Functional Medicine

World Herb Library Offers a Bounty of Botanical Knowledge

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

What happens when three of the world’s most renowned herbal medicine experts combine their rare botanical book collections and make them available to the public, free of charge? The World Herb Library, that’s what! A vast archive of over 3,000 volumes, some dating back to the 1500s, and covering everything from plant pharmacology to cultivation […]

Are Power Grids & Mobile Phones Raising Diabetes Risk?

By Magda Havas, BSc, PhD, Contributing Writer

The enormous networks of electricity and wireless radiation surrounding our modern lives may be quietly rewiring the way our cells make energy. In doing so, they could be contributing to the surging incidence of type 2 diabetes. That’s the main conclusion of a new scientific analysis by McGill University biophysicist, Paul Héroux, PhD.  Published as […]

New Lyme Diagnostics on Near Horizon

By Erik Goldman

Diagnostic tests for Lyme disease may soon get a major upgrade, as seven innovative research and development teams ready their novel methods for review by the Food & Drug Administration. If the FDA deems them market-ready, these new tests could dramatically improve physicians’ abilities to detect early-stage, as well as latent and chronic Borrelia burgdorferi […]

As Guidelines Shift, a Curious Debate Over Seed Oils Persists

By Claudia López Lloreda

Before beginning his tenure as secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted an old picture of his father, Bobby Kennedy, and another man at a drive-in fast food restaurant on the social media platform X. RFK Jr. took the family photograph as an opportunity to rail […]

The Food Pyramid’s MAHA Makeover

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

If the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) 2025-2030 report  has taught us anything so far, it’s that people love to argue about food as much as they love to argue about politics. And given that the Guidelines–jointly issued on January 7, by the Department of Health & Human Services and the Department of Agriculture—is […]

Required Reading on GLPs: Ashley Koff’s “Your Best Shot”

By Robert Bonakdar, MD, Contributing Writer

GLP-1–based therapies, including glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (e.g., semaglutide), dual incretin agonists (e.g. tirzepatide), and forthcoming GLP-1–modulating drugs like retatrutide, have rapidly reshaped the clinical management of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiometabolic disease. In less than a decade, these drugs have moved from the weight management and endocrinology niches to much wider use in […]

Is Male Infertility Contributing to Falling Birth Rates?

By Joshua Cohen

(This article was originally published on Dec. 3, 2025 on Undark.) For decades, U.S. marriage rates have been on the decline while the average age at which Americans have children has risen. Alongside this, birth rates have dropped — a phenomenon the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has called a “national […]

For Depression, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Shouldn’t Just Be a Last Resort

By Michael C. Marone

(This article was originally pubished on Dec. 11, 2025, on Undark) For decades, the treatment of clinical depression has followed the same outdated flow chart: Try one antidepressant, then another, then a combination, then maybe just one more. Finally, when all pharmaceutical attempts fail, consider other approaches. This protocol, called step therapy, has come under […]

What Anti-Vaccine Policies Could Mean for Autoimmune Diseases

By Giamila Fantuzzi, PhD

Autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect women. This is especially true for lupus (formally known as systemic lupus erythematosus), as about nine in 10 people with the condition are female. Lupus can cause inflammation and pain and commonly affects the skin, joints, and organs including the heart and kidneys. Scientists have long observed an association between infection […]