Top-Down Health Reform -- Part 1

The Big Picture … Big Numbers

Yes!  Health reform is needed and more than likely inevitable.  However, we all know its form is yet to be defined and will be long in coming.

There is no questions the cost of medical services in America is expensive.  Regardless of the bottom-line cost of health care services, the real issue is the overall consumption of “our” health care dollars at every level…not just doctors.  In order to stimulate a discussion on comprehensive health reform, we need to begin at the top.

A Fact

One Hundred Sixty-eight Million (168,000,000) Americans receive health insurance through their employers.  In order to appreciate how much this represents in dollars, let’s do a few simple calculations.  First, the average American family has 2.6 members per household.  With that said, we can derive that of the 168 Million Americans insured by employers, approximately 53 Million are families and 28 Million are individuals.  On average, annual insurance premiums for a family is $10,778 and $3,991 for individuals. After a few taps on the trusty pocket-calculator (53 Million x $10,778 + 28 Million x $3,991) we find that $684 Billion is spent annually on this group, representing 31% of America’s $2.2 Trillion annual health care costs – That’s $1.8 Billion per day, $75 Million per hour, an amazing $1.25 Million per minute and a paltry $20,833 per second.

The Health Insurance Industry Culprit

The insurance industry epitomizes the “Law of Large” numbers.  In fact, numbers so large and insane that it is easy to lose sight of the non-health related costs that simply get lost in the clutter — Numbers like $9,455 per hour.  Certainly, compared to $75 Million per hour, as expressed in the previous paragraph, $9,455 per hour is a mere pittance.  That is of course, unless you are the one being paid $9,455 per hour such as CIGNA’s CEO, Mr. Hanway (Mr. Hanway earns $9,455 per hour representing his $59 Million compensation over the past three years as CIGNA’s CEO.)

Meaningful health reform cannot occur unless everyone commits to making a substantial contribution.  In that regard, we need to reach out to the likes CIGNA’s Board of Directors and demand for them to justify this startling single cost to the American Health Care problem.

Greed isn’t just for Wall Street

As the title of this post implies, we are going to look at health care reform from the top down.  The magnitude of the dollars that flow though health insurance companies is almost incomprehensible –$700 Billion annually.  So, let’s put this number into perspective.

• If we lay dollar bills end-to-end, it equals 144 “round trips” to the Moon and back.
• If we pile up dollar bills, we have a column 47,500 miles tall, equal to 8,658 Mt. Everests stacked upon one another.
• $700 Billion dollars is equivalent to the income of 15.1 Million US households.
• If we can encourage the nation’s insurance companies to reduce their operating expenses by a paltry 5%, the savings could subsidize the health insurance premiums for 3.3 Million families.

Face it, every organization, large and small, has waste and could easily shave 5% to better society.  At the risk of picking on CIGNA, of its $53 Billion in revenue over the past three years, $101 Million was paid to its top five executives – with Mr. Hanway receiving the lion’s share.  As large as these numbers seem, they represent a paltry 2/10’s of one percent of CIGNA’s revenue.  Regardless of relative size, the magnitude of executive compensation should not be marginalized because it is a small percentage.  What is important is the underlying greed that CIGNA’s Board of Directors endorse.  Each of us represents some small part of America’s Health Care crisis.  Regardless of the small role we each play does not excuse ignoring the simple fact that “the whole is the sum of its parts” – all the parts beginning at the top.

The Value of Nothing

In Raj Patel’s insightful book “The Value of Nothing” he illustrates that the actual cost of products and services is far greater than the price we pay.  According to Patel, a McDonald’s hamburger may only cost you $1.59, but when you factor in the hidden costs of government subsidies for beef, grain, water and compound it with the very tangible cost of childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., the actual cost of that McDonald’s burger soars to an astonishing $200!  Apply the same logic to health care and a $125 doctor’s office visit actually costs thousands of dollars.  Albeit a cost that is “not in your face” but a societal burden none the less.

According to the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”), there were more than 880 million visits to physician’s offices in 2001 – averaging 3.1 visits per person.  With a few keystrokes on one’s pocket calculator, Mr. Hanway’s annual compensation represents 2 ½ Cents for every physician’s office visit in America – that’s just “one man’s” annual salary.  Compound this with every high paid health care executive (e.g. insurance companies, hospitals, etc.) and it is easy to see that these individuals contribute substantially to America’s health care crisis.

Copyright (c) 2010, Thomas Banks.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

[Via http://tombanks.wordpress.com]

Childhood mental illness

This sounds fascinating and important. And the quote below offers a good critical thinking exercise too!

A hundred years ago it was rarely diagnosed in children. In the intervening timespan the number and type of diagnoses have exploded. Moreover, the number and type of treatments have also exploded. The favored treatment usually involves powerful medications with serious side effects. Big Pharma has made a fortune from these medications and is constantly searching for new variations to patent and sell.

