Can Comedians Sell Sleep? Having trouble sleeping? You’re not alone. Only about 5% of Americans claim to sleep well every night. And Proctor and Gamble now says it will help out all the rest. Their plan is to advertise Downy fabric softener as a way to sleep better – via cleaner, crisper bed sheets. And […]
Life is fast; so is cancer (1/18/11)
Living in the Fast Lane Smokers can’t give up cigarettes easily. What they may not realize is how fast cigarettes can get them – and the rest of us. Leonard Bernstein’s West Side gang member Jets sang “from your first cigarette to your last dying day.” Cigarettes are less heroic these days. They produce more […]
Fibromyalgia, obesity, sleep and pain (1/14/11)
An Illness With Many Effects Too many people have fibromyalgia, perhaps up to 4% of Americans, but nobody knows why. Much controversy has followed work by Zahnle et al. who argued studies linking fibromyalgia with viruses like XMRV actually found nothing but artifacts, denying their results altogether. This has increased the public sense of murkiness […]
Your New Year’s Revolutions (12/29/10)
Take Charge It’s a New Year, so it’s time to take charge. Americans are often unhappy with their lives and even more unhappy about their futures. Start with not a resolution but a revolution – a new way of looking at your body and brain that let’s you more fully control your fate. You’re not […]
Does long sleep provoke strokes? (11/17/11)
How Much Sleep Do You Need? Rest is regeneration, where the body literally rebuilds most of itself within days. This idea is so new that people get very confused about how our regeneration works – or how much is needed. Sleep is the part of rest folks understand best, but how much sleep individuals need […]