A New Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s A new breakthrough has been announced in Alzheimer’s research. Two groups, one at Columbia, the other at Harvard, have reported in mouse models that Alzheimer’s spreads from nerve cell to nerve cell via the projection of a misfolded tau proteins. Will this new information save us from the huge costs […]
Why does exercise work? (2/01/12)
Making Regeneration More Efficient People are exhorted every day – exercise, exercise, exercise. Many patients I see are annoyed. Why should I bother? they ask. How much difference can it make? Next they’re told it will increase their lifespan; lower their blood pressure; decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke; lower the risk of […]
Noisy, sleepless hospitals (and how to rest in them – 1/25/12)
When You’re Ill You Really Need Rest Rest is as necessary to life as food. Without it the body does not restore and regenerate. Hospitals don’t seem to fully understand that connection. A new study of noise in hospital rooms, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was not good news. The average hospital room […]
Can kids get addicted to the internet? (1/16/12)
Compulsion or Addiction? Can you get addicted to internet use? A new Chinese study in PLoS 1 argues that it certainly happens; that it clearly changes brain and behavior; and that the brain changes seen are in many ways similar to what happens with drug addiction and gambling. Kids Who Can’t Stop The adolescents – aged 14 […]
Is there an epidemic of sleep apnea in our police? (1/6/12)
Sleepy Police Especially when you’re young, sleep apnea can kill you. When old, it can really muck up your life. And American and Canadian police appear to suffer sleep apnea in epidemic numbers. That’s not the public conclusion reached on an important Harvard study on 5000 American and Canadian police. Media reports declared a third […]