MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'dark'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:51:00 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5097040&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F08%2F03%2Fwhat_the_bottom_of_the_barrel_looks_like.php Want some evil pharma/biotech executives to hate? Don't waste your time on the usual suspects. Go to Immunosyn and Argyll Biotechnologies; they're worth your while. Never heard of them, you say? Well, many of the people that have wish that they hadn't: "These executives routinely authorized public filings that told investors a story about the status of the company's prized drug that was far different from the behind-the-scenes reality," said Merri Jo Gillette, Regional Director of the SEC's Chicago regional office. "Three of these executives went one step further to illegally profit from their tall tales by selling their company stock and reaping more than $20 million while repeatedly misleading investors about the drug. Misleading, as in telling people that the lead drug was beginning c... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5097040 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:14:29 +0100 5097040 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086371&cid=t_101068_129_f&fid=27216&url=http%3A%2F%2Flifewithadhd.com%2Fadhd-research%2Fdark-chocolate-for-the-inattentive-subtype-of-adhd-adhdpi.php A new study published in the Journal Physiology and Behavior has found that visual working memory and reaction time can be improved by a one time consumption of 720 mg of cocoa flavanols. These beneficial working memory effects, were seen 1 week after the cocoa consumption. The symptoms seen in the Inattentive type of ADHD may be primarily related to working memory and reaction time deficits. This recent study points to the ability of dark chocolate to improve these deficits. The study subjects did not have the Inattentive type of ADHD, they were young adults without a history of cognitive problems but this study is important because most studies looking at the benefits of dark chocolate have been performed using older adults with a history of age related cognitive decline. This is the fir... Life With ADHD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086371 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5086371 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5078013&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F28%2Fmassive_piles_of_faked_data_but_right_on_time.php Here's every outsourcing manager's nightmare: you contract out for research, and your CRO turns around the studies you want right on schedule. They send back the complete data package, and everything's in place. But they faked it. Gives you the shivers, doesn't it? Well, unfortunately, it seems to be the case with an outfit called Cetero Research out of Houston. The FDA has been investigating them, and has found enough warning signs to believe that none of the data generated there can be relied on. The companies that used their services now have to decide if they need to re-run these studies themselves, which I'm sure excites them no end. FDA is taking this action as a result of two inspections of Cetero's bioanalytical facility in Houston, Texas conducted in 2010, as well as the company... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5078013 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:06:03 +0100 5078013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008632&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F08%2Fthe_sames_sezen_fraud_case_holy_cow.php C&E News has an extraordinary piece on the long-running Bengü Sezen case at Colombia U. They've obtained two detailed reports from the federal government on the matter, and, well, pretty much all ones worst suspicions are confirmed: By the time Sezen received a Ph.D. degree in chemistry in 2005, under the supervision of Sames, her fraudulent activity had reached a crescendo, according to the reports. Specifically, the reports detail how Sezen logged into NMR spectrometry equipment under the name of at least one former Sames group member, then merged NMR data and used correction fluid to create fake spectra showing her desired reaction products. The documents paint a picture of Sezen as a master of deception, a woman very much at ease with manipulating colleagues and supervisors alike to... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008632 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:56:52 +0100 5008632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008636&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F05%2Ffakery_as_revealed_by_figures.php I note via Retraction Watch that the Journal of Biological Chemistry has issued retraction notices for four papers published from the group of the late Maria Diverse-Pierluissi, at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. One of their readers looked over the papers (which had been cited a few times, without making any particular huge impact, it seems), and found that some of the figures (Western blots and so on) repeat, even though they're supposed to represent different things (e.g., Figure 3A and 3C here). Mt. Sinai told the Retraction Watch people that an internal investigation turned up the evidence of misconduct, and that the matter has been referred to the NIH, which funded the work. What those duplicate figures make me wonder, though, is how long it'll be before we have a plagiarized-figu... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008636 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:08:07 +0100 5008636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984675&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F30%2Fan_unethical_clinical_trial.php Well, here's one from the Archives of Internal Medicine that most certainly did get published. It's an analysis of an old clinical trial, STEPS, which was conducted for Neurontin (gabapentin) during the 1990s. But that's not quite right. The authors find, by analyzing a large trove of documents released during lawsuit discovery proceedings, that STEPS was not really intended to be a clinical trial. Instead, it was a marketing program: Documents demonstrated that STEPS was a seeding trial posing as a legitimate scientific study. Documents consistently described the trial itself, not trial results, to be a marketing tactic in the company's marketing plans. Documents demonstrated that at least 2 external sources questioned the validity of the study before execution, and that data quality du... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984675 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:09:49 +0100 4984675 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975941&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F28%2Fmarsha-linehan-what-is-dialectical-behavioral-therapy-dbt%2F Last week the New York Times ran a fascinating piece on Marsha Linehan, Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington and the original developer of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), a modification of standard cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but including elements of acceptance and mindfulness. Her work has been designed specifically for people who harm themselves, for those diagnosed with borderline personality (BPT), and those who suffer from pervasive suicidal thoughts and/or attempts. For the first time in her life, the mental health expert disclosed her own story (that we also discussed on the blog yesterday), which involved hospitalization at the age of 17 that lasted longer than two years. Benedict Carey, author of the interview with Linehan, writes: No one knows h... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975941 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:45:03 +0100 4975941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4976230&cid=t_101068_160_f&fid=36190&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skincareblog.org%2F Sonal Bahuguna: Make Up TipsHighlight the beauty of your skin with these make up tips. To get the perfect makeup it is necessary to apply a make up which matches your skin tone. Dark skinned people have more pigment in their skin, which makes it look darker. Skin tone could be either but what matters most for the skin is to look and feel healthy. Let us see what matters when it comes to selecting a makeup for dark skinned people. 1. Foundation: For such skin type this is perfect to use creamy and liquid foundation because they are water based foundation. Always choose a foundation which is darker than your skin tone as it will create an illusion of perfect skin covering the skin well. Apply powder to skin to get that perfect touch. It gives an even look to the skin.2. Eye makeup: For t... Skin Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4976230 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:36:07 +0100 4976230 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960120&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F22%2Fcan-you-take-someone-to-the-er-for-mental-health-help%2F When I came home from work, she was sitting on the back porch steps, crying. Another friend was sitting next to her, arms draped around her shaking shoulders, trying to understand the words in between her hiccuped sobs. “Is everything okay?” I asked, even though I knew this wasn’t just a normal bout of tears. Julie (not her real name) had been crying the entire day. When I left for work she had been sobbing in the bathroom, and (I learned later) had turned on the shower to muffle the sound of her emotion from the rest of the house so no one would come and check on her. No one knew how long she had stayed like that, melted to the bathroom floor, clutching a towel to her chest, the shower running hot and humid whenever she felt she was getting too loud. It’s possible ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960120 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:45:24 +0100 4960120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921518&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F10%2Fcan-you-have-too-much-happiness%2F I can safely say that I think few of us struggle with having too much happiness. We turn to the happiness gurus to help us increase our happiness for a reason — who wouldn’t want to be happier? Pretty much all of us do. For many of us, the pursuit of happiness is not only something we’ve grown up on, it’s something we’ve come to expect as a right. I mean, it’s right there in the Declaration of Independence! But like everything in life, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. This includes the pursuit of happiness. Too much happiness can be just as detrimental in your life as not having enough. That’s the finding anyway of Gruber and her colleagues (2011), in a recent review of the happiness research. Let’s see what they had to say. Too Muc... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921518 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:25:45 +0100 4921518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902473&cid=t_101068_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fthe-skys-dark-labyrinth.html The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth – If you’re looking for a gripping summer read, check out my friend Stu Clark’s latest book: The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth. It’s part 1 of an intriguing trilogy concept that tells the tale of how God-driven scientists, such as Kepler and Galileo (yes, they were), unravelled the heavens while the Jesuits tried to retain world order by keeping the Earth biblically still. German Lutheran Johannes Kepler is convinced that he has been given a vision by God when he becomes the first man to distill into mathematical laws how stars and planets move through the heavens. Galileo Galilei, an Italian Catholic, will try to claim Kepler’s success for his own Church, but he finds himself enmeshed in a web of intrigue originating from within the Va... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902473 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:54:25 +0100 4902473 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4774145&cid=t_101068_46_f&fid=38787&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmsf.ca%2Fblogs%2Fphotos%2F2011%2F05%2F02%2Fivory-coast%2F Abidjan, Ivory Coast – April 18th, 2011 A surgical team performs a c-section during a power cut in Abobo Sud Hospital in Abidjan. A week after the end of the military standoff in Abidjan, very few hospitals are open, and Abobo Sud has been handling thirty deliveries daily. MSF has been supporting Abobo Sud Hospital since the end of February. At the peak of post-election violence, MSF was treating 25-30 conflict-related wounded every day from mid-March to 11th April. (Source: MSF Blogs) MSF Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4774145 Mon, 02 May 2011 11:11:22 +0100 4774145 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4762799&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F28%2F10-quick-stress-busters%2F Stress is like dark chocolate. A little of it won’t kill you. In fact, small blocks here and there can be good for you, or at least give you a reason to get of bed in the morning. But chronic and severe stress can damage your body and mind, blocking the fluid communication to and from most organs — especially in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and in the limbic system, the brain’s emotional center. Believe me, you want these two systems–much like the House and Senate — running as smoothly as possible, with low levels of the delinquent stress hormones in your bloodstream. Which is why I have handy some tress busters. I use an average of five a day. Today I’m using all ten. Here they are, and good luck! 1. Simplify. Cut your to-do list in ha... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4762799 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:11:39 +0100 4762799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4704936&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F12%2Fscientific_fraud_how_often_and_how_much.php A new paper in PLoSOne goes over the existing studies that have tried to put a number on how many scientists falsify data (or have done so at least once) or commit other scientific offenses (ranging from the quite grave to the pretty questionable). For what it's worth, the meta-analysis comes out with a figure of about 2% of scientists admitting that they've fabricated, falsified, or modified data. Of course, that group itself is a wide one, and deserves to be broken into various levels (which is just what Dante ended up doing, come to think of it, for similar reasons). To my mind, people who are modifying data want to make the numbers look better than they are, and people who are falsifying data want to make the numbers just flat-out say things that they don't say. And the far end of tha... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4704936 Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:21:37 +0100 4704936 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4658608&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F30%2Finsider_trading_at_the_fda.php Ah, insider trading. It's the province of Wall Street types in really expensive shirts, right? Like in the movies? Well, read on. Even the most clueless know that you're not supposed to trade on material nonpublic information, and the only really fuzzy part is what constitutes material information. A lawyer once told me that if you're an employee of a company, material information is "anything that makes you think about trading the stock". That's a pretty intelligent rule, and one that the recent Matrixx Supreme Court decision would seem to have reaffirmed. If someone could think it's nonpublic material information, odds are that it is. In the drug business, the hottest potatoes in this category are the results of clinical trials and FDA decisions. People (a very short, well-defined, and... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4658608 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:24:41 +0100 4658608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642901&cid=t_101068_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2FdE51Fsb1dW4%2F Image by C. McKane via Flickr RIP: Diana Wynne Jones, author of several successful young-adult fantasy novels including Dark Lord of Derkholm and Howl’s Moving Castle, passed away today following a hard-fought battle with cancer. She was 76. Her final novel, Earwig and the Witch, will be published this summer through HarperCollins in the UK and Greenwillow in the US. via RIP: Diana Wynne Jones – The Daily What. RIP: Diana Wynne Jones (thedailywh.at) “Diana Wynne Jones, 1934-2011″ and related posts (feministe.us) Diana Wynne Jones (stevenhartsite.wordpress.com) We’ll never forget you, Diana Wynne Jones (cherstinieveen.wordpress.com) Filed under: books Tagged: arts, author, books, Dark Lord of Derkholm, Diana Wynne Jones, Fantasy literature, Greenwillow, HarperC... white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642901 Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:39:26 +0100 4642901 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4627009&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F23%2Flaboratory_sabotage.php The topic of lab sabotage has come up here now and again. And while there are some documented cases, I agree with Chemjobber that these stories are often more in the realm of legend. He'd trying to bring some of them into the light, though, by offering a valuable prize to the most interesting and well-attested story of deliberate action that he can find. If you know of any, go for the glory! (Source: In the Pipeline) In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4627009 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:13:44 +0100 4627009 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600681&cid=t_101068_129_f&fid=27216&url=http%3A%2F%2Flifewithadhd.com%2Fadhd-drugs%2Fthe-dark-world-of-adhd-drugs-time-to-wake-up.php Do you know what ‘pharming’ means? It means something significant in the child drug black market ! Simply put, it means buying and selling ADHD drugs in the school parking lot in high schools and colleges. These are sometimes referred to as ‘dexies’ which is a nickname for amphetamines, again a very common substance in ADHD meds. Faking ADHD Symptoms Even more shocking is the fact that many kids are faking ADHD symptoms just so that they can get ADHD drugs on prescription and then sell them on the black market. The FDA knows that the overuse or misuse of amphetmanines is very risky – such use ‘may lead to drug dependence and must be avoided’ – their words,not mine. Dangers Of Drug Abuse The Partnership For A Drug Free America issu... Life With ADHD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600681 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4600681 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4517202&cid=t_101068_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fsix-slick-science-picks.html Science video widget – Shortform offered me a sneak preview of their video widget, which allows users to embed a video channel into their blog. Contraceptive pill not to blame for feminized fish – Despite claims that excreted contraceptive hormones are causing endocrine disruption in aquatic animals evidence suggests that this is not the case. Dark Energy, Dark Matter – What is the difference between dark energy and dark matter? NASA explains…even though they don't know what either is. Two sides to every story – even the Lord of the Rings – What if we were to look at Tolkien's epic from Mordor's perspective? Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because scie... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4517202 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:00:06 +0100 4517202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4545162&cid=t_101068_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cancerlifeandme.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fdark-energy-dark-matter-and-the-great-mystery%2F I’ll try my best to keep this simple: According to current physics, the empty space we see in outer space is not actually empty. Scientists have figured, through charting stars and galaxy clusters, that the universe is expanding. Space itself is widening and getting larger and larger. This goes against the expectation, which would be that the Continue reading Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and The Great Mystery (Source: Cancer, life, and me) Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4545162 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:00:36 +0100 4545162 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477816&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F02%2F14%2Fmaking-lemonade-from-lemons-on-valentines-day-a-romantic-tale%2F In order to move beyond their dark days, most people with depression master the lesson on how to make lemonade from lemons. For Valentine’s Day, here’s a romantic tale on just that: how a friend of mine turned an embarrassing situation into the best thing that ever happened to her… Back when I began my writing career drafting instructions on how to bury St. Joseph (he’s known to make real estate sell) as part of the “St. Joseph’s Home Sales Kit” for Roman, Inc., a religious giftware company in the suburbs of Chicago, I befriended a woman who worked in the IT department. Aneta, a spritely Polish babe, handled the technological emergencies of computer-challenged folks such as myself who might, say, send an off-color joke to the entire company by acci... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477816 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:42:46 +0100 4477816 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4414549&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F01%2F29%2Fan-interview-with-author-tim-farrington%2F This week I have the honor of interviewing Tim Farrington, the acclaimed novelist of Lizzie’s War, “The California Book of the Dead,” “Blues for Hannah,” as well as the New York Times Notable Book of 2002, “The Monk Downstairs.” Guess what? He’s one of us! And he articulates his journey through the hell of depression in a beautifully crafted memoir of sorts called “A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul.” Since that topic surfaces often on Beyond Blue, I thought I’d ask Tim to share his thoughts on both (depression and the dark night) with us. Hi Tim, and welcome! 1. Let me skip to the end (sorry, I like to eat dessert first), when you write “It is in surrender, in the embrace of ou... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4414549 Sat, 29 Jan 2011 11:40:25 +0100 4414549 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4322680&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F01%2F07%2Fmore_on_homemade_street_drugs.php I wrote here about a Wall Street Journal article covering illegal street-drug labs in Europe. Well, maybe that should be not-quite-illegal, because the people involved were deliberately making compounds that the law hadn't caught up with yet. The article mentioned David Nichols at Purdue as someone whose published work on CNS compounds had been followed/ripped off/repurposed by the street drug folks. Now Nature News has a follow-up piece by him, and he's not happy at all with the way things have been turning out: We never test the safety of the molecules we study, because that is not a concern for us. So it really disturbs me that 'laboratory-adept European entrepreneurs' and their ilk appear to have so little regard for human safety and human life that the scant information we publish i... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4322680 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:29:16 +0100 4322680 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4275395&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F12%2F21%2Fdark-chocolate-receptor%2F They tested the protection of epicatechin on heart infarct size in mice. Epicatechin is a flavinoid and a major component of dark chocolate. It has antioxydant effects associated with a lower risk of stroke and heart failure. Epicatechin can bind to opiod receptors that can induce heart protection, moreover it can induce cardiac protection from ischemia-reperfusion injury with a heart attack. What they did was treat mice with epicatechin and naloxone alone and a combination of both. Naloxone is an opiod antagonist. Infarct size was significantly reduced in the epicatechin group, this effect was attenuated when administered together with naloxone. These data suggest that the protective efect of epicatechin is mediated by the opiod receptor. This is the first demonstration of a receptor-medi... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4275395 Tue, 21 Dec 2010 06:22:06 +0100 4275395 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4220444&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2010%2F12%2F01%2Fthe_samessezen_case_the_feds_speak.php Paul Bracher at Chembark broke the news that the Office of Research Integrity has issued a finding on the Sames-Sezen misconduct case at Columbia. This was big news back in 2006 and 2007, and it should still be news now. For those who haven't followed this, the case concerns a series of papers published from Dalibor Sames' lab at that university on some interesting C-H activation chemistry. This work was largely performed by a graduate student, Bengü Sezen, but none of it has proven to be reproducible, and there was a string of retractions. (Sezen herself maintained that there were no problems with the work). So far, so bad - but what gives the story more depth is that papers were retracted where Sezen was not even a co-author and the apportionment of blame is still very much arguable. ... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4220444 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:16:52 +0100 4220444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4203183&cid=t_101068_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSciencebaseScienceBlog%2F%7E3%2FrxNokmfSDr4%2Fsix-science-books-for-the-holiday-season.html subjects as diverse as molecular biology pioneer Sydney Brenner, the question of antimatter, how scientists can better explain their research to non-scientists, a history of the chemical elements, scientific feuds and how innovators exploit business and technology trends. Minitrends – Minitrends are emerging trends that promise to become significantly important within 2-5 years, but are not generally recognized. Unlike megatrends or microtrends, Minitrends are of a scope and importance to offer attractive opportunities to individuals and businesses of all sizes. The one that caught my eye is mention of nanotechnology and how it could be used in water purification and to make "fake" bone (I think they mean "artificial")! Scientific Feuds – Most science his... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4203183 Fri, 26 Nov 2010 08:05:06 +0100 4203183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4183342&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F19%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-november-19-2010%2F Every moment, we have an opportunity for self-growth. In fact, I was having one of those just yesterday. It was about five in the evening and I was stuck in traffic. As cars attempted to race past me, getting just a mere two cars ahead, I started to think about the frustration and impatience we all seemed to be feeling in the moment. Would I choose to give into the overwhelming negativity all around me? Or would I drown out the sounds of car engines and frustration with the radio and the TV I could see in the van directly in front of me? I decided to use this unpleasant situation for my benefit by fully being in the moment. I saw the dark clouds looming overhead, the lights from cars shining through it and the feeling of impatience that was slowly taking over me. It was an hour of sitting ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4183342 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:52:33 +0100 4183342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4172112&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F16%2Fdoes-your-personality-shine-through%2F From time to time we all wonder what other people think of us. Often in a quiet moment, just before going to sleep, while reviewing the day, we try to work out how friends and family might interpret what we’ve said and done. How neurotic does my partner think I am? Do my colleagues think of me as a reliable, hard worker? Do my friends think I’m stuck in a rut or open to new experiences? Here on the inside we have a model of ourselves that makes sense, but out there, what conclusions are those who know us best drawing about our personalities? Of course we all differ and you might imagine that the differences between actor and observer would cancel out. For example some people might appear more conscientious than they are, and others less so. How Do Your Friends See You? When ps... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4172112 Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:35:25 +0100 4172112 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4119046&cid=t_101068_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSciencebaseScienceBlog%2F%7E3%2FPER0E2_cY4Y%2Fstring-energy-and-cats.html It was inevitable that the “Dummies” series of books would get around to String Theory for Dummies. Intriguingly, it’s written by the physics guide at About.com, Andrew Zimmerman Jones (with Daniel Robbins). The Dummies guide explains the basic concepts of what the cover refers to as the controversial theory, how it builds on known principles, its physical implications and how there are several different viewpoints on string theory. In case you didn’t know string theory hopes to be a theory of everything and hinges on the notion that particles and energy are fundamentally string-like vibrations and membranes (referred to chirpily in the jargon of the theory as branes) in a multidimensional spacetime most of whose dimensions we cannot observe because they are wrappe... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4119046 Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:00:46 +0100 4119046 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4036882&cid=t_101068_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2Fzn0jtEz-4OM%2F It seems that, regardless of how late you stayed up to read books and type ad nauseam in your little electronic journal, morning still arrives at exactly the time specified by those who study and work in celestial mechanics. I picture all those who study celestial mechanics (a type of mathematician that studies how planets and stars and comets go around and around and around and…) to be dressed in their own special coveralls, first names embroidered on patches above their hearts, and sprinkled with stardust. Or comet-dust or dark matter, if you have no overly-romantic bent. Now there I go again… what did I mean to say? Good morning! I am off to enjoy my tea. Morning tea, just brewing in the Bauhaus glass pot Comet and Earth to Have Rare Close Encounter (space.com) How Halley&... white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4036882 Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:39:00 +0100 4036882 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4023119&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2010%2F10%2F01%2Fthree_times_is_enemy_action.php Now here's a disturbing case: research sabotage. It involves a (former) postdoc at Michigan: (Vipul) Bhrigu, over the course of several months at Michigan, had meticulously and systematically sabotaged the work of Heather Ames, a graduate student in his lab, by tampering with her experiments and poisoning her cell-culture media. Captured on hidden camera, Bhrigu confessed to university police in April and pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of personal property, a misdemeanour that apparently usually involves cars: in the spaces for make and model on the police report, the arresting officer wrote "lab research" and "cells". Bhrigu has said on multiple occasions that he was compelled by "internal pressure" and had hoped to slow down Ames's work. The student's account of what happened ... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4023119 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:29:35 +0100 4023119 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3889316&cid=t_101068_160_f&fid=36189&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skinmdblog.com%2F251%2Feye-wrinkle-cream-reviews-are-filled-with-hype%2F Eye wrinkle cream reviews generally don’t give you enough information about what is necessary for truly repairing the issues surrounding the formation of lines, skin slackening, bags, and dark circles. What you get is mostly a sales pitch, when what you need is pertinent information about the ingredients, how they work, and any possible side effects these ingredients could have.  