November 2005

An economic look at medical marijuana

November 22, 2005

The case for legal pot use A Harvard University professor of economics, Jeffrey Miron, has crunched the numbers, and he’s determined that legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion annually in money spent on enforcing dope laws. That breaks down to $5.3 billion in savings for state and local governments, and $2.4 billion in cost reductions [...]

Read the full article →

On Yiddish

November 22, 2005

This post really has nothing to do with medicine. It does explain much of my heritage. ‘The Tongue Is the Pen of the Heart’: As Yiddish ‘Dies,’ Yiddish Lives My father’s family and my wife’s parents spoke Yiddish. Yiddish as a language shaped a culture, and that culture in many ways helped shaped my approach [...]

Read the full article →

Another one bites the dust

November 22, 2005

Many in our society want “supplements” (pronounced magic potions) to help with various ailments. I do not understand the fascination with supplements – but I suppose that is results from excellent marketing. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate do not work – Joint Dispute David Felson, chair of the clinical epidemiology unit at the Boston University Medical [...]

Read the full article →

Pass the beans and olive oil

November 21, 2005

I do love my olive oil! For the past couple of years, I always ask for olive oil in lieu of butter for my bread. It tastes better, and data increasingly suggest it is healthier. Diets rich in olive oil, beans benefit heart, study shows I had always heard that beans are good for your [...]

Read the full article →

20 somethings play around with prescriptions

November 18, 2005

I assume many readers saw this article – Young, Assured and Playing Pharmacist to Friends For a sizable group of people in their 20′s and 30′s, deciding on their own what drugs to take – in particular, stimulants, antidepressants and other psychiatric medications – is becoming the norm. Confident of their abilities and often skeptical [...]

Read the full article →

Sometimes medical schools are stupid

November 17, 2005

Other bloggers have done a great job on this story: How did pseudoscience get admitted to medical school? by Dr. RW Is political correctness one of the reasons med schools are teaching ” complementary Medicine”? from our favorite “retired doc” This rants should bother you – they certainly bother me. I have taken a stand [...]

Read the full article →

Of roller coasters and dogs

November 16, 2005

Study Identifies Heart Patient’s Best Friend For people hospitalized with advanced heart disease, it is better to have visitors than to lie quietly alone. But one type of visitor seems to be especially beneficial, researchers reported on Tuesday. That visitor is a dog. In the first controlled study of the effects of pet therapy in [...]

Read the full article →

Finally the British take advantage of cannabis

November 15, 2005

Cannabis high ‘eases joint pains’ A study by scientists in Bath shows cannabis can significantly ease the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. Taken in medicine form, the class C drug was shown to improve the pain of movement, pain at rest, quality of sleep and ease inflammation. The researchers say the element of the drug which [...]

Read the full article →

A new quotation

November 15, 2005

Periodically I add quotations to my sidebar (I never seem to remove any!). I really like this one from Nietzsche – “It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!” And that describes me well!!! viagra free viagra buy viagra online generic viagra how does viagra work cheap viagra [...]

Read the full article →

The finances of outpatient adult practice – the plight of family medicine and GIM

November 15, 2005

I had dinner with some family docs last night and we spent some time complaining about reimbursement and overhead (I know this is a boring but necessary topic). This conversation only took about 10% of our conversation. As we conversed I considered 2 articles in this week’s AMNews (subscription only) – Battle looming over Senate’s [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →