The Winners Are… We have the Oscars. There’s the World Cup, the World Series, the Super Bowl. But despite their increasingly important role in our lives, sociopaths lack sufficient recognition. In a competitive world where achievement is readily celebrated, sociopaths need their own public competition. Now is the time for the Madoff Prize. And not just […]
It Seemed a Good Idea at the Time…
Researching the Obvious Often we do things because – that’s the way we’ve always done it. Yet when tested impartially, especially in medicine and public health, these “rules of thumb” frequently prove unsupported – or positively harmful. The standard joke about medical school education – “half of what we’re teaching is true, the other half false – […]
Fict or Faction? (12/30/13)
The New Rules for Unreality Is what you read true or false? Institution after institution – from science to the media – is deciding they don’t know. Often, they don’t care. Instead, many say if you want to know if something’s true, you must decide yourself. Presuming you have the time, means, interest and ability. […]
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 […]
Does lack of deep sleep up blood pressure? (9/9/11)
What About Sleep Causes High Blood Pressure? Funny things happen with media stories. Complicated science suddenly becomes simple, clear and distinct – with implications very different to what the research reveals. Such is the case with a recent article on hypertension. According to the report in BBC News, “Bad Sleep Ups Blood Pressure Risk.” What […]