Having Fun in the Pit of Despair
Many spiritual teachers advocate the principle of detachment, which means being unattached to outcomes. The reasoning is that attachment to outcomes creates unnecessary suffering. Life is full of surprises, and if you become overly attached to specific outcomes, you’re likely to create extra stress, frustration, worry, and disappointment for yourself. So why bother with this needless suffering?
Dispassionate detachment is a popular idea, especially in Buddhism. It claims to help people transcend neediness and clinginess — if they practice this principle enough. But for many people, it’s impractical to con...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - June 6, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Emotions Source Type: blogs
News on Career Development Awards funding
We are now paying career award applications to a score of 15. I know this will bring cold comfort to too many of you. And, the shock of learning that we are paying those career award applications with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease to a score above 30 leaves a sharp sting for those whose worthy aims do not address that priority. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - May 25, 2016 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Robin Barr, Director of the Division of Extramural Activities Source Type: blogs
The Sting of the Tarantula Hawk: Instantaneous, Excruciating Pain - Undark
Stung by a tarantula hawk? The advice I give in speaking engagements is to lie down and scream. The pain is so debilitating and excruciating that the victim is at risk of further injury by tripping in a hole or over an object in the path and then falling onto a cactus or into a barbed-wire fence. Such is the sting pain that almost nobody can maintain normal coordination or cognitive control to prevent accidental injury. Screaming is satisfying and helps reduce attention to the pain of the sting. Few, if any, people would be stung willingly by a tarantula hawk. I know of no examples of such bravery in the name of knowledge,...
Source: Psychology of Pain - May 19, 2016 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
Free Trade in Canadian Beer (and More?)
Last year, I mentioned a Canadian court case that could help promote free trade within Canada. Well, a lower court has now ruled for free trade, finding that the Canadian constitution does, in fact, guarantee free trade among the provinces. Here are the basic facts, from the Toronto Globe and Mail:
In 2013, Gérard Comeau was caught in what is likely the lamest sting operation in Canadian police history. Mr. Comeau drove into Quebec, bought 14 cases of beer and three bottles of liquor, and headed home. The Mounties were waiting in ambush. They pulled him over, along with 17 other drivers, and fined him $292.50 under a clau...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 12, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Simon Lester Source Type: blogs
Our country should keep talking about guns
Two weeks before my oldest cousin’s twenty-third birthday, he shot and killed himself. It scarred our family. The kind of jagged, gnarled scar, like a poorly-filled pothole, that — even though it’s been nearly twenty years — you still run your fingers across from time to time and feel the sting of a fresh wound.
We weren’t all that close, but as a 14 year old, sorting through my own perceptions of self-worth and fears about the future at the time of his death, I felt it very deeply. It was the first time a loved one of mine had committed suicide, but it would not be the last. Not even close.
I want to tal...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 4, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Sarah McAfee Tags: Conditions Primary care Source Type: blogs
Writing in a Fishbowl: Day Nineteen
6:29 PM: “So easy to turn the world down. No matter what you dream, you got to get back to being found.” ♪ I am listening to “Becker” off Autolux’s new album, “Pussy’s Dead”, as I post a quick update before getting on with some more writing today. Those lyrics stabbed my conscious acutely today. It is so easy to turn the world down. You just stop caring, and the pain of failure/rejection/adversity can fade away. Although my daughter’s new Chinese medicine formula has had an incredibly positive change on her mood lability, the struggle over the past two weeks has flip...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - April 7, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Tags: ADHD Depression Goodreads Journaling Writing Source Type: blogs
@LakeStreetDive – an appreciation #notmedicine
This blog usually focuses on medicine, either clinical stories/problems, or health care policy. But today I want to write something totally different.
Over the past 2 days I have become obsessed with Lake Street Dive. How I became obsessed may have some lessons.
I love music, and believe I always have. Since the 50s and 60s I have had serial and parallel music romances. I still remember the initial Beatles performances on the Ed Sullivan show – I was smitten. As I recall those days, their musical freshness captivated me. Throughout the years, I periodically get attracted to performers and groups
Some of m...
Source: DB's Medical Rants - March 19, 2016 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: rcentor Tags: Medical Rants Source Type: blogs
What Trump’s Plan to Negotiate With Pharma Should Tell Us
By JK WALL
Donald Trump’s proposal to allow the federal Medicare program to negotiate prices with drug companies should be a wake-up call for the pharmaceutical industry.
