Source: The health care mess With health care reform reduced to a sporting event – or as Hendrik Hertzberg calls it in the latest New Yorker, a brawl — I sometimes find myself wishing I lived in a benevolent dictatorship. (Just kidding.) As President Obama pointed out in his press conference on health care last… Read more
Category Archives: Health & Medicine
Obama's press conference: Health care as a herd of rhinos
Source: Nick Brandt Click photo for larger view. My favorite conservative columnist, David Brooks, responded to Barack Obama’s press conference on health care this week with a piece that characterizes rising costs as a “stampede of big ugly rhinos. They are trampling your crops, stomping on your children’s play areas and spoiling your hunting grounds.”… Read more
Why bike when you can trikke?
The trikke (pronounced “trike”) is essentially a scooter with two wheels at the rear instead of one. You don’t push your feet against the ground to go forward, however. You lean from side to side, similar to the way you’d propel yourself on skis. It takes a little practice, but it’s not hard to learn.… Read more
Things that make you go "Oooohhhh!" Why we can’t resist babies
Mascara, eye-liner, and shadow can make the eyes stand out and look much larger than they actually are. Lipstick can make the lips look rounder and puffier. Why do we find this attractive? Properly applied, eye make-up and lipstick will emphasize facial features that make an adult look more like a baby. And we are… Read more
Want your wallet returned? Include a baby pic
If you want to increase the chances recovering a lost wallet, be sure to include baby photos. Researchers set up an experiment in which 240 wallets were left on the streets of Edinburgh. Some of the wallets had photos, either a baby, a cute puppy, a family snapshot, or an elderly couple. One group of… Read more
How cats control their humans
Never underestimate a cat. Researchers in Britain have analyzed a special “meow” many cats use when they want something right now: Food, toys, an open door. It’s called a “solicitation purr” and combines a high-frequency cry within an otherwise pleasant purr. Insistent meowing might be ignored as annoying, but by embedding the high-frequency sound in… Read more
Congress finds health insurance industry fundamentally flawed
Source: Hogue News After a year investigating practices of the health insurance industry, a Congressional committee chaired by Representative Henry Waxman concluded that the system is “fundamentally flawed.” Regulations governing insurance are a mishmash of state and federal laws. The insurance industry takes advantage of inconsistencies to engage in “controversial practices.” According to the federal… Read more
Why health insurance isn't there when you need it most
Source: National Public Radio Robin Beaton, a retired nurse from Waxahachie, Texas, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2008. Fortunately she had health insurance. Three days before she was scheduled for double mastectomy surgery, however, Blue Cross cancelled her insurance. The company claimed she had once seen a doctor for acne… Read more
The Sicko files
Source: Bill Moyers Journal Wendell Potter, who was once the head of Public Relations at health insurance giant CIGNA, recently testified before Congress on the nefarious practices of the insurance industry. Last Friday he did an extended interview with Bill Moyers. In the video excerpt below, Moyers and Potter discuss the insurance industry’s comprehensive strategy… Read more
Is the Internet bad for your health?
Source: Mayo Clinic Do you research medical information on the Internet? Do you use Google as your starting point? Do you read entries on medical conditions at Wikipedia and assume what you read is accurate and complete? Kevin Pho, primary care physician and author of the popular medical blog KevinMD.com, has a column in USA… Read more
Oh #^@%$#!+
Source: Bob’s Home Repair Blog Does swearing decrease pain? Definitely, according to a recent study from Keele University. Here are a few details most reports didn’t cover. Study volunteers were able to hold their non-dominant hand in a bucket of ice water (41° F) for two minutes while swearing, but for only one minute and… Read more
Sotomayor's diabetes: A legitimate reservation or discrimination?
Source: 103.7 The Buzz Just how important are medical issues when considering a nominee for the Supreme Court? Living to a ripe old age is important, since justices serve for life. Clarity of mind is also important, given the nature of the job. Low blood sugar, for example, could theoretically impair judgment. Both of these… Read more
Will health care reform stop the rising cost of health care?
As we get into the nitty-gritty of health care reform, critcs from both left and right are asking whether current proposals will reduce costs. Here we have a historic opportunity to make major changes in health care, but it appears no one is willing to address the problem of escalating costs. The public insurance option… Read more
The enduring benefits of saving children
A child’s health depends on the child’s environment. Children who live in poor households are more likely to die, more likely to suffer the irreversible effects of poor nutrition, and less likely to benefit from a health-care system if one is available. It’s estimated that 9.2 million children under the age of five die each… Read more
Help! My child swallowed a magnet (or two)
Source: The New England Journal of Medicine Children love to put things in their mouths and, unfortunately, there’s always the danger of swallowing small objects. About 80 percent of these “foreign bodies” pass through the digestive system without incident, especially if they’re small and not sharp. Curious children might wonder what would happen if they… Read more
Importing drugs from Canada: Will lobbyists win or lose this round?
