How much sleep is enough? How much is too much? Questions like this have dogged sleep researchers for many years. And they often befuddle the public. Several years ago I was questioned on MSNBC on “reports” that people sleeping more than 8 hours a night died at a higher rate than people sleeping less. Should the […]
Can Addiction Start in the ER?
Addiction and Pain Pain rots the soul. Opioids can effectively treat pain – and then rot the soul and body. The treatment of pain remains a difficult dilemna for the whole country. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights the opiod mess in a a new way, demonstrating how one prescription […]
Protecting You From Dangerous Drugs
What do you do when dangerous drugs can’t be sold legally? Change the rules. We may get to see this – nationally. The FDA gets lots of brickbats, and has a tough job. Much of its funding comes from the drug companies it’s supposed to regulate. The process of drug approval is arduous, highly bureaucratic, […]
Why Do Americans Love Sociopaths?
Americans don’t just like sociopaths. We admire them. What is it about a “free people” that makes us appreciate those who lie to us, cheat and steal from us? Is it the psychological attraction of power unbounded by accountability? Yet there are added underlying ideological reasons we find sociopaths so alluring. Many are based on […]
How to Treat Insomnia Part II (Including When You’re Older)
Insomnia afflicts the majority of Americans over 65. It makes many people miserable, but can be aided or even erased by relatively simple techniques. Insomnia’s causes are many and complex, including changes in body clocks, types of illnesses, effects of medications, and the process of aging itself (see part I.) Fortunately, most treatments of insomnia, […]