One epidemic, two problems

Last week, the New York Times reported on the current epidemic of Dengue fever in Key West, FL, so let’s back up a bit and get a larger view of this. Dengue fever is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes.  It’s the most common arthropod-borne illness in the world, but, like malaria, has been [...]

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Scotch Whiskey

I’m not going to lie, folks: today has been pretty horrid.  Around five this morning MrsPal and I found out that our friend had just died.  It wasn’t unexpected, but since when does that matter?  In the poor timing characteristic of real life, MrsPal and PalKid left town today on a long-ago-planned journey, leaving me [...]

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Speaking of the internets…

There was an interesting story on Tell Me More yesterday about the various digital divide(s).  African Americans are strongly represented on twitter, accounting for perhaps 25% of twitter users.  Also, minorities tend to make more complete use of mobile technology than whites/Anglos. I find that fascinating.  Europe and Japan seem to have been ahead of [...]

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Twenty years, another world

My family has always been quick to embrace new technology.  When my oldest sister went off to college in the early mid-70s, her university was unusual in that it had a computing center and apparently (I was a wee lad at the time) encouraged education in computing.  When I was slightly less wee, my middle [...]

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Still under construction

Please be patient. This place is full of cobwebs. I’m trying to get everything up and running, including features I hadn’t realized weren’t here. The blogroll is very , very old, and will be updated—I promise.

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Old-new digs

So, welcome…or welcome back.  Either way, White Coat Underground is going to be hanging around here for a little bit while I prepare some other things. My explanations for the move is basically one of ethics and credibility, and is documented back at the Scienceblogs site.  I enjoyed my time at Sb immeasurably, but it [...]

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Ethics and goals: always a challenge

My formal ethical training began in medical school with an introduction to the basic concepts of medical ethics. This training continued as I encountered difficult cases and thought through them, often with the help of the hospital ethics committee. While I haven’t continued my formal education in ethics, I’ve continued my own reading, and I [...]

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Reminder: Whooping cough is serious business

I shouldn’t see any cases of pertussis (“whooping cough”), but I do. We have a safe, effective and affordable vaccine. But still, people are getting this disease. In the age group I see (adults), immunity has often waned, and if they haven’t been revaccinated, they can get the disease and pass it on. In adults [...]

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HuffPo blogger claims skin cancer is conspiracy

I was a bit torn when trying to figure out how to approach this piece.  A reader emailed me about an article in the Huffington Post, and there is so much wrong with it that I felt overwhelmed.  My solution is to focus on a few of the problems that can help illuminate broader points. [...]

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Would this work in Kansas?

Catherine Shoichet, a reporter at CNN, is reporting on a unique (as far as I know) public health intervention. For a few bucks, a randy Switzer can have a three pack of condoms delivered by bike in one hour. How cool is that?

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Update on Pepsipocalypse

The crack SEED management team has made some significant changes on the new Pepsi nutrition blog. They have placed a small, grey band on the banner that says “Advertorial” (a word I abhor, but whatever). They have also placed the Pepsi logo everywhere and made it fairly clear that it is Pepsi content. This is a [...]

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Ironic nostalgia

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An unfortunate happening

Our beloved, beat-up laptop is ill–very ill. The family is considering consenting to a Do Not Resuscitate order. Symptoms of this grave illness include inability to exit the start up screen and freezing up in “safe mode”. The agonal Blue Screen of Death has not yet appeared, but is believed to be immanent.

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Happy Valentine’s Day

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Crisler and his boyz go all classy

An inside source on Crisler’s non-steroid-fueled “muscleboards.com” (which is now reg-protected) has fed me some classy stuff: And someone told me he thinks PalMD is a child molestor. That is why he does not post his true name. A cursory look at what he has chosen to publish shows him to be a man of [...]

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DC, same-sex marriage, and racial stereotypes

I was listening to Tell Me More yesterday and was drawn into the story. The host interviewed Michael Crawford, a DC-based activist. He attempted to debunk the idea that black communities are strongly anti-gay marriage. They played a clip of former DC mayor Marion Barry explaining how he personally might approve of gay marriage but [...]

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Isis and Pal on Bloggingheads.tv

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Zicam—something doesn’t stink here

I’d like to direct your attention toward an excellent discussion of today’s news about the cold “remedy” Zicam. Dr. Novella and the commenters have hit on all the major points; I can’t improve on it. I would, however, like to give you a personal look at anosmia, or the absence of a sense of smell. [...]

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Sorry, busy here

Sorry I’m short on content right now. It’s really busy around here and I don’t want to torture you with reposts. Stay tuned.

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Carolina dreamin’

The locals say it’s cold, but North Carolina rocks. It’s warm (meaning greater than 20 degrees F), hilly, piney. And people here are friendly. Here at ScienceOnline09 there is so much to do, both intellectually and socially, that I’m overwhelmed. In fact, even my computer is overwhelmed and is officially useless. The ScienceBlogs intern (who [...]

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Anyway, let me explain…

While I wait for The Powers That Be to help fix the commenting feature on the brand new blog, let me tell you a little bit more about this place. (You can read my “About” page, but that’s pretty boring, and there for technical reasons.) I’m an internist, that is, a specialist in prevention and [...]

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The Dark Side is Powerful

Hope, of all ills that men endure, The only cheap and universal cure. —Abraham Cowley, The Mistress. For Hope. c. 1647 I was visiting my friend in the hospital the other day. She had a port put in under the skin of her chest for chemotherapy. The whole story is unfair. She’s a terrific person, [...]

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Health priorities

I made a mistake. First, I got a little worked up during last night’s debate because, when discussing health problems, both candidates gave shout-outs to relatively rare conditions rather than to the big killers. My second mistake was more grievous. I read something in HuffPo written by Deirdre Imus. No one brings the stupid quite [...]

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Debate!

I’m liveblogging and leaving an open thread…go to it.

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Please adjust your feeds accordingly…

I did a silly thing.  I accepted an invitation to write over at ScienceBlogs.  It isn’t because of my leviathan ego, or the free massages they offer, but because it seems like a great opportunity for someone who loves science, medicine, and writing. I doubt I can maintain two blogs at once (although over there [...]

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What a horrible idea

This idea is so bad that I might even agree with a Scientologist about it (OK, not really). A company I will not name or link to has developed a home genetic test for bipolar disorder. What could be so horrible about making it easier for people to diagnose diseases? Well, first there is a [...]

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Vanity thread—where the hell did all of you come from?

My blog traffic has been picking up quite a bit, and while wordpress allows me to get an idea of where traffic is coming from, I’m curious to see where folks may have heard of this blog.  If you feel like it, please let me know how you came to read my rants. (According to [...]

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Spam!

I appear to be having spam filter issues.  Sorry, folks, I’m trying to keep up with them.

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Autism “epidemic” and my mail bag

Others have written about the so-called autism epidemic, and have deconstructed the numbers that make up the myth. I wanted to personalize it a bit with some material from my mail bag. A retired educator who was tasked by the county to assess students writes: When I was working, I was exposed to many parents [...]

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Tangled Bank #100

I guess I’m going to start reading a new carnival.  I’ve been included in the latest Tangled Bank, up at Archaeoporn.  Don’t be fooled by the name—there’s no actual porn.  It’s a good read all the same.

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