Let me give you an example. One of the latest fads when it comes to “repairing” lines and wrinkles around the eyes is compounds that temporarily paralyze the muscles to lessen the affects of making facial expressions. This does nothing to actually reverse what is causing the lines around your eyes to form.  What you are not told is that long term use of formulas designed to cause temporary muscle paralysis... Skin MD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3889316 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:46:15 +0100 3889316 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3733308&cid=t_101068_160_f&fid=36189&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skinmdblog.com%2F211%2Fbest-wrinkle-cream-ingredients-to-look-for-and-others-to-stay-away-from%2F What will you find in the best eye wrinkle cream?  Which ingredients should be avoided?  You’ll find the answers here. If you read a few online reviews, you will see that some people have terrible adverse reactions to these products.  The reactions include extreme redness, swelling, itching and irritated eyes.  Those reactions can be avoided if you avoid certain ingredients used in wrinkle creams. Paraffin wax is one to avoid.  I’m not sure why cosmetic companies include this ingredient in serums to be used around the eyes.  It is too thick and hard to apply.  But, it is included in some of the big brand named products. Artificial preservatives and added fragrances should be avoided in all cases, regardless of where the product is to be applied.  They are the most common causes... Skin MD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3733308 Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:10:25 +0100 3733308 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3672073&cid=t_101068_160_f&fid=36189&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skinmdblog.com%2F169%2Fskin-discoloration-causes-symptoms-prevention-treatment%2F QMWQ22TDDUW6 A skin discoloration could be a symptom of an underlying illness, exposure to an environmental toxin or simply spending too much time in the sun.  The color, size and location, as well as the presence of other symptoms will help with the diagnosis. Red or purple discolorations that appear in a rash-like pattern may indicate bleeding under the skin.  This could have been caused by an injury, an infection or vascular disorders. Light brown, red or black spots similar to freckles are typically caused by aging and overexposure to the sun.  They are referred to as age spots, liver spots, solar lentigo or senile freckles. A black stain of various sizes can be caused by carbon or graphite becoming embedded beneath the skin.  The cause in this case is an injury, often a puncture w... Skin MD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3672073 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:00:04 +0100 3672073 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3632246&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2F181211%2F Chocolate-y, Healthy, and Free! Don’t forget to enter Blisstree’s Exclusive Better Oats™ Oatmeal Giveaway – Just leave a comment about your favorite way to eat oatmeal by this Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, and you could win a whole case of Better Oats™ Lavish Dark Chocolate Oatmeal! Post from: BlissTree (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3632246 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:25:28 +0100 3632246 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3625766&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2010%2F06%2F03%2Fsequenom_faking_it.php I wrote here about Sequenom, a company which claimed to have developed an in vitro test for Downs Syndrome. The whole story dissolved into a heap of lawsuits, allegations of fraud, questions about whether Sequenom ever had such a test at all, and other craziness. Now the SEC has charged a former executive of the company with lying to investors. Elizabeth Dragon publicly touted the accuracy of the company's test several times, in front of large groups, before the roof came in. Here's the official complaint, and it's most interesting reading: Dragon knew that all but six of the 51 samples had been tested on an unblinded basis, and also knew that, of the six blinded samples, her scientists incorrectly called one of the three T21 samples. In fact, in an e-mail to her lead scientist, Dragon a... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3625766 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:12:56 +0100 3625766 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3621959&cid=t_101068_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FHpBKrixmcew%2F Surprising health benefits of dark chocolate promoted to healthcare professionals – alternate to antioxidants in alcohol. Doctors, dietitians and nutritionists are being promoted the health benefits of dark chocolate in the new Switch to Dark campaign. A Switch To Dark campaign highlighting the health benefits of consuming small portions of dark chocolate has been launched in leading healthcare publications, which include the Australian Doctor and Medical Observer; the Dietitians Association of Australia as well as the "prescriber’s bible", MIMS. Emerging evidence suggests that dark chocolate is a surprisingly rich source of antioxidants which may contribute to some health benefits. "The evidence is there, that dark chocolate is a good alternative to milk choc... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3621959 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:50:00 +0100 3621959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3585831&cid=t_101068_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fdata-mining-in-deep-dark-social.html Discussion Forums).What this all means is that, potentially, much of the best patient-generated information found on social networks is "dark" to pharma companies unless the owners of these communities flip that "switch" or allow pharma marketers access (paid or otherwise). Hopefully, however, these sites might also perform a FREE public service such as what I talked about in this post: "If Patients Know Best, then Patient Social Networks Can Help Capture and Report AEs" (Source: Pharma Marketing Blog) Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3585831 Fri, 21 May 2010 11:52:00 +0100 3585831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3569900&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F05%2F17%2Fgrateful-and-depressed-you-can-be-both%2F In his book “What Happy People Know,” Dan Baker argues that you can’t be in a state of appreciation and fear, or anxiety, at the same time. “During active appreciation,” Baker writes, “the threatening messages from your amygdala [fear center of the brain] and the anxious instincts of your brainstem are cut off, suddenly and surely, from access to your brain’s neocortex, where they can fester, replicate themselves, and turn your stream of thoughts into a cold river of dread. It is a fact of neurology that the brain cannot be in a state of appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. The two states may alternate, but are mutually exclusive.” Other studies have also highlighted how gratitude can buffer you from the blues, promote optimism,... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3569900 Mon, 17 May 2010 10:05:47 +0100 3569900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3534042&cid=t_101068_134_f&fid=34841&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diabetesmine.com%2F2010%2F05%2Ffive-foods-to-consider.html I don’t write much about food choices. But believe me, as a person with diabetes (and gluten intolerance), I struggle with them all the time. We PWDs are used to hearing the “generic” nutritional suggestions from our dietitians and CDEs: don’t eat too much sugar, eat lots of veggies, drink water, etc. But what about [...] (Source: Diabetes Mine) Diabetes Mine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3534042 Wed, 05 May 2010 13:00:32 +0100 3534042 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3524120&cid=t_101068_88_f&fid=38958&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yourerdoc.com%2Feverything-bad-for-you-is-now-good%2F News Alert! Everything Bad For You is Now Good Great news! All of my former guilty pleasures have turned out to be health foods. Instead of fearing that my addiction to dark chocolate, coffee and red wine is leading me to premature death, I am in fact increasing my life span, and reducing my chance of many horrible diseases. Yes! Take coffee. I cannot function in the morning until I’ve had a large cup, sometimes two. I’ve always felt bad about this, knowing that I am dependent on the tasty black liquid, and its stimulant effects. My family understands that each morning during the pre-coffee phase, I will be unable to communicate effectively, beyond some basic grunting noises. I shuffle around, scratching and muttering while the beans are grinding and the water is percolating. I... Your ER Doc blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3524120 Sat, 01 May 2010 19:29:19 +0100 3524120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487118&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34730&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychiatrist-blog.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fshe-likes-it-she-likes-it.html Do you remember the cereal commercial where everyone shoves a bowl of cereal at the dumb little brother to watch for his reaction? Mikey won't like it, he hates everything! But surprise, Mikey does like it!We sent the final chapters of the draft of our book to our editor. So far, the process entails a bounce back, and sullen words like "this isn't working"...and then a lot of obsessing, a re-write, and finally we get to, "this is much better." It's become a bit of a joke--we build in time for her to hate it. This Sunday, I stayed in my pajamas. I sat in front of a computer all day long. I didn't go out. I was ironing out the kinks in the last two chapters. Roy...well, I knew he was trying to write because he was commenting on old blog posts and he opened a new Facebook account. Why? I was... Shrink Rap blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487118 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:08:00 +0100 3487118 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3370495&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F03%2F16%2Fchocolate-against-stress%2F 40 grams of dark chocolate per day reduces the urinary excretion of the stress hormone cortisol and it almost normalizes the stress related differences in energy metabolism and gut microbial activities between participants with low and high anxiety traits. You are what you eat, it has been described how dietary preferences is associated with metabolic processes in healthy subjects. How does dark chocolate, by some considered to be a very healthy, affect the human metabolism? A number of studies have shown cardiovascular benefits of eating flavanol rich cocoa. In a recent post I discussed the possible underlying mechanisms of these cardioprotective properties of chocolate. The mechanism of action of chocolate at the molecular level are poorly understood. In this recent study the metabolic c... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3370495 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:28:42 +0100 3370495 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3306916&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F02%2F25%2Fthe-essence-of-chocolate%2F Nutrition had a very nice and comprehensive editorial on the essence of chocolate. It mentions the recently discovered profitable effects of chocolate on the human physiology often mentioned on this blog. In short: Reduction of blood pressure by 6 grams of dark chocolate per day. Probably due to the flavonol epicatechin Reduction of platelet and endothelial cell activation Reduction of inflammatory mediators It can also inhibit oral caries It can cross the blood brain barrier and increase cerebral blood flow in humans Rightly the authors question the effects of chocolate on mood and it’s possible addictive potential. As written before on this blog, chocolate is not an antidepressant and chocolate craving is a difficult concept consisting of different features. The authors explain t... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3306916 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:32:45 +0100 3306916 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3244038&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2010%2F02%2F04%2Fheres_a_business_plan_for_you.php On another front, we now have an ex-BMS associate scientist who's apparently been arrested for stealing company materials in preparation for starting his own company back in India. I presume he was planning to get into the advanced pharmaceutical intermediates business (or perhaps the biotech end of it), using as much proprietary information as he could download in order to get a quick leg up. The company's security folks seem to have flagged him over the Christmas break, and he's since been spending time with the FBI. . . (Source: In the Pipeline) In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3244038 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:23:49 +0100 3244038 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3212590&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2010%2F01%2F27%2Fsequenom_strike_up_the_music_bring_on_the_cream_pies.php Now here's a weird one. The San Diego diagnostics company Sequenom came up with a non-invasive test for Down's Syndrome, and sold it to another outfit, Xenomics, for development. But late last year, things unraveled spectacularly. In April, Sequenom announced that there were problems with the test and announced that it had launched an internal investigation. In September came the unwelcome news that the data backing up their product were (quoting here) "inadequately substantiated". And they meant it, too, as the CEO and six other higher-ups all left the company under a cloud of confusion, recrimination, and very bad acronyms (like SEC and FBI). Last week it settled a dozen shareholder lawsuits over the whole affair. But as that story at Bnet makes clear, the terms of the settlement were r... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3212590 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:16:55 +0100 3212590 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3149305&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2010%2F01%2F07%2Fextortion_retractions_and_more.php Now here's a strange tale, courtesy of Science magazine, about some retracted work from Peter Schultz's group at Scripps. Two papers from 2004 detailed how to incorporate glycoslylated amino acids (glucosamine-serine and galactosamine-threonine) directly into proteins. These featured a lot of work from postdoc Zhiwen Zhang (who later was hired by the University of Texas for a faculty position). But another postdoc, Eric Tippmann, was later having trouble reproducing the work, and in 2006 he made his case for why he thought it was incorrect. Following that: Schultz says the concerns raised were serious enough that he asked a group of lab members to try to replicate the work in Zhang's Science paper in addition to several other important discoveries Zhang had made. That task, however, was ... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3149305 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:27:02 +0100 3149305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3108543&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F12%2F21%2Ffaking_xray_structures_for_fun_or_profit_or_what.php Well, this isn't good: an ex-researcher at the University of Alabama-Birmingham has been accused of faking several X-ray structures of useful proteins - dengue virus protease, taq polymerase, complement proteins from immunology, etc. There have been questions surrounding H. M. Krishna Murthy's work for at least a couple of years now (here's the reply to that one). The university, after an investigation, has decided that 11 of the published structures seem to have been falsified in some way and has asked that the papers be retracted and the structures removed from the Protein Data Bank. The first controversy with these structures was, I think, the one deposited in the PDB as 2hr0. Here's a good roundup of what's wrong with it, for those of you into X-ray crystallography. And as that post m... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3108543 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:33:03 +0100 3108543 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3063320&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2009%2F12%2F07%2Fhow-much-chocolate-do-we-eat%2F From the graphic above and down under you can see for each country how much chocolate per person per year (2007) was consumed in kilos. Found this graphic on the site of Alpha Galileo Europe’s site of research news, thanks to David Bradley (@sciencebase). Eighteen EU countries were among the world’s top 26 chocolate confectioneries consumers in 2007, ranking from 11.85 kg eaten per capita in Ireland, to 4.5 kg in France and 1.04 kg in Poland. The EU 27 consumed in total 2.5 million tons of chocolate products that year, which account for around half of the global consumption world-wide The post is also about a new method to analyze fats used in the making of chocolate. This is important because according to the Chocolate Directive (Directive 2000/36/EC) it’s only allowed... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3063320 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:59:48 +0100 3063320 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3052284&cid=t_101068_129_f&fid=36036&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Fkelly-building-a-crohns-disease-community%2Fcrohns-disease-book-club-blog-december-edition%2F A few weeks ago I suggested that we start a book club to get our mind off of Crohn’s disease for a bit and allow us to think about something else.    It seems like you all agree, so let’s try it out.   Remember, there are no set rules here, we can change our book club format as many times as it takes for this to be fun for all of us. Since I am the one who writes the blog, I will write about the book (or books- since I read several in a month) that I read the previous month.  I will give a short synopsis of the book and state whether it was a good read.  I will rate the book on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the worst and 10 the best and then tell you what I liked best about the book and what I liked least.  Since this is the first real Crohn’s book club blog, we should all write i... Life with Crohn's blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3052284 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:18:38 +0100 3052284 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044804&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F12%2F01%2Fdealing-with-eating-too-much-guilt%2F It’s the week after Thanksgiving and as you try and get back into your daily routine, you can’t help but feel that maybe you ate too much. At our house, it was the celebration of Pie-a-palooza that did us in. (Is there such a thing as too much pie?!) So you’re sitting there thinking, “Gosh, I’m full. I must’ve gained 10 pounds over the holidays. Why did I eat so much?” The dark specter of guilt raises it’s ugly head… What can you do?! Weightless blogger Margarita Tartakovsky has six suggestions on how to make it stop: 1. Accept your feelings and move on. OK, acknowledge that you feel guilty and realize that this is just another feeling. But like other feelings, it will go away. 2. Tell yourself you’ll go back to eating healthfully. N... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044804 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:39:03 +0100 3044804 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2984913&cid=t_101068_122_f&fid=35068&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbrainwindows.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F11%2Fendogenous-dark-chromophore-imaging-via-modulated-simulated-emission%2F Here is an interesting paper, Imaging chromophores with undetectable fluorescence by stimulated emission microscopy, from Sunny Xie’s group.  They pump the sample with a excitation laser while simultaneously hitting it with a longer wavelength laser to induce stimuated emission. The pump laser is modulated at a high frequency which they can pick up and amplify with a lock-in amplifier. Theory and illumination schematic In two examples of imaging from a mouse ear, (above) shows the distribution of TBO, a photodynamic therapy drug, following drug administration, (below, red) shows the distribution of hemoglobin in blood vessles. How specific is the detection of endogenous chromophores?  They report that 60nm is the absolute detection limit, but this is for a pure chromophore in wa... Brain Windows blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2984913 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:21:38 +0100 2984913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2946956&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F10%2F31%2Fthis-halloween-i-will-face-my-greatest-fear%2F Yes, that’s Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Also my long time nemesis. I hate her. She stole my perfectly good name and turned it into a joke. On her About Me page she says, “When you hear the name Elvira only one person comes to mind…” Excuse me? And what does that make me? Chopped liver? You might be thinking, “Gee, Elvira, why would it scare you to be associated, even loosely, with a s.ty, Vampira wannabe in a cheap wig? [Yes. Before Elvira there was Vampira (circa 1953), the first ever late night horror film hostess. She was featured in that wonderfully campy Tim Burton film 'Ed Wood', with Johnny Depp as the cross dressing Mr. Wood.] Anywho… I don’t really mind that much…anymore…but once upon a time I dreaded hearing my name mispron... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2946956 Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:54:16 +0100 2946956 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2865622&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34935&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicine.com.my%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D7954 Finally it’s out in the Star and the reporter got it right by calling it a Bleeding Scam. Whether or not carried out by hoemopaths, naturopaths, sinsehs or real doctors, Live Blood Analysis is indeed junk science. Rather curious that “Up to press time, Health Ministry’s director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican had yet to respond to requests for comment on this practice.” I am sure the MOH is aware of this practice. Rather than let thousands and thousands of gullible Malaysians continue to be duped by this scam, shouldn’t the authorities do something? Related posts: Medical misinformation in Malaysiakini: the Live Blood Analysis hocus pocus Nutritional Live Blood Analysis Update 6/10/9 : The DG has made a statement in the press: No evidence to back LBA’s effect... Malaysian Medical Resources blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2865622 Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2865622 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2838982&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F09%2F28%2F6-healthy-habits-that-can-make-you-sick%2F I dance the Macarena whenever I come across an article that argues against healthy living. I cautioned you against too much positive thinking a few days ago. I laughed while reading research about dark chocolate firing up the happy brain. And I high fived the doctors who warn folks against too much sunscreen — because it blocks the vitamin D that all of us need. I hate that stuff and was looking long and hard for an excuse not to look like a clown this summer. Thank you! I’ve even performed the opposite of an intervention with one of my friends last week who was foolishly trying to give up alcohol and nicotine at the same time. “No, no, no,” I told her. “You can’t do both of these together and expect to keep friends. Now I suggest you go pour yourself a ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2838982 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:43:58 +0100 2838982 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2832393&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F09%2F25%2Ffaked_data_at_the_eth.php A data-fabrication scandal has erupted at a place that doesn't see many of those: the ETH in Zürich. Peter Chen, a physical organic chemist there, has been dealing with problems with some earlier publications (from 2000) on the spectra and ionization energies of carbon radicals. Here's one of the papers, which has now been retracted. These data couldn't be reproduced, as became clear in the years after these papers came out. An investigation by the ETH showed what appears to be clear evidence of fakery - things like the background noise being exactly the same in what are supposed to be several different experimental spectra of different species. In fact, all the parties involved with the suspect papers agree that data have been fabricated - but none of them admit to having done it. That... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2832393 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:03:59 +0100 2832393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2800494&cid=t_101068_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FL8Van4mRm9k%2F This study is by no means definitive as there are many variables that weren’t taken into account, such as mental health. The researchers also didn’t qualify what type of chocolate was eaten and this could be an important factor because milk chocolate and dark chocolate are quite different in properties. ~~~~ Images: PhotoXpress.com Post from: Blisstree Chocolate After Heart Attack = Good Thing (Source: A Hearty Life) A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2800494 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:23:06 +0100 2800494 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2716175&cid=t_101068_135_f&fid=35274&url=http%3A%2F%2Facidrefluxweb.com%2F%3Fp%3D3901 It’s that time of the year again for us horror movie fans to indulge in some great and not so great films with the Toronto Afterdark Film Festival. A friend of mine wanted to see the movie, The Children, so much he ordered if off of the Amazon UK site. I fought temptation to ask him if I could borrow it. What stopped me was the sudden memory was of the last time years ago of borrowing Man Bites Dog – the uncensored version on VHS, and never getting back to him. Given that not so great precedent, I decided to keep my mouth shut. When the line up for the festival came out, I was delighted to see that they had brought in The Children for a screening. The director was not able to be there, however, he did send a message to be read via email. This movie is made for all of you hav... acidrefluxweb.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2716175 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:56:29 +0100 2716175 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2674489&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F08%2F06%2Fghostwriting.php This article has the details. Wyeth seems to have contracted with a medical writing outfit (DesignWrite) to produce and place a number of review articles covering hormone therapy for menopausal women. (Wyeth, of course, was the main player in that market). The articles seem to have been entirely written by the staff at DesignWrite - authors are listed as "TBD", and then academics were recruited to serve as lead authors and to submit the papers to journals. No mention was ever made in the published papers of the medical writing group's role, nor of Wyeth's (who were paying them for this service). As far as the readers could see, these were the standard sorts of review articles that show up in the medical literature all the time. And that's the part that bothers me. For all I know, these ar... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2674489 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:30:26 +0100 2674489 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2634465&cid=t_101068_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FsxOcXKxe8o8%2F I just found a call for a study I’d volunteer for but - alas - I don’t fit the criteria, nor do I don’t live in Norwich, Norfolk in the United Kingdom. Researchers there are looking in to the health effects of dark chocolate and they’re recruiting 40 non-smoking women, 75 years or younger, who are postmenopausal (no menstrual period for at least a year), who have type 2 diabetes, and who have been taking cholesterol-lowering medications. The goal is to find if specially made chocolate, with flavonoid compounds, helps decrease the chances of the women developing heart disease. The trade-off for eating chocolate every day is that the women have to fill out questionnaires about their health, have a scan of their arteries, and have regular urine and blood tests. A simil... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2634465 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:02:57 +0100 2634465 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2621852&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F07%2F21%2F5-ways-to-practice-gratitude-an-interview-with-sonja-lyubomirsky%2F Today’s interview is with happiness expert Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., who is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and the author of “The How of Happiness.” In 2002, Lyubomirsky was awarded a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize. Currently, she holds a 5-year million-dollar grant (with Ken Sheldon) from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness. Her research has been written up in dozens of magazines and newspapers and she has appeared in multiple TV shows, radio shows, and feature documentaries in North America and Europe. Question: I know that gratitude is one key component of happiness, and you mention keeping a gratitude journal, where you regularly write down the thing... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2621852 Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:32:12 +0100 2621852 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570608&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F07%2F02%2Fdeclaring-independence-from-fear%2F Independence Day in the U.S. is the day that America declared its independence from a tyrannical government, but real independence took many longer, hard years of war. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of people was needed first, before our declaration of independence had any real effect. And so it is with any change in our lives. We can make the declaration, “Today, I’m going to start losing weight,” or “Today, I’m going to try and reply to every cognitive distortion by examining the evidence and answering it back.” But declarations are only starting points — they represent the beginning of our journey, not the end. But declarations serve an important purpose — they place us (and others) on notice. Something is going to change. It may not ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570608 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:42:06 +0100 2570608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2527862&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34730&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychiatrist-blog.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fgood-news-bigger-may-be-better.html From the New York Times, an article that made my day: Excess Pounds, But Not Too Many, May Lead to Longer Life.The report, published online last week in the journal Obesity, found that overall, people who were overweight but not obese — defined as a body mass index of 25 to 29.9 — were actually less likely to die than people of normal weight, defined as a B.M.I. of 18.5 to 24.9.By contrast, people who were underweight, with a B.M.I. under 18.5, were more likely to die than those of average weight. Their risk of dying was 73 percent higher than that of normal weight people, while the risk of dying for those who were overweight was 17 percent lower than for people of normal weight.The finding adds to a simmering scientific controversy over the optimal weight for adults. In 2007, scientis... Shrink Rap blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2527862 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:24:00 +0100 2527862 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2474174&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F06%2F12%2Fselling_zyprexa.php Well, this doesn't look good for Lilly. A huge pile of court documents has been unsealed in the ongoing lawsuits about Zyprexa's off-label promotion. The company has already paid some serious fines, and is now fighting it out with insurance companies and other plaintiffs who are seeking to recover their costs. Several states are suing them as well; those cases are still on their way. Bloomberg News was given a lengthy list of internal company statements that will surely be difficult to explain in court. These were provided by one of the plaintiff's attorneys, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, so it's hardly a neutral selection (as Lilly is saying in response). But it's going to be interesting to see what sorts of explanations the company has for these. On the one hand, you have this: In 1... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2474174 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:58:19 +0100 2474174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2447476&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2FEFRyJbV29pM%2Fturn-on-bright-lights-baby.html First, there were glowing cats.Then, reports of glowing dogs.Now, glowing marmosets;The gene for express the green fluorescent protein in their skin was delivered to the first marmoset embryos via a modified virus, but the significant news here is that the genetically modified primates that can pass their modifications to their offspring; it is the first known case that an introduced gene has been successfully inherited by the next generation in primates. Why is that important? Because medical researchers have yearned for an animal model that is closer to the human anatomy; researchers may now be able to produce whole groups of marmosets that mimic humans with diseases like cystic fibrosis or Alzheimers'.While this breakthrough is exciting, warning bells have sounded that this is one step ... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2447476 Sun, 31 May 2009 03:54:32 +0100 2447476 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441690&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F05%2F28%2Fself-esteem-in-recession-six-steps-to-recovery%2F Seven Steps To Accept A Compliment With Grace. Why is a compliment almost as hard to take as criticism? When I was a kid my well-intentioned Mom taught me to discredit compliments. “Oh, no, I’m not pretty, clever, smart, nice…” To do otherwise would be conceited, a cardinal sin to a young Catholic girl. Q: What’s the result of too much compliment denial? A) A starving, shriveled self-esteem dying for some good nurturing, B) A great big gap is left in your self-esteem (where the compliment would go) that is filled with bad, abusive junk, C) You risk annoying your relatives and friends who just want you to see what they see, or, (you guessed it) D) All of the above. If we refuse to let people tell us how fabulous we are where does that leave us? It leaves us wi... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441690 Thu, 28 May 2009 09:00:12 +0100 2441690 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2442667&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35455&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoapywater.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fout-of-practice.html I've let the blog go to seed a bit. I need to moderate some comments for viagra out of the posts from 2006, and when I went to type "blogger.com" into my web browser, I wrote "globber.com." I'm totally out of sync with the me that used to write this thing. I'm a mess, generally. I need to get my writer self back, I don't even know what voice to use any more.So, like, my life changed pretty significantly last year. I moved to take care of my mother, and my jamming personal space was totally disrupted, so the ambiance I like to write in is all but gone. I also changed jobs, same company and all, but totally different job, where I'm now essentially a technical writer. I write all effing day, and I don't have the creative juices to write for myself anymore. It's totally soul crushing, this tec... Soapy Water blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2442667 Sat, 23 May 2009 02:03:00 +0100 2442667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405414&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F05%2F13%2Fextended-periods-of-sunlight-might-act-as-suicide-trigger%2F Midweek Mental Greening People often associate becoming depressed during dark winter months with Seasonal Affective Disorder (or, SAD). SAD can actually affect people during any season, including the bright and sunny days during spring and summer months; however, according to a recent Swedish study, regardless of the similar symptoms, SAD doesn’t seem to be the culprit when it comes to the high number of suicides happening in places that experience extended sunlight like Sweden and Greenland. The researchers speculated that light-generated imbalances in serotonin — the brain chemical linked to mood — may lead to increased impulsiveness that in combination with a lack of sleep drives people to kill themselves. “We found that suicides were almost exclusively violent and incre... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405414 Wed, 13 May 2009 17:54:56 +0100 2405414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376810&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F29%2Fno_magic_involved.php What a mess! Science has a retraction of a 2005 paper, which is always a nasty enough business, but in this case, the authors can’t agree on whether it should be retracted or not. And no one seems to be able to agree on whether the original results were real, and (even if they weren’t) whether the technique the paper describes works anyway. Well. The original paper (free full text), from two Korean research groups, described a drug target discovery technique with the acronym MAGIC (MAGnetism-based Interaction Capture). It’s a fairly straightforward idea in principle: coat a magnetic nanoparticle with a molecule whose target(s) you’re trying to identify. Now take cell lines whose proteins have had various fluorescent tags put on them, and get the nanoparticles into them. If you the... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376810 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:37:07 +0100 2376810 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376220&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F27%2Fchocolate-and-mood-disorders%2F Isn’t it great that we can have something that is not only good for us, but fun to use? I’m talking about chocolate! Yes sir, dark gold, pure happiness! You’ve probably heard the buzz about dark chocolate, and how it’s good for your blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, prevents cancer and can fix nearly anything that is wrong with you, except that expanding waistline. (And for the record — white chocolate is not really chocolate at all. It’s milk solids and fat. No cocoa. Nada.) The basic ingredients of dark chocolate include cacao beans, sugar, soy lecithin (an emulsifier to preserve texture), and flavorings. This yummy treat, which contains fewer milk solids than its more popular cousin, milk chocolate, often is rated by the percentage of cocoa solids in the bar. The ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376220 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:33:37 +0100 2376220 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348540&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F18%2Frecession-anxiety-how-i-stopped-worrying-and-learned-to-love-thrift%2F Anxiety is a sneaky thing. It starts with watching the news of yet another company closing doors. Then we hear about a friend who just got laid off and we think, “There but for the grace of God….” The unopened envelope holding the latest report on our 401K sits on the desk mockingly. Sleep becomes elusive. The future, once so bright with promise, becomes the dark tunnel of the Haunted House ride. Anxious? How about terror stricken? And yet it could very well be that none of the things mentioned above affect our lives today. That’s the thing about panic. We don’t have to be directly threatened to feel as if we are. A recent article in the New York Times, Recession Anxiety Seeps Into Everyday Lives, reports that across the country latent anxiety, triggered by ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348540 Sat, 18 Apr 2009 09:00:39 +0100 2348540 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2279401&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2F19%2Ffraud_how_and_why_and_how_again.php Readers may have seen the recent stories of an academic anaesthesiologist, Dr. Scott Reuben, who published an entire string of fraudulent papers in the pain management field. Various rabble-rousing sources have used this as a chance to run “Big Pharma Pays For Deception” stories, but I’m not going to give that angle much time at all. I’m sure that the companies involved (Pfizer, prominently) were glad to see studies that showed that their compounds worked and were glad to cite them, but the idea of some bigwig picking up the phone and saying “Fake me up some clinical data” is too much for me. The biggest problem is that the physican involved seems to have decided that he could make a good living by telling people what they wanted to hear. That’s always a danger, and it works... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2279401 Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:06:31 +0100 2279401 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2272035&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2F16%2F12-depression-busters%2F The following piece is the most popular Beyond Blue post I have written. Click here for the gallery version. My therapist helped me to build a personalized “toolbox”: a list of a dozen depression busters to direct me toward mental health, and an emergency lifeline in case I get lost along the way. I consult these 12 techniques when I panic, when I get pulled into addictive behaviors, and as armor in my ongoing war against negative thoughts. Here they are: twelve strategies to take us all to the promised land of recovery from depression. 1. Get Some Buddies It works for Girl Scouts, depressives, and addicts of all kinds. I remember having to wake up my buddy to go pee in the middle of the night at Girl Scout camp. That was right before she rolled off her cot, out of the tent and... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2272035 Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:02:10 +0100 2272035 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2177636&cid=t_101068_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2Fg4ho3MdcrU8%2F Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum cardiologist of Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, gave some sweet news for dark chocolate and red wine lovers. In the interview the doctor explains that by eating dark chocolate and drinking red wine you are actually fighting against heart disease. Eating one small square of dark chocolate that contains about 30 calories, will aid in fighting high blood pressure and heart disease. Dark chocolate contains flavonids that act as an antioxidant in your system. When eating dark chocolate be sure to read the label to see that it contains at least 70% of cocoa bean content. Red wine contains the same antioxidant properties as does dark chocolate. How to fight heart disease with dark chocolate and red wine Video thanks to http://www.howdini.com/howdini-video-6657679.html Tags... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2177636 Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:58:02 +0100 2177636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2137874&cid=t_101068_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FmlU64E525UE%2F With Valentine’s Day just around the corner you may want to consider giving your love, a heart healthy treat. For those of us with partner’s that have high blood pressure or heart problems that love their sweets, this article is a great find. Dark chocolate may be just what the answer you are looking for. Do you know that cocoa is actually a fruit? We all know that fruits are good for us. Researchers have found a link that shows cocoa and dark chocolate aid in the fight against cardiovascular disease.  The studies show reduced risk for blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks. Food scientists at Cornell University found that there are twice the antioxidants in cocoa as were in red wine. The study also stated that there were three times more antioxidants in cocoa than found in green... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2137874 Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:00:00 +0100 2137874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2107832&cid=t_101068_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FmUkj0B3ak3o%2F I am not trying to push dark chocolate, but the fact is that we are all trying to improve our health. Our heart is the jewel of our body, when the heart is not functioning properly the whole body suffers. While looking for ways to improve our heart health we all look for everything available on heart. Finding that a small amount of dark chocolate daily is good for the heart, is a great treat. Dark chocolates are fully loaded with many flavaniods. So by simply eating 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate daily we may improve our heart health. A spot on CBS News, told of a research study that included 20 male smokers’ that were divided into two groups. The men were given 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate or white chocolate and then waited for two hours for the results. The men that ate the dark chocola... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2107832 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:31:52 +0100 2107832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2065377&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fit-o2E8AONc%2F The other day I read a review of a play by an Irish playwright, and was reminded of another of his plays and was relieved it was a bright morning of full sunshine and a strong wind pushing away the clouds, or I would have been spooked, as this other play (to me) was thoroughly terrifying in a Kafkaesque kind of way (but keep in mind, I can’t handle seeing horror movie). I was distracted by other things and then, before I knew it, I was running down the stairs to meet Charlie’s schoolbus, and watching him make his lunch, and helping him practice the cello, and then (even though it must have been the coldest day of the year) we went on our daily walk up and down the main boulevard of the condo development we live in. As it had been snowing on and off since Friday, there were medi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2065377 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:05:14 +0100 2065377 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2061183&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35455&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoapywater.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Fhow-not-to-write-christmas-letter.html This time of year, mailboxes everywhere are filling up with letters from our friends and relatives recapping their years. To a parent of a kid with special needs, or any child struggling, or any family struggling, these letters can be as painful and annoying as sciatica. Maybe I should speak only for myself. I find them to occassionally be as painful and annoying as not just sciatica, but as heartburn, canker sores, and blisters.I should stop here, or at least pause, to say I do share in the victories of my friends and their kids. I guess I have a hard time with the comparison. Were I to write a Christmas letter, this or any year, it comes out sad and tragic and just not right. Perhaps it's just my writing style, or my intense need to be honest (should anyone ever ask me about it later, I ... Soapy Water blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2061183 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:21:00 +0100 2061183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2006062&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35455&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoapywater.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Finternal-debate.html Me: I think I'm going to kill Soapy Water.Me: But you love Soapy Water. You at least have to keep the archives!Me: But the archives make me want to cringe. All that bloviating about the "idiots" at The Kid's schools, all the "thank God for psychiatric medications..." It's just a big emblem of the wrong path, the lost years...Me: And yet, that's what got you and The Kid here.Me: But where are we? Who wants to read about it?Me: You know people will read it, the people who love you will.Me: Yeah, we can't all be as famous as Mr. Lady. But the posts aren't coming out any more. I'm too self aware. I've lost that voice, I've certainly lost all semblance of hip-mom that seems to be prerequisite for mom-blogging.Me: Dude, you were never "hip."Me: True. But I thought I was. I have lost something. I... Soapy Water blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2006062 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:29:00 +0100 2006062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1947738&cid=t_101068_129_f&fid=36038&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.healthtalk.com%2Fmultiple-sclerosis%2Flife-with-ms%2Fhow-do-you-make-sure-your-multiple-sclerosis-is-winterized%2F The rainy season has begun in Seattle. It’s dark when we wake, it’s wet, rainy and gray all day, and dark well before cocktail hour. You try to get as much done outside before the rains set in. Most of the leaves, however, don’t fall from the trees before the rains begin. This makes yard clean-up that much more of an effort. I’d think about leaving them until spring, but picking up after 3 dogs becomes too much of a land mine hunt if the leaves aren’t raked up regularly. I was a bit hamstrung this year as well; having surgery at the end of September. I got everything done I could before the cutting, but it wasn’t enough…it never is. Winter is setting in and I’m not ready for it; and sometimes I feel that way about multiple sclerosis. Every ti... Life with MS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1947738 Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:26:33 +0100 1947738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1920968&cid=t_101068_135_f&fid=35250&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.poz.com%2Fshawn%2Farchives%2F2008%2F10%2Fhappy_halloween.html It's Halloween! One of my favorite times of the year! That's why I'm turning off my brain, and turning the blog over- for the very first time-, to a special guest: Frankenstein... But, before I do so, I want to post a couple of funny videos. Here are some not-so-scary outtakes from the Dark Shadows TV series, which, upon first glance, should have been called "The Fly". Alright, have fun tonight and eat lots of candy. I am off to scare children in my Frankenstein costume- that's how I get my free candy. Positively Yours, ArRRrrrRRGGGGGAHGH! (Source: Shawn's HIV Blog) Shawn's HIV Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1920968 Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:20:34 +0100 1920968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1829148&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fprenatal-testing-and-disability-rights%2F An underlying theme of The Speed of Dark is disability rights in general, but more specifically autism rights in a world where the genetic cause of autism has been determined and a prenatal “cure” is given to any fetus that is found to be autistic.   Of course, here in the real world we aren’t at that point - yet.   But we’re getting there. Since reading The Speed of Dark, I’ve picked up Prenatal Testing and Disability Rights to try to get a more detailed understanding of the various opinions and considerations around the question.  I’ve given this some thought before - I posted the following as To hear or not to hear, is that the question? in September 2006 - but it’s a big question deserving a bit more thought. = = == === ===== In the world o... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1829148 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:12:01 +0100 1829148 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1802965&cid=t_101068_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.healthtalk.com%2Fbreast-cancer%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fdark-thoughts-about-cancer%2F Breast cancer continues to shake up my world. A dear member of the family had a recent scare almost 20 years since having a mastectomy to remove a small cancerous lump. This time the mammogram on her remaining breast looked suspicious so she was called back for a second test. Thankfully that proved that there was nothing indicative of a new breast cancer. The great part was that she was at a clinic that gave her the results immediately after that second test so she didn’t have to wait it out in fear and trepidation. “The waiting is the hardest part” is not only lyrics to an old rock song, but is a reality for women who have found a lump. I was fortunate enough to be at a clinic that did an immediate ultrasound when my mammogram showed a suspicious lump. The doctor could t... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1802965 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:58:01 +0100 1802965 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1780127&cid=t_101068_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F387263580%2F This article was written by Pascale Michelon, Ph. D., for SharpBrains. Dr. Michelon, Copyright 2008. Dr. Michelon has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and has worked as a Research Scientist at Washington University in Saint Louis, in the Psychology Department. She conducted several research projects to understand how the brain makes use of visual information and memorizes facts. She is now an Adjunct Faculty at Washington University, and teaches Memory Workshops in numerous retirement communities in the St Louis area. More articles on the topic: - A Multi-Pronged Approach to Brain Health - Overview of Nutritional Supplements and Brain Fitness Alzheimers, Alzheimers risk, Antioxidants, berries, brain diet, Brain health, citrus fruits, cocoa, Corrada, Curcumin, dark chocolate, DHA, enhance me... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1780127 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:05:57 +0100 1780127 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1746076&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F08%2Ftheyre-not-normal-whatever-you-say%2F This is the fourth of three posts of excerpts from Elizabeth Moon’s novel The Speed of Dark. (Part one - How normal are normal people?,  part two - What does it meant to be “me”?, and part three - Do I need to be healed?) Like any good story, The Speed of Dark has an antagonist that provides the main character his dilemma and challenge.  I thought it might be worthwhile to share some of Mr. Crenshaw’s thoughts on Lou and his co-workers. “Your guys are fossils, Pete.  Face it.  The auties older than them were throwaways, nine out of ten.  And don’t recite that woman, whatever her name was, that designed slaughterhouses or something —. “One in a million, and I have the highest respect for someone who pulls themselves up by their bootstraps... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1746076 Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:13:52 +0100 1746076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1742745&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fdo-i-need-to-be-healed%2F This is the third of three posts of excerpts from Elizabeth Moon’s novel The Speed of Dark. (Part one - How normal are normal people?, and part two - What does it meant to be “me”?) In this excerpt, Lou is considering what it might mean to be “healed”: If my self definition is limited and rule-dictated, at least it is my self-definition, and not someone else’s. I like peppers on pizza and I do not like anchovies on pizza. If someone changes me, will I still like peppers and not anchovies on pizza? What if the someone who changes me wants me to want anchovies…can they change that? … Asking if I want to be healed is like asking if I want to like anchovies. I cannot imagine what liking anchovies would feel like, what taste they would have in my ... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1742745 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:37:50 +0100 1742745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1739129&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fwhy-are-we-so-intolerant-of-differences%2F One of the key sub-plots in Elizabeth Moon’s book The Speed of Dark involves some corporate intrigue and an almost stereotypical management vs. labor conflict.   At the heart of the issue is a question of the efficiency vs. effectiveness of the autistic workforce.   It’s probably because of my recent reading of the book that Jack Vinson’s post People still say these things? caught my attention.  (Attention, what attention?) In that post, Jack references a quote that “amazes me every time I see it used in real life”: Regrettably far too many executives remain firmly convinced that the only way to increase productivity is for their employees to work harder or faster. A chief executive in Northern Ireland was quoted in his company magazine as saying; “... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739129 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:46:46 +0100 1739129 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1739130&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fwhat-does-it-mean-to-be-me%2F This is the second of three posts of excerpts from Elizabeth Moon’s novel The Speed of Dark. (Part one - How normal are normal people?) In this excerpt, Lou is considering what it means to be “Lou”, and how he would be different as an adult if he had been different when he was younger. If I had not been what I am, what would I have been? I have thought about that at times. If I had found it easy to understand what people were saying, would I have wanted to listen more? Would I have learned to talk more easily? And from that, would I have had more friends, even been popular? I try to imagine myself as a child, a normal child, chattering away with family and teachers and classmates. If I had been that child, instead of myself, would I have learned math so easily? Would the ... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739130 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:37:33 +0100 1739130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1739131&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fhow-normal-are-normal-people%2F After seeing a reference to it in a comment to a blog somewhere last week, I picked up Elizabeth Moon’s novel The Speed of Dark and read it over the weekend. The novel, set in the near future (30 years or so), is the story of Lou Arrendale, an autistic man presented with the possibility of being cured, his contemplation of what his decision - either way - would mean, and the consequences of his eventual decision. I need to process it a bit more before writing a full review, but the short version of the review goes something like this: If you haven’t read this book yet, go out and buy it now and read it tonight. As I pull together my thoughts for the full review, I’d like to share some key passages that really stood out to me as relevant to my own contemplation of autism, ... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739131 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:35:05 +0100 1739131 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1717161&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautism.gbrettmiller.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fthe-internet-doesnt-make-people-stupid%2F Over at Wired.com, David Wolman has posted an essay entitled The Critics Need a Reboot. The Internet Hasn’t Led Us Into a New Dark Age. The essay is a response to the numerous recent books and articles that paint “the internet and its digital spawn” as the cause of the growing shallowness and dumbing-down of society. I’ve been following this trend of blaming the internet as part of another interest of mine, Work Literacy, and that is how I came across this particular article. What caught my eye, in terms of relevance for this blog, was Wolman’s take on the role the internet (and its digital spawn) plays. It’s not the cause of these problems, it is an enabler of these things for people, and a society, that is already pre-disposed to this way of thinking. ... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717161 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:16:39 +0100 1717161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1658172&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F348152117%2F A glass half-full or half-empty? A big awful mess of a mess on the carpet as yet another episode in the comedy of one’s life, or further evidence of the tragedy of life with autism? Mirth or melancholy? (To put it a little more poetically.) Mamma Mia! or Dark Knight—-the one (as characterized in the July 27th New York Times) a “sing-along cinematic travel brochure that set a box-office record last weekend for the opening of a musical” full of many a “peppy Abba song” in which heroine gets guy in the end, and the other a “bomb-a-minute postmodern comic-book spectacle from the Batman franchise” that can be described as “dysphoric” and rife with many a “malign word that [issuing] from that smeary rictus on the face of Batman’... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1658172 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:37:28 +0100 1658172 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1649392&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F07%2F23%2Fthe-psychology-of-the-dark-knight%2F The Dark Knight, which in generating $158 million in gate receipts last weekend set the all-time record for most receipts in an opening weekend, has clearly entered the American consciousness. The film has attracted very favorable reviews by critics and even more favorable by movie-goers, many of whom have been struck by the amazing, chilling, and believable performance of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. The Dark Knight has also attracted the notice of academics and those with expertise in the social sciences. Clinical psychologist Robin S. Rosenberg of Psychablog, for example, offers an interesting entry titled “Dark Knight: A Psychologist’s View.” We excerpt it below. * * * This film is really about the Joker. We’re lured in to his world, where we learn what ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1649392 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:28:50 +0100 1649392 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1642630&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F07%2F21%2Fmake-me-happy-sweet-chocolate-and-lower-my-blood-pressure%2F Image details: Health Food Junk Food served by picapp.com Is there just anything better than reading about the health benefits of steak, beer or chocolate? Methinks not. So here’s another gem for you: German researchers say that eating a square of dark chocolate every day can reduce your systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 3 points and your diastolic pressure by 2! And you don’t have to worry about breaking the diet bank, either. Each square only totals about 30 calories (calories full of bliss, I might add.) The trick? Natural compounds found in dark chocolate raise your levels of nitric oxide, a known blood-vessel relaxer. So…more chocolate in your life = better health? Man, what great news for a Monday, eh? Bon apetit! Tags: Chocolate for Health, Diet, Health, ... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1642630 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:00:57 +0100 1642630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1536071&cid=t_101068_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F316584626%2F It happens. Often.      Why? We just secured an interview with Ori Brafman, co-author of Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior (Doubleday Business, 2008), to discuss our Dark Side (well, he calls it "different hidden forces" and "psychological undercurrents"). While reading some reviews about his book, I particularly enjoyed finding, after the usual impressive long collection of endorsements, this "disclaimer": *DISCLAIMER: If you decide to buy this book because of these endorsements, you just got swayed. One of the psychological forces you'll read about in Sway is our tendency to place a higher value on opinions from people in positions of prominence, power, or authority. (But you should still buy the book.) Alvaro Fernandez (AF): Ori, wh... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1536071 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:06:07 +0100 1536071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458508&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F05%2F20%2Fdistinguishing-fiction-from-reality-in-college-students%2F You knew that the actions of the Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho were going to reverberate and likely help change the face of college campuses forever. Not just in the obvious ways, such as increased campus security, but in much more subtle ways too. Such as the English professor ratting you out for your “dark” fiction that, if you were Stephen King, might bring you a $1 million paycheck. But as a starving college student living on campus, it might instead bring you nothing more than a forced psychiatric evaluation and a police escort off campus. That’s the story of Steven Barber, who wrote just such dark fiction for a University of Virginia creative writing class. Of course, Mr. Barber probably shouldn’t have had 3 guns in his dorm room, but still. Where do co... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458508 Wed, 21 May 2008 00:36:42 +0100 1458508 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1454343&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F05%2F19%2Fmay-is-skin-cancer-awareness-month%2F Did you know May is Skin Cancer Awareness month? It surely is. And to draw even more awareness to what has become an increasingly pertinent issue, the Beauty & Style channel here at b5media (where I also write) will be hosting a Theme Day centered around this very issue. Tuesday, May 20, will see links from many of the wonderful blogs over at Beauty and Style, each offering up creative ways on how to protect your skin and raise awareness. Once the collaborative list is posted on the main b5 blog, I will come back here and add the link. Until then, enjoy this post focusing on two celebrities who have made skin cancer awareness a mission of theirs. And we hope to see you milling around Theme Day tomorrow for some great ideas to care for your skin in style. *** It’s true, sk... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1454343 Tue, 20 May 2008 02:11:40 +0100 1454343 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1382614&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2008%2F04%2F18%2Fcut_it_out_cut_it_out_now.php File this under “does no one any good”. As many of you will have seen, JAMA just published a report on various studies that Merck has conducted and published over the years on Vioxx. The conclusion was that the company basically wrote the papers, and then went shopping for well-known academic names as authors. No, this one isn’t going to be good for anyone involved. There seems little doubt that this practice does go on. I’ve never been in a position to see it happen, but it’s been reported for years. There are whole companies whose business is “scientific writing and communication”, and some of these seem to be in the business of turning studies into manuscripts, with no mention of their work in the final version. (The JAMA article found evidence of this sort of thing as we... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1382614 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:11:24 +0100 1382614 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1283627&cid=t_101068_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2008%2F03%2F06%2Ffakery_and_its_ends.php Thinking about that plagiarizing Indian professor brings up the same thought I always have in these situations: what on Earth is going through the heads of these people? I can tell you, honestly, that I have never faked any data. (That phrase makes me remember, though, that one of the most crazed fabulists I’ve ever known started a good number of his sentences with the phrase “I tell you honestly”). I would feel nervous and guilty about making up so much as an NMR coupling constant – I freely admit to having put down “10 Hz” for something that might well be 9 on closer inspection, but making it up without having even looked? No way. It’s not like I have a halo over my head, but hey, these things are real numbers that people can check. You’d think that if a person feels the... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1283627 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:48:28 +0100 1283627 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1243562&cid=t_101068_158_f&fid=36024&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.healthtalk.com%2Fcaregiver%2Fjeff%2Fmovie-the-savages-portrays-caregiving-with-all-its-warts%2F The trailer of “The Savages” makes the movie look a lot funnier than it is. Even calling this movie a black comedy – as some reviewers do – doesn’t seem quite accurate. Even though there are some funny scenes, I’d have to say this is a pretty straight-ahead serious movie about caregiving. The movie focuses on the Savage siblings, a brother, Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and sister, Wendy (Laura Linney), who suddenly are thrust into caregiver roles when their estranged elderly father Lenny Philip Bosco) begins to slip into dementia. These are all imperfect people. Both of the middle-aged siblings, the story makes clear, suffer from frustrations and disappointments in their own present-day lives as well as the residue of unhappy childhoods. Neither is married nor has a family. Bot... Caregiver Notes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1243562 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:16:35 +0100 1243562 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1187195&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F01%2F29%2Fthe-bipolar-emergency-kit%2F An internet search for bipolar supplies turned up this…… “The full-wave doubler is also a bipolar supply, where ground is taken at the junction of the capacitors” and this…. “[1] Bipolar Supply Module Kit), $105.00 USD.” and a bunch of other goobilygood crap that I didn’t understand. I want to post about bipolar supplies that we need. You know……the must haves that we keep around ICORMS (in chase of radical mood swings). I think that we should do a service here and make a list of necessary items and keep them in Two Boxes…..one for mania and one for that shithole of depression. For example…… Supplies to be put in The Manic Box 1. Patent office number……..for those really fantastic, foil-proof, “go... bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1187195 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:13:36 +0100 1187195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1181851&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35455&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoapywater.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fin-real-life-i-really-do-say-dude-this.html Question: Gee, Molly, you've been notably absent from the internets lately. I mean, you've been logging in to facebook to play scrabble and whatnot, but no blog posts. What gives?Answer: Dude. So much is going on. Too much, in fact.Question: Like what? A fabulous vacation? A new hunky love interest?Answer: No, dude. It's like I've traveled back in time to that one time The Kid was going to hospital school and my mom had eye surgery. Remember? I'm saying this because these exact things are going on right now. Again.Question: Dude.Answer: I know! But, apart from my mom and her retinal detachment (which we believe is going to be fine, she's just not seeing all that well yet, so we've moved house and home and cat over to her house to make her coffee and clean her house and wrestle in her bathr... Soapy Water blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1181851 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:52:00 +0100 1181851 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1179325&cid=t_101068_129_f&fid=36038&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.healthtalk.com%2Fmultiple-sclerosis%2Flife-with-ms%2Fmultiple-sclerosis-in-the-white-house%2F We here in the U.S. are deep in the throes of the longest executive selection process in the world. Even though the first votes were cast just a couple of weeks ago, the campaigning has gone on now for months (and there are many months to go before it’s over) and that’s just for the primaries! I am something of a political animal; I’ll admit to that. But I try to only bring up politics to this forum when it comes to specific issues. I have my political views, you have yours; no need mucking up the waters of our relationship with the “who to vote for” conversation. I bring this issue to the community today, simply because I was not the one to bring it up. The subject of this posting brought this up herself – so, fair game. In a speech this week, one which seemed to be headed tow... Life with MS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1179325 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:55:44 +0100 1179325 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1142499&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F01%2F10%2Fsweeney-todd%2F Went to see Sweeney Todd and here’s my review. Narrator: This is the tale of an ordinary man, who had everything… Mrs. Lovett: Barker, his name was. Benjamin Barker. Narrator: Until a man of power stole his freedom, destroyed his family and banished him… for life. And in his sorrow a new man was born. Mrs. Lovett: You’re barking mad. Sweeney Todd: The years, no doubt changed me After hard years in exile for a crime he didn’t commit, Benjamin Barker now Sweeney Todd, returns to London to find his wife dead and his daughter in the hands of the evil Judge Turpin. In his anger, Sweeney goes on a murderous rampage on all London, with the help of Mrs. Lovett, he opens a barber shop in which he lures his victims in with a charming smile before casual... bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1142499 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:14:53 +0100 1142499 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1128841&cid=t_101068_134_f&fid=36049&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FDiabetesNotes%2F%7E3%2F210628376%2F How many times before have I mentioned the importance of sleep and your bodies ability to regulate glucose? A few at least. There is yet further proof to this theory and I have been holding off writing about it due to it being somewhat repetitive, but I have seen it so frequently that I think it is worth another mention. The US team discovered that volunteers who were roused whenever they were about to fall into the deepest sleep developed insulin resistance. This inability of the body to recognize normal insulin signals leads to high blood sugar levels, weight gain and, eventually, even type 2 diabetes. Personally, I have been in trouble from the start. My kids are such horrible sleepers and my hubby and I have not slept through the night in 7 years. Not to mention that a pin drop wakes ... Diabetes Notes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1128841 Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:33:21 +0100 1128841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1097644&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2007%2F12%2F16%2Fthe-shrinks-ive-known%2F I like it when people talk about their therapy experiences, both good and bad. The more people read about others’ experiences with therapy, the more open, perhaps, they will be to considering therapy themselves. Psychotherapy is such a mysterious process to many people who haven’t tried it, so such stories take some of the mystery out of it. But not everyone’s story with psychotherapy is a positive or happy one. Some people try it many different times with many different professionals and never quite find the right fit. Others simply don’t find the process very helpful at all. And reading those experiences are just as important, because just like most treatments for mental disorders, one size does not fit all. So I enjoyed reading in today’s Boston Globe Mag... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1097644 Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:48:23 +0100 1097644 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1093099&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomensbioethics.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Flooking-for-cats-that-glow-in-dark.html (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1093099 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:11:00 +0100 1093099 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1045157&cid=t_101068_85_f&fid=36194&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftesstermulo.com%2F2007%2F11%2F22%2Fbetter-a-doubt-than-blind-obedience%2F It seems that the Christian groups protests again will be increasing as the day for the launch of “The Golden Compass” movie, based on the first book of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy, gets nearer. Emails have been circulating, warning Christians to beware of watching the film because it “promotes atheism for kids”. An example of such email is this: There will be a new children’s movie out in December called “The Golden Compass”. The movie has been described as “atheism for kids”and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled “His Dark Materials” that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the “Chronicles of Narnia”. His motivation for writing this tril... Prudence and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1045157 Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:42:40 +0100 1045157 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=954244&cid=t_101068_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2F170413511%2F Medtronic disclosed the latest issue early Monday, saying that it decided to pull the “Sprint Fidelis” brand of leads for defibrillators, or ICDs, because they are prone to fracturing and potentially causing major problems. The issue may have contributed to five deaths, Medtronic said. Here we go again. This can’t be good given the already dark shadow that was cast upon ICD’s in the major recall that occurred in 2005. And because of limited supplies Medtronic won’t be able to re-supply patients until later in the fiscal year. I think it is safe to say that there will be an enormous monetary implication due to this. If you have concerns, put a call into your doctor and they will put a call into consultants for Medtronic. Remember that with this recall, the wire... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=954244 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:12:20 +0100 954244 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=822703&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34865&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecancerblog.com%2F2007%2F08%2F26%2Fsunday-seven-seven-more-ways-to-fine-tune-your-health%2F Filed under: Environment, Diets, Stress Reduction, Obesity, Sunday SevenI promised two weeks ago when I wrote Sunday Seven: Seven ways to fine-tune your health that I'd be back to offer seven more grand ideas for optimizing your physical and emotional well-being. Here I am, with a mini-list of suggestions I gathered a while back from a newspaper article. If you don't already practice these strategies, then why not give them a try.Eat breakfastIt's the most important meal of the day -- really. A breakfast high in complex carbohydrates and protein creates energy. Energy kick-starts metabolism and helps our bodies burn fat. We all know what fat does. It weighs us down and contributes to all kinds of health problems.Get your sleepSleep restores our bodies. Sleep-deprived folks secrete more lep... The Cancer Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=822703 Sun, 26 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 822703 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=786722&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34865&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecancerblog.com%2F2007%2F08%2F08%2Fshades-of-cancer%2F Filed under: Chemotherapy, Cancer SurvivorsMy hair is changing -- again. It started out perfectly straight, blond, and shoulder length. Then it came tumbling out, thanks to the chemotherapy drugs adriamycin and cytoxan. Four months later, it was back -- curly, dark, and way too short for my liking. Over the past two years, I've grown to enjoy my hair. The longer it gets, the less curl it keeps. I like it this way. The color has grown on me too. When I look back at photos of my lighter locks, I think dark suits me better. Why do I get the feeling, though, that my hair won't be dark for long?I still think of my hair as dark, I guess because it was once so very blond and it is so very not blond at the moment -- in my opinion anyway. The other day, while eating lunch at a restaurant with my li... The Cancer Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=786722 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 786722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=760471&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34865&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecancerblog.com%2F2007%2F07%2F26%2Fon-the-hunt-for-vitamin-d%2F Filed under: Breast Cancer, Diets, Vitamins and nutrientsVitamin D is one of the latest, greatest hot cancer topics. Why? Well, it seems many of us women are vitamin D deficient. Such a deficiency might be linked to breast cancer risk so it's in our best interest to make sure we get a healthy dose of this vitamin. It's not as easy as adhering to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) guidelines, though. Follow them and you'll still come up short -- the Food and Nutrition Board, responsible for setting the DRIs, have not yet updated guidelines in light of cancer concerns. So what's a girl to do? For starters, we need to understand that for overall health benefits, 1,000 IU (International Units) per day are necessary. The outdated DRI recommends 200 to 600 IU. This is based on preventing only bo... The Cancer Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=760471 Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 760471 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=750227&cid=t_101068_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F07%2Fcafepress-t-shirt-sale-reminds-me-i.html The timing on this sale could not be better - I've worn my favorite designs to death. My "No Whining" shirts are especially threadbare and stained, and I really want to get one of my cool new metallic versions on black or dark colors.Now, you might think of this as a commercial post. I'll admit, there's an overlap, but this post is what I am gonna buy. This is actually sparked by something Randi Rhodes said some months back, talking to people who felt that they "couldn't do anything" about the way things are going in this country. They either couldn't afford to donate to a cause, or didn't have the time to get involved, or really didn't see how either thing could make a difference.She said, at the very least, you can wear a t-shirt! If you are a social sort of person, if you like shopping,... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=750227 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 750227 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=733647&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34866&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecardioblog.com%2F2007%2F07%2F13%2Fsome-natural-solutions-for-high-blod-pressure%2F Filed under: Alternative therapies, Women Heart Health, Men Heart Health, Aging Heart HealthSometimes medication is necessary in order to get your blood pressure under control, but if you haven't reached that critical stage yet, there are some natural remedies that you can use to lower your blood pressure. So if you're serious about getting heart healthy, try these solutions from eDiets: Exercise: 30 minutes a day is all it takes ... so how about a walk this evening? Quit Smoking: Qutting's not easy, but it will make a world of difference Lower Salt Intake: Use a low-sodium salt alternative, or try cutting it out altogether Get More Fiber: Increasing your fibre intake doesn't have to mean eating cardboard-like cereal. Ask your doctor how to get more fibre Eat Dark Chocolate: Don... The Cardio Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=733647 Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 733647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=612005&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34865&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecancerblog.com%2F2007%2F05%2F16%2Fcancer-by-the-numbers-melanoma%2F Filed under: Skin Cancer, Cancer by the NumbersWe're still basking in the hot sun, bronzing our bodies in tanning beds, and playing outdoors without slathering on the sunscreen. What will it take, I wonder, for our society to catch on, to take real steps toward preventing skin cancer?It seems education isn't enough. Most of us know by now all it takes is one bad sunburn to increase our risk of skin cancer, yet we continue to collect burn after burn after burn. Perhaps like all habit-forming behaviors -- think smoking -- it takes something tragic in our lives to inspire change. When someone we know gets lung cancer after a lifetime of smoking or someone we know develops melanoma after years of sunbathing, maybe we get the hint. MaybeNow, I know you don't personally know this young woman -- ... The Cancer Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=612005 Wed, 16 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 612005 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=588683&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35455&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoapywater.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fword-to-wise-dont-yell-at-school.html Word to the wiser: Don't let THEM yell at YOU, either.I haven't been writing very much lately, and part of the reason why has to do with the fact that I'm working through, in my brain, a number of things I am really not going to ever write about.But have to break my silence because I'm finally ready to tell you this story:In March, The Kid's school and I met for an IEP addendum meeting. You review an IEP on an annual basis, and his annual date happened to fall in the midst of last fall's placement fiasco, so I was never satisfied with the goals they set him, or about the information contained within the document in the first place. In fact, when the IEP was written back in October, I had pages of requests for changes, but those changes never happened. I let it slip, for a little while, kno... Soapy Water blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=588683 Fri, 04 May 2007 02:50:00 +0100 588683 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551441&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fguidelines-for-reading-this-blog.html Most of the blogs I've seen are the equivalent of an online journal that discuss the joys and trials of one's daily existence or interests. You should know, this blog isn't organized on that principle. This blog is primarily a means of bringing together specific articles and viewpoints that I've found helpful in understanding and moving through my own spiritual emergency. It's been structured to present entries in chronological order (as opposed to typical blog layout wherein the most recent entry is on "the top") and is currently complete. I won't be adding any more entries to the blog aside from changing out the featured quote from time to time. Depending on why you're here, it might be helpful for you -- the reader -- to follow some brief guidelines to increase your reading satisfaction... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551441 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:44:00 +0100 551441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=511244&cid=t_101068_87_f&fid=34866&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecardioblog.com%2F2007%2F03%2F30%2Fchocolate-may-reduce-the-risk-of-blood-clots%2F Filed under: Diet, Prevention, ResearchLooking back on some recent posts, I realized that there has been too much negativity going on. While I do feel it is important to pass along research related to heart-related complications and dangers, I sometimes feel like a purveyor of doom. So, in efforts to 'add some heart' to this blog, I thought I'd mention something sweet. Well, semi-sweet, anyway. Yet another study -- this time conducted at Johns Hopkins Univeristy -- has found dark chocolate to be highly beneficial to circulation and overall heart health. The research, presented at a recent American Heart Association meeting, revealed a clear connection between the consumption of chocolate and the reduced risk of blood clots. The flavonoids in chocolate affect how effectively platelets clum... The Cardio Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=511244 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 04:00:00 +0100 511244 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=472270&cid=t_101068_109_f&fid=34794&url=http%3A%2F%2Fadseg-shu.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F09%2Fdancing-in-dark.html Today was an odd day to being with. Mid-September, yet overcast, breezy, and cool. The road to work is also the truck route to the border crossing to Mexico, so it necessitates weaving between slow moving tractor-trailers. It appeared that, today, seeing the amount of traffic, they were returning spinach to Mexico. I know, that was uncalled for...The sergeant in the sally-port, speaking with an elderly gentleman wearing a visitor's pass, gets all excited when I enter, asking if I would take this gentleman, a visiting pastor, to the chapel on Yard One. Certainly. Now let me clarify that I am from NY, therefore I am generally impatient ("Get to the point..."), always in a hurry, but generally considered a "conversationalist." Generally. As we walked, at an eighth of my normal pace, I learned... Turn Your Head and Scoff blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=472270 Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:45:00 +0100 472270 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551454&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F07%2Fprocess-of-individuation-shadow_09.html Image SourceWithin Jungian psychology there is a concept known as The Shadow. Most of us encounter our own shadows in the form of projection. That is to say, we disown the characteristics and behaviors we cannot stand about ourselves and project them onto others. We then insist that they carry our shadow for us and may even punish them for the things we hate about ourselves. One example of this might be a minister who openly despises gays while privately engaging in closeted homosexual activity. Those who cannot accept their shadow will reject it in favor of embracing their Persona. The persona is the idealized image we present of who we really are. And still ... The Shadow Knows when we are lying to ourselves and those around us. The shadow contains our every fear, our every terror, it kn... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551454 Sun, 09 Jul 2006 07:08:00 +0100 551454 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551457&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F07%2Faugust-and-everything-after.html This was one of those songs that got stuck in my head long before August, and Everything After ever arrived...Black Crow Flies Through a Hole in the SkyThe Rain King [*]When I think of heavenDeliver me in a black-winged birdI think of flying ... Down in your sea of pins and feathersAnd all other instruments ofFaith and Sex and God In the Belly of a Black-Winged Bird.Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been here before And I deserve a little moreI belong, in the service of the QueenI belong, anywhere but in betweenShe's been crying, I've been thinkingAnd I am, the Rain KingAnd I said mama, mama, mama, Why am I so alone? I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeBut I'm alive, I'm alive But I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlin'Why don't you invite me in? Don... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551457 Sun, 09 Jul 2006 07:07:00 +0100 551457 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551458&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F07%2Fwasteland.html An excerpt from a poem which got stuck early in this process...I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEADAPRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade, And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, And drank coffee, and talked for an hour. Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch. And when we were children, staying at the archduke's, My cousin's, he took me out on a sled, And I was frightened. He said, Marie, Marie, hold on tight. And down we went. In the mountains, there you feel free. I read... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551458 Sun, 09 Jul 2006 07:06:00 +0100 551458 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551460&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F07%2Fshadow-knows.html Image SourceWithin Jungian psychology there is a concept known as The Shadow. Most of us encounter our own shadows in the form of projection. That is to say, we disown the characteristics and behaviors we cannot stand about ourselves and project them onto others. We then insist that they carry our shadow for us and may even punish them for the things we hate about ourselves. One example of this might be a minister who openly despises gays while privately engaging in closeted homosexual activity. Those who cannot accept their shadow will reject it in favor of embracing their Persona. The persona is the idealized image we present of who we really are. And still ... The Shadow Knows when we are lying to ourselves and those around us. The shadow contains our every fear, our every terror, it kn... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551460 Sat, 01 Jul 2006 18:11:00 +0100 551460 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551444&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F01%2Fspirituality-trauma.html Traumatic experiences force victims to face issues lying outside the boundaries of personal and collective frames of reference. As a result they are forced to confront psychological and spiritual challenges that are unfamiliar to the average person. Therapists need to recognise that organisations of self and God are often thrown into question or destroyed by experiences of trauma. The deconstructive power of trauma exposes the lack of substance and cohesiveness that comprises identity and images of God.Initially, trauma is grounded in pain, loss, and fear. Often it leads to breakdowns. Ultimately, with proper support and guidance, it has the potential to transform individuals into compassionate and deeply spiritual beings. Traumatic events expose victims to aspects of life that most would ... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551444 Wed, 11 Jan 2006 02:27:00 +0100 551444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=552347&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35455&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoapywater.blogspot.com%2F2005%2F09%2Finsurance-sucks.html This title is all the more funny to me, as I am an insurance agent employed by the largest insurance broker in the world. Heh.Yesterday ended on the note that the Children's Hospital had a two month backlog. This morning, I thought I'd get cracking at that. There's always a way in. I'm a bulldog. Heck, I'm an insurance agent, I'm connected. I call hospitals all of the time, and if I am diligent enough, I always get what I want. Eventually.So, I call around to the other referral number I was given yesterday. Leave a message.After a half hour of no results, I decide to call the pediatrician back to get either more referrals or a better roadmap to get what I need. I have, of course, to leave a message for the pediatrician and she will call me back.When she eventally does (to her credit, in le... Soapy Water blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=552347 Thu, 08 Sep 2005 03:58:00 +0100 552347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=552345&cid=t_101068_140_f&fid=35455&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoapywater.blogspot.com%2F2005%2F09%2Fmean-reds.html The alternative title to this post is: Stay the Course, My AssToday was a rotten, horrible, no-good, bad day. We're yet to hear any good news come out of the school. The Kid's been in kindergarten for 9 days, all sad faces, no, he did well. Not even a "he did okay." I'm getting really discouraged, but at least we're getting some work done.Mrs. Social Worker called this afternoon to tell me that he was hitting again today and at one point had a chair poised above his head threating to throw it but apparently chose not to, because he set it back down. Again, I was told this kind of behavior is going to result in suspension. I asked her, Why put it off? Suspend him now! But what would Suspension do? He's not tested to behave in my house. We've already been through how he doesn't act violently... Soapy Water blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=552345 Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:48:00 +0100 552345