When Reminded Of Their Mortality, People Are More Likely To Donate Possessions That Allow Their Identity To Live On After Death
By Emily Reynolds
Mortality is a weighty, often difficult topic. Some avoid thinking about it altogether, while others try to come to terms with it: research suggests a fear of death can be ameliorated by unexpected tactics including hugging a teddy or listening to death metal.
It’s also been posited that a fear of mortality can lead to materialism: trying to accrue as many possessions or as much wealth before death as a way of managing existential terror. But a paper in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that thinking about mortality might have a different impact on behaviour, making people more likely to give a...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - July 15, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: The self Source Type: blogs
As the pandemic drags on, when can we get back to work?
Along with widespread illness and death, the COVID-19 pandemic is also causing massive economic disruption. Stay-at-home measures and business shutdowns have prevented millions of people from working. In just four weeks, between mid-March and mid-April, 22 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. These numbers are bound to spiral higher.
Given all the hardships — and new predictions that cases of COVID-19 will begin falling in most states in the coming weeks — when might people be able to return to work? Thus far, the answers are quite uncertain.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) h...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 21, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Infectious diseases Medical Research Workplace health Source Type: blogs
Did Mitigation Save Two Million Lives?
Alan ReynoldsIn the April 16 White House briefing, President Trump again said, as he often has before, that “models predicted between 1.5 and 2.2 million deaths” if we had not endured the various economic shutdowns imposed by the Governors of 42 States. The severity and breadth of those statewide shutdowns was initially encouraged, and is now justified, by just one dramatic statistic. That number was the 2.2 million U.S. deaths supposedly at risk from COVID-19.The famed 2.2 million estimate first reached viral status in the March 31 White House briefing by Doctors Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx. They displayed a grap...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 17, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Alan Reynolds Source Type: blogs
Tracking the White House ’s Favorite Epidemic Curve
Alan ReynoldsNew York Governor Cuomo recently said he thinks New York City deaths from COVID-19 may be near an “apex.” White House advisers Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci refer to the same phenomenon as a “peak” or flattening of the bell‐shaped epidemic curve. When we reach that peak, daily reports on the number of coronavirus deaths should stop doubling every five days (from 661 March 31 to 1212 on April 5) and instead begin to level off and then decline.Governor Cuomo and the White House team share the same expectation that we ’re nearing a peak because they share the admirably transparent ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Alan Reynolds Source Type: blogs
‘Sophie’s Choice’ in the time of coronavirus: Deciding who gets the ventilator
Three otherwise healthy patients go to the emergency department with severe acute respiratory failure. Only one ventilator, required to sustain life until the worst of the coronavirus infection has passed, is available. Who gets the vent?
That’s what “A Framework for Rationing Ventilators and Critical Care Beds During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a Viewpoint just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), addresses. Douglas White, MD, MAS, Endowed Chair for Ethics in Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine ...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - April 6, 2020 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Bioethics Today Tags: Health Care Author: Lewis syndicated Source Type: blogs
Infection Fatality Rate – A Critical Missing Piece for Managing Covid-19
by Rich Condit Rich Condit is a virologist and emeritus Professor, University of Florida, Gainesville and a host on This Week in Virology. Modeling done by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington suggests that if stringent social distancing measures are kept in place, the “first wave” of covid-19 […] (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - April 6, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Commentary Information case fatality rate CFR coronavirus COVID-19 IFR infection fatality rate SARS-CoV-2 viral viruses Source Type: blogs
How Errors in Divvying Up Chromosomes Lead to Defects in Cells
Note to our Biomedical Beat readers: Echoing the sentiments NIH Director Francis Collins made on his blog, NIGMS is making every effort during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep supporting the best and most powerful science. In that spirit, we’ll continue to bring you stories across a wide range of NIGMS topics. We hope these posts offer a respite from the coronavirus news when needed.
Mitosis is fundamental among all organisms for reproduction, growth, and cell replacement. When a cell divides, it’s vital that the two new daughter cells maintain the same genes as the parent.
