Horrific: "American children are approximately three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications in general than children in Europe. Antidepressant and stimulant prescribing are three times greater in the US than in the Netherlands and Germany, while antipsychotic prescribing in the US is 1.5 to 2.2 times greater."
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Featured Article - Older non-smokers gain most from tobacco ban, study suggests
Featured Article - Older non-smokers gain most from tobacco ban, study suggests: "A study in New Zealand showed that, three years after a smoking ban on all workplaces was introduced, hospital admissions for heart attacks among men and women aged 55-74 fell by 9 per cent. This figure rose [increased] to 13 per cent for 55-74 year olds who had never smoked."
This is really interesting research! It basically suggests that ~4% of all MIs in 55-74 year olds is caused by second-hand smoke in public places!
Featured Article - Thrill-seeking holidaymakers are putting dolphins at risk
Featured Article - Thrill-seeking holidaymakers are putting dolphins at risk
Seems pretty obvious to me ... Wild animals are meant to be wild animals, not petting zoo objects.
Why do you think we do this to such creatures? My own theory is that most of us are so disconnected from the wild, magical, beautiful, and mysterious in our own lives and hearts that we seek it in external things.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Christians Urged to Boycott Glenn Beck - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
Train wreck.: "Last week, the conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck called on Christians to leave their churches if they heard any preaching about social or economic justice because, he claimed, those were slogans affiliated with Nazism and Communism."
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Desmond Tutu - In Africa, a step backward on human rights - washingtonpost.com
Desmond Tutu - In Africa, a step backward on human rights - washingtonpost.com:
But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. Men have been falsely charged and imprisoned in Senegal, and health services for these men and their community have suffered. In Malawi, men have been jailed and humiliated for expressing their partnerships with other men. Just this month, mobs in Mtwapa Township, Kenya, attacked men they suspected of being gay. Kenyan religious leaders, I am ashamed to say, threatened an HIV clinic there for providing counseling services to all members of that community, because the clerics wanted gay men excluded.
Uganda's parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi.
These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.
...
That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said "Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones." Gay people, too, are made in my God's image. I would never worship a homophobic God.
...
Sexual orientation, like skin color, is another feature of our diversity as a human family. Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?
Transformative scene from "V for Vendetta"
I finished watching "V for Vendetta" yesterday, and wanted to share this scene - it was just what I needed to see at exactly the right time. If you haven't seen the movie, I suggest renting it before you watch this. It's very, very good, and will provide context will enrich the viewing of this scene. (The movie is melodramatic in parts, as is par for the course for this genre.)
This scene is so powerful - monstrous and yet resonant with truth. "This is the most important moment in your life - COMMIT to it."
Saturday, March 13, 2010
NEJM -- The Israeli Field Hospital in Haiti -- Ethical Dilemmas in Early Disaster Response
NEJM -- The Israeli Field Hospital in Haiti -- Ethical Dilemmas in Early Disaster Response
A fascinating account of how some very difficult decisions were made as fairly as possible.
Friday, March 12, 2010
How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail | Mother Jones
How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail | Mother Jones
Interesting. The individuals were arresting for using Twitter to inform protesters of the recent G20 summit in Pittsburg how to avoid riot police.
Madison calls the arrest an attempt to "stifle dissent" and says his actions were "perfectly legal." His lawyer, Martin Stolar, calls them "absolutely protected speech." Madison also points out the irony that last June the State Department asked Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance so as not to interrupt Iranian protesters tweeting from the barricades.
Cancer is a preventable disease that requires majo... [Pharm Res. 2008] - PubMed result
Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes
Very cool, especially since it's published in a journal called "Pharmaceutical Research"!!!!!!!!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Doctor and Patient - A Surgeon Learns of the Choking Game - NYTimes.com
The subject of this article is grim but really important. It's important to educate yourself and the young people in your life that this activity is extremely dangerous. The article also lists signs that can warn of a child participating in such "games".
snip:
"Until recently, there has been little attention among heal...th care
professionals to this particular form of youthful thrill-seeking. What
has been known, however, is that children ages 7 to 21 participate in
such activities alone or in groups, holding their breath, strangling
one another or dangling in a noose in the hopes of attaining a legal
high.
"Two years ago the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 82 deaths attributable to the choking game and related activities. This year the C.D.C. released the results of the first statewide survey and found that one in three eighth graders in Oregon had heard of the choking game, while more than one in 20 had participated."
Monday, March 01, 2010
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