I’m talking about childhood cancer, but I bet you thought I was talking about childhood mental illness. After all, everyone in contemporary society knows that childhood mental illness is over-diagnosed, that drugging children is the preferred method for dealing with the normal problems of childhood, and that normal children are being treated with powerful psychotropic medications simply because they are quirky and authentic.

That’s what Judith Warner (author of “Perfect Madness”) thought, too, when she sold a proposal back in 2004 for a book that would explore the over-diagnosis of mental illness and over-treatment of children with psychiatric medication…[S]he came to write a book that is 180 degrees opposite of what she initially intended. It happened because she talked to parents and psychiatrists and looked at what the medical literature actually shows.

[Via http://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com]

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[Via http://coffeewithcarl.wordpress.com]

wellcome collection

 

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[Via http://spaceintext.wordpress.com]

Madeira Flood

As per reports, Madeira was flooded due to the worst storm that Portugese island since 1993.  40 people were reported dead and there is a possibility that figures will rise.  Around 120 was reported injured and still undetermined number of missing.  There were also reports of mudslides and flash flooding.  

[Via http://fyi09.wordpress.com]

the wedding and the divorce

staying awake has got its own perks. first, you discover random things that many would have discovered a long time ago. but on the brighter side, it makes your day! that counts, innit? these videos, some call it lame. some go without any expression. i call it genius, because it accompanied me in the wee hours of my morning. clearly i’m an insomniac, but who cares. ladies and gentlemen, hold your horses, as i present to you what a piece of camcorder and a whole lot of friends can end up doing (i bet these people were insomniac to an even greater extend, but again, who cares :p)

now, that’s something i’m familiar with and im sure as hell you would have watched it before too. now, 6 months, they get divorced.

righhhttt..rigghhttt??

[Via http://quietphrases.wordpress.com]

Doomed

Marcel has not noticed the signs of his grandmother’s illness as they have accumulated over the last year. He can no longer avoid the obvious when she takes to bed with a fever. It is time to call in the doctors. Proust himself, a lifelong sufferer of asthma, had a rich experience in the ineffectiveness of medicine at that time. The body is a mystery.

But to ask pity of our body is like discoursing in front of an octupus, for which our words can have no more meaning than the sound of the tides, and with which we should be appalled to find ourselves condemned to live. (III,404)

First, Dr. Cottard, who prescribes his cure-all:

Cottard, who had been called in to examine my grandmother–and who had infuriated us by asking with a subtle smile, the moment we told him she was ill: “Ill? You’re sure it’s not what they call a diplomatic illness?”–tried to soothe his patient’s restlessness by a milk diet….So that to believe in medicine would be the height of folly, if not to believe in it were not a greater folly still, for from this mass of errors a few truths have in the long run emerged.  (III,404)

Next, Dr. du Boulbon, who has a “special competence in cerebral and nervous matters” :

You have what I have had occasion to call ‘mental albumin.’ We have all of us had, when we have not been very well, little albuminous phases which our doctor has done his best to prolong by calling our attention to them. For one disorder that doctors cure with medicaments (as I am assured that they do occasionally succeed in doing) they produce a dozen others in healthy subjects by inoculating them with that pathogenic agent a thousand times more virulent than all the microbes in the world, the idea that one is ill. (III,410)

Marcel, following the advice of du Boulbon, accompanies his grandmother to the park, where she immediately has a stroke. He importunes a reluctant nearby doctor to see her.

I helped my grandmother in Professor E—-’s lift and a moment later he came to us and took us into his consulting room. But there, pressed for time though he was, his offensive manner changed, such is the force of habit, and his habit was to be friendly, not to say playful, with his patients….My confidence in my grandmother’s prompt recovery was all the more complete in that …I was distracted …by a shout of laughter which served as conclusion to one the Professor’s jokes….I waited until my grandmother had left the room, closed the door and asked him to tell me the truth. “Your grandmother is doomed,” he said to me. (III,431)

[Via http://proustreader.wordpress.com]

Statistical probability and Maloney's H1N1 quack claims

Given the buzz of the last week set in motion by the naturopath quacks from Maine USA, I thought it might be nice to do some simple comparisons of probability. Call it a peer review process if you will. Now, I’m not doctor, but naturopaths aren’t real doctors either so i guess that puts us on equal footing.

For this example I’m going to focus again on Christopher Maloney, and the quote of his I cited in my last post.

“Last year there were 387 serious complications from the flu vaccine and eighteen deaths directly attributed to the vaccinations (VAERS data compiled by me.)”

Now, not withstanding that as I pointed out in my last post, these numbers are basically bullshit that Maloney has made up, but if we accept his numbers as accurate data, the conclusions that we can draw from the probabilities involved may be interesting.

So lets first assume that based on Maloney’s numbers, last year (2009) 18 people died as a direct result of the H1N1 flu vaccination in the USA. Now according to the American CDC, 46million doses of the H1N1 vaccine were administered in the USA in 2009. So if we were to divide 18, by 46million, that will give us the probability rate of death caused by the H1N1 vaccine.

