Doctors, LLC Oct 21, 2009
I don't know much about health care or law, but it makes sense in my head that some doctors should make their patients sign a form that says the doctor won't be held responsible for medical malpractice.  This wouldn't work for surgeons and anesthesiologists, but I'm thinking people like chiropractors and physical trainers could get away with it.  The main idea would be to avoid medical malpractice insurance, which would lower costs, which could then be passed on to the consumer.  And perhaps certain treatments would become affordable to the point where they could be paid for without health insurance.  Once again, I'm out of my league here, but it's an idea. #health
Breast cancer awareness Oct 16, 2009
Maybe I'm missing something, but who exactly at this point in time is unaware of breast cancer?  Show of hands?  I'm pretty sure every living thing on planet earth is acutely aware by now, which makes me wonder why the entire month of October is universally celebrated (?) as breast cancer awareness month.  Yes, we know about breast cancer.  Your job is done.  You can stop now.  It's cute how all the NFL players wear pink shoes and gloves to promote this cause, but really the net effect is to alert people to the idea of October being breast cancer awareness month, not in actually spreading awareness of the topic of breast cancer.  Furthermore, what is it, exactly, that I should be doing with this incessant re-awareness?  I assume I should encourage my female acquaintances to get some sort of related medical exam, but last time I checked, women are already quite aware of this issue.  Telling a woman to get a checkup is like telling her to continue breathing.  Finally, if the money spent on pink shirts and cancer walks was spent on finding a cure instead of spreading awareness, perhaps I wouldn't have written this post in the first place. #health
Self-diagnosis Sep 10, 2009
Let's say I have high cholesterol.  The solution is diet, exercise, or genetic mutation (i.e. remove all traces of family history).  Now let's say I started running and want to see if it's helped my condition.  I have to go to my primary care doctor, get a prescription for a blood test, go to the blood test, wait for the results to be sent to my doctor, then go to my doctor to have the results explained to me.  [This could be a function of my insurance provider.  "Why not change insurance providers?"  It's like being offered the choice of a punch to the face or a punch to the stomach.]  The thing is, the blood test results already come with an explanation.  It says what the normal numbers should be, and it usually says what to do if the numbers are outside the normal range.  And if not, it's trivially easy to look it up online.  I look forward to the day when a doctor is not part of that equation.  Doctors don't give a crap about me.  They give a crap about insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and medical malpractice.  This isn't so much a critique of doctors (though it obviously is), but a statement of fact:  Doctors can't care more about my health and wellness than I do, unless I specifically pay them to only worry about me.  For certain health issues like this, I'd rather be the one in control. #health
Affording healthcare (5) Jul 6, 2009
There's always at least a little mumble in the news about the cost of healthcare and the idea of nationalizing it so everyone can afford it or whatever (I don't really care enough to actually look into what they're talking about).  A thought came to me while listening to some talk radio drivel one day -- the idea that many people feel entitled to be healthy, like it's their right as an American and as a human.  I would agree that it's good for certain basic medical services to be provided to everyone, even if they can't afford it.  Things like vaccinations and physicals and the like.  But I think that in general, we're ignoring the fact that health is a privilege, not a right, and that just like it's been since the beginning of the universe, the people with the money get the best stuff, or in this case, the best medicine and healthcare.  At some point we need to make the decision to not let that poor person get a liver transplant, even if it means they'll surely die.  This is a sensitive topic, and I'm speaking from a very limited, if not ignorant, perspective as a young, healthy, relatively rich (i.e. job-holding, debt-reducing) person.  I would love to hear other points of view on this. #health
Sponge in sink Jun 24, 2009
Somebody at work likes to leave their sponge in the kitchen sink, and it truly disgusts me.  Maybe it's because a sink typically isn't a very clean place to begin with.  Plus, the sponge keeps getting wet when people use the faucet, so it's a breeding ground for mold.  And then there's the fact that the sink is used for washing dirty things, which spreads the dirt throughout the sink.  It kind of defeats the purpose of washing dishes if you're using a dirty, moldy sponge. #health
Lost senses Jun 23, 2009
Consumerist wrote two articles recently about losing senses:  Zicam products are associated with loss of smell, and pine nuts are known to cause a temporary loss of taste.  On a related note, Scott Adams ponders the question of which of the five senses he could live without.  I've had this conversation several times before and I always firmly decide I'd rather not lose any of my senses. #health
Good puker (2) Jun 8, 2009
The few times I've puked in the last several years have taught me that I'm a pretty good puker.  Whether it's from alcohol or that horrible malady that cursed me after Christmas '08, I tend to go through a series of thoughts before I puke. 
