Source: Teachers.net Documentaries, such as Sicko and Sick Around the World, visit other countries and ooh and ahh over their rational, effective, and equitable health care systems. Why is it that France, Italy, Japan, the UK, Canada – all the major developed countries – have managed to solve the problem of guaranteeing affordable health care… Read more
Category Archives: Health & Medicine
Should Obama have pitched health care differently? Will Kennedy's death make a difference?
Source: The AV Club “Obama surely has made mistakes, among them focusing so heavily on how reform would reduce the cost of medicine. Had he spent more time reminding voters that reform would provide them with the security they now lack–security from financial ruin and medical catastrophe, the type private insurance too rarely provides–he probably… Read more
Edward Kennedy: Healthcare is a fundamental right, not a privilege
Source: WTRF Some tributes to Senator Edward Kennedy and some honest recollections and assessments. Ezra Klein in The Washington Post: “Year after year, decade after decade, he labored to pass health-care reform. He sought deals with Republican presidents, with Democratic presidents, and even pursued the office himself. He tried to cut out the health-care industry… Read more
Are insurance co-ops a reasonable alternative to the public option?
Source: The Washington Post Dan Roam’s visual presentation of the issues involved in health care reform lists three possible options for health insurance: Private insurance, non-profit insurance exchanges or co-ops, and a government insured plan (the “public option”). There’s been much media speculation lately that the public option is now out of the picture. There… Read more
Why is it so hard to reform health care? The issues are complex
One reason it’s so hard to make progress on health care reform is that it’s an extremely complex problem. Although President Obama does an excellent job of articulating the issues simply and clearly, it appears his message is not getting through clearly enough. Dan Roam, a business consultant and the author of The Back of… Read more
A doctor assesses Michael Jackson’s cause of death
Source: Artie Wayne on the Web Since shortly after Michael Jackson’s death, the powerful anesthetic propofol has been suspected as the cause of death. Details of Jackson’s final hours were released today by the Los Angeles coroner’s office. Although the final injection of propofol may have been the immediate cause of death, it’s only one… Read more
Health Culture Daily Dose #17
Additional stories related to health. Categories include: More articles on Health Care Reform, History of Medicine, Medical Journalism, Medical Technology, Medical News, Pharmaceuticals, Pop Culture, Social Media and the Internet, and The So-Called Obesity “Epidemic.” HEALTH CARE REFORM A ‘Common Sense’ American Health Reform Plan (The New York Times – Uwe Reinhardt) After studying this… Read more
The So-Called Obesity "Epidemic"
Source: Everything Changes I was planning to include a category called “The So-Called Obesity ‘Epidemic’” in the next Daily Dose, so I thought I should first explain what I mean by that. Back in June, there was an article in The Washington Post called “Judging Fat People.” Here are some excerpts: “Be honest: What’s your… Read more
Health Culture Daily Dose #16
Here are some things I’ve come across recently. Categories include: Aging/End of Life/Death, Doctors, Influenza, Genetics, and Health Care Reform. AGING, END OF LIFE, AND DEATH End-of-Life Care: Where Ethics Meet Economics (The New York Times – Uwe Reinhardt) Health spending in the United States has doubled every 10 years during the last four decades.… Read more
Is there a doctor on board?
Source: flickr Imagine you’re a doctor flying back to the US from Singapore with a medical colleague. Shortly after your first class lunch, the Korean man across the aisle groans and regurgitates his meal. The flight attendant announces: “Could I have your attention, please. Is there a doctor on board?” Moments later a female passenger… Read more
Health care: Reminding people of death triggers irrational emotions
Source: The Associated Press Sharon Begley, science writer for Newsweek, has written one of the best articles I’ve seen so far on the acrimony of the current health care debate. It’s not about the politics, which are unpredictable. It’s an analysis of the underlying psychology, which will not easily be changed. I recommend reading the… Read more
Fear of flying: Will I catch swine flu on an airplane?
