Recognizing Renewal “My feeling is that sleep is fundamentally important to regenerating all cells.” So says Akhilesh Reddy, a body clock researcher at Cambridge University. He was referring to a new study out of the University of Surrey from a group involving Professors Dirk Jan Dijk and Colin Smith. Yet the same issues appear for […]
Electronic Cigarettes (4/15/13)
Electronic Cigarettes? Several countries, like Brazil and Panama, ban them. The FDA declares their use not backed by proper clinical trials. Some addictionologists hate them, thinking they can addict kids and keep others hooked on nicotine. Others, like the newspaper the Economist and many public health officials think they are a breakthrough in smoking cessation. […]
Dying to Walk (4/8/13)
Moving Is walking dangerous to your health? Sometimes. Particularly when you march through city streets. A recent media friendly study looked at emergency patients hit by cars and trucks who entered Bellevue Hospital in New York. Some salient “facts”: 1. 44% were hit while in crosswalks while the light was signaling a safe time to […]
Unknown Unknowns – Some Future Health Crises (4/2/13)
The Known Unknowns You don’t have to read Nicholas Nassim Taleb’s “The Black Swan” to recognize unpredictable events produce inordinate impact. Consider the major events of your own life – marriage, work, serious illnesses. How many of them were predictable? Chance rules the world. Presently most “health” crises are, in policy terms, health care crises. […]
Less Sleep, More Weight? (3/29/13)
A Weighty Conundrum Americans are obsessed by weight. We weigh too much, we’re told. Obesity will kill many, many of us. The truth about weight is far more complicated. Part of that truth – a person’s weight is controlled by hundreds of different factors. And those are ones we know about: The color of a […]