In one step of mitosis, chromosomes are se...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - March 25, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Susan Johnson Tags: Genes Cellular Processes Chromosomes Source Type: blogs
Coronavirus, Chloroquine, and “Off‐label” Use
Jeffrey A. SingerAt a Coronavirus Task Force briefing last week, President Trumpincorrectly told the press that the antimalarial drug chloroquine had already gone through the Food and Drug Administration ’s approval process for the treatment of COVID-19 infection:“They’ve gone through the approval process, it’s been approved and they did it, they took it down from many, many months to immediate.” He was later corrected by the FDA Commissioner, who said the approval process had not and will not be completed until controlled clinical trials have convin ced the agency.Many people might therefore conclude that d...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 23, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Innovation in the time of COVID-19
Necessity is the mother of invention, and in no time is invention more necessary than during a global pandemic. Starting with the drive-through testing clinics pioneered overseas that spread to the United States (big shout-out to the University of Washington for putting step-by-step instructions for how to start your own drive-through clinic on their COVID-19 […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 18, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/amy-baruch" rel="tag" > Amy Baruch, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions COVID-19 coronavirus Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
Four tips to practice good mental hygiene during the coronavirus outbreak
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Just a few days ago my son’s college, the University of Washington, announced it would be cancelling all in-person classes and finals to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. One confirmed on-campus case prompted the university’s response.
Though the university will incur high costs—they have to deep-clean the whole campus, for example—I, for one, am truly grateful for their swift action and putting students first. It’s one of the many ways that I feel cared for in the midst of this crisis, and one of many caring acts that I expect to see in the weeks ahead.
Why expect more cooperation and compassion in ...
Source: SharpBrains - March 17, 2020 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Greater Good Science Center Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness coronavirus coronavirus outbreak emotional reactivity fear good hygiene Gratitude handwashing mental hygiene mindfulness social hygiene stay calm stay focus Source Type: blogs
Seven Strange Quirks Of Human Vision
In this study, racial biases also came into play. The team —Ruben Azevedo, Sarah Garfinkel, Hugo Critchley and Manos Tsakiris — showed images of either black or white individuals holding either a gun or a mobile phone. When the images were presented on the heartbeat, rather than between heartbeats, they were 10% more likely to see the object as a gun when it was held by a black person. The researchers think this effect might explain at least some shootings of black unarmed men by police officers.
Another study, published a year earlier by Maria Lojowska’s team, found that when we’re afraid, we perceive some aspect...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - March 17, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Feature Illusions Perception Source Type: blogs
A case for resident activism
In 2019, residents organized coast-to-coast to protest low pay, unsafe working conditions, and insufficient benefits. Residents at the University of Washington and UCLA walked out of the hospital in reaction to stalled contract negotiations. Residents at Yale interrupted a meeting to introduce a“Resident and Fellow Bill of Rights,” outlining basic rights such as a […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 12, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/sejal-parekh" rel="tag" > Sejal Parekh, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Physician Hospital-Based Medicine Practice Management Source Type: blogs
To screen, or not to screen (for dementia), that is still the question
A leading group of medical experts on Tuesday declined to endorse cognitive screening for older adults, fueling a debate that has simmered for years.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said it could neither recommend nor oppose cognitive screening, citing insufficient scientific evidence of the practice’s benefits and harms and calling for further studies.
The task force’s work informs policies set by Medicare and private insurers. Its recommendations, an accompanying scientific statement and two editorials were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The task force’s new position c...
Source: SharpBrains - March 11, 2020 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Judith Graham at Kaiser Health News Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness Alzheimer’s Disease Annual Wellness Visit cognition cognitive decline cognitive-abilities Cognitive-impairment cognitive-screening dementia geriatric psychiatrists geriatricians JAMA Jou Source Type: blogs
Speaking “Parentese” With Young Children Can Boost Their Language Development
By Emily Reynolds
Language learning can be a matter of much concern for new parents, who often worry about what their baby is saying, how they’re saying it, and when. With previous research suggesting that frequent verbal engagement with babies can boost vocabulary and reading comprehension, this preoccupation is not without merit. But even those parents who aren’t too fixated on baby’s first word may in fact be improving their offspring’s language, even if they’re not aware of it.
A form of speech dubbed “parentese” may be a key factor in improving language learning in infants, a new study in PNAS h...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - February 21, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Babies Developmental Language Source Type: blogs
Scientists are unraveling the mysteries of pain
More than three decades ago, when Tom Norris was fighting cancer, he underwent radiation therapy on his groin and his left hip. His cancer disappeared and hasn't come back. But Norris was left with a piercing ache that burned from his hip up his spine to his neck.Since then, Norris, now 70, has never had a single day free from pain. It cut short his career as an aircraft maintenance officer in the U.S. Air Force. It's been his constant companion, like the cane he uses to walk. On bad days, the pain is so excruciating, he's bedridden. Even on the best days, it severely limits his ability to move about, preventin...
Source: Psychology of Pain - January 6, 2020 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
