For many years, we’ve known that measles virus infection messes with your immune system. During infection, you are at greater risk of infections caused by other pathogens because measles thwarts the proper immune attack. At the same time, your body makes a long-lasting response to the measles virus. This is often known as the “measles paradox”.
Yesterday in the hot, hot sun, I sucked down a mango smoothie. Immediately I stopped in my tracks, squinted my eyes, and put my hand to the pain in my forehead as I regretted my choice of beverage. In the July/August 2015 issue of Men’s Health, Dr. Jorge Serrador explains how cold beverages and foods cause this rapid-onset headache more widely known as “brain freeze”.
Mary Roach, author of the weird sciency books Stiff, Gulp, and Bonk, should go on a comedy tour. Her research about human physiology is not simply regurgitated on the page. It is craftily masticated, suspensefully digested, and hilariously delivered for her readership to chew on. Outside of this blog, I write about evidence-based medicine. I do PubMed searches on things like “mycobacteria, prevalence, United States” and “typhoid fever, pathogenesis”. For her work, Mary Roach searches for things like “cadaveric, penis” and “kegeling, urine dribble”. Here are some fascinating curiosities of Mary Roach. Continue reading Chew on this: the curiosities of Mary Roach
It’s been a week since my iPhone met its new best friend. This bff sits on my wrist, taps me every once in a while, has a new set of animated emoji faces, and even tells me to get off my butt and stand up throughout the day. My phone’s new bestie is the newest tech trend–the Apple Watch.
After placing the order on pre-order day and being told that my watch would arrive in June, I was obviously bummed. Last week, a shipping notice arrived in my inbox, my watch would be arriving on April 24–the release day! I’ve had the watch for a week now and thought that enough of my friends might enjoy a little review. So here it is–the good, the bad, and the ugly.
…not polio, nor HIV, tuberculosis, or influenza, but that doesn’t mean that millions won’t benefit from it’s elimination. The next eradicated disease will likely be Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis).
While I agree with Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) that there is an irresponsible lack of accountability amongst the leadership of the U.S. and that government spending requires much more oversight, Coburn goes way too far to single out and discredit scientific studies in his 5th annual Wastebook.
Recently, a letter written in 1988 by beloved British children’s lit author Roald Dahl resurfaced. The letter was written on behalf of his deceased daughter Olivia, who caught measles and died in 1962 at the all-too young age of 7. Prior to the development of the measles vaccine, this was a horrifyingly common occurrence. In his letter, Dahl recounts the last day of Olivia’s life and pleads parents to vaccinate their children.
“In my opinion parents who now refuse to have their children immunised are putting the lives of those children at risk.”
-Roald Dahl’s 1988 letter
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that starts somewhat innocuously as a flu-like disease before exploding into an itchy rash that can spread all over the body. Measles is particularly dangerous when the virus infects the lungs and progresses to pneumonia or infects the brain and causes inflammation leading to seizures and brain damage. This brain infection is what ended poor Olivia Dahl’s life all those years ago. And although Roald Dahl recognized that the vaccine was not available in time to save his eldest daughter, he was conscious of the well-being of his other children and all the kids all over the world that are captivated by his fantasy worlds in books.
“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her.
“I feel all sleepy,” she said.
In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.
-Roald Dahl’s 1988 letter
Continue reading Matilda, James, & Charlie would have been vaccinated
On June 23, 2014 at the age of 33, I had my first panic attack. It was, without a doubt, the most terrifying day of my life.
In his new book, My Age of Anxiety: Fear, hope, dread, and the search for peace of mind, Scott Stossel examines the history of anxiety disorders. This account of anxiety and panic disorders in America is a welcomed departure from the mind vs body debates of similar literature. And Stossel uses his memoir to “come out” as a successful author, editor, father, and husband who just happens to suffer from social anxiety and a host of various phobias. I appreciate the courage that it took for Stossel to publish this book and praise his ability to discuss anxiety, not as a weakness, but as an illness much like diabetes or cancer.
Continue reading MY Age of Anxiety (and a bit of Scott Stossel’s too)
Perhaps the very worst aspect of humanity is our illusion of independence. Humans have evolved into self-thinking, -centered, and -indulgent individuals that have, for the most part, lost site of the microcosm that we inhabit and that inhabit us.
“Our bodies may belong to us, but we ourselves belong to a greater
body composed of many bodies.”
-Queen Elizabeth I
Eula Biss takes this social stance in her fascinating new book On Immunity: An Innoculation, which should find itself on every mothers’ reading list. The birth of Biss’ son transformed her from a relatively fearless woman into a MOM–one who will do quite literally anything to protect her child. Like any mother, Biss second guesses many of the decisions she has made on behalf of her son, including vaccinations. Continue reading Tending to our community garden
With the holidays fast approaching and Black Friday upon us today, here are some of the best engineering toys for kids. Each of these toys develops spatial learning and problem solving skills that can grow and build with your child. Empowering kids with the creation of real-world structures and electronics, children and adults alike can join in the fun. And, especially, we need to make more of an effort to inspire young girls to engage in STEM subjects and I can tell you that I would have loved to have these toys when I was a kid!
Continue reading Building little engineers this holiday season