What is Obesity? A recent study in PL0S 1, an online journal of medicine, argues that Americans are far more obese than present standards of obesity, defined by body mass index, imply. In a study of 9000 patients in a New York private practice, at least 39% of those classified as overweight are thought to […]
Rediscovering social support (and how it aids health – 4/04/12)
Social Survival What keeps people living a long life? A system of living that gives the body the right information at the right times to properly regenerate itself. We know what many parts of that system are. Food is one. Nutritional variety – whether the fruits, vegetables, and olive oil based diet of Mediterranean countries, […]
Your pilot is falling asleep on the plane. Should you be worried? (3/21/12)
Sleepy, Sleep Pilots A recent Sleep In America poll found that a quarter of pilots feel sleepy on the job. Another 60% nap on the job, and 20% feel they have made serious errors as a result of sleepiness. Why Is This Happening? Shift work. Similar problems occur with train drivers. Only about half of […]
Is your kid snoring? (and what does it mean – 3/12/12)
Sleep and Behavior Research has long linked sleep and behavior – in adults. The picture in children has been cloudier. Now a new study of British data evaluated by American academic researchers, makes the picture clearer: Snoring is not good for children. The Avon Longitudinal Study Mothers and fathers filled out questionnaires on children aged […]
Privacy and profit – how health care records get used (3/7/12)
The Death of Privacy Privacy is dead – so we hear. Somewhere on the Net lies all the data on you ever uploaded. Much of that information is now going into the cloud – to servers all over the world. Now here’s the story of one Tennessee teacher. She was unhappy with School Board policies, […]
