Polls have shown that weight loss is the most common New Year’s resolution. The average weight of Americans has steadily increased over the last several decades with an estimated 71% of us now classified as overweight and nearly 40% of us considered obese. Fad diets and multiple theories abound, often with little or no basis […]
Author Archives: Van Wilson
The Microbiome – Your Nearest and Dearest Neighbors
A microbiome can be defined as all the microorganisms, e.g. bacteria and viruses, which occupy a specific niche or ecological location. For humans, our microbiome is the sum total of all the microorganisms that inhabit our bodies. The vast majority of work on the human microbiome has focused on the bacteria that co-inhabit our bodies. […]
Hominins and Hominids
Everyone is interested in their ancestors, some people are just interested much further back than others. A recent paper in Nature describes the characterization of the most complete skull fossil ever found for Australopithecus anamensis. Anamensis is one of the 5 species of Australopithecus, the genus that is believed to have given rise to Homo […]
Can Aging be Reversed?
Living longer and being healthier into old age are important goals for most people. Certainly the availability of medications for many conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, greatly improves health and longevity. Coupled with an increased awareness of the need for a healthy life style (exercise, nutrition, weight control), medical advances have greatly […]
Do I Really Need a Flu Vaccine This Year?
Do I Really Need a Flu Vaccine This Year? It’s September and flu season will soon be upon us. Each year people ask if they need another flu vaccine. The answer is no – as long as you are willing to be miserably ill for 5-10 days; to spread disease to your family, friends, co-workers, […]
Antibiotics vs. Antivirals
You may know that we don’t use antibiotics on viral infections, but do you know why? The word antibiotic comes from the Greek language and literally means “against life”. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, since bacteria are living, single-cell organisms. Each bacterial cell is comprised of an envelope structure that forms the outer […]
Measles Are Breaking Out All Over!
As has been widely reported in the media, the US and the entire world is having a measles outbreak of record numbers. Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963 there was an estimated 3-4 million cases of measles each year in the United States with 400-500 deaths, 48,000 hospitalizations, and around 1,000 […]
The Truth is in Here
I am a professional scientist in the biological arena, and the fundamental goal of my profession is to seek truth, understanding, and knowledge. We don’t always get it right, but we always strive to reach the absolute truth even if progress is slow and incremental. We are taught to follow the evidence wherever it takes […]
