Birth Control Pills Soon to be Abortion

That's right folks, the Bush administration continues its war on science and its practitioners by redefining the term "abortion". This move attempts to try and cover more people under pre-existing laws concerning medical procedures and provider's abilities to refuse them.

Under the new definition of "assist in the performance" people such as the instrument sterilizers can now refuse to participate if they feel abortion or any other procedure goes against their personal beliefs. No word yet on whether the custodians who clean the operating floors will come under this protection (though I severely doubt it considering the intent of this move).

The definition of abortion though is the one that people should be scared of. Traditionally an abortion has involved terminating pregnancy after the embryo has successfully implanted in the uterus. The new definition, one which more closely resembles the religious beliefs of the administration at the expense of the science and medical tradition, is much, much, much broader:

Therefore, for the purpose of these proposed regulations, and implementing and enforcing the Church Amendment, Public Health Service Act AS245, and the Weldon Amendment, the Department proposes to define abortion as "any of the various procedures--including the prescription and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action--that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation."

This is a major, major change in the definition which brings every form of contraception under its umbrella. Birth control pills, plan B, even IUD's.

Women should be appalled at this, as well as the myriad reproductive rights and care the administration has taken away from them. Please contact your representatives and tell them where you stand on this. Things start off on a slow roll, such as allowing Viagra to be covered under insurance but not birth control, and eventually take a mind of their own (now we'll just adjust the definition of abortion to bring those techniques under scrutiny).

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

Vaccination and Asthma Shown to be Unlinked

Recently in the news there has been rumblings about a link between childhood immunization and asthma, which causes many parents to be concerned. Epi Wonk has written a post detailing a meta-analysis study published in the journal Pediatrics in November 2007 which found no statistical significant association between childhood vaccination and asthma.

I fully bow to Epi Wonk's writing on the subject (he is a now retired medical school professor and senior epidemiologist at the CDC) and thought I'd pass along some of his more pertinent information on the subject. Some of this information is very important, as the authors of the Pediatrics paper put it:

“It is important that researchers clarify this issue, because… the
perception that immunization causes asthma may become a significant
determinant of parents’ attitudes toward routine vaccination of their
children.”

A few important points I took away from Epi Wonk's discussion of the study. 1) The literature was scoured for randomized controlled and relevant birth-cohort studies from 1966 to March 2006. 2) To be included, each study had to meet three criteria: Directly compared vaccinated and unvaccinated children; Validated vaccination status by medical charts; Used preset criteria to define asthma.

This front-end criteria are very important for any review or meta-analysis because it will define the significance of the results received. Epi Wonk's last statement sums this up nicely. After pouring over the data and confirming the results it is important to qualify the significance of the results based on the input criteria, here's Epi:

A recent systematic literature review of high-quality studies that directly compared vaccinated and unvaccinated children, validated vaccination status by medical charts, and used preset criteria to define asthma found no association between childhood vaccination and asthma.

This is a good time to relate how the science works to the larger public community. I have been stressing the front end criteria of this study for a reason, by using these criteria the subject of the study is narrowed significantly, meaning this is not an overriding, large-scale study that was seeking to define the complete link between vaccination and asthma. This study was simply to define correlations within birth-cohort studies.

Birth-cohorts themselves are subject to a great deal of bias (something the author of the study acknowledges) and are extremely intensive in the front-end planning stages. A mini symposium on birth cohort studies published in 2002 in the journal Pediatric Respiratory Reviews examined the experience of a large, 10-year birth-cohort study conducted in Germany (Nickel R, Niggeman B, Gruber C, Kulig M, Wahn U, Lau S. Paediatric Respiratory Reviews. Sep 2002; Vol 3; Issue 3: 169-176) . The report detailed some difficulties encountered including changing nursing staff over the years which led to different bookkeeping and even patient evaluation scores. Racial differences need to be accounted for by including as many different genotypic backgrounds. The births need to be carefully selected to be evenly distributed over a 12 month period in order to account for seasonal affects. One of the largest problems is lost subjects, those who tend to not be affected by a disease will more regularly drop out of the study, pushing a bias towards those who are affected and are more likely to continue making their appointments. Interestingly enough it was found that as the personnel at the study centers changed the loss of subjects jumped significantly.

