The Innovation Deficit Peter Thiel is a smart fellow. One of the founders of Paypal, businessmen like him and economists like Tyler Cowen insistently argue innovation is declining throughout the globe. One area that really does not appear to be innovating well is health. Which makes sense. Particularly if your definition of what you’re attempting […]
Why We Need New Definitions of Health (2/13/13)
Money and Health Money will buy you health care. It won’t buy you health. The media equation of health with health care is a sad and tragic misperception. It makes people think that if they have enough money and “great” health insurance, that even if they get sick everything will be fine. That might prove […]
Time Rules Weight (2/11/13)
The Weight on America Americans are obsessed with weight. We read about it, think about it, twitter about it. We even pay billions to lose it. As I’ve argued before, weight is not the enemy. An impoverished, narrow view of health is the real culprit. Medicine looks to “fix” the “homeostatic” human machine rather than […]
Alert – Bacteria Are Reprogramming Your DNA (2/6/13)
Nerves Into Stem Cells Nerve cells are remarkably reprogrammable. The proof? Leprosy bacteria can take Schwann cells – the stuff that wraps nerve cells axon in white, fatty sheaths so they transmit faster – convert them into stem cells, then use them to flummox the immune system and infect the whole body. Which is rather […]
Crazy About Drugs (2/4/13)
A Problem of Law Item: An Egyptian rights lawyer is sentenced to 5 years in jail and 300 lashes of the whip for bringing anti-anxiety drugs (xanax – alprazolam) into Saudi Arabia. The judge notes the perpetrator’s “good morals” in explaining his “lenient” verdict (anti-anxiety drugs are banned in Saudi Arabia.) Item: Florida regulators led […]
