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 […]
The New Hypochondriacs (Our Brave New Sensor World – 1/30/13)
New York, 2016 Your smartphone blasts you into semiconsciousness at 3:20 in the morning. As you shakily grab the sides blue and white neon flash across the screen – “Warning! You are at risk of heart attack. Consult your physician immediately.” You stare at the messages, but the picture stays the same. Hit a few […]
Why Weight Is Not Public Health Enemy #1 (1/28/13)
So Big America is obese. So we hear each day. Our kids are obese. Weight is leading to early death, destroying the future of adolescents and young adults. The epidemic of diabesity will destroy American competitiveness – 30 year olds with diabetes don’t work so well – and bankrupt the Treasury through higher Medicare costs. […]
Novel Uses of Alcohol (1/16/13)
Many Uses I’ve seen people “treat” themselves with alcohol for many stated reasons. They include: 1. Getting blitzed to “forget everything” (causes have includes faltering love affairs, financial crashes, dying plants, poor calculus grades and “no reason except I want to.”) 2. Fight off radiation sickness (recommended by a Russian virologist – who was still […]