Epilepsy is no laughing matter - except for one rare form, caused by hypothalamic hamartomas, benign masses in the brain that can cause epilepsy symptoms, unintentional giggling seizures and even early puberty.

This actual science appeared in the medical melodrama "Grey's Anatomy." The episode “Hold Back the River” featured the show’s doctors using focused sound waves to treat a hypothalamic hamartoma in a young boy, and it is being tested in a clinical trial at UVA.

It's not a tumor

There are numerous proponents of caloric restriction as a way to achieve longevity, and the belief has a kernel of truth - you don't often find obese centenarians - but what they leave out of the narrative is that these are mice, and they were weaned on a starvation diet.

We're not going to wean human babies on a starvation diet and then expect them to do it for 110 years. They will discover In-N-Out Burgers somewhere along the way. 

But while aging is going to remain the biggest risk factor for diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, obesity will soon overtake smoking as the number two. What can bridge the gap between humans and the flies, worms, fish and mice that have benefited from a lifetime diet?

Tax and spend politicians and their supporters have begun framing austerity in a negative way. Austerity - spending what you make, or even less so you have a reserve - is now regarded as a negative by people that believe taxes and more government lead to growth, even if those beliefs are what led to their economic collapse.

Worldwide healthcare access and quality improved remarkably from 2000-2016 but there are unsurprising disparities between wealthy and poor countries - and countries like the United States which showed high quality but varying levels of access before the federal government took control of medical access with the controversial Obamacare law passed by Democrats.

Diagnoses of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) skyrocketed in the 1990s, leading to concern that teachers wanted all kids to be automatons in classrooms and too many older parents were concerned about kids just being kids.

Pharmaceutical industry marketing of opioid products to physicians through non-research payments, which can include speaking fees and meals, was associated with greater opioid prescribing in a recent JAMA Internal Medicine article.