In the 1920s, a New Jersey pathologist coined 'punch-drunk syndrome' to describe the tremors and slurred speech he kept seeing in career boxers. For decades we assumed it took boxing or American football to do that to a brain. Soccer players' brains tell a different story. 🧵

A new study in JAMA Network Open suggests GLP-1s like Ozempic cut the risk of death after breast cancer by 91%. I want to believe it. But this is one of those headlines that falls apart once you read the paper. buff.ly/Cs2VRJ5

If you're like me, you find the science of psychedelic medicine completely fascinating. But here's the problem: nearly all human research is in prior users or patients with severe conditions like PTSD. What about psychedelic-naïve 40-somethings like yours truly?

Went to my 20th med school reunion last weekend. Said "you haven't aged a bit" approximately 50 times. What I actually meant, of course, was "you haven't aged as fast as I'd expect." Turns out you can quantify that. And in cancer patients, the rate of face aging predicts survival. 🧵

It's always bothered me that medical research papers are static. A PDF, showing you what the authors thought were the important findings. I think we're ready for a paradigm shift and I did a little proof of concept...

New in JAMA Network Open: in 1,338 older adults followed for up to 19 years, more daytime napping was linked to higher all-cause mortality. The biggest signal was naps in the morning...

New in JAMA Network Open: 21 frontier LLMs tested on 29 clinical vignettes that simulate real diagnostic workflows. Not just "what's the diagnosis" but the whole process. Differential, testing, final dx, management. The party line? They're not ready for primetime. But I'm not so sure...

LFG!!

"A daily multivitamin slows biological aging." That's the headline from a new Nature Medicine paper. From a randomized trial! But when you actually read the data, the vitamin is doing just about nothing. Thread.

Wellness influencers mislead with biological plausibility all the time. Recognize the signs! New episode of Wellness, Actually today (saunas, cold plunges, and more): wellnessactually.fm with @ProfEmilyOster.

This week, on the Wellness, Actually podcast Emily Oster and I talk #peptides! Including the (infamous) "wolverine stack" as promoted by no less than Joe Rogan. I have... concerns. wellnessactually.fm

OK we know exercise saves lives. We know muscle strength predicts survival. But is it the muscle itself that's protective — or just that stronger people move more? A really elegant new study finally disentangles this (in women at least). Thread 👇

So excited for "Wellness, Actually" - a new podcast with @profemilyoster.bsky.social. Weekly, we take on a wellness topic and (gasp) actually read the literature to separate fact from BS. Check out episode 1, "What's the deal with declining sperm counts?" today. wellnessactually.fm

What if wellness influencers actually knew how to read a medical study? 🤔 New podcast. Me. @ProfEmilyOster. The ACTUAL data on wellness trends so you can stress less. Listen to Wellness, Actually wherever you get your podcasts: open.spotify.com/show/5igTryE... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

In med school I bought a $15 noise machine to drown out the sirens and helicopters of Washington Heights. It worked. Or at least I thought it did. A new study suggests it may have been making things worse. 🧵 (1/13)

We made it through Dry January. An entire month of alcohol content. So let me answer the question I keep getting asked: How much is actually ok to drink? 🧵 (1/14)

Dry January, Week 3. So far, we’ve covered liver health and GLP-1s. Now, let’s get a little… far out. This week is brought to you by the hashtag #CaliforniaSober. The question: Can weed help you put down the bottle? Or does it just make things worse? Let’s look at the data. 1/13

We're in week two of Dry January and continuing our month of columns dedicated to alcohol, the substance Homer Simpson referred to as the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. (1/12)

So... for reasons both personal and professional, I decided to dig into the data behind "Dry January". To be honest, I'm impressed. The liver is a remarkable organ. Brief thread on major findings: 🧵 (1/13)

You can get ChatGPT to recommend thalidomide to a pregnant woman. It's not even hard. A new study in JAMA Network Open shows just how vulnerable medical AI is to manipulation. 🧵

I was lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, surviving on a waiter's salary. My diet was basically wine, baguettes, and goat cheese. Turns out that might've been good for my brain? A new study says high-fat cheese prevents dementia. Let's talk about it. 🧀🧵 (1/10)

Humans share 98% of our DNA with chimps. But there's one thing that makes us wildly different from our primate cousins. And it might explain why our species took over the planet. 🧵

Has been all outstanding research faculty talks since the #Match last week! Dr. @fperrywilson.bsky.social giving Yale Nephrology RIP, Dr. Whitney Besse teaching us about genetic testing and kidney disease, and Dr. Lloyd Cantley presenting at the HTI Seminar! @yalemed.bsky.social

We're in the middle of a quiet revolution in depression treatment. For decades it was all about "chemical imbalance". SSRIs tweaking serotonin levels. And they work. Sort of. (Thread)--> (1/18)

I’ve called GLP-1 agents like Ozempic and Mounjaro "miracle drugs." But a new study forces me to re-evaluate that moniker. The miracle has a problem: It ends when the prescription runs out. Let's look at the data on the "Rebound Effect." 🧵

A new randomized trial in American Journal of Psychiatry just dropped, and the headline result is…unexpected: smoking marijuana REDUCED alcohol consumption. Yes, reduced. And before you say “that makes no sense", let’s unpack it. (🧵)

Young people today have more friends than any generation before them. They also report the highest levels of loneliness. How is that possible? Turns out the answer is fascinating and maybe a little depressing. 🧵

The use of doxycycline in childhood may protect against the future development of schizophrenia. Wait... what? This is one of those studies that makes you say "that can't be right." But maybe it is? Let me walk you through this weird one.