18
46,000,000
=0.00000039
=3.9×10−7

We can also go the other way and divide 46million by 18 and say there is a 1 in 2,555,556 chance of death from vaccination, but despite being somewhat less confusing to layman, its makes things more difficult later on and is standard practice to use fractions or percentages when dealing with probability in maths.

As John Alan Paulos points out in his fantastic book ‘innumeracy’, people have great difficulty comprehending the scale of very large or very small numbers. Exactly how small is 3.9×10−7? To get around this we can draw a comparison between the H1N1 vaccine death rate and other unlikely events that we have a better grasp of.

As far as layman understanding of probability is concerned, it is common to hear people make comparisons between unlikely events and being struck by lightning, so this would make a perfect example. Every year in the United States, something like 80 people are killed by lightning strikes. So once again, if we take the 80 deaths, and divide it by the 250million population of the USA we get the probability of death by lightning during that year.

80
250,000,000
=0.00000032
=3.2×10−7

So based on Maloney’s own numbers (as made up as they may be) the probability of dying as a result of the H1N1 vaccine is on the same order of magnitude as your chances of being killed by lightning strike.

So now that gives us some idea of the immanent dangers of the H1N1 vaccination that Maloney is so valiantly trying to protect us from, we should also work out the probability of mortality from actually contracting the H1N1 virus, and how well its supports Maloney’s rather brazen assertions that:

“A response to a very heated conversation with an M.D. in which the words ‘children are dying of the swine flu!’ was used as the reason for getting vaccinated. The hindsight response (always 20/20) is that children are dying of vaccinations and the vaccine is no better than placebo for preventing the flu.“

First of all, lets take the the number of deaths in the US (it should be noted that in much the same way that Maloney’s ‘direct cause’ VAERS citations are effectively invented,* these ECDC statistics are reported deaths of H1N1, not confirmed deaths. I tell you this because a. I wish to be honest, and b. as this is already based off Maloney’s manufactured numbers it should be clear these aren’t accurate real world inferences but merely demonstrations of his bullshit.) which was a total of 2328, and divide it by the total cases of US infections which was somewhere between 39 and 80 million. We’ll use their mid range of 55million, and do the same as with the statistics above.

2328
55,000,000
=0.00004233
=4.233×10−5

So per capita, the rate of death if infected with H1N1, is quite low, but still two whole orders of magnitude higher than Maloney’s supposed rate of death from the vaccination. Now we can start to look at how effective the vaccine actually is based on Maloney’s own stats:

“For children over two, the flu vaccine shows 59% efficacy and a 33% effectiveness rate. Combining these would give me roughly a one in five chance of improving my older son’s chances of not getting the flu, with no evidence that it would prevent complications.”

I’m not entirely sure why he’s combining effectiveness and efficacy to get an even lower probability of success. My best guess is that this is similar to the creationist fine-tuning trick of saying “There’s a 0.1 chance that the oxygen in the atmosphere would be at the right level. There’s a 0.1 chance that the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be at the right level. Therefore there is a 0.01 chance that both would be at the right level” when in fact oxygen and carbon dioxide are two sides of the same coin, balanced in equilibrium by an ecosystem based on photosynthesis. In other words Maloney is blatantly lying again to try and fudge the numbers in his favour by unnecessarily multiplying probabilities. Well, either that or he hasn’t bothered to learn what the terms actually mean. After all, he isn’t a real physician, so I guess he doesn’t really need to know these theings.

So with the overall chance of infection being the total number of infections, 55million, divided by the total population of 250 million. We get:

55,000,000
250,000,000
=0.22

We can now start putting these probabilities together. How effective is the Vaccine? First we’ll multiply the overall likelihood of infection, with the infection rate of mortality. So if you didn’t vaccinate your child, the chances of a resulting infection and subsequent fatality would be:

0.22 x 0.00004233 = 0.00000931 or 9.31 x 10−6

So what is the total rate of death when vaccinated? There are actually two numbers to consider here. The rate of death Maloney directly attributes to the vaccination of 3.9×10−7, plus the overall infection/death rate of 9.31 x 10−6 multiplied by the vaccines rate of failure, 1 minus Maloney’s statistic (another dubious number given his other statistics and the fact that the CDC website rates the nasel spray version as high as 92% efficacious in the children 15-85 moths) of 33% effectiveness for the vaccine, as we wish to find it’s ineffective rate, which would be 1 – 0.33 or 0.66 ineffective.

3.9×10−7 + 9.31 x 10−6 x 0.66 =0.00000653 =0.653 x 10−6

So now to compare them, if we take the original rate of death by not getting your child vaccinated 9.31 x 10−6, and divide the number by 0.653 x 10−6, the probability of death caused by ineffective vaccination plus by death directly attributed to vaccination based on Maloney’s made up statistics:

0.00000931
0.00000653
= 1.4257274….