Source: National Geographic Kids When you breathe recirculated airplane air, do you expose yourself to the coughs and sneezes of everyone onboard? Well, not quite everyone. Most airlines do not circulate air along the length of the cabin, allowing it to interact with every passenger. Air is circulated from side to side in discrete sections… Read more
Contempt and compassion: The noncompliant patient
Source: Salvation Army “After I had berated the patient for his obvious failure to comply with my recommendations to correct his ‘misbehavior,’ he said, ‘You know, doctor, there is more to life than good health.’ These words have helped me rein in my sometimes overzealous attempts to force patients into that glorious state of wellness… Read more
‘Mad Men,’ the sixties and the culture war over health carepolitics
Source: The Insider The current emotional polarization around health care reform is not so much about specific issues – rising medical costs, reprehensible insurance industry practices, the number of uninsured. It reflects a deep division in American culture that began in the sixties. Forty years after Woodstock, it’s clear that a major shift happened in… Read more
Real men don’t use doctors
Source: Defending the truth Too much machismo can be bad for a man’s health. A recent study finds that the John Wayne/Sylvester Stallone types are half as likely as their less “macho” counterparts to visit a doctor for preventive health care. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association on… Read more
The tactics of health care opponents may discredit their message
Source: Telegraph After all the recent media coverage of angry crowds at town hall meetings who oppose health care reform, it’s a relief to come across a reassuring piece of journalism from a neutral source. Reuters reports that the entire ruckus will probably not make any difference in the broader debate on health issues. The… Read more
Collateral circulation and the cat concerto
Like the appendix , collateral circulation is another part of our anatomy that was more useful to our ancestors. Collateral circulation refers to systems of veins and arteries that allow blood to continue flowing when the main pathway is blocked or damaged. These extra vessels sometimes develop in response to a circulation blockage. But certain… Read more
Still useful after all these years: The gall bladder
The gall bladder is another useful but expendable organ (see recent posts on the appendix and the spleen). Unlike losing your spleen, living without a gall bladder is not detrimental to your health, though it may be inconvenient at times. The gall bladder is located under the liver, on the right side of the body.… Read more
The Spleen in Chinese Medicine
Source: Institute for Traditional Medicine The philosophy that informs Chinese Medicine is very different from the science that determines Western medicine. These two cultures do not start from the same assumptions about what it means to be healthy. Those who dismiss Asian medicine as being of no value fail to take this into account. You… Read more
Still useful after all these years: The spleen
Source: danielle2 While some anatomical organs are dismissed as totally unnecessary (see Still useful after all these years: The appendix), others are considered useful but dispensable. Consider the spleen. Located on the left side of the body, under the ribs and behind the stomach, the spleen is about five to six inches long and one… Read more
Still useful after all these years: The appendix
Source: Adventures in Honduras You can live without an appendix, true, but you should no longer think of this “vestigial” organ as a useless part of your anatomy. The appendix is finally getting the respect it deserves. We have ten times as many bacteria in the body as we have cells (and we have 10,000,000,000,000… Read more
Waste, Fraud, Abuse and the Mafia
Source: Silive.com One of the arguments against health care reform is the government’s inability to run an efficient and financially sound business. Government bureaucracies are considered breeding grounds for waste, fraud, and abuse. Here’s a typical complaint I found online: “The Government Loses Over $200 Billion A year To Medicare/Medicaid Fraud!!!! Should they be taxing… Read more
How much water do we need?
The idea that drinking eight glasses of water a day is the healthy thing to do has been around since the 1940s. It’s not true, but at this point it’s a widely held myth. On a site called Optimum Health, for example, I found this statement: “The average person needs 8-10 glasses of water daily… Read more
Rosen Method Movement Music
Source: Smarthistory A Rosen Method Movement class takes students through a sequence of movements. The sequence prepares the body to move with ease across the dance floor. All movements are done to music, but not just any music. The songs used in a class need to have a tempo that’s not too fast and not… Read more
Rosen Method Movement teachers
Rosen Method Movement: Gentle, yet powerful movement and dance designed to lubricate all the joints in the body. Classes help you stay active and healthy, improve balance and coordination, and cope more effectively with stress. Developed by an innovative physical therapist as a way to prevent difficulties before they arise, each class follows a sequence… Read more
How much exercise do we really need?
The US government, through the Centers for Disease Control, has an official opinion on how much exercise we need. Adults should get 30 minutes a day, five days of week, of moderate activity, such as brisk walking. This doesn’t need to happen in 30-minute segments. Ten minutes at a time is enough, as long as… Read more
Is it a stroke? Diagnosing by email
Source: Down Maine Veterinary Clinic Click photo for larger view. There’s an email that makes the rounds on the Internet about three signs for identifying a stroke: Can the person smile, raise both arms, and speak a simple sentence. “The Smile Test” was originally presented at a conference hosted by the American Stroke Association (ASA)… Read more
Without the public option, it's not health care reform
Source: Psychic Medium Rare Howard Dean is not one of my favorite politicians, but he has a good point about leaving the public option out of health care reform. Dean and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, both MDs, were interviewed last night on the Charlie Rose Show. Towards the end of the interview, Rose… Read more
Get thee glass eyes
My mother was decidedly vain her whole life. She’d been exceptionally good looking in her youth, which made it especially difficult to accept the slow physical decay of aging.
Surely it must be easier in our culture to accept the wrinkles, sags and bulges that come with advancing age if one has never thought of oneself as particularly attractive. Or if one has cared little about appearances. Admittedly, this is an increasingly rare point of view in contemporary Western societies. Read more
You want salt with that Moons Over My Hammy?
Source: Sigmund, Carl and Alfred You already know Denny’s doesn’t exactly serve health food, so is it worth getting worked up over how much salt is in a typical Denny’s meal? The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) thinks so. They’ve initiated a lawsuit against Denny’s over the salt content of their meals.… Read more