What’s the Evidence? Modern medicine’s recent mantra is to become “evidence based.” No more listening to anecdote. No more acceptance of poorly performed studies. Now we will look at “hard evidence” and properly designed trials to determine how to best treat human beings. And for evidence based medicine, death is a “hard” end point. These […]
Losing Everything (7/15/13)
Standing Out Maybe you knew him. He didn’t stand out in a crowd. A hardworking guy, in his mid-fifties, he long worked a steady job. Proudly he raised a family. Then the bust came. He got downsized. The losses came like dominos. First the job. Unemployment insurance went on for a while, but there was […]
Going FAR to Prevent Diabetes (7/8/13)
Moving and Eating Walk after meals. Stand and move after you eat. You’ve probably heard this advice somewhere. But does it really work? If the goal is preventing diabetes, it seems to prove true – at least for a group of folks studied at George Washington University. The Study People 60 and over at risk […]
Dying Off (6/24/13)
Ending Lives Across America, communities are expiring. The average population decrease is 4% a year. Smaller, more endangered groups are disappearing at a rate more like 12%. Government records argue that if the die-off continues at this pace, half these communities will be gone in 20 years. Who are they? Rural farmers? Skilled urban industrial […]
Sitting Smoking Sleeping (6/18/13)
Going to Extremes Human beings love to test limits. For many it’s fun to drive a car. And if driving is fun, it’s also fun to simultaneously talk on the phone, eat a granola bar, read our emails, dictate a letter and watch TV. Except when we run someone over. Or slam into rear of […]