So based on Maloney’s own statistics which he flaunts on the swine flu ‘research’ page of his website, you are one and a half times more likely to end up with a dead child if you listen to Maloney’s advice. Actually seeing the maths turn out a number based on the man’s own statistics, you can’t help but wonder how many people he and others naturopaths, conspiracy nuts, anti-vaxers and other voodoo woos have helped killed in the lasts years pandemic. If Maloney is a real medical doctor as he claims, he should be held accountable for this.

One thing is evident though, Christopher Maloney must have failed maths as well as medicine to end up were he is. I mean, you think if a fraudulent quack was going to fabricate ‘research data’ (or fluff for his quack website if you want to label it properly), he’d at least have the initiative to come up with some numbers that would support his claims.

*the VAERS clearly states that it simply collects all data related to post vaccination incidents and does not discriminate against any reports based on the who, what, why, where, and when. Someone gets the vaccination, then at some point after gets sick, the event is logged with VAERS. The VAERS clearly state on their data/index page this does not infer any causal link between vaccination and logged events, and clearly warns against using the VAERS data to draw such links. It is entirely probable that some small minority of people have serious complications from H1N1, if for nothing else but the fact that its grown using chicken eggs with some portion of the population being allergic. However when Maloney states specifics numbers and direct causal links like this, he is making shit up.

[Via http://cardboardcutoutreality.wordpress.com]

The need of proper legal advice by http://www.longislandlegaladvice.com

Taking yoga or other meditation courses teach you how to use breathing techniques to help relax your mind and your muscles. Mind and body exercises include the cultivation of a meditative, inward state as a part of the practice for yoga and similar classes.

Yoga, tai chi, and many forms of martial arts are considered activities that require the use of a meditative state. Pilates do lend it self to many of the movement disciplines which includes yoga and also incorporates the mind and body a meditative focus.

Meditation Class Tips

The following tips can help you get the best benefits from your meditation or practice sessions.

Class or Method Choices

You will want to take a beginning-level class, if you have never tried any for of a meditation class. A beginning-level class will benefit you with the instructions and if you have health and fitness issues that limit you movement. The beginning level class will reduce your risk of injury. If you try to do to much or do the exercises in yoga or Pilates class too vigorously, you can cause injuries to your body.

Get a Qualified Instructor

When you get started with any form of a meditation class, you will want to work with a qualified instructor personally. The instructors can help you get ready for any classes or sessions that you wish to take. The instructor's job is to evaluate and provide you feedback on your posture and your body mechanics. This way you can achieve the best results and avoid any injuries.

Put Your Health Concerns and Issues on the Table

You will want to talk to your health care provider before starting any of the meditation classes. Your instructors should have experience in working with students who have health issues and concerns. The more experience and education your meditation class instructor has, the better it is for you and your health.

Goal Discussions

There is a wide range of benefits that are associated with yoga or similar classes. These style of classes can improve the strengthening and stretching of the core muscles, you posture, and sometimes reduces the neck, back and shoulder pain. Many have noticed improvements in their stress levels and stress related symptoms such as muscle tension and high blood pressure.

Instructor Techniques – Understand Them

There are techniques that instructors use during a class that requires their touch in order to help you understand their techniques. At times, you may be paired up with another person in the class to perform some of the techniques and can be helpful when you are given the proper instructions. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, by all means let them know. In cases like this, you may be given directions on how you can use these techniques alone.

Mindful Awareness Practice

The focusing on the sensations of breathing, stretching, holding positions and movements is the practice of mindful awareness. Mindful awareness helps you prevent injuries and use the proper techniques.

If you find your mind wandering during the classes, simply use the breathing techniques and the instructor's directions to bring your mind back to where it needs to be. By comparing yourself to others and judging oneself can cause injury to yourself. Relax and avoid the distractions.

MiniChill Relaxation Drinks

[Via http://tipsandtrickstorelaxhowtolivearelaxinglife.wordpress.com]

Listen to your Guru: Don't Buy that Book

Delving ever deeper into the nether rungs of the hell-text, Eat Pray Love, I come upon the passage in which our hero decides that she needs a guru. And that’s when it hits me: being a guru is a pretty good gig. No need to freeze your robe off on a frosty mountain top. Just set up shop in a New Delhi ashram, and let the wealthy Westerners come to you. Speak in horoscopic platitudes, nod as if you harbor oceans of understanding, and dispense wisdom so broad that it applies to nothing and everything at once. Keep it vague enough and you can’t be wrong.

Your clientele will range from palatable celebrities (George Harrison, say) to obscure weirdos (like, every other divorcee from Marin County, California). Every now and then, some cynical wanker will exploit you for a book. But mostly it’s a good life, there in the tranquility of your surroundings, meditating on your mantras. Your acolytes adore you. And on the odd chance you sense that their worshipfulness is waning, gently raise the prospect of a suicide pact.

I’ve never had a guru. But I used to see a shrink, and she was something like a guru, only with a shorter beard. Getting to her office, through cross-town rush hour traffic, was more difficult than summiting an alpine peak. She carried herself like a spiritual teacher, sitting in her throne-like chair, answering my questions with more questions. When my bank account ran dry, I decided I was cured.