Recall bias is also an interesting phenomenon within studies where those affected by a disease under study, or who have had family members with the disease, can more frequently recall symptoms or are more observant of their child.

Epi Wonk himself shows how these studies need to be taken in the context in which the plan is laid out. He details a study conducted in Canada which shows that the timing of vaccination affects the risk of developing childhood asthma. This should show an obvious deficiency about the study, a variable that the study was not concerned about and cannot speak about. It doesn't mean that the study was not significant or not performed correctly, in fact in means the exact opposite; that the authors correctly narrowed down the significance of the results to mirror the criteria that was established before the study took place. The authors themselves even say "the multitude of biases in studies that have used a birth-cohort design stress the need for additional adequately controlled, large scale studies."

And there you have it, being able to identify the significance of data based on the parameters in which the data is being examined.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

The Coolidge Effect, Sexual Dysfunction

I'm sure Calvin Coolidge never thought he would be associated with a fundamental tenet of sexual behavior, but a story occurring during the 30th U.S. President's term (1923-1929) on a Midwest farm put him in the sexual behavior textbooks forever.

As the story goes President Coolidge was a visiting a farm with his wife. While the President was elsewhere, the farmer proudly showed Mrs. Coolidge a rooster that "could copulate with hens all day long, day after day." Mrs. Coolidge coyly suggested that the farmer tell that to Mr. Coolidge, which he did.

The President thought for a moment and then inquired, "With the same hen?"

"No, sir," replied the farmer.

"Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge," retorted the President.

So what exactly is the Coolidge effect? An experiment using a furry male rat and a harem of willing females has been used as the classic model.

When you drop a male rat into a cage with a receptive female rat, you see an initial frenzy of copulation. Then, progressively, the male rat tires of that particular female. Even without an apparent change in her receptivity he reaches a point where he has little libido-and simply ignores her. However, if you replace the original female rat with a fresh one, the male immediately revives and begins copulating again. You can repeat this process with fresh females until the rat nearly dies of exhaustion.

Dopamine, a neurochemical which floods the reward center of the primitive brain, reinvigorates the rat when a new female is presented. The reward center is located deep within the limbic system, the center of emotions, drives, impulses, and subconcious decision-making. When dopamine rushes into the reward center the urge to take actions that further our survival or pass on our genes is activated. Eating, sex, bonding with offspring, and taking risks are all actions associated with this response.

In reality we are all addicted to dopamine. It's not that you crave the ice cream, the winning lotto ticket, or a romp in the sack. You crave the dopamine, that short rewarding blast. All addictive substances and activities increase dopamine. It's the whole reason things are addictive (and orgasms are highly addictive, being compared to shooting heroin in brain scans). But like all addictive substances, dopamine doesn't give a lasting pleasure. As soon as dopamine successfully motivates a behavior, it drops off, awaiting the next opportunity to push you around.

This drop in dopamine is a trigger of the Coolidge effect (along with novelty itself). Following orgasm, instead of wallowing in bliss and feeding off of the thrilling anticipation as when your dopamine was high, you now feel flat, even needy. The orgasms themselves trigger this drop in dopamine. While dopamine is low you are very susceptible to anything at all that will raise it again, calorie-rich food, gambling, alcohol, shopping sprees, cocaine, internet porn, or sex.

One of the most effective ways to immediately regain this blast of feel-good neurochemicals is to find a new potential sex partner. Over time this new partner too will lose the shine and novelty is the only way to regain this blast (whips, chains, and handcuffs anyone?).

The Coolidge effect has been observed in all mammals tested and even is observed in females, who will flirt and present themselves more around a potential new male partner.

Evolutionarily, the effect makes good sense. A novel female provides a new set of genes to tap into, and by mixing genes with multiple members of the available gene pool, the male generates more biological diversity in his offspring increasing the overall likelihood of survival of any one group of his kids. Of course the motivation behind evolution is to continue to pass your genes on to the next generation, to survive, but today we don't live in an evolutionarily driven world. Our species has constructed a detailed and highly schematic representation of satisfying life, one that revolves around the pursuits of the individual as well as social acuity.

