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What an Octopus on Ecstasy Can Teach Us About the Brain on Drugs

You may have missed a big discovery a few weeks back concerning researchers that put octopuses on the drug ecstasy. While this sounds like a bad experiment from the LSD-fueled universities of the ’60s, it actually revealed an important brain discovery. Let me explain. How Serotonin Works Perhaps most well known for its connection to…read more

More Hip Arthroscopy Complications Surface

If you follow this blog, you now know that except for a few select patients, the routine use of knee meniscus surgery in middle-aged and older patients is an invasive waste of time. In my opinion, the next big orthopedic surgery bubble to pop will be hip arthroscopy. There are multiple randomized controlled trials underway,…read more

Aspirin: High Risk of Hemorrhage Outweighs Minimal Heart Benefits

It seems like every patient over 40 I see is taking, or has been told to take, a baby aspirin a day to protect them from a heart attack. This seems like such an innocuous thing, a tiny white pill given to babies. However, does the risk of this tiny thing outweigh the benefit? What…read more

FDA Recalls Umbilical Cord Product from Liveyon

I’ve written now for years about the amniotic and umbilical cord stem cells scams. These FDA-regulated dead tissues are often called “stem cell” products by unethical distributors, sales reps, and physicians. Now there’s a new twist in that the FDA has just recalled an umbilical cord product. Let me explain. Amniotic and Umbilical Cord Products…read more

High-Intensity Interval Exercise vs. Endurance Exercise for Cell Health

There’s been a battle brewing in exercise circles ever since CrossFit was introduced. Should you focus on shorter bursts of high-intensity exercise, or should you spend more time on endurance activities? Now a new study weighs in on this debate while focusing on cell health. Understanding Cell Anatomy and the Mitochondria Humans are made up…read more

Stem Cells in Blood Vessels Could Repair Damage After Heart Attack

I often cover orthopedic stem cell studies and breakthroughs, but given that heart disease is still the nation’s number one cause of death, I thought we’d take a detour this morning. Most of the stem cell therapy studies focused in this area have either focused on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells or cells derived from…read more

Taking Your Own Medicine: Why I Got My Neck and Back Injected Yesterday

Yesterday I had my back and neck injected by Dr. Pitts. This is something I do a few times a year, not because I’m disabled but because I want to be able to be active as I age. I also want to treat small problems while they’re small and not let them spin out of control.…read more

How Do Stem Cells Know What to Type of Cells to Form?

How do stem cells know what type of cell to turn into? While scientists have known some parts of that story, new pieces of information are discovered every year. Take for example a recent study that demonstrated that sugar may play a role. Let me explain. Stem Cells: The Body’s General Contractors of Repair Stem…read more