by Leigh Ann Otte

Embryonic stem-cell research has been in the news lately. But how much do you really know about it? Where do embryonic stem cells come from? Why do many researchers want them when there are also adult stem cells? And what’s a stem-cell line?

We’ve published a quick Q&A to fill you in on the basics, and a more in-depth debate between two experts. Each expert weighs the facts and forms a different opinion. We’re interested: where do you stand?

Subscribe here to our free health newsletter: what doctors really want you to know.

Leigh Ann Otte is the managing editor of MyFamilyDoctorMag.com and a freelance writer, editor and blogger.

by Leigh Ann Otte

Today, 4/20, is National Pot Smoking Day. Yeah, it’s unofficial. But around the country, people will be smoking marijuana at 4:20 p.m.

So we thought this would be the perfect moment to examine a different side of this illegal drug: the medical one.

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by Leigh Ann Otte

Our universal health-care debates consistently rank as two of the most popular articles on the site. But when the bill passed last week, the comments section lit up like crazy.

People seem to need an outlet—somewhere to rant or rave, rather than just listen to the pundits do it. At the beginning, the comments were so, um, passionate? that we had to bleep quite a few naughty words. Now, though the bleeping has slowed, the fire remains.

Have you felt the need to vent about your feelings on universal health care—positive or negative? How have you done it? Did it make you feel better?

You can check out the debates here:

• Doctors Debate Universal Health Care: Pros and Cons From the Experts
• Obama’s Health Care Plan: Doctors Debate Pros and Cons

Leigh Ann Otte is the managing editor of MyFamilyDoctorMag.com.

by Leigh Ann Otte, managing editor

Remember when the experts were telling us to eat more soy? Tofu, edamame—lap it up! Then, wouldn’t ya know it, we were told it causes cancer. Thyroid problems. Male infertility. Too much of a good thing …

In “The Soy Controversy,” registered dietitian Janel Ovrut considers the evidence to give us the bottom line: what we know and what we don’t about soy right now.

What do you think? Do you eat soy? Has it ever worried you? I, for one, love it. Roasted soy butter (like peanut butter), edamame, tofu … yum ….

by Leigh Ann Otte, managing editor

Did you know it’s legal to sell meat from cloned animals–but the USDA has asked companies not to because people are wary of it? We just posted a debate about whether it really is safe here.

Though meat from cloned animals isn’t supposed to be in your grocery store, meat from their offspring has been there for years. Proponents say it’s no different than regular meat. Skeptics say we don’t know that yet. What do you think? (You can share here or in the article’s comments section.)

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by Leigh Ann Otte, managing editor

Heard about the Johnson & Johnson recall? News came out today that they’ve expanded it. Most of the stories I’ve seen don’t link to the list of recalled products, so we thought we’d post a quick link. Here ya go.

The site mentions specific lots of Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Rolaids, Simply Sleep and St. Joseph. The complaint is, some of these medicines have a musty odor and have caused a small number of people to experience fun stuff like nausea or diarrhea.

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by Leigh Ann Otte, managing editor

Just around the corner loom … dum, dum, duuuuum … New Year’s resolutions! Let the dieting begin!

This week, we focus on one type of diet that has not only your waist size but your entire physical health in mind: the food combining theory.

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

Of course not, you say.  Ridiculous.  But could a report by ABCNews.com about 64-year-old Oregon woman Barbara Wagner suggests otherwise?  When she was dying of lung cancer, the state insurance refused to pay for her cancer treatment because the drug didn’t give her a “5 percent survival after five years.”

Sarah Palin recently stirred up some controversy when she wrote she thought the congressional universal-health overhaul would lead to a “death panel,” a central group of chosen ”experts” in charge of making life-or-death decisions for everyday people.  She thought those disabled or elderly would fare the worst.  While many claim her assertions are ridiculous, the conservative online publication American Thinker suggests Wagner’s story is an example of just such death panels.

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by Leigh Ann Otte, managing editor

We’re tired of wondering.

As the world’s governments prepare for a potentially huge outbreak of H1N1 this fall, we regular people are left to wonder, what’s the big deal?  Are we supposed to be worrying?  Running around in mass panic?  Moving to caves in the hills?  Or is this all just a bunch of sensationalism?

So we’re going straight to the experts—to ask them our questions, and yours.

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

“If you want an example of a successful single-payer system, just look at Medicare,” many say.

I say, not really.

A single-payer system is the form of universal health-care Canada and Great Britain use.  Several groups are advocating for it.  People on the right tend to view it as socialized medicine at its worst. Many on the left think it’s ideal. President Obama has tried to distance himself–and his plan–from it, frustrating some Democrats.

With Medicare, the government is the single payer.  And it’s worked so well, some say, why not just extend it to all?

The problem is, Medicare is not working well. The reason it’s been somewhat successful is it has been subsidized, in an indirect way, by private insurers.

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