This leads to an interesting conundrum where our own biology drives and motivates us to perform acts that may cause us social harm, even instability. This sexual driven mechanism does not regard the value of a committed relationship entirely in the interest of propelling your genes onward. Love and intimacy have shown to be a powerful determinant of health, leading to speedy recoveries, longevity, reduced internal stress, and social satiety.  The drive away from love deprives the self of the social satisfaction of love.

The Coolidge effect is strictly a temporary fix that will ultimately leave you feeling depleted, with your new partner not able to satisfy you any more than your previous one. Love, on the other hand, is a long term social bond that should reciprocate satisfaction much more regularly than the chase for another mate. So the biological drive is subverting the social responsibility of monogamy, one that has to be reconciled within the individual. Young adults know this process very well, as they like to call it "settling down." The time when you start feeling the need to find a long-term mate and commit to the emotional rewards of a close partner, while leaving behind the old life of being promiscuous.

I think this is a really interesting feature of society that we have constructed upon ourselves. As we have bred the natural and wild instincts out of our domesticated animals (or muted them to satisfaction) we ourselves are domesticating our own biological mechanisms to fit the rules our society has deemed acceptable. The brain has to deal with this disconnect between pleasing the biological self (by having multiple partners) or pleasing the social self (by having a long-term partner).

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

Texas GOP passes Theocratic Platform

The Texas Republican Party Convention has just ended and their platform has been set for this election cycle. The Texas Freedom Network has delved into the document and highlighted some key points, but really this is the same document the party has used for the last three election cycles. The platform calls for religious zealotry and the destruction of separation of church and state. The party's assault on religious freedom for all people, regardless of beliefs, has been renewed once more. The far-right extremists once again pushed a platform that calls on government to promote their own religious views above all others, here are some highlights.

• The Texas GOP declares that "America is a nation under God founded on Judeo-Christian principles" and that the party is pledged "toward dispelling the myth of separation of church and state." [pp 18]
• "We support school subjects with emphasis on the Judeo-Christian principles upon which America was founded and which form the basis of America's legal, political and economic systems." [pp 17]
• "We oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit, or remove public display of the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) or other religious symbols." [pp 11]

The platform also reaffirmed support for policies that undermine public schools, sound science and medical research.

• The GOP would challenge the teaching of evolution in science classes by promoting "intelligent design"/creationism and the so-called "weaknesses" of theories such as evolution. [pp 17] The platform does not recognize that evolution is the foundation of all biological sciences.
• Texas Republicans "oppose any sex education other than abstinence until heterosexual marriage." This position prohibits teaching students age-appropriate, medically accurate information about birth control and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. [pp 17]
• The party not only rejects medical research involving embryonic stem cells, it calls for imposing criminal penalties on medical professionals and scientists who engage in such research. [pp 14]
• The state GOP supports shuttling millions of dollars from public schools to pay for private and religious school tuition through tax-funded vouchers. It opposes requiring that private and religious schools, even those receiving tax-funded vouchers, meet any state standards and other regulations set for public schools. [pp 16] The platform also calls for the abolition of property taxes, which provide nearly all local funding for public schools in Texas. [pp 21]
• The party supports granting the heavily politicized State Board of Education sole authority over content in and the adoption of public school textbooks. [pp 16] In 1995, due to hundreds of changes in textbooks to meet personal, political and religious objections by the state board, the Legislature limited the state board's authority.
• Texas Republicans call for the abolition of the U.S. Department of Education and government-sponsored programs that deal with early childhood development. [pp 16, 17]

Page 19 of the platform declares that Texas Republicans "deplore all discrimination." Yet the platform also calls for widespread and systematic discrimination against those who are not heterosexual.

• The platform calls to support "sodomy" laws in order to fine and/or imprison adults who engage in private, consensual sexual intimacy with someone of the same gender. [pp12]
  
• The party would push for a federal constitutional amendment banning any state from permitting same-sex marriages or any other legal recognition of or benefits for same-sex relationships. Issuing marriage licenses or performing civil ceremonies for same-sex couples would constitute a felony charge. [pp 12]
• The party supports the repeal of the state's hate crime statute. [pp 19]

And to top it all off we have the platform trying to trash what good the Texas government has done or is trying to do.

