Bouncing Hedgehog

Posts Tagged ‘medicine’

There have been many programs on TV over the years that have dealt with accident victims who have fallen into a coma and have subsequently been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. Some of these programs have been fictional, some have been factual.

I have always been somewhat pertubed by the willingness of some to “end their suffering” as there’s “no hope of recovery.” I wonder just whose suffering is actually being referred to. I am even more perturbed when organ harvesting is being touted by the doctors. 

I was surprised this morning to read about the case of a Belgian man – Ron Houben – who spent 23 years in a so-called persistent vegetative state after having been paralysed in a car crash in 1983. Apparently he was aware of everything going on around him the whole time. Can you imagine that? The frustration? The pain? Being aware and not being able to communicate? Read the rest of this entry »

A headline caught my eye today about the FDA. Apparently they are targeting companies that market energy drinks that combine alcohol and caffeine and have given companies that market them 30 days to prove they are safe.

Per the FDA’s press release:

“Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a substance added intentionally to food (such as caffeine in alcoholic beverages) is deemed “unsafe” and is unlawful unless its particular use has been approved by FDA regulation, the substance is subject to a prior sanction, or the substance is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS).”

Now personally I wouldn’t buy any of these energy drinks. I don’t need them and I doubt you do either.

The FDA obviously has our best interests at heart. Doesn’t it make you feel safer to know they’re being so vigilant on our behalf?

It’s just a thought but don’t you think they’d be better off (and we’d be safer) targeting stuff that lists such side effects as lymphoma and death and getting the companies that market them to prove that they are safe instead?

I was interested to see recently that the CDC proudly trumpeted “Life Expectancy Rises to New High of 75.3 for Men and 80.4 for Women” which works out at an average “all-time high” of 77.85. Interestingly enough the CIA’s website shows the average male/female life expectancy as 78.11. I’m not sure where they got that figure from, do they know something the CDC doesn’t?

I guess this is good news if you’re American. Many other countries wouldn’t be so happy if their life expectancy suddenly dropped to that level.

I was also somewhat perturbed at the naivite and lack of world knowledge of some Americans in the blog that followed the article when such comments as…

Well, it’s probably because the U.S. has the best health care in the world? I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

… appeared. Yes… Of Course America has the best health profit system in the world. Oh, and while I’m at it that hoary old chestnut about America subsidizing the rest of the world also surfaced. Ye gods. I really can’t believe that anyone here still falls for that one as the reason for the highest medical costs in the world. That particular little factoid has been debunked so many times it’s beyond a joke.

Anyway, for all my American friends here is a league table of the top 50 countries life expectancy rates. So before you get too excited at the extra time you now have, take a look and see where you rank. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems the lipsticked one – Sarah Palin – is at it again with her claims of “Death Panels.” Well… this is old news isn’t it? Don’t insurance companies already fulfil that role?

Frankly I’m not prepared to waste my time on this fine example of brain power, suffice to say…

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you’re a fool, rather than open it and prove it.

This is all about money and profit. Not health care. $1.5 million per day to speak out against the “evils” of universal health care says it all. Is America really dumb enough to fall for this baloney again?

I was absolutely gobsmacked to read that medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. I know of no other country where this is the case.

The figures are really quite staggering. An estimated 1,500,000 Americans will declare bankruptcy this year. Now many people would put that down to Americans chasing the myth of the “American Dream” and buying crap that they really don’t need and certainly can’t afford. A new study (to be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine) however, suggests that 60% of those declaring bankruptcy this year will do so because of medical bills. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems I am going to have to revisit one of my earlier posts about the recent birth of octuplets. As I said at the time very little had been released about the parents. For parents you can now read parent. Nadya Suleman is the now named mother and she is an unemployed graduate living with her parents. Personally I don’t have any issue with someone being a single parent and neither should anyone else. Having seen the abysmal job that many two parent families have done of raising their children I refuse to cast stones over that one. Read the rest of this entry »

For years now we have all been exhorted to drink at least eight glasses of water a day if we wish to remain healthy. So-called “health” magazines in particular and various TV programs have pushed this particular need. Personally I am not a great fan of drinking water – I much prefer juice. And coffee. Read the rest of this entry »