What killed Napoleon's army in 1812? For 200+ years, history books have pointed to epidemic typhus. Turns out, they may have been completely wrong. A new study just rewrote one of military history's greatest mysteries. 🧵

What killed Napoleon's army in 1812? For 200+ years, history books have pointed to epidemic typhus. Turns out, they may have been completely wrong. A new study just rewrote one of military history's greatest mysteries. 🧵

A new Nature study found that people with cancer who received an mRNA COVID vaccine while on immunotherapy lived nearly twice as long. Median survival jumped from 20.6 to 37.3 months. That’s not a typo. Let’s talk about how, and why, that might be. 🧵

There's a problem with BMI, and I can illustrate it like this: Seth Rogen (comedic legend, dad bod) has about the same BMI as Jalen Hurts (elite NFL QB, built like a tank). Both would be classified as "overweight" or nearly "obese." Clearly, something is wrong here. (🧵)

I woke up in Las Vegas last week with some mysterious symptoms: pounding headache, nausea, feeling like I hadn't slept at all. Who knows what could cause such a thing? As I searched for coffee, I saw a sign promising salvation: IV fluids. On demand. For $248. 🧵

🧵 New headlines say rising cancer rates in young people might be... fake? Before you panic (or un-panic), let's talk about why this is both more complicated AND more interesting than it sounds. Spoiler: I'm still getting my colonoscopy. 1/

🧵 Walk into any pharmacy and you'll see supplement bottles claiming to "support heart health" or "boost immune function." These vague promises are everywhere. But here's the thing: a new study just proved these weasel words are fooling millions of Americans.

Childhood obesity has quadrupled since the 1960s. Now over 20% of kids meet the definition (>95th percentile of BMI). This is driving type 2 diabetes in children, and increases the risk of other diseases as adults. We need to talk about weight-loss drugs for kids. 🧵

Really excited to be speaking at @Medium Day this Friday. I'll be talking about how to write about medicine while maintaining both skepticism and joy. Tons of amazing talks / discussions. You can sign up for free here: www.mediumday.com

We've all had this conversation before: "Dude, we both agree this is red... but how do I know what I see as red is what you see as red? Maybe you see red as I see blue." Mind blown lol. But we finally have some research that sheds light (and color) on the issue. (Thread)

Ok, this study has some pretty predictable conclusions. But I have some serious questions. (Thread):

Marijuana ain't what it used to be. Not by a long shot. In 1995, weed had about 4% THC. Today? We're pushing 20%.And that's just from breeding. We can extract THC to 70, 80, even 95% purity. Should we be worried? 🧵

63% of physicians are burnt out, the highest rate of any US profession. When docs burn out, patients suffer: more medical errors, more malpractice suits, even increased racial biases. A new Mayo Clinic study says smartwatches might cut burnout in half. Really? 🧵

About a year ago, I joked with a friend about Ozempic's miracle benefits. Weight loss! Better hearts! Less drinking! "What about side effects?" he asked. "Maybe after 10 years your eyes fall out," I joked. Well, about that... 🧵

Check out the incidence of colorectal cancers among 45-49 year old's over time. Scary, right? This week, I wrote about a trio of papers in @jamacurrent trying to explain this phenomonon. Full details @medscape here: www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

Thanks to a clever use of mass spectroscopy, scientists seem to have uncovered the actual "scent of a woman" - a cocktail of compounds, released during ovulation, that actually changes men's behavior. Brief thread:

The COVID pandemic AGED your brain by 5.5 months, on average, according to a new study. That... sounds bad. But what does "brain age" mean? And what does a brain that is aging more rapidly mean to you? Using what's left of my brain to break down this new study. (1/N)

Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) is rising. Wait, not rising. Skyrocketing. At least in adolescents. So... is it real? Brief thread discussing this new study. 🧵

Does the dinner plate affect the dream state? Does a midnight stack make your dreams more wack? This week - some evidence for the old idea that certain foods predispose to nightmares. Here's what you need to know: 🧵

To a Gen X'er like me, this is an A-ha moment. But to the rest of the world, "Aha moments are sudden flashes of insight; instances of "Eureka" where, abruptly, the solution to a problem presents itself. A new study suggests we can actually game the system... here's how: 🧵

Another psilocybin study out this week, and I have to admit I find this stuff completely fascinating. A single dose of an agent with potentially YEARS-long improvement in depression? (Brief thread):

Take a deep breath, and listen to the old brag of your heart. (To paraphrase Sylvia Plath). For something we don't think about, breathing is incredibly complex. A new study suggests the way we breathe can tell us about our brains, even our mental health. (Thread)