• The Texas GOP opposes any taxes or regulations designed to deal with the serious threat of climate change. [pp 21]
• The platform calls on the state Legislature to transfer the powers and funding needed to investigate and prosecute charges of government corruption (such as former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land) from the Travis County Public Integrity Unit to another body. [pp 11]
• The party opposes mandatory vaccination programs for infectious diseases that endanger children in public schools and the general public outside them. [pp 16]
• The state party reaffirmed its hostility toward the international community by calling for the U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations as well as the World Trade Organization. It also opposes measures, such as the Endangered Species Act, that protect the environment. [pp 9]
• The party supports the repeal of the minimum wage laws. [pp 22]

There are many more topics including opposing women's reproductive rights, threatening judicial independence, and weakening civil/equal rights that are included in the document and if you have a few hours and are ready to get your mind blown I suggest you try and read the full document. Then maybe you'll have a better understanding why the school system in Texas is about to get blown to shit, because it is run by neocons who are in bed with the religious right and the GOP to steer education toward their spiritual beliefs.

In all honesty this isn't a new document, but you would think that eventually the party would come to terms with the fallacy of Judeo-Christian superiority.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

Oh My, You Took Pictures of My What?

Here it is in all of its life-giving glory. The actual act of ovulation caught on camera in humans for the first time.
Here's the article from the BBC describing how Gynaecologist (Brits spell funny) Dr. Jacques Donnez spotted and filmed the act of ovulation for the first time during a routine hysterectomy. Pretty incredible stuff.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

Can We Really Eliminate a Virus? The Polio Puzzle

On Wednesday a milestone was established in the fight for the eradication of polio. It has been one year since the last reported case of the childhood disease in Myanmar (data usually takes a month or two to collect so this may change). That makes two countries this year, the other being Somalia, who have surpassed a year without an outbreak in 2008. Currently polio is endemic in four countries: Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. The organizations who fight the disease encounter a two-fold challenge in each of these countries; immunize all children under 5 with enough doses to be effective, and contain the disease within the country until it can be eliminated. These challenges are further complicated by war, political insecurity, famine and distrust of medicine. To overcome these roadblocks and eliminate the disease will require supreme diligence and innovative ideas from those on the ground in these last few strongholds which continue to spawn cases of polio.

The press to eradicate polio across the globe started in 1988. The World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, UNICEF, and most developed countries (with the US far and ahead with greater than $1,000 million US donated so far) set out to conquer the disease that was endemic to over 125 countries. 20 years later only 4 countries suffer through a constant battle to interrupt transmission. 10 other countries reported infections in 2007 and all but 2 have had cases this year (the total cases to-date in 2008 is 453 globally).

One major factor standing in the way of success in many of these countries is political instability and war. Afghanistan and Somalia, as well as parts of Pakistan and Ethiopia, suffer from armed conflicts that make "vaccination logistically difficult and unpredictable at best." But the will of the people on the ground, doctors and volunteers who want to make a difference in their home countries, finds ways to operate around such dangerous situations. Negotiations for 'days of tranquility' (the suspension of hostilities in order to allow for vaccination) have been successful in Sudan and previously in Somalia and Ethiopia. These individuals show great courage and determination in the face of a major roadblock. Many times simply receiving and delivering vaccinations with the workers is a strain on the patience with multiple searches and questions. Soldiers don't take to kindly to strangers, especially those who create large crowds of citizens. But there are success stories from countries with far worse conditions than any face today. Bangladesh, Vietnam, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe all offered serious problems. Polio was eradicated from Angola in the midst of a civil war. In 2002 an outbreak in Kandahar was stopped by a WHO-led mop up crew despite the Afghan war. Currently Afghanistan faces challenges with a power struggle happening in the country. Basic supplies are in short order, many parts are barren or hard to reach by vehicle, and regional conflict has made most villages wary of any outsiders. This final roadblock presents a whole new challenge for the eradication efforts.

Once the organizations have been allowed to organize a vaccination effort the ground campaign must begin to recruit trained medical personnel and volunteers to monitor and administer the vaccine. A huge part of this effort is to inform citizens of the intentions and purpose of the operation. Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon from the United States, traveled to his family's native India after his residency to volunteer in the fight against polio. In his book, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, Gawande writes,

One difficulty came up repeatedly--from local doctors, from villagers, from workers trudging house to house. The question was: Why? Why this huge polio campaign when what we need is--fill in the blank here--clean water (diarrheal illness kills 500,000 Indian children per year), better nutrition (half of children under three have stunted growth), working septic systems (which would help prevent polio as well as other diseases), irrigation (so a single rainless season would not impoverish farming families)? We saw neighborhoods that had had outbreaks of malaria, tuberculosis, cholera. But no one important had come to visit in years. Now one case of polio occurs and the infantry marches in?