  1. I think I'm gonna puke.
  2. Crap.  I hate puking.
  3. I'll wait it out.
  4. Nope, I'm definitely gonna puke.
  5. Like RIGHT NOW.
  6. I'm not 7 anymore, so let me find a receptacle or a toilet.
  7. Release the beast.
  8. Take the rest of the week off because puking exhausts me.
In the end, I do the deed, and I clean up after myself.  Nobody holds my hair (also, I don't have hair) or has to clean up after me.  There are really only a handful of things in life that a person can truly be good at.  For me, puking is one of them. 

Not so for two of my friends.  One friend puked directly on me and the other friend hit the deck (literally, with puke) and employed the use of a bucket holder.  That's what happens when your life follows that of Jerry Seinfeld, whose TV character held a 14-year non-vomit streak.  I guess practice makes perfect. #health
Lunchtime walks Jun 4, 2009
I absolutely love the few minutes at or around lunch where I walk outside in the fresh air, get away from people trying to talk to me, and stop staring at a computer screen.  I find some days that suddenly the clock will strike 5pm and I'll leave work and think what exactly did I do today?  Taking a walk mid-day helps me clear my mind and focus. #health
Seizures and pleasure May 12, 2009
This article talks about a study conducted by the Department of Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2003 that concluded that certain epileptic patients experienced pleasure during seizures, some wished to continue experiencing seizures, and some could control when seizures occurred.  Said one patient: 
"It is like an emotional wave striking me again and again.  I feel compelled to obey a sort of phenomenon.  These sensations are outside the spectrum of what I ever have experienced outside a seizure."
The patient also said he experiences "a delicious taste, and he swallows repeatedly.  He enjoys the sensations and is absorbed in them in a way that he can barely hear when spoken to."  How weird is that?  I thought seizures were a negative thing. 

Also noteworthy is this quote from Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky about his epilepsy: 
"For several moments, I would experience such joy as would be inconceivable in ordinary life -- such joy that no one else could have any notion of.  I would feel the most complete harmony in myself and in the whole world and this feeling was so strong and sweet that for a few seconds of such bliss I would give ten or more years of my life, even my whole life perhaps."
However, his condition after a seizure matches what I've heard: 
"As a result of his fits he would sometimes bruise himself in falling, and his muscles would hurt him from his convulsions ... But the most important thing was that he lost his memory and for two or three days he would feel utterly broken.  His mental condition was also grievous: he could scarcely overcome his anguish and hypersensitivity."
(via Boing Boing) #health
Sick pigs May 7, 2009
A few thoughts on swine flu: 
  1. It causes flu-like symptoms, and as with normal flu, the people who die from it are old and have weak immune systems.
  2. In the US, about 36,000 people die each year from the flu.  As of today, 2 people have died in the US from swine flu.
  3. It doesn't spread by eating pork.  It spreads from person to person.
  4. An epidemic is an outbreak of disease within a country's borders.  A pandemic crosses those borders.
  5. Northwestern University professor Dr. Dirk Brockmann:  "People have a very weird perception of large numbers.  If you have 2,000 cases of flu in a country of 300 million, most people think they're going to be one of the 2,000, not one of the 299,998,000."
  6. Hoffmann-La Roche, the company that makes the flu medicine Tamiflu, is probably doing pretty well right now, despite these tough economic times.  Buy, buy, buy!
#health