Not everyone’s a quack. But a sucker is born every day, and two to buy a book like Eat Pray Love. It reminds me of those days, in my early 20s, when I bought into all kinds of packaged self-improvement: seminars, books-on-tape, Sanskrit chants before sweaty yoga. I had a girlfriend then, who was too sharp and mature to date a guy like me. One night, I showed up at her pad with my latest purchase: a bottle of dried herbs that some snake oil salesman told me would give me peace of mind and heighten my IQ.
I believed him.
“Well,” said my girlfriend in a non-judgmental tone. “If you never buy another bottle, you’ll know it worked.”

[Via http://drinkcursehate.wordpress.com]

A Non Sequitur for Valentine's Day.

I know I should have posted some romantic-type goodie today for the feast of St. Valentine, but I find this much more interesting.

From the Niagara Falls Gazette, July 6, 1899:

“STRUCK BY A TROLLEY.  Michael Gavin, a laborer of this city, met with a painful accident Monday afternoon.  He was struck by a car of the Buffalo & Niagara Falls Electric Railroad at the corner of Fifth Street and Erie Avenue and sustained several severe scalp wounds.  Dr. J. W. Hodge dressed his wounds.”

This poor unfortunate man, Michael Gavin, is my great-great grandfather.  My immediate thought is:  how fast did these trolleys go, exactly?  How preoccupied must he have been to step out in front of a moving trolley?  That is, assuming he hadn’t been indulging at a tavern beforehand…

I wonder if the Electric Railroad has records of accidents?  Gruesome, I know, but it’d be interesting to read the accident report.  Can I squeak in a few minutes of online research into the trolley company before my husband takes me out to a Valentine’s dinner?  You bet I can!

And no need to worry:  Michael recovered and lived on for another six years after his run-in with the trolley!

[Via http://downtothesea.wordpress.com]

Synthetic biology

This Sunday’s New York Times magazine has a rather whimsical and quixotic piece on synthetic biology. I was actually around at the beginning of this whole game as a postdoc in Jim Collin’s lab at Boston University in the mid-nineties.  Back then Jim’s lab was mostly focused on posture control and stochastic resonance and I was transitioning into computational neuroscience with Nancy Kopell.  One day in 1997 I think, Charles Cantor called a meeting with Jim, David Christini, who was a graduate student in Jim’s lab, and myself about using engineering methods to design bacteria.  His example idea was to design a bacteria that could eat oil and then die.   Jim, who was always open to new ideas, jumped right on it.  I think the premise of the meeting was to present this  proposal for a site visit by the Whitaker Foundation. This was when oil spills still dominated the news.  I think we quickly cobbled something together and Jim presented the ideas.  However, Dave was finishing up his thesis and heading off to Cornell in NYC and I was trying to learn about the hippocampus so the idea kind of sat idly for awhile.

Shortly afterwards, Jim recruited Tim Gardner, a first year grad student in biomedical engineering at BU, to work on the project.  Jim got some lab space in Cantor’s lab and we started to talk about what we could do.  At that time, I started reading about neural networks and noticed that the equations for a neural network looks remarkably like that for a gene regulatory network.  My idea was to build a gene Hopfield network associative memory.  I showed Tim how to use XPPAUT, a differential equation solver written by Bard Ermentrout, taught him a little about dynamical systems, and we started to write down equations.  This was 1998.

I think we ended up with some circuit with tens if not twenty or more genes with complicated connections and so forth.  Obviously, I was not cut out for this field because implementing this in bioware would have been a nightmare.  In December of 1998, I spent a mini-sabbatical in Switzerland with Wulfram Gerstner.  When I got back to the lab in January, Tim showed me his new idea, which was to make a genetic toggle switch.  It was a circuit consiting of two mutually inhibiting genes, so that only one gene could be expressed at a time while suppressing the other and a stimulus, like tetracyclin, could knock the circuit from one gene expressed to the other.  The idea was brilliant in its simplicity and other than showing Tim how to use XPPAUT and how not to muck things up with complications, I had no part of it.  It may have been one of the biggest missed opportunities of my career.  Tim then toiled away at this idea and it resulted in the celebrated Nature paper that kicked off the synthetic biology revolution.  In that same issue, Mike Elowitz and Stan Leibler published the article on their genetic oscillator.

[Via http://sciencehouse.wordpress.com]

How does evolution inform modern medicine?

Today is the 201st birthday of Charles Darwin. It is worth celebrating this anniversary not only because of Darwin’s great contributions to science, but also because of the practical ways his theory of evolution improves our lives today. From an article that explains in more detail how the theory of evolution guides medical advances, here are five reasons–drawn from medicine–why evolution is important:

1. H1N1 and emerging diseases

2. HIV

3. Vaccines

4. Antibiotic resistance

5. Drug development

These are only a handful of the reasons why evolution is important to medicine (check out more information at the links here and here). There are a host of other applications of evolution–agriculture, forensics, bioengineering. But the importance of evolution extends beyond its practical side; evolution explains the diversity of life on this planet, shows us our connection to other living things, and reveals profound insights into the processes of nature. Today, on Darwin’s 201st birthday, take a moment to reflect on the importance of evolution.

