For what it's worth, I like the idea of Dr. Sunjay Gupta as Surgeon General, the current balloon being floated by the incoming Obama administration. I like his news reports on CNN and CBS. I like his rapport on talk shows. But this WaPo headline gets it wrong when it calls him a "journalist", as do right-wing blogs who focus … Read More
Brain Tumor Turns Out To Be Foot
A 3-day year old baby born in Colorado Springs had what doctors believed was a brain tumor. He underwent a delicate operation, and the tumor turned out to be a fully-developed foot. Yes, a foot. And possible another foot, hand and thigh. All embedded in his brain. Full story here. Spoiler alert: happy ending.
Forever Young
Exciting medical news: Researchers believe they have identified a fundamental cause of aging, according to a study published this week in the journal Cell. I thought "a fundamental cause of aging" was the passage of time. But what do I know, right? The mechanism was previously found in fungus and has now been discovered in mice. Again, with the mice. It's … Read More
Google Knows When You’re Sick
Google has discovered that they can accurately predict the incidences of flu throughout the United States, simply by tracking flu-related Google searches. It is just as accurate as the method used by the Center for Disease Control, as this graph illustrates: Writes Google: We have found a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many … Read More
Earmarks And Ignorance
I get tired of Republicans slamming earmarks, i.e. out-of-control government spending on pet projects and the like. Granted, a lot of government spending is ridiculous, and it certainly could do better about tightening its belt. Maybe spend money on one war at a time (Just a suggestion…) But some of this earmark spending is actually worthy of consideration, and before one … Read More
You Can Tell By The Way I Use My Walk….
The Bee Gee's classic "Stayin' Alive" might actually help save your life: In a small but intriguing study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the catchy, sung-in-falsetto tune from the 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever." The American Heart Association recommends 100 chest … Read More
McCain Determined To Lose Florida
Well, now we know how McCain is going to pay for his health care plan… he’s going to cut Medicare. Drastically.
Your Colon
From 1000 Awesome Things (a blog which counts down 1000 awesome things — they’re down to #926 today): Have you ever run the last leg of the relay? If you have then you know it’s a stressful experience, because you either make it or break it. I mean, you’re either ahead and it’s up to you to hold the lead, … Read More
Sicko
Cheryl managed to smuggle in my laptop and I’ve hacked in to the Wake Forest Baptist Hospital computer, so I can inform the outside world of what’s going on. Actually, Cheryl carried in my laptop and that have free Internet access…. What’s going on is…. hell if I know. I went to my GP on Friday. It was my second … Read More
Jesse Helms — Leader Against HIV?
What is Elizabeth Dole smoking? From the Congressional Record dated July 14, 2008: SA 5074. Mrs. DOLE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 2731, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to provide assistance to foreign countries to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie … Read More
Google Health
An interesting idea: have all your medical information on the Internet — accessible by hospitals and doctors. Google Health allows you to store and manage all of your health information in one central place. And it’s completely free. All you need to get started is a Google username and password. Google believes that you own your medical records and should … Read More
Hi, Women! You’re Going To Die!
WaPo: For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women. In nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation’s women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today. The downward trend is … Read More