Artist: Robert Parada. Source: AARP When a government is directly involved in health care, the sheer size of its purchasing power allows it to negotiate lower prices for drugs. That’s why drugs cost less in Canada over the Internet. In the US, drug company lobbying is so powerful that it can convince Congress to prohibit… Read more
Where does the health care money go?
Source: Newsweek Well, some of it goes to pay executives at health insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Here are some income figures for top executives at leading health insurance companies. The numbers are for total compensation in 2008, obtained from proxy statements required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The total compensation includes base salary,… Read more
Big Pharma lobbies against health reform: Big time
Source: Stop Barack Obama According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the pharmaceutical industry spent $1.2 million a day on lobbying during the first quarter of this year. Not surprisingly, the biggest spender has been the largest pharmaceutical lobbying group, PhRMA, which has spent $7 million. Pfizer was a close second at $6 million. Meanwhile,… Read more
High school students should sleep in
There’s a physiological reason why teenagers want to stay up late and sleep as long as they can in the morning. It has to do with the production of melatonin. The body produces melatonin, a natural hormone related to our daily (circadian) rhythm, about an hour before we’re ready to fall asleep. Before adolescence, melatonin… Read more
Climate change: Bad news for children’s health
Climate change has a much bigger effect on our health than we realize, and it’s possibly the greatest public health threat of the coming century. This is the opinion of pediatrician Aaron Bernstein, quoted in a recent issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. Consider infectious diseases. As the climate changes, birds, insects… Read more
Is it safe to take Tylenol?
Acetaminophen, whether it’s in Tylenol, Arthritis Pain Relief, Nyquil, or Vicodin, is safe as long as you don’t take too much. The new maximum dose likely to be recommended by the FDA is 2600 to 3250 milligrams a day. That’s ten 325-milligram Tylenols. Tara Parker-Pope has a question and answer post on the subject in… Read more
Swine flu parties for kids? Just say no
Source: From Smiler, with Love Some parents in the UK are discussing the idea of swine flu parties for their children. British parents have long held “chicken pox parties” at the beginning of summer. The idea is that it’s better for children to catch this once-in-a-lifetime disease at an age when there should be few… Read more
Getting health care right: Paris and Amsterdam
Source: Forbes Jonathan Cohn, senior editor at The New Republic, has an article in today’s NY Times on what we can learn from the health systems of other countries. Republican opponents of health care reform are fond of saying: “I don’t want America to begin rationing care to their citizens in the way these other… Read more
Don't trust the insurance industry
Source: The Negotiation Academy Paul Krugman’s advice to Congress when it comes to health care reform: 1) Don’t trust the insurance industry. 2) Don’t trust the insurance industry. In a NY Times editorial, Krugman recalls how conservative Bill Kristol, in 1993, urged Republicans to oppose any significant health care reform. He did, however, advocate simplifying… Read more
When a doctor's child is ill
Source: TV Guide Towards the end of season one of In Treatment, the HBO series about a therapist’s sessions with his patients, a young woman asks psychotherapist Paul Weston if he ever analyzes his own daughter. “It’s just not a good idea,” he replies. “It’s not possible to treat one’s own children.” “Why?” Sophie, the… Read more
Health Culture Daily Dose #15
In today’s Dose: Health care reform (A public option plan emerges from HELP committee; Arguments for the public option from the Urban Institute; Obama stands Harry & Louise on their heads) Health news (Should Steve Jobs use his celebrity status for pancreatic cancer awareness and funding?) Industrialized agriculture (Labeling organic food: What can you believe?;… Read more
Health Culture Daily Dose #14
In today’s Dose: Health care reform (Kennedy-Dodd committee proposal released) Health news (Is Tylenol (acetaminophen) safe to take every day?) Aging (Doctors lack training in care of the elderly) Pop culture (Michael Jackson and Diprivan (propofol), Jackson’s weight, Jackson’s doctor) Health care reform The Senate health committee proposal on health care has been released. Turns… Read more
The stages of life
Photo by Laurent Champoussin Click photo for larger view. I’m currently watching a series of lectures by Malcolm W. Watson on Theories of Human Development. Watson talks mostly about theories of childhood, such as Freud’s outdated theory of the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages. The discussion of Eric Erikson, however, follows stages of… Read more
Health insurance industry to consumers: You’re financially responsible for your behavior
Source: Courier Times Online Scott Harrington is a professor at Wharton and “adjunct scholar” at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Two weeks ago he wrote a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that gave the standard Republican argument against a public option: It will inevitably lead to a single-payer system. “Private health plans have a strong… Read more
Health Culture Daily Dose #13
In today’s Dose: Health care reform (Use of language to oppose health care reform; Goozner on media and the uninformed electorate; Doctor blames patients; Doctor importunes Obama and Congress; Doctors salaries doubled in Iran; Another Atul Gawande interview; Political scandals and evangelicals) Health care reform There’s an interesting article in the Washington Post on the… Read more