News, Policy & Economics

What Anti-Vaccine Policies Could Mean for Autoimmune Diseases

By Giamila Fantuzzi, PhD

(This article originally appeared on Dec. 17, 2025 on www.Undark.org) 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 […]

Will San Francisco Out-MAHA the Fed on Processed Foods?

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

In a move that could out-MAHA MAHA, the City of San Francisco is suing Kraft Heinz, Coca Cola, Nestle, Kellogg, and six other producers of ultra-processed junk foods, claiming the companies have knowingly “engineered a public health crisis” by marketing highly addictive, nutrient-poor, sugar- and salt-laden foods linked to higher incidence of diabetes, fatty liver, […]

NSCC Conference Preview: The Science & Practice of Healthy Aging

By Robert Bonakdar, MD

There are numerous claims about what supports longevity and healthspan, and it can be difficult to discern what is real from what is hype in this overheated field. That is why we’ve made The Science and Practice of Healthy Aging the theme of the 2nd annual Nutrition & Supplementation in Clinical Care (NSCC) Conference, which […]

Noise: Not Just a Nuisance, It’s a Public Health Risk

By Erik Goldman

Back at the turn of the 20th Century, physician-bacteriologist Robert Koch predicted that, “One day, man will have to fight noise as fiercely as cholera and the plague.” That day is definitely upon us. The detrimental impact of noise goes far beyond the obvious problem of hearing loss. Over the last decades, researchers have shown, […]

Alice’s Wonderland: Walmart Heiress Builds New Med School With a Vision

By Erik Goldman

Alice Walton is starting a healthcare revolution in Bentonville, Arkansas. In the heart of Ozark country, the heiress to the massive Walmart fortune has built an independent, not-for-profit medical school from the ground up. Her goals? To re-humanize medicine, put holistic principles at the core of medical education, and expand access to high-quality healthcare in […]

What if MAGA Has a Point About Science?

By Paul M. Sutter, PhD

(This article was originally published on June 19, 2025 on www.undark.org) American science stands on the precipice. On one side is the administration of Donald Trump and MAGA political leaders threatening to push us over the cliff; on the other is the quick plunge to oblivion. This is no exaggeration. While ostensibly the administration’s actions […]

MAHA Dreams, MAGA Realities

By Erik Goldman, Editor

Early on in the recent MAHA Report on children’s health, its authors unwittingly reveal a glaring contradiction at the heart of the alliance between Robert Kennedy, Jr’s, Make America Healthy Again movement, and Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda. It’s a contradiction that’s even more troublesome, though less headline-grabbing, than the MAHA committee’s carelessness […]

In Memoriam: Col. Richard Niemtzow, Medical Acupuncture Trailblazer

By Erik Goldman

A few decades ago, acupuncture was not a modality one expected US military healthcare to embrace. For most non-Asian Americans, it was more the stuff of myth than a reality of medical practice. Colonel Richard Charles Niemtzow, MD, PhD, MPH, did much to change that. Over his long and admirable career, he worked tirelessly to […]

As Trump Tariffs Hit, Supplement Costs Will Surge

By Erik Goldman

If dietary supplements are part of your clinical practice, prepare yourself—and your patients—for price shocks in the coming months. As the Trump administration tariffs take effect, supplement prices will surge. Roughly 80% of all raw materials in nutritional, botanical, and natural health products sold in the US come from overseas. China and India are the […]

What the Science Says About Food Additives

By By Charles Schmidt

(This feature was originally published on Undark.org on April 21, 2025) In a video posted to YouTube in September, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at US health agencies that he said have allowed for the mass poisoning of American children. Standing behind packages of Cheez-Its, Doritos, and Cap’n Crunch cereal displayed on a kitchen […]