There are no simple answers to this question because truly the access to clean water, or good nutrition would save a larger number of children than polio eradication ever will. I know I would have trouble answering questions like that, I know I would explain I was there to do what I could, and polio eradication has been decided as what I can do. An old saying explains a better reason maybe; if you're starving, becoming paralyzed certainly isn't going to help. While it is harsh it is true, the doctors on the ground are just following what they can do to help. These guys are truly what makes the eradication goal a feasible one, the ability to organize and convince the population of the importance in the face of true struggle is a skill that a large organization cannot achieve, only in small step swill individuals gain the trust of an entire population.

Perhaps the goal of global eradication of polio is an absurd ambition, India alone creates a new pool of potential polio victims the size of Venezuela's entire population. Staying caught up means organizing a mammoth campaign to immunize every child under 5, and the cost has been overwhelming. So far about $3 billion has been spent worldwide, more than six hundred dollars a case. To put that in perspective the total health care budget for India's government in 2003 amounted to four dollars per person. The truth is, no cost-benefit analysis calculus can assure us just now that the money is well spent. But this remains a task that as a civilization we can do that would benefit mankind forever. The eradication of smallpox was a gift from the previous generation to all who are to come, and now, perhaps, the eradication of polio can, too. But it will be achieved on the backs of those on the ground who represent a monument to the perfection of performance, showing what can be achieved through diligent detail coupled with great ambition.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

What Does the Hannah Poling Case Prove?

I figured I'd take a minute to address the Hannah Poling case since it deals with a topic I've covered here multiple times; the link (or non-link) of vaccines and autism. Earlier this year the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was sued by the Poling family under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and won. They successfully argued that vaccines Hannah had received, specifically diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), varicella, and inactivated polio, caused her to develop autism spectrum disorder.

Ok, that's a lot of medical mumbo jumbo, here's the important part; the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). This program was created in 1986 because lawyers had sued almost all pharmaceutical companies out of existence, claiming vaccines were the reason for cases of sudden infant death syndrome to epilepsy. By the time it came into existence there was only one manufacturer of the diptheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine left in the market. The government stepped in with the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which included the creation of the VICP. The Act called for an excise tax on every vaccine and the VICP compiled a list of compensable injuries. If studies supported the notion that vaccines caused a negative reaction -- thrombocytopenia after receipt of measles containing vaccine -- children and their families were given a fair reimbursement quickly and fairly. The number of lawsuits against vaccine makers decreased.

Unfortunately the VICP has recently turned its back on science. In 2005 a woman successfully claimed that a tetanus vaccine caused her optic neuritis. Although there was no evidence, published or otherwise, to support her claim, the VICP ruled that if a petitioner proposed a biologically "plausible" mechanism by which a vaccine could cause harm, as well as a logical sequence of cause and effect, an award should be granted. This opened the door to compensation being given for a whole new host of conditions which have no set of data to prove or disprove the claims.

In 2006 the VICP deviated farther from its original standards than it ever had before when Dorothy Werderitsh successfully claimed that a hepatitis B vaccine caused her multiple sclerosis. By the time of the ruling, several studies had shown that the hep B vaccine neither caused nor exacerbated the disease, and the Institute of Medicine even concluded that "evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the two." But the VICP was less impressed by the scientific literature than it was with an expert's proposal of a mechanism by which hep B vaccine could induce autoimmunity (an ironic conclusion, given that Dorothy Wederitsh never had a detectable immune response to the vaccine).

Here are some facts: Natural infections will exacerbate autism spectrum disorder in patients with mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies (what Hannah Poling has), vaccines haven't shown the same. Children with this disorder are especially susceptible to infection so it is recommended they receive all vaccines.

A belief that multiple vaccines overwhelm the immune system is floating around the anti-vax camp. But a century ago children received one vaccine, smallpox, which contained 200 structural and nonstructural proteins. Today, the 14 vaccines given to children contain a total of 150 immunologic components.

