According to a report from Child Trends, it really is good news: since the early 1990’s teens have been less likely to have sex and more likely to use contraceptives when having sex for the first time.
Read More »Medical Care for Adults
The National Center for Health Research reviews important new research as soon as it is published. We cut through the hype regarding various medical treatments to let you know what is proven and what is unknown about the risks and benefits of various treatment options. We do not accept funding from the companies that make medical products, so you can trust that our information is based on science, and not biased by financial ties to the treatments we’re evaluating.
To find the information you need, please use our search box to search for exactly what you are looking for or browse through our various topics on the right. →
Some of these articles were written this year and others were not, however, if they are on our website it means the information is up-to-date. We always scrutinize new research and call the researchers to learn even more. Then we translate it into plain language that everyone can understand.
If you’re looking for more detailed information about cancer, please go to our Cancer Prevention and Treatment website.
If you don’t see what you are looking for on any health topic, please contact us and we will try to get the information you need within a few days.
Ghostbusting: Exposing Drug Company-Hired Ghostwriters in Medical Journals
Doctors rely on scientific papers for accurate information on which drugs and treatments are best for their patients, but are all these papers trustworthy? Often times, industry-paid “ghostwriters” author these papers, leading to biased articles that mislead doctors into prescribing medication that may not work or could be harmful to their patients.
Read More »Scleroderma: What Is It and How Is It Treated?
Scleroderma means hardening of the skin. It is not a single disease but a group of diseases. What all forms of the disease have in common is abnormal connective tissue leading to skin tightening. There are two types of scleroderma: “localized scleroderma” and the more severe, “systemic scleroderma.” No one understands yet what causes either.
Read More »Stress and Military Families
Heart CT Scans: New Heart Disease Test May Cause Cancer
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among adults in the U.S., so some doctors have recently started using a “CAT scan” (or CT scan) to detect blockages in the heart’s arteries. Unfortunately, a CT scan uses relatively large doses of radiation, which could ultimately lead to many new cases of cancer from increased exposure to radiation. Although heart CT scanning may be a useful tool in detecting blockages in heart arteries, there is not enough evidence to show that this test is worth the risks and is therefore not recommended for screening for heart disease at this time.
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