Eat Like a Mennonite: No Plastic
Discussion of the problems with BPA (bisphenol A) here (BPA and childhood obesity), and here (Big Chem, Big Harm), here (BPA and Breast Cancer Link), and here. (Media fails to protect babies from BPA ). The last entry is from 4 years ago, so this has been an issue for awhile… In this article…
Read MoreValue of Yearly Physicals Controversial
Over diagnosis of small irregularities can lead to over testing and risks. We’ve discussed the problems with too much exposure to the health system here, here. January 21, 2013, 12:01 am A Check on Physicals By JANE E. BRODY “Go Beyond Your Father’s Annual Physical. Live Longer, Feel Better” This sales pitch for the…
Read MoreClinical Trials Subject to Bias in Reporting.
This post is a sort of corollary of the skepticism around acupuncture research. The flip side is that when the researchers believe in, or want something to work, the reporting becomes skewed. In this case, side effects were significantly under reported in the studies. January 14, 2013 Clinical Trials Flawed by Biased Reporting By…
Read MoreHuffington Post: What Acupuncture Can Teach Us About Science
I came across this article from last October from the Huffington Post. It is referencing the comprehensive article concluding that acupuncture works for pain. Blog discussion here. In the Huffington Post a professor from Saybrook University discusses the quandary of acupuncture and that it has been shown to work in spite of a comprehensive understanding…
Read MoreHormesis: Benefits of Low Dose Stressors
One strategy in my mission to improve acupuncture results is to find models in nature that explain why humans would have evolved to respond to acupuncture. What is it mimicking in nature that makes it have it’s healing properties? For example, is it an analog of grooming, or touch? I came across the concept of…
Read MoreSkip the Anti-inflammatories Before a Workout
What I learned: In summary: take ibuprofen before your workout for sore muscles and more inflammation!! Why? 1. Taking Ibuprofen before a workout can lead to micro damage to the intestines. 2. This damage can lead to intestinal leakage. 3. Small amounts of bacteria and digestive hormones can leak into the blood stream 4. …
Read MoreOff Label Marketing OK'd. Do Not Get. Do Not Like.
A ruling came down protecting drug detail people who suggest using drugs for “off label” uses. The ruling was a 2 to1 ruling in New York and was argued on “Freedom Of Speech” grounds. According to the article, doctors are allowed to use drugs off label and they talk among themselves, so drug sales…
Read MoreDisaster Economics, Disaster Medical Approaches
Surowiecki: “for the most part, the U.S. has shown a marked bias toward relieving victims of disaster, while underinvesting in prevention.” Reading this last night, it struck me how similar the U.S. mentality is when it comes to health and medicine. The fascinating teaching in Chinese Medicine is that the Chinese Doctor was paid…
Read MoreMammography: Effectiveness Still Under Scrutiny
From the recent New England Journal of Medicine, their conclusion from examining the data “Although it is not certain which women have been affected, the imbalance suggests that there is substantial overdiagnosis, accounting for nearly a third of all newly diagnosed breast cancers, and that screening is having, at best, only a small effect…
Read MoreThe Big Picture:Sunday Morning Philosophizing
One of the themes that pervade modern U.S. life. from the Big Short, by Michael Lewis p.110 “In public markets, you have people focused on quarterly earnings rather than the business franchise. You have people doing things for all sorts of insane reasons.” They believed, further, that public financial markets lacked investors with an interest…
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