Maybe the most important point of this case is that the government has eroded the confidence in the vaccination system without any concrete evidence of mass panic. The problem with letting a few kids skip out or having parents opt out of vaccination compromises herd immunity, a pillar of the vaccination theory. Consequences should be weighed next time a decision like this is made instead of caving to media and political pressure, a precedent has been laid down.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

Hypocrisy Smells Bad

Yesterday there was a pretty good comment war on this article I posted yesterday, concerning the vaccine-autism misinformation out there. I got a few comments concerned that I don't consider the mercury/vaccine/mitochondrial disorder/antivax flavor of the day to autism connection serious. In fact I do, and fully support continued funding on vaccine research and their singular and cumulative effect on multiple subpopulations of the world. But mercury is gone and every study has either shown inconclusive or negative causation results so I don't like people spreading unnecessary fear about a highly complicated and extremely important public health pillar.

But here's what gets me, the same people telling me that vaccines cause autism and that the government should more highly scrutinize vaccines aren't up in arms over Bush's CO₂ and ozone policies. Here's a real fact, in a study of 13 Italian cities (200,000 inhabitants) 0.6% of total mortality (over 500 deaths, equivalent to about 6,000 years) was attributed to ozone levels over 70μg/m³ (micrograms/meter cubed). Using a little math we can put that in a number we use over here in the US at 58.13ppm (for you science nerds who wanna check my math I used the density of dry air at 20C and 101.325kPa). I hope I didn't lose everyone with the science and math cause here comes the important information.

At 58ppm over 500 deaths were attributed Ozone in 13 Italian cities.
This is live data for the ozone levels in Texas in ppm as of 3 pm. 12 out of the 20 monitoring stations reported measurements as high as those that caused 6,000 years of loss in Italian cities, and this is over a much larger population. Now here's the scary part of that important information.
Due to formatting problems (link to full map with legend) I couldn't get the legend up but the green area represents "Good" quality air. That's not what the previous map told me though, it told me that Italians living at that level were dying specifically from the exposure. How can levels of this sort be considered safe, and not only safe but good? There is some sort of hypocrisy going on here because a substance that has been proven (I just used one study of real world data for an example) to harm humans is allowed to persist at these levels. Anybody care to take a guess why?

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

The "French Paradox"

Outside of the medical community, the "French paradox" probably sounds like a joke about cheese and surrender, but it is a very real phenomenon. It has been observed that the French suffer a low incidence of coronary heart disease, despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats and cholesterol.

A new study released in the journal Euromed (Volume 1:3, April 1, 2008 pp 13-26) applied the French paradox to other populations successfully. In an eight year, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, Americans from two urban areas were fed either their usual diet, or a typical French diet, including, but not limited to, wine with all meals (except breakfast, if breakfast occurred before 8am), foie gras at least three times weekly, butter-based sauces, and crusty bread. In another arm of the study, an urban French population was given a "typical American" diet, including, but not limited to, at least one meal of fast food daily, four servings of soda-pop, and other specialty foods, such as Philly cheese steaks, Chicago hot dogs, and Detroit coney islands.

While Dr. Etienne D'Estang was sure to mention the results were by no means conclusive,

"it appears that a typical French diet, which includes red wine, foie gras,
and butter, can improve the health of populations unaccustomed to such
habits. Our study did not reveal the reason behind this effect, in
which Americans who were on the diet gained an average of 21% increase
in longevity, but it appears to be a certain je ne sais quoi. On l'autre main, the French population exposed to typical American merde lost an average of 50% longevity."

Now I like her style, but I couldn't find anything that explained the metric for "longevity." Either way, I'm pretty sure its not hard to imagine that switching away from the "typical American" foods could do anything but benefit you. America really is a fat nation and its apparently getting worse with our kids. I know I have gone through spans where I could consider what I ate anything but healthy. But as time has progressed my body has begun failing to deal with the rigors of an unhealthy lifestyle.

