Health

Virology Blog Offers Level-Headed Take on Swine Flu

If you're looking for solid information on swine flu from sources who haven't lapsed into hysterics, Professor Vincent Racaniello of Columbia University Medical Center, who has studied viruses for 30 years, publishes an excellent Virology Blog that's heavy on facts and short on panic. Racaniello believes the flu will stop spreading soon in the U.S. for the same reason that ordinary seasonal flus fade every year around this time, but it could come back stronger in the fall: Flu season is ... (read more)

2009/04/28

But Never Sip From That Cup Again

Today's healthy living tip from Primate Brow Flash: Matt turned me on to a use for old sippy-cups. They work perfectly as Neti Pots! Fill with warm salt water (1/4 teaspoon salt to 1 cup warm water), lean over a sink, tip your head sideways and jam the nozzle of the sippy cup into the higher nostril and pour. You will feel the salt water fill your nasal passages and then it will fall out of your other nostril. It left me with feeling of cleanliness in an entirely new place. ... Note. If water ... (read more)

2007/12/06

Dealing with a Newborn's Group B Strep Diagnosis

My three-day-old newborn niece has been battling a bacterial infection since she was 12 hours old. They confirmed a preliminary diagnosis of Group B Strep yesterday and have her in the hospital's neonatal ICU while she's treated with the antibiotic Penicillin G. She's had some setbacks, but the last 24 hours have gone well. As you can imagine, we're fishing for information on what can be done to help her beat the infection and fully recover. I've found a Group B Strep mailing list on Yahoo, but ... (read more)

2007/08/21

Doctor Has a Beef With Health Claims in Food Ads

One of the more interesting blogs I've discovered recently is Weighty Matters, a weight-loss and wellness blog by Yoni Freedhoff, a Canadian doctor who exposes efforts to make unhealthy food sound like it's good for you. Freedhoff began his career as a family physician, but switched gears and started the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa, Canada, because he "quickly became frustrated prescribing medications for conditions that could be controlled with lifestyle changes. ... It's much more ... (read more)

2007/04/23

Child Dies While Parent Plays EverQuest

EverQuest is an addictive and time-consuming game that has attracted thousands of players who devote 10-20 hours a week or more to the game -- hence the nickname "EverCrack." Support groups have started on the Web for the families of players, such as the Spouses Against EverQuest mailing list. One of the members of that list is Christina Cordell, a woman who faces a felony charge of manslaughter related to the Aug. 8 death of her 3-year-old daughter. Brianna Cordell became trapped in the family ... (read more)

2003/08/20