Tag: health
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Ideology Getting in the Way of Evidence-Based Medicine
Giving beta blockers to a person in the early stages of a heart attack makes sense: the drugs reduce oxygen consumption by calming and slowing the heart; something that is ideal during a heart attack. However despite evidence showing that beta blockers may actually increase heart failure, the practice of administering them continues. As Dr. David Newman…
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Vitamins: A Pointless Expense?
Medical research is beginning to suggest that vitamins have questionable health benefits. One study found that vitamin C is ineffective for cold–prevention unless you’re exposed to extreme physical stress (read: ultramarathon runners and “soldiers during sub-Arctic winter exercises”). The New York Times looks at this trend, noting that in some cases, vitamins may do more…
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Exercise and the Placebo Effect
Can the placebo effect work with exercise and fitness? Two Harvard psychologists decided to find out, and the results were startling. 84 maids at seven carefully matched hotels [were quizzed on] how much exercise they got. Fully a third of the women said they got no exercise at all, while two-thirds said they did not…
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Selling Hand-Washing to Africa
The New York Times on how Dr Val Curtis ‘sold’ hand-washing to Africa: Diseases and disorders caused by dirty hands — like diarrhoea — kill a child somewhere in the world about every 15 seconds, and about half those deaths could be prevented with the regular use of soap, studies indicate. But getting people into…
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The Hacker’s Diet
Feeling a little overweight? Having trouble understanding all that fitness and health lingo? Want some simple advice, written for the geek inside you? You need The Hacker’s Diet. Conceived by John Walker (co-founder of Autodesk), it’s a diet that approaches weight loss “as both an engineering and a management problem.” The Wikipedia entry is also…
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Get Running with PodRunner
About 7 months ago I moved house and – as expected – things got in the way and I stopped my regular exercise sessions. Ever since I’ve been meaning to get back into a serious exercise regimen and today is when I do. I play squash regularly and love to swim and cycle… but I…