Apologies for this long interval between items but we’ve been attending to some major medical issues in the family, and (I say this with my usual trepidation on all medical matters) thankfully, there seems to be a happy ending in sight. So thanks to all those who’ve waited (impatiently, I’m sure) for the next item […]
Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Whole Foods and other food merchandisers have just had to recall some vegetable products from packaged vegetable supplier Mann Packing because of fears the veggies may carry listeria, which has the potential to be a very serious infection for some people, such as the very young, seniors, and those with immune-related disorders. […]
Ever wonder why those drug ads on TV go on and on and on and on, boring you to tears by listing every single possible side effect and potential negative consequence of taking that drug (“boring to tears” is a well-known common side effect of drug advertising, by the way)? Easy: Listing every single thing […]
Full disclosure: I love love love avocados, yes, even as that millenial joke of avocado toast, but way more as an easy-to-use fruit that you can eat on its own or with another fruit like tomatoes and a bit of really good olive oil vinaigrette dressing poured on top; simply yummy – so a story […]
An interesting recent study published in Lancet Psychiatry found that a web-based program of cognitive behavioral could improve sleep in some people. There are several weaknesses in this study – online registration, self-reporting, large drop-out rate – but still, the results are encouraging in that insomnia is very prevalent and there are simply not enough […]
According to a report from the UK, 1 in 12 males is color blind and there’s no reason to believe that that’s also not true about football (soccer to us) players, too. So the next time you see one of your favourite team’s players pass the ball directly to an opposing player, before you curse […]
In yet another of the huge number or interesting studies presented recently at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, in Barcelona, Spain, researchers from Sweden looked at a huge number of heart attacks in that country’s fabulous central health register and concluded that the colder it gets, the higher the number of […]
A recent study from Japan highlighted the fact that to a certain extent at least, your brain may be what you eat. In other words, that if you eat well, there’s a better chance your brain will stay well, too. This study looked at over 13,000 people living in Ohsaki City who were 65 years […]
According to a study from Rutgers University that tracked 2,000 heterosexual couples over 30 years (published in the Journal of Ageing and Health), men who live with a woman who out-earns them are more likely to suffer from heart disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes than guys who out-earn their spouses. And this apparently held true across […]
A paper published a little while ago in Annals of Internal Medicine about PSA testing for prostate cancer (PC) garnered lots of glowing headlines because the researchers, who had re-analyzed several previous important studies on PSA testing, concluded that “PSA testing reduces the risk of dying from prostate cancer (PC)” by roughly 20 % or […]