cuomo has picked up another key hard hat endorsement Tuesday in the race for New York City mayor, winning the backing of the Laborers’ International Union. The New York affiliate of the Laborers Union represents 40,000 members in New York State, which further cements the former governor’s support within the construction trades. The union backed Cuomo’s rival in the June Democratic primary, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, in the 2021 mayor’s race. “New York City is the cultural, economic, and social engine of the world—and leading it requires vision, grit, and proven experience,” said Donato Bianco, Jr., LIUNA vice...

Research supports the effectiveness of a kinesiology-based method to treat lower back pain, say study authors. Low back pain is the leading cause of late-life disability, affecting nearly 700 million globally. Those suffering from low back pain can now find relief through the scientifically supported Canali Postural Method (CPM) in the prevention of postural dysfunctions, and in post-rehabilitation functional recovery aimed at optimizing physical efficiency. Therapists evaluated and compared the effects of applying two kinesiological approaches; a generic exercise program and one based on CPM. They found that the CPM group experienced significantly greater pain relief both immediately after the...

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has endorsed Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) trip to El Salvador to ensure that an accused MS-13 gang member illegal alien is “brought back home to Maryland” after he was deported in March. Instead of doing the job his constituents elected him to do in Washington, DC, the left-wing senator has taken time off to go on a trip to El Salvador “to discuss the release” of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who illegally entered the United States and lived in Maryland until his arrest by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Van Hollen claims...

The supply of many foreign-made goods into the US is likely to grind to a halt as a result of President Trump’s tariffs, sources told The Post Monday. A baseline tariff of 10% was applied to many countries Saturday, with heftier percentages applied to the “worst offenders,” which levy high tariffs on US goods they import, in two days. Companies producing everything from toys to luxury wristwatches said they are holding off shipping goods — risking America going from the land of plenty to the land of plenty unavailable. The first luxury items to leave circulation: Jaguar, Range Rover and...

President Trump on Monday pushed back on criticism over his tariffs, calling on Americans to be patient and not be a “panican,” coining a new term. “The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” Trump said on Truth Social. He later said that countries will no longer be able to abuse and take advantage of the U.S. with his tariff plan, which...

Mississippi is bringing back a “competitive” edge with Gov. Tate Reeves’ (R) signing of legislation to phase out the state income tax, and he discussed what this means for the state during an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday. “So this is House Bill 1 that I signed into law on Thursday afternoon. And honestly, Matt, it’s really what I have called Mississippi’s one big, beautiful bill, and it is a bill that does a couple of different things,” Reeves began, explaining that it reduces the sales tax on groceries across the state and, over a period of time, eliminates the...

Ex-“Squad” Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman claimed that Democrats had originally wanted to pass $10 trillion in spending as part of former President Joe Biden’s doomed Build Back Better (BBB) Act. “We were at 10 [trillion] and then it went down to 6 and down to 3 and down to 1.7, I believe,” Bush said on the “Bowman and Bush” podcast on March 14. The two were reflecting on the collapse of Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better Act, which called for hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in “social infrastructure” programs such as universal child care, an expansion...

A defiant Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that he will not step down from his leadership role any time soon while strenuously defending his decision to vote against blocking a GOP bill to avert a partial government shutdown. Schumer (D-NY), 74, who has been facing a progressive revolt over his shutdown vote earlier this month, reiterated that he “did this out of conviction” and fired back at detractors such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “Look, I’m not stepping down,” Schumer told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in a pre-taped interview that aired Sunday. “I did it out of...

Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) claimed Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” that schools could segregate without the existence of the Department of Education. Maddow said, “What’s your reaction to closing the Education Department today?” Walz said, “Well, we knew it was coming, but it’s still a day that I dreaded. I dreaded it as a teacher, as a parent, certainly as a governor now. And the sad part for me about this is Donald Trump doesn’t know anything about education. This has been a long time dream of the far right to crush the public education system, to take...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) signaled Thursday that President Trump’s threat to levy tariffs on key trading partners of the U.S. is hurting his constituents, saying “when we start losing, you back off.” “Almost every industry in Kentucky has come to me and said, ‘It will hurt our industry and push up prices of homes, cars,’ and so, I’m going to continue to argue against tariffs,” Paul said late Thursday in an interview with CNN. The Kentucky Republican argued the U.S. has “more leverage” than any other nation, but not “all the leverage.” He urged the Trump administration to be “smart”...

Researchers found commonly performed interventional procedures for chronic non-cancer spine pain may provide little to no pain relief when compared with sham procedures. Chronic spine pain, defined as persistent pain along or referred from the spine lasting three months or longer, presents a global health challenge. While interventional procedures such as epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, and radiofrequency nerve ablation are frequently used, clinical guidelines have offered conflicting recommendations regarding their effectiveness. Researchers conducted a comprehensive search. Eighty-one trials with 7,977 patients were included in meta-analyses out of 132 eligible studies. Patients with chronic axial or radicular spine pain were...

Anti-Elon Musk protesters in Washington, DC, said they want him to “go back to Africa” and to “shoot himself into the sun,” while being interviewed by conservative content creator Benny Johnson. “Go back where you come from!” one woman said into the microphone when asked what her message was to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader: When Johnson asked if she meant South Africa, a shocked look crossed the woman’s face as she exclaimed, “Oh, gotta go!” An older gentleman brazenly told Johnson that Elon Musk should “go back to South Africa where he belongs.” “He’s not a citizen....

You’ve been crushing your health and fitness goals recently: Eating protein at every meal, getting seven to nine hours of sleep, and hitting the heavy weights at the gym. But in the past few days, you’re feeling sluggish. Why can’t I lift as heavy as usual? I’m doing everything right. Well, there’s actually a chance you’re doing too much—and that’s where a deload week comes in. A deload week is “a period of time where you reduce the volume in your workout,” says Almoni Ellis, CPT, a NASM-certified personal trainer. You either take a break from the gym completely, lighten...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada “won’t back down” from President Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent tariff and that Ottawa will respond accordingly until they are removed. “We’re showing the new American administration that they have a strong partner in Canada when it comes to upholding border security, all while simultaneously underscoring that we won’t back down, that if tariffs are implemented against Canada, we will respond,” Trudeau said Friday while addressing the advisory council on Canada-U.S. relations. “We won’t relent until tariffs are removed and, of course, everything is on the table,” he added. Trump has once...

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hit back after President Trump criticized the Biden administration and diversity initiatives in the aftermath of a deadly midair collision outside Washington, D.C. “Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg said in a post on social platform X. “President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped...