Psst. Wake up. I can’t stop going to the bathroom…
Those ten words changed my life forever. In the middle of the night of the 21st of August, 1979, my (then) wife woke me to tell me those words. I immediately knew she was not incontinent- but that her water had broken. And, in a flash, I grabbed her bag (the one that had been packed for a few days- since the due date was 9 September), told her to dress, put on a pair of pants and a shirt and drove to Martha Jefferson Hospital.
A computer game is about to become an important medical research tool. Because all of you who play its games (I never found the time to join in), have provided massive data that can be mined to determine some pretty important facts. The game site? Lumosity.com. You know, the game that trains your brain. (To do what, I might ask?)
Continue reading Data Mining- here we come
I can remember a time, not so long ago…
Yup, when Congressmen (there were maybe 1 or 2 women, who ‘inherited’ their spouses’ seats) were held in relative high regard. And, car salesmen were the low men (again- same statement) on the totem pole. Now, Congressfolks have a public approval rating that would make Idi Amin (go ahead, look him up!) blush- and car salesman have vanished (almost) from the face of the earth.
Continue reading Another one (ok, a whole bunch of them) bites the dust…
Steak and potatoes. (Mine was steak and rice, with sweet potatoes…) Remember that? That used to be the staple diet for most Americans. That was then- when I was growing up…and, sometime in the 80’s and 90’s, our diets began to change.
Continue reading A diet for life?
I’ve written about distracted driving a lot. Because too many folks try to escalate the practice of talking on the phone (hands-free) to a national calamity. When it is clear that talking on the phone is no different than talking to a compatriot in the same car or listening to talk radio, and certainly less of an issue than turning around to deal with one’s children in the car.
Continue reading Music to my ears?
True Confessions? My oldest daughter still holds it against me that I would not impress a bedtime for my children, once they reached four years old. My policy was you could stay up as late as you want- but you had to get up the next morning when required. If it were a school day, that meant 7:15; Saturday meant 8:30, and Sunday- whenever.
Continue reading Consistency is the key…
I’ve written about breastfeeding before- for example, it’s potential ability to preclude asthma in these breastfed children. Well, now, there seems to be another reason. Breastfed children may not develop ADHD [Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder].
Continue reading Breastfeeding has even more benefits for children
We are having our babies older than we used to. Which is why our population is not increasing. (As a matter of fact, it was just announced that there were more deaths than births for soon-to-be minority majority Whites in America.) Because the longer we wait, the less likely we will have our (old) average of 2.2 children per family. Even that wasn’t “self-replicating”, with 2.33 children per family- which keeps the population stable. Right now, US families are averaging just over 1.9 children per family. Continue reading Decisions have Consequences
The ability to grow brain and spinal cord nerve cells is present at birth- and starts to disappear just like that as we age. So, when we incur an injury to the spine or the brain- the axons (as discussed earlier) can’t regenerate. It is thought that since these areas are replete with nerves and nerve fibers, they send signals to stop new connections from forming. By stopping new pathways from forming, our brain can’t be confused with by incorrect signals that could result from the new pathways.
Continue reading Spinal Cord Regrowth May Be Possible- but not tomorrow.