For how we live.
A meta-analysis of 15 cohorts found 45% of deaths in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were classed as avoidable — about 3.6 times the rate in people without disabilities, on rich-country data.
Two Cochrane reviews put numbers on it: oral terbinafine and azoles cure far more toenail infections than placebo, while newer topical solutions work but cure a minority — over nearly a year of daily use.
When fingers and toes turn white then blue in the cold, it is often Raynaud's phenomenon. A Cochrane review finds the standard drugs — calcium channel blockers — cut attacks only modestly.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is median-nerve compression at the wrist. Cochrane reviews find steroid injections clearly help for about a month, while surgery beats non-surgical care at three and six months.
An analysis of 50 top-selling 'T booster' products found only 24.8% contained an ingredient with data showing it raises testosterone — and 10.1% contained something shown to lower it. Two herbs are partial exceptions.
When you eat may shape how you sleep, but the science is young. The clearest signal is that a heavy meal close to bedtime disrupts sleep, while simply shrinking your eating window neither reliably helps nor harms it.
A systematic review of human trials found the evidence weak and inconsistent. Where MSG seemed to trigger headaches, it was given in large doses dissolved in water without food, in studies that were not properly blinded.
A 2006 Cochrane review found the classic ingredient, potassium, only patchily convincing. A newer network meta-analysis of 32 trials is firmer: stannous, potassium and arginine toothpastes can be recommended for pain.
For 70 years the idea that oxidative damage drives ageing justified a supplement industry. Large randomised trials found antioxidant pills do not extend life, and some raise mortality.
Dandruff is the mild end of seborrhoeic dermatitis, and Cochrane reviews of that condition back the medicated-shampoo ingredients: ketoconazole and ciclopirox clear flaking better than placebo.
A Cochrane review of 36 trials found no strong evidence that any spray, gel or lozenge reliably relieves dry mouth. A second review found acupuncture no better than a placebo. The honest answers are narrow.
A Cochrane review of 67 trials found topical allylamines and azoles cure far more foot infections than placebo, with allylamines slightly ahead. Oral pills are reserved for stubborn or failed cases.
Honey and table sugar are both free sugars with almost identical calories. Trials hint at small metabolic differences in honey's favour, but the certainty is low and honey is still added sugar to be limited.
For heat exhaustion, rest and shade usually suffice. For heat stroke, a meta-analysis of 63 studies found immersion in cold water cooled the body faster than anything passive — the intervention the evidence agrees on.
Cochrane reviews of paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin for tension-type headache find each beats a dummy pill for a minority of people — a real but small effect, with side effects no higher than placebo.
One drug, dapoxetine, is purpose-approved for it, and not in the US. An umbrella review of 65 trials found the SSRIs and anaesthetics that lengthen latency rest on weak evidence.
For the pelvic-pain syndrome that affects many men, Cochrane reviews find alpha-blockers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories each help only a little. Acupuncture and shockwave therapy have the firmer support.
The oral decongestant in most cold and sinus tablets — phenylephrine — works no better than placebo, US regulators now say. Saline and short-term sprays do more.
Enuresis alarms have the best evidence for a lasting cure, working in about two-thirds of children who use them. Desmopressin acts faster but the wetting tends to return when it stops.
Most sore throats clear on their own within a week. Painkillers and honey ease the pain; antibiotics shorten symptoms by only about 16 hours and are rarely worth it.
A review of 41 studies found that the great majority of AI medication-adherence prediction models carried high risk of bias, and that fancier algorithms did not reliably predict better.
JAMA published paired systematic reviews for the coming respiratory season. Both found vaccines reduced hospitalisation across age groups, with no new safety signals, though protection wanes over time.
A meta-analysis of 78 studies found the menstrual cycle has at most a trivial effect on performance. A randomised trial found timing strength training to cycle phase built no more muscle than training consistently.
An updated Annals review now covers 38 randomised trials and 25,816 people. Tirzepatide leads the marketed drugs at 19.0% placebo-subtracted weight loss; the experimental multiagonists run higher.
Most breast pain is self-limited, and cancer is rarely the cause — though it should be ruled out. A 2025 meta-analysis found no clear benefit from vitamin B6, a widely recommended remedy.
Twenty-three studies, mostly from the US and China, found mental health risk rising with temperature. Nowhere in the Pacific or Africa was represented.
A systematic review of 43 studies judged cups a safe option, with leakage similar to or lower than pads and tampons. For the newer reusable products, published research is mostly about acceptability, not safety.
PMDD is the severe, mostly psychological form of premenstrual illness, affecting about 3.6% of women in one study. For it, SSRIs are the best-evidenced treatment, with side effects that are common and dose-related.
Canker sores clear on their own, and nothing reliably cures or prevents them. A Cochrane review found systemic drugs unproven; some topical options may ease pain, but the trials behind them are small and weak.
A systematic review located 19 articles on melatonin in children aged 0 to 6. Trials covered 167 children, all with neurologic conditions. There was no efficacy data for typically developing children.
Black cohosh, Chinese herbal medicine and vitamin D reached moderate certainty for specific outcomes. Most of the rest of the field — 158 studies deep — sits at low or very low certainty.
Seventy-three trials, and a familiar pattern: the benefit versus no treatment shrinks by a third when only the best-conducted studies are counted. The head-to-head comparisons rest on a few hundred people.