Episode of House MD comes to life
If you’ve ever seen Fox’s hit medical drama House MD, you know that every installment is just an exercise in further improbability than the previous episode (a patient’s skull explodes in the most recent episode). But occasionally reality is just as strange. Near the end of the first season, House treats a malnourished baby whose vegan parents are unwittingly starving it by keeping the infant on the same strict diet as they are. I thought the whole thing was a bit contrived, but apparently not. Yesterday, Lamont Thomas and Jade Sanders, vegan parents, were convicted of gross neglect and sentenced to life terms in prison. As always, there’s more at the BBC. Also if you’re interested, the episode in question was season 1, episode 18
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The Infamous Hangover
When you’ve had too much fun (or just enough), the consequences can be painful. Never fear the hangover is here to teach you a lesson you won’t forget, until next Friday night. This well researched pdf details the causes, mechanisms, symptoms, and prevention techniques for the big H. Sorry to say, moderation and abstinence are ubiquitously documented to be the most effective. However, your night out isn’t shot yet, hangoverreview.com has put together this extensive list of 52 treatment products. Unfortunately these guys aren’t hiring. If you want a quick go-to guide for hangovers without too much medical jargon, this howstuffworks.com article is complete and professional, but still best read before the booze begins. Another good prevention technique is to check out gettingsmashed.com for pictures, videos, and other forms of black mail these regretful souls wished never existed.
If you have a drinking problem, please visit AA’s website for help.
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Are You Ready to Neti?
After my curiosity in the Neti Pot was re-piqued from the Dr. Oz II episode on the Oprah Show, I decided to go duenos on it. A neti pot is a tool for nasal irrigation that can provide many benefits like better breathing, cleaner boogers, and possible elimination of snoring by simply splashing salty water up there. Mayo Clinic has this video that details some benefits of nasal irrigation and an alternative (athough similar) method to “the Neti.” This fan site has a myriad of (some hard to believe and unresearched) benefits of the Neti, but towards the bottom of the page has a well-written how-to guide complete with photos of an unnecessarily shirtless guy (see picture above). For more, check out this pdf that provides excessive neti info and you can purchase inexpensive basics at this link when you’re ready to neti.
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Synæsthesia: How to Taste Thoughts Without LSD
So I was reading an article about synæsthesia the other day and couldn’t believe my nostrils. Synæsthesia is the non-debilatating condition where your senses are switched, i.e. you can hear colors, smell sounds, and even sense emotions in numbers. As weird as it tastes, it is thought to be fairly common. It goes underdiagnosed because synæsthetes are able function normally while seeing music and feeling colors and are typcially surprised to find out that this is unique to them. Preview this free test to take after registering to see if you’re one. Also, check out this excerpt from and the site for a book written from a synæsthetes’ sensorial perception of the world.
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Alternative lacing tactics
For every type of foot there is an appropriate shoe lacing tactic, at least according to this page from Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Here are their general lacing tips for any layout:
- Make sure your laces are loose before you slip into the shoes. Doing this maintains the integrity of the eyelets and heel.
- Tighten your laces from the bottom (toe end) to top (ankle end), tightening gradually at each set of eyelets.
- Remember that a shoe with more eyelets allows you to create a more custom fit with lacing.
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Loofas are vegetables?
That’s right, the thing you thought was a sponge from the bottom of the ocean is actually a dried out vegetable and get this, you can grow one yourself!! Go check out this how-to guide from GroovyGreen.com to find out how. SO COOL!!!
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Birth control for men
Here’s the reality, we need a better approach to contraception than the above comic. Seriously. A lot of guys have their own theories about how to avoid unwanted pregnancies, but ultimately it comes down to trust. Trust in partners on hormonal pills/rings, or trust on condoms. There are people out there researching ways for men to get a handle on the situation and this article from Men’s Health magazine sums up the two best ideas so far.
- A Swiss physician working in India before independence developed and tested a regimen of routine VERY HOT 45-minute baths (116 degrees F) over 3 weeks that confuse sperm into immobility. Apparently this condition of temporary infertility can last for 6 months, but obviously it’s a bit more of an art than a science.
- Another trial going on in over-populated India is for a system called RISUG (reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance) which consists of injecting a polystyrene-based polymer into the vas deferens that chemically kills the sperm. The procedure can then be reversed by injecting harmless sodium bicarbonate, leaving the man completely fertile again.
The problem with both of the above simple solutions is that they are, well, simple. No pharmaceutical company will invest in something that is so cheap and effective. Where’s the profit potential. MaleContraceptives.org is a great resource for all sorts of information in the extremely slow-moving field of male birth control. If you know of any other good sites, please comment here and I’ll post them.
I don’t know where the hilarious comic above came from. If it’s your work or someone you know, tell me and I’ll properly cite it.
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The obsolescence of men
It’s almost here ladies, the ability to reproduce entirely without men. According to Dr. Karim Nayernia from the Northeast England Stem Cell Institute, his team have been able to grow early stage sperm cells from female bone marrow. Of course, they’ve only been able to pull it off in mice, but this could be the beginning of the end for all of us cursed with a Y-chromosome. To read more about it, check out this article in the Telegraph, to read the report itself, check your mailbox for the latest issue of medical journal Reproduction: Gamete Biology.
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How long are you going to live?