I will admit I'm a lucky one and I would eat anything I wanted and didn't gain a pound, but the effects have been felt recently. I guess its true that age does get to you but I didn't think 24 (25 on Friday!) would make me feel so old. I now realize a lot of that was my lifestyle and that has changed but it wasn't easy. Most of the unhealthiest places to eat are quick to remind you how easy and cheap it is to just get something. And people really do have limited time to shop, prepare and cook meals for most meals of the week. But I'm here to tell you that its possible and the earlier you start the faster you'll feel the effects.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

Canadian Healthcare myth (Emergency rooms)

On scienceblogs.com, revere has posted another article busting a myth about Canadian Healthcare. This time he tackles the Emergency Room.

Here's my take on the health care debate over managed vs. universal care.

I think there's three big points that should be considered when deciding which would be a more appropriate system.

1. What are countries who are changing or updating their system their system doing? Europe, Asia, Australia, and Canada. These places all practice some form of socialized healthcare. Whether its a mixed system or purely national most countries have consistently moved away from privately managed care. And when these countries update their systems they all turn to the Nordic countries, who have developed the most progressive healthcare policies.

2. What is the cost per annum? In 2005 the US spent the most of any country per person according to John's Hopkins University. This is obviously not a good reflection on our current system.

3. How do we fare against other countries on benchmark health stats? Well on infant mortality we rank just a little below Cuba, meaning for every 1 of our little red blooded baseball playin' boys who dies young there's an extra Cuban commie waving that red flag around cause his healthcare system is better, chew on that math. In life expectancy we're not too bad, in this study by the WHO we're 24th, others say lower. We're also the fattest, most plastic surgery having, second most aborting nation.

So I think its pretty obvious there is a problem and there are a few aspects of a new health care system should address to improve the system.

I'm ok with a mixed or two-tiered system as long as the national enrollment had to be accepted by all doctors, covers all preventative, normal treatments, and emergency care. This is very important because doctors make a lot of money right now because they deserve it. Go to any hospital in the US and follow a doctor around for 14 hours. Then go home and eat and go back to the hospital when he gets called two hours later and hang out with him there for another 6 hours until he gets to leave. And then do it again the next day, 6 days a week, all year.

The point is they do work hard because our large treatment facilities are absolutely loaded with people who could be seen by a family doctor with a thermometer and prescription pad. But instead the guys that know how to cut open chests and sew up blood vessels are filling out paperwork for the 30 prescriptions they give out to see children with the flu! The flu people, something no emergency room can do anything to help you with. But the problem is these families can't afford to walk into a private doctors office. ER care will improve and the system will be far less burdened with clogged institutions.

This in turn offers better overall community health because people don't have to pay to go to the doctor yearly, or don't have to show up to the ER 15 times in a year for a newborn. Consistent screening and preventative care will do a lot to stop late stage diseases, like cancer.

This country is one of the few that has serious doubts about evolution and believes in a great creator that gives everyone the same love but when it comes to healthcare has a pay or die attitude, that doesn't add up.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...

Sex life need a boost?

If so try making your woman wear high heels. Researchers out of Italy have discovered that wearing high heels had beneficial effects on subjects sex lives. The Courier Mail picked up on this with a short article about the study.

Its pretty easy to see why high heels would improve women's sex lives. The more toned and elastic the floor pelvic muscles become arousal increases due to improved voluntary spasm control around the most sensitive areas. Having to stand on your toes all day requires a great deal of tonal and coordination ability between the halves of the hips and enforces strong core movements upon walking. Another aspect is the mental association of feeling sexy how that motivation can spur arousal and eventually climax. Heels, to both men and women, are almost universally sexy and the elongation of the legs and torso lead to a more graceful figure which accentuates hips and breasts.

In truth as a future medical provider I would never recommend women wear heels everyday. The effect of prolonged torsion on the bones and tendons in the foot cause musculature problems which eventually lead to deformation of the bones and increased stress on all areas of the back and abdominal support structure. By no means am I advocating the dismissal of high heels as I fall into the trap of male infatuation with high heels and skirts, but by all means ladies, there are better ways to improve your sexual pleasure. Kegels are wonderful excercies (for you too guys) as most all muscles (except those controlling climax) involved in sex are highly skeletal in nature and can be manipulated by the self. Increased muscular dexterity not only leads to a more controlled sexual experience but also a general increase in blood flow to the pubic area associated with muscle building and toning. So if you can't get motivated to work out sit on your couch and do some Kegels, you'll not only be getting in better shape, you'll be improving your sex life.

More After the Fold...

Summary only...