Aspirin Resistance? Aspirin is back in the news. Recently the science of “aspirin resistance” has taken a big knock. And once again calls for “aspirin for everyone” – at least everyone middle aged – are being pushed as “the” heart disease and cancer preventive. What we really learn from these debates is what runs the […]
The Generic Drug Mess (12/17/12)
They’re Not The Same “I used to be taking blue pills but now they’re orange. And I don’t think this pill is working.” The patient had been given the “same” medication. But it was a different generic drug. This “generic” story is now a general story. Generic medications are off-patent versions of FDA approved drugs. […]
Losing Virility? The Strange Science of Sperm Counts (12/12/12)
The French Fuss Authorized by the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertes , a group of French researchers reported in Human Reproduction a decrease by about a third of French sperm count over the period 1989-2005. According to these records the average count decreased from 73.6 million for milliliter to 49.9 million over 17 […]
Different Brains (12/11/12)
Different Ways of Thinking Different people, different brains. But as George Orwell might have said, some brains are “more” different than others. People with “mental illness” or “learning disabilities” like dyslexia often experience lifelong reproach, ostracism and discrimination. Tell an employer you are “bipolar” and you may lose that job. No matter what your capacities […]
Making the World Stupid (12/05/12)
The Nature of Intelligence Item: Put people in rooms where carbon dioxide is more than 600 ppm and watch analytic reasoning and thinking decline. Higher levels – dumber answers. If present trends continue, global levels may hit 1000 ppm at the end of the century. Everywhere. Item: Cognitive decline is accelerated when people don’t physically […]