[Via http://questionablemotives.wordpress.com]

Back To The Streets

Headed back to The Big Red Free Taxi today, after three awesome days of photography at the Professional Photographers of Oregons’ annual convention.

Sat through classes on lighting, marketing, business, senior shoots, and made a bunch of new acquaintances!

Of course, it also means I haven’t been doing any studying for my Life Span/Developmental Psych class this week, either…

[Via http://emshaiku.com]

Soft Drinks Now Linked To Pancreatic Cancer

Well it looks like soft drinks are linked to another health problem. This time it’s pancreatic cancer. We already know soft drinks cause diabetes and obesity. Here is a quote from Natural News about soft drinks or poison in a can.

“NaturalNews has warned readers for years about the dangers of consuming soft drinks. The sweetener used in most beverages — high-fructose corn syrup — is linked to both diabetes and obesity. The phosphoric acid found in soft drinks is highly acidic, stripping minerals from bones and promoting osteoporosis. At the same time, soft drinks can cause kidney stones, too.”

For The Full Article Click Here

Yes I know all about kidney stones. I had one or two because of soft drinks. That is why I stopped drinking them forever. Soft drinks aren’t the only cause. Coffee and Milk have also been linked to kidney stones. Now I only drink spring water and cranberry juice to keep my kidneys cleaned out. Soft drinks have no benefit to anyone and only increase your health problems. Now even pancreatic cancer. We can spend the next 100 years educating people about the harmful effects of soft drinks but most people wont listen to us. The FDA needs to do its job and ban these harmful products for the good of our people. We will save zillions of dollars in doing do!

[Via http://southpopulist.wordpress.com]

My eye.

I had my second appointment at the Eye Institute, today.

I had to wait endlessly to be called and had a gigantic coughing fit in the waiting room. Every time I sat down I would start coughing (I have a sort of throat thing). I would get up, go and get some water and the coughing would stop. I’d go sit down and within about 30 seconds was coughing up a lung. I kept assuring the folks “Tickle in the throat, not the FLU!” Finally after about the 4th visit to the water fountain, I was called in to see the doctor. Thank GOD!

After examining my eye, she said that the “damaged area” was smaller than the last visit but still fairly significantly visible. This time, however, when she poked me  repeatedly in the eye, I felt it. The last time, the surface of the eye didn’t “feel” anything.

I still can’t read the chart. If anything, that was WORSE than last time. The only thing I could make out was the big white letters on blue which were the name of the program they use for testing eyes — letters about 6 inches high. The actual chart letters were either straight-ish  fuzzy blobs or rounded fuzzy blobs.

During the last visit, when she mentioned that there were blood vessels going into the damaged area which, to me, sounded like a “good” thing but this time, the way she said it, it sounded like a “bad” thing. Somewhat confusing…

I was able to drive with no problems on Saturday but Sunday was AWFUL, even wearing the new wrap-around sunglasses. Saturday was fairly overcast but still rather too bright. Sunday was a brilliant day.

She’s given me more drops, this time with a steroid to reduce the swelling and inflammation, on top of the other drops and an ointment, and said that I am to go in again on Thursday. Hopefully, there will be more improvement.

Really, it is rather depressing to feel so unsure about whether there is any change or not, particularly because I can’t see any change. With something on the surface, you can tell when something is healing. With an internal problem, generally, you can at least FEEL if there is some improvement. With this, I don’t FEEL much improvement and a don’t see any improvement in my vision, really. I have to depend on the doctor seeing changes within the eye which won’t make much difference to me for some time… if ever.

At least it gives me something to legitimately worry about instead of having panic attacks over nothing. Oddly enough, I haven’t been anxious beyond just being worried. For someone who becomes nearly incapacitated worrying about things that may never happen, having something to really worry about is less stressful.

[Via http://mudpuddle.wordpress.com]

Reality - it sucks

My life sucks.

*notice the lack of smilage

(sidenote, do I look like I am 20 yrs old? I think I still look like a 12 yr old)

Yes, its melodramatic, but I don’t care. My chronic daily migraines have returned, I have trash body-image, I alternate bingeing and restricting, I’m having problems setting up doctors appts., and I am alone.

Loneliness is a weird phenomenon. I have friends, I have a good family. I have “good” relationships…and yet I feel so alone. I am Junior in college and am expected to have it all together. Do you know what I did today? Today I woke up at 7:30, went to Mass, came back to my room put on sweats, binged for 2 hrs, and then proceeded to sit on my bed and avoid doing homework all day. I can’t seem to care about my life. It’s a problem. I’m losing weight even with the occasional binges and my therapist (J) is concerned. I don’t know how to get out of this trench of hopelessness and I don’t want to turn to psychological drugs.

