Writing Is Easy

Based on:  “Personal Health: Too Much Medicine, and Too Few Checks,”  (Jane Brody, NYT, Well Blog, April 17 2012)             Over the last 100 years, life expectancy in the U.S. has increased dramatically. In 1910, for example, the average for men was 48 years. At 51 years, women didn’t fare much better. Today individuals can live well into their 80s. Longevity is both a blessing and a curse. As we age, maintaining good health becomes more complicated. Thanks to pharmaceutical advances, drug therapies have become highly targeted to treat specific conditions and illnesses; the longer we live, the more medications we need to take. The phenomenon known as overmedication of the elderly is a growing problem that costs the American healthcare system millions. Over 40% of people 65 and over take five or more medications. Often this is necessary to treat a variety of ailments, but when multiple doctors prescribe different classes of drugs to a single patient, problems inevitably ar

SYNOPSIS of: "Tick-borne Diseases" by Sanson et al. and "Tick Removal," by Sloan et al., on  Medscape              What has eight legs, a  capitulum , and drinks from a  hypostome ? If you guessed the tick, you’re right! In the U.S., tick season spans from April through September. The further one ventures out of the city and into the suburbs, an encounter with this eight-legged bloodsucker becomes more likely. In our neck of the woods, tick-infested areas include Gladwyne, the Wissahickon, and Valley Forge Park. Ticks are vectors of disease, which is a fancy way of saying that they carry and transmit pathogens (disease-causing substances) to their hosts. In order to move on to the next developmental stage, these tiny vampires need to feed on blood. The bad news is that ticks can transmit illnesses like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tularemia (a serious infectious disease). The good news is that you are highly unlikely to get sick from a tick b

“Moderate Exercise, Quicker Conception Linked,”  Lindsey Konkel, Reuters Health (April 5 2012) Is it possible to summarize all scientific findings with the following statement: “Everything in moderation, nothing to extremes”? A U.S.-Danish study following 3500 Danish women aged 18-40 trying to get pregnant over 1 year demonstrates that moderate exercise performed more than 5 hours per week (walking, cycling) improves your chances of getting pregnant. Women who exercised moderately were 18% more likely to conceive than those who exercised for less than 1 hour a week. On the other hand, women who exercised vigorously for more than 5 hours per week (running or aerobics) were 32% less likely to get pregnant than those women who did not exercise strenuously at all. Overweight and obese women experience difficulty conceiving because higher levels of estrogen can adversely affect other hormones that facilitate ovulation. It is less clear why very lean women and the vigorous exercis

SYNTHESIS of: Press Release, Penn Medicine News.  “NSAIDs and Cardiovascular Risk Explained, According to Studies from the Perelman School of Medicine,”  May 2, 2012; and  “FDA Must Be Proactive About Postapproval Drug Safety: IOM,”  May 3, 2012, Medscape Nearly 10 years after Merck withdrew the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx® (rofecoxib) from the market in 2004 because it increased the risk of heart problems when used for over one year, eight randomized trials conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine confirmed the possible adverse side effects of COX-2 inhibitors like Vioxx®. Initially, COX-2 inhibitors were viewed as a better alternative to traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Advil because they are less likely to cause gastrointestinal bleeding. Vioxx® selectively blocks COX-2, which produces prostaglandins (specifically prostocyclin) that cause pain and inflammation. However, prostocyclin also acts as an ant

“Rapid Increase of Diabetes Strains Middle East’s Health Agencies,”  Sara Hamdan, January 12, 2011, The New York Times;  “Sun, Shopping and Surgery: Can the Gulf Attract Medical Tourists?”  December 10, 2010, The Economist The Middle East is currently experiencing a major health crisis in tandem with the United States: type 2 diabetes. Both countries are struggling to keep up with the costs and impact of the disease. In the U.S., type 2 diabetes afflicts both rich and poor, but  a stronger correlation between lower socioeconomic status and this chronic condition has been established.   Less affluent Americans tend to eat more fast food and may not, in general, have access to good preventative care. In oil-wealthy Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, type 2 diabetes affects primarily the most privileged. The International Diabetes Foundation estimates that 26.6 million adults in the Middle East and North Africa have d

Paul Dano redeems himself after his monochromatic performance in  Little Miss Sunshine  (2006) in this comedic gem based on author-raconteur Jonathan Ames’ novel of the same name. Ames continues to indulge his penchant for perversion as he recounts the lives of men who cannot control their sexual impulses. In all of his personal and fictional works, highly depraved individuals are surprisingly the most capable of expressing humanity and tenderness towards the most vulnerable members of society. Considering that most of his stories are set in New York City, a locale that tends to attract the self-obsessed, this is no mean feat. After a “crippling brassiere incident,” Louis Ives (Dano) is fired from his job teaching English at a fancy Princeton prep school. He decides it’s the perfect time to move to Manhattan, where he can pursue his dream of becoming a writer. He rents a small room from one Henry H. Harrison (Kevin Kline), a flamboyant man who wages a daily war against modernity. He