Dr. Thomas Perls’ life expectancy calculator is a free tool you can use to generate a personalized health profile that tells you the do’s and don’ts for living longer. After a quick 10 minutes of answering ~60 questions about your lifestyle, ranging from dietary habits to drug use to flossing your teeth, Dr. Perls generates an estimated life expectancy, as well as ways to increase it. Although you have to suffer through a few poorly written “always-sometimes-never” questions and several limited response options, it is a quick and easy way to find out how long you have to find the perfect gravestone.
Thanks so much to Brian for the tip, the link, and the beginning of this article.
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Dirt could help fight depression
Adding to the theme that doing kid stuff is just plain good for you, the Scotsman reported a study released yesterday that suggests that a common soil bacteria plays a role in fighting depression. Apparently the bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, has been shown to release seratonin in mice, a chemical linked to lower incidence of depression. Just like sleeping in and taking naps, science is suggesting that another of life’s pleasures commonly rejected by Purell-pumping soccer moms (getting dirty) is not only okay, but downright good for you. I love science.
Links to the Scotsman article and two past Duenos posts about the positive benefit of sleeping in and taking naps
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On The Path to Universal Blood
It used to be the case that in the event of needing a blood transfusion you could only get specific types of blood. For certain people that could be a worse thing than others, but it could all be a thing of the past thanks to scientists at the University of Copenhagen led by Henrik Clausen. The Danish team have developed a way to scrub the antigens (sugars that give blood its “type”) from blood cells, effectively transforming it into the universally-accepted type “O”. The process uses two enzymes, one of which is found in the human gut and the other commonly causes opportunistic infection.
The A and B antigens, which give blood groups their name, are sugars carried on the surface of red blood cells. Human red blood cells can carry one of these antigens, both, or neither; giving four blood groups: A, B, AB and O, respectively.
For more about this amazing discovery, read this article in the New Scientist . Credit goes to the American Red Cross for the blood-type chart used above.
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British women have Europe's biggest breasts
According to a survey performed by the European bra company Triumph, British women have the highest percentage of women (57%) who have a cup size of D or higher. Italians are predominantly B-cups, and the Swedes and Swiss women are the smallest. Here are the results of the survey:
Percentage of women wearing cup size: D, C, B, A
————————————-
UK 57, 18, 19, 6
Denmark 50, 19, 24, 7
Netherlands 36, 27, 29, 8
Belgium 28, 28, 35, 9
France 26, 29, 38, 7
Sweden 24, 30, 33, 14
Greece 23, 28, 40, 9
Switzerland 19, 24, 43, 14
Austria 11, 27, 51, 10
Italy 10 21 68 1
(Via Gridskipper and The Sun newspaper )
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Canadian embassy to Paris closed after nosebleed scare
Shortly after opening an envelope, a Canadian embassy staff person suffered a nosebleed. This prompted security personnel to call for a Parisian haz-mat team and a full shutdown of embassy activity. The whole affair was reminiscent of the White Powder plot on Congress in 2001 and is now over. That is all.
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Napping lowers chance of heart trouble
Yet another bit of good news for those of us who sleep far too much of our lives away. According to this Greek study reported by the BBC, men who take naps of any duration are 34% less likely to die of heart-disease.
See previous post about the link between sleeping in and intelligence.
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Do you remember... bird flu?
I largely ignored avian flu the first time it came through the news cycle. At the time it seemed like Bird Flu was just another everybody-panic-now kind of news story designed to scare suburban soccer moms away from poultry. As I read about it over the last year I realized more and more that this is actually a pretty big deal and the rate at which it is spreading over the globe is, well, alarming. In fact, a good illustration of that is this interactive map from the BBC. Pay particular attention to the jump in cases between January and June of 2006.
Not only is bird flu a big potential problem from a public health point of view, but economically, outbreaks of the virus can spell financial ruin as it has recently for these Suffolk turkey farmers. As with other potentially explosive viral problems in the past (mad cow, Ebola, SARS) let’‘s hope that the world health community can keep a handle on this issue before, well, we all die. PANIC.
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Loneliness, another "cause" of Alzheimer's
There are a lot of things out there that are blamed for the devastating neurological disease, but what exactly causes Alzheimer’‘s.
Scientists can describe what it is, sort of, but they certainly don’t know what causes it. As in any case where we don’t have a clear idea of what’s going on, a number of potential “causes” are popular. Aluminum (like the kind in 12 oz cans and anti-perspirant) is a pretty popular villain, as well as copper. I even had an girlfriend once who refused to eat pork on the grounds that it was linked to the disease. A new report coming out of the US has just added another potential source of the problem: loneliness. Apparently loneliness, or more specifically feeling lonely can up to double your chances of developing Alzheimer’s.
Does that mean that having imaginary friends could prevent it?
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Sleeping in is good for you
‘Huzzah! I may finally be vindicated for all those wasted morning hours I’‘ve spent sleeping in while others slaved at their breakfast meetings and morning classes. The BBC reported research in 1999 that correlates sleeping later in the day with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Another report released yesterday, also reported by the BBC, indicates that higher levels of cortisol may slow-down or even completely halt production of new neural connections. In other words, sleeping in may not only make you a happier person, but also a smarter one.
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Kudos Gov. Perry
Texas Governor Rick Perry has just mandated that all female students aged 11 and 12 be vaccinated against HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer.
\n\n Cervical cancer is one of the worst diseases out there and it has only recently become preventable with the development of a vaccine. Governor Perry’s decisive move to support a comprehensive vaccination program for girls in Texas shines as an example of visionary executive leadership and I’ve written him a letter and you can find it in the letters section of my website.comment | permalink | +del.icio.us | +digg | +reddit