Goals for this week:

1. Stay on top of my homework/tests/etc…

2. No bingeing.

3. No being a hermit (try to do one social thing besides class a day)

4. Get back to a daily prayer time.

[Via http://struggling20something.wordpress.com]

Latin in medicine

These latin abbreviations may be worth decoding– you can thank me when you win a game of Jeopardy.

Rx Roman shorthand for Recipe.
When written with a line above it, c can stand for cum, or “with,” another example of shorthand used in prescriptions.
a.c. This is short for ante cenam, “before a meal.” Conversely, p.c. stands for post cenam, or “after a meal.”

a.m. (ante meridiem, “before noon”)
p.m. (post meridiem, “after noon”).

bid This stands for bis in die, or “twice in one day.”

NPO Nil per os, or “nothing through the mouth,” is an instruction that patients be treated or fed intravenously (intravenous, of course, comes from Latin for “inside the vein”).

up ad lib short for up ad libidinem (“at pleasure”), this means that a patient is allowed to get up when he or she wishes.

Anatomical Terms & Latin Sources
dorsal (dorsum; back)
proximal (proximus; nearest)
distal (distare; to stand away from)
lateral (lateralis;to the side)–>can be left or right
medial (medius; middle)
posterior end (post; after)
anterior (ante; before)
ventral (venter; abdomen)
nasal (nasus; nose)
bracchial (bracchium; arm)
ocular (oculus; eye)
pectoral (pectus; chest)
jugular (jugulum; throat)
lacrimal (lacrima; tear)
ovary (ovum; egg)

English terms for teeth can come from Latin roots also. Canine teeth are so named because they resemble those of a dog (canis); while incisors, teeth for cutting, get their name from incisus, or “cut.” Others are simply the Latin name without any modification.

By Keyana Azari

[Via http://keyana.wordpress.com]

On my Mind

You cannot paint the sunrise which is always in transition
Unless your canvas moves and breathes you’re futile in your mission
With pure pastels and brilliant strokes the  Artist so creates
A wondrous masterpiece each day for souls with patience wait

Could I venture the painful  path that pain and trouble framed
To heal a little the wounds yet bare and open that remain
A kiss my lips of medicine your strength to soon return
A gentle word sincerity brings the healing fire to burn

Kindle now my strange new love who forever I have known
A flame so passionately eager to the tender love now sown
And bring to fruit the flower of faith as ever you have waited
A life once lived begun anew …My sunrise re-created

Majenta and rouge and breathtaking blues
A Sunrise made for two

[Via http://michaelwoods1.wordpress.com]

Casey Johnson's Death Caused by Neglect...VIDEO...Heiress Johnson Was Not Taking Her Insulin...

Casey Johnson’s Death Caused by Neglect
Feb 4th 2010 12:42PM by TMZ Staff

Casey Johnson died because she simply did not take care of herself … sources connected with the autopsy tell TMZ.

The L.A. County Coroner says the cause of death was “Diabetic Ketoacidosis” and the manner of death was “natural.”

But our sources say the Coroner’s findings clearly show Johnson — who died at 30 — was not taking her insulin shots, was not exercising, did not follow her strict diet and was not taking other medicines she needed.

Diabetic Ketoacidosis is a technical term for lack of insulin, which often leads to a diabetic coma. We previously reported where Johnson was hospitalized for diabetic comas at least twice before her death.

Coroner: Casey Johnson died of natural causes

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Casey Johnson, heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, died of natural causes related to diabetes, the Los Angeles County coroner said Thursday.

The 30-year-old socialite was found dead at a friend’s home January 4, authorities said.

Johnson was one of the great-great-granddaughters of Robert Wood Johnson, a co-founder of the pharmaceutical giant, and was the daughter of Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets professional football team.
She died of diabetic ketoacidosis, the coroner found. The Mayo Clinic describes the condition as a serious complication of untreated diabetes.

Johnson was in the news recently because of her relationship with Internet and reality television star Tila Tequila.

[Via http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com]

If you have to drink beer, drink it in the morning as it's healthier

Just visited a dietitian. She analysed my eating and said I need to eat more grains and drink more water. Especially in the first half of the day.

So, jokingly, I asked if I couldn’t combine both and drink delicious beer instead.

She said that, yes, but beer’s mostly carbs and carbs should be had in the morning.

Being curious, I pressed on and asked when I should drink beer. Her answer was: if you have to drink it, it’s better to have beer in the morning than in the evening, as you’ll have time to burn all those carbs.

I feel enlightened now and plan on starting tomorrow with a cold Heineken.

Cheers!

