Are Bacteria Making Us Crave the Wrong Things?
Interesting article that outlines precedent for a parasite (in this case bacteria) causing us to eat food that benefit THEM instead of US. Creepy, but who knows? “We’ve come to appreciate how beneficial our microbes are, breaking down our food, fighting off infections and nurturing our immune system. It’s a lovely, invisible garden we…
Read MoreAcupuncture for Depression: Scientific American
Scientific American takes on the topic of Acupuncture in discussing a research study about acupuncture for depression. In this particular article, they used electroacupuncture for 6 weeks and the effect was more rapid than with Prozac. If you click through to the discussion, they, of course, interview Edzard Ernst. I’m not sure where his…
Read MoreWall Street Titans Turn to Meditation
Bottom line? Anything for an edge. Why not acupuncture too? Calms stress, improves immune response, lessens pain, helps you sleep, keeps you away from medications and surgeries and able to do activities. I guess I should “makes you more money” to the list…
Read MoreClimate Change: Bad for Health
Of course, we all could guess that. West Nile virus is increasing, asthma rates soaring, allergy season lengthening. This report lays it all out and makes a strong demand for States to mitigate and plan for the repercussions and disruptions that global warming will cause.
Read MoreNo Surgery for Appendicitis?
Even appendicitis is not always an indication for surgery. That IS news. They studied using antibiotics only in children and it worked quite well. Amazing.
Read MoreGoogle Glass Helps Patient from Brain Bleed?
Count me as very skeptical on this one. Not that I don’t believe that this was possible, or even saved the patient’s life in this instance. But do we really want brain surgeons to have split attention? Was there really no one else who could have perused the chart for allergy information? That is usually…
Read MoreAnti-Anxiety Medications Linked to Higher Mortality
More in the “First, Do No Harm” file. The study tried to account as much as possible for other factors such as severity of anxiety, alcohol consumption, and other variables. But they had to conclude that the medications were potentially dangerous and should be left alone if possible.
Read MoreDevice Makers Take Dangerous Shortcuts
Turns out that Medical Device companies have making tweaks to their devices without putting them through human testing. Calamity ensues. First, Do No Harm. A few years ago, the Food and Drug Administration announced a stunning recall, saying that electrical wires in some St. Jude Medical heart defibrillators, which were implanted in tens of thousands…
Read MoreAnalogies: Helpful and Flawed
An insightful post at Brilliant Blog urges us to seek analogies to achieve breakthroughs. This is a key part of my “product development.” Finding analogies in nature that can explain needling’s effect on the body and brain, eg pearl formation, parasite invasion (they suppress immune function), a sunburn (stimulating healing) etc etc. Faulty analogies are at…
Read MoreHormone Replacement Therapy Decreases Heart Rate Variability
Heart Rate Variability is a measure of the body’s stress levels, and my area of research. In this simple study, they compared women on Hormone Replacement Therapy and those who were not. Heart Rate Variability was better in when women were not taking Hormone Replacement Therapy. Go natural whenever possible!! Clin Auton Res. 2014 Feb…
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