Trump is leading in the polls for the Republican nomination and is even drawing the support of Tea Party conservatives who, just a year or two ago, never would have supported a candidate endorsing such strong government intervention into a private-sector industry.
Characteristically, Trump didn’t give a lot of detail about his plans. He claimed $300 billion in savings per year (about 10 times more than is realistic). But that doesn’t matter. If the...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 3, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Economics Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
9 tips to find a doctor if you work with venomous animals
Because of their beauty, their amazing biology, and their use in developing medicines, venomous animals are found in captive collections far beyond their native ranges. Fortunately, accidents involving them are rare. But people who take care of such animals need to be prepared for an emergency, and if they wait until the last minute things can go very wrong. Speaking as one who receives emergency calls, I offer the following advice:
1. If you have just been bitten, call 911 and accept what is offered. It is too late to read this page. I hope you have the right antivenom with you.
2. Your best possible venom doctor is a p...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 21, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Leslie Boyer, MD Tags: Conditions Emergency Source Type: blogs
What it’s like to talk to patients, then cut them open
Every time I walk through the automatic sliding doors, that strong smell of ammonia stings my nose. The lobby is clean — too clean — with a vast amount of open space leading to the front desk. The just-below-comfortable air brushes against my skin, raising the hair on my arms and legs. Almost cold enough to be a morgue — but that’s later. The room is silent, except for the automatic piano playing its pre-programmed rotation of classical music as the keys ghostly strike the chords under its lid. No man in tuxedo nor woman in gown sits on the cushioned bench. It all says so much about this place.
To some ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 5, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Anonymous Tags: Physician Surgery Source Type: blogs
Human Chipping: Fishing for Uses
by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
In the near future:
Thank you Ms. Riviera, it seems that we have all of your paperwork in order for your new job. The only thing left is your microchip. Please extend your left hand. This will only sting a little.
Tagging humans with microchips has long been a trope in fiction: The X-Files; Terminal Man; Total Recall; Johnny Mnemonic; South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut; Spiderman 2; Mission Impossible 3; Final Cut; and Strange Days to name a few.… (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - October 21, 2015 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Craig Klugman Tags: Featured Posts Privacy chipping human microchips medical technology Source Type: blogs
Right Care Action Week — Be skeptical
Right Care seeks to be smart care.
In the first part of my career, I rarely looked critically at the evidence. I was too busy; and I was more trusting of the vertical hierarchy of medicine. Eminence-based medicine seemed normal. Listen to the experts, for they are experts, went my mindset.
Then something happened. When internal cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) came to be around the turn of the century, someone asked me to do a talk on ICDs. This forced me to study the actual data.
I’ve never forgotten what I learned–not merely about the studies, but also how device companies used key opinion leaders, free food, ju...
Source: Dr John M - October 21, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
Have you heard of henoch-schonlein purpura?
I sure don’t remember this condition in nursing school! Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP) is a disease involving inflammation of small blood vessels. It most commonly occurs in children. The inflammation causes blood vessels in the skin, intestines, kidneys and joints to start leaking. The main symptom is a rash with numerous small bruises, which have a raised appearance over the legs or buttocks. Although HSP can affect people at any age, most cases occur in children between the ages of 2 and 11. It is more common in boys than girls. Adults with HSP are more likely to have more severe disease compared to children. HSP usua...
Source: Nursing Comments - October 18, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Stephanie Jewett, RN Tags: Advice/Education Caregiving General Public Nursing/Nursing Students Patients/Specific Diseases blood in urine children diarrhea HENOCH-SCHONLEIN PURPURA inflammation of blood vessels joint pain joint swelling kidney disease loss Source Type: blogs
TWiV 359: A Blossom by any other name
On episode #359 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent speaks with Blossom about her laboratory’s research on Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, including how it transforms cells, the switch between lytic and latent replication, and its interaction with the innate immune system of the host.
You can find TWiV #359 at www.twiv.tv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - October 18, 2015 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology cancer cGAS innate immunity kaposi kaposi's sarcoma kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus kshv latent lytic sarcome STING tumor viral Source Type: blogs