[Via http://elver.wordpress.com]

BIOMEDICAL SALES JOBS IN DELHI

Experience: 3 – 5 Years Location: Delhi Education: UG – B.Tech/B.E. – Biomedical, Instrumentation,Diploma – Engineering PG – Post Graduation Not Required Industry Type: Medical/ Healthcare/Hospital Role: Sales Exec./Officer Functional Area: Sales, BD Job Description Is responsible for sales activity.
Responsible for meeting sales target.
Responsible for converting enquiries into order.
along with that also need to look after service activity of Medical Instruments.Area of work will be Gujarath, MP & Mumbai. Desired Candidate Profile Experience in Medical Instrumentation selling & servicing(Specifically Anesthesia systems,Ventilators,Monitors). Should be from Medical intruments field with good custimer relationn & communication. Company Profile Labindia company is a renowned name in Analytical Instruments, Microscopes, Life Science & Bio-tech. instruments business. Leica is a subdivision which deals with microsystem and Histology products. can log on www.leicamicrosystems.com Contact Details Company Name: Lab India Website: http://www.labindia.com Executive Name: Ms. Vrishali Mulay Email Address: recruit_liplth@labindia.com

[Via http://kushtripathi.wordpress.com]

News From Around The Blogosphere 2.1.10

1. $7000 talking sex robot - I’ve blogged before about Roxxxy, the world’s most sophisticated talking female sex robot. Now CNN’s talking about it (her?):

Powered by a computer under her soft silicone “skin,” she employs voice-recognition and speech-synthesis software to answer questions and carry on conversations. She even comes loaded with five distinct “personalities,” from Frigid Farrah to Wild Wendy, that can be programmed to suit customers’ preferences.

We knew this day was coming and now that time seems to have arrived when we can build robotic women who can converse and fake orgasms.

2. Homeopaths admit their products have no active ingredients – The 10:23 homeopathic overdose campaign has driven the New Zealand Council of Homeopaths to admit that their products do not contain any “material substances”:

Council spokeswoman Mary Glaisyer admitted publicly that “there´s not one molecule of the original substance remaining” in the diluted remedies that form the basis of this multi-million-dollar industry.

Outstanding!

3. Medical researchers working on a pill to treat Fragile X -

Chances are you’ve never heard of the target — Fragile X syndrome — even though it’s the most common inherited form of intellectual impairment, estimated to affect almost 100,000 Americans. It’s also the most common cause of autism yet identified, as about a third of Fragile X-affected boys have autism.

Now a handful of drug makers are working to develop the first treatment for Fragile X, spurred by brain research that is making specialists rethink how they approach developmental disorders.

. . .

“We are moving into a new age of reversing intellectual disabilities,” predicts Dr. Randi Hagerman, who directs the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, a study site.

This is exactly the kind of research that will one day defeat autism but from which ideologues like J.B. Handley of Generation Rescue have publicly called a waste of money because they’re obsessed with fruitless vaccine research. Autism is a genetic disorder and our be hope of treating it besides behavior therapies is manipulating the genes.

4. Henrietta Lack’s immortal cells -

In 1951, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, created the first immortal human cell line with a tissue sample taken from a young black woman with cervical cancer. Those cells, called HeLa cells, quickly became invaluable to medical research—though their donor remained a mystery for decades. In her new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, journalist Rebecca Skloot tracks down the story of the source of the amazing HeLa cells, Henrietta Lacks, and documents the cell line’s impact on both modern medicine and the Lacks family.

. . .

Henrietta’s cells were the first immortal human cells ever grown in culture. They were essential to developing the polio vaccine. They went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to cells in zero gravity. Many scientific landmarks since then have used her cells, including cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.

5. Christians literally claim monopoly on aid in Haiti – Now while that might sound like a good thing, according to a voodoo priest, believers are being discriminated against in their efforts to help and deliberately prevented from getting much-needed aid to followers of their religion:

“The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves,” he claimed. “They have the advantage that they control the airport where everything is stuck. They take everything they get to their own people and that’s a shame.

6. Point of Inquiry podcast gets new hosts – Now that D.J. Grothe is leaving the Center For Inquiry (CFI) to take on his new role as president of the James Randi Educational Foundation, he will no longer be hosting the CFI’s weekly podcast series Point of Inquiry. And now his replacement hosts have been announced:  Chris Mooney, Karen Stollznow and Robert Price. For the most part, these are all strong picks. Of course, regular readers may guess that the one person I’m iffy on is Chris Mooney. While I do continue to read and enjoy his blog, The Intersection, one issue that I strongly disagree with him on is his condemnation of so-called “New Atheism” or “militant atheism” as well as his insistence that science and religion can peacefully coexist.  And for this reason, he seems like an unlikely choice to represent the Center For Inquiry, whose secular goals often coincide with that of the more aggressive atheists. Though maybe I’m wrong and his perspective will ultimately just foster more challenging discussions. I hope all three the best of luck.

7. American Atheists trying to buy naming rights to Superbowl stadium for 1 hour? - I think this sounds like a really dumb idea and a total waste of money that could be spent better elsewhere. It would be one thing if they were to buy naming rights to the stadium during the Superbowl or hours before it, but–no, come to think of it, it would still be a dumb idea.

[Via http://skepacabra.wordpress.com]