Today, more and more teens direct their energies to a lesser-known form of substance abuse. And this behavior, although it may sound harmless, poses some even greater dangers to teens than more [...]
Month: January 2013
Six signs it’s pneumonia, not just the flu
You may worry about getting the flu. But your doctor worries about something worse: a bacterial co-infection. It happens when the flu–a viral infection in your upper respiratory [...]
Dangerous generics
We are all told–doctors and patients alike–that generic drugs are just like their brand-name counterparts. They work just as well and they’re just as safe. Indeed, more than 80 [...]
Warm up without touching the thermostat
As cities grow and energy sources dwindle, engineers now turn to a little-known resource to keep your home or office cozy and warm: body heat. Your body actually emits about 100 watts of excess [...]
Health insurance rates climb 66 percent in four years!
President Obama can rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic all he wants. But his Affordable Health Care Act is still a sinking ship. And in 2014, you may well want to jump off the ship. You [...]
Was Lincoln really a humanitarian?
A previous Dispatch on crop rotations, revolutions, and past presidents Washington and Jefferson got me thinking about another president on Mount Rushmore–Abraham Lincoln. Of course, who [...]
Healthy agriculture–revolution or just rotation?
We need a farming “revolution.” And this time, I’m not talking about going organic. Or getting rid of pesticides. Or ending the use of genetically modified seeds. No–this week I’m talking [...]
The flu follies
I nearly fell out of my chair with disbelief the other day after catching some sound bites from Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Anderson Cooper’s “AC 360.” Given some of their half-witted commentary, I [...]
Dangerous viruses in the wild
In a previous Dispatch, I reported that nearly two-thirds of the world’s infectious diseases in humans come from animals. In fact, nearly two million people die each year from infections spread [...]
The problem with Jane’s chimps
Yes, we dodged the Mayan Apocalypse last month. Now, I’m worried about a real impending global disaster. This time, it’s a biological disaster involving monkeys. Not Mayans. You may not realize [...]