What is Life is Really Like in Pharma? - These xtranormal Video Cartoons Come Close.

Sadly, the 'xtranormal' video cartoons at the following URL capture all too well what life is like in the pharmaceutical industry - buzzwords, neologisms, nouns turned into verbs, new paradigms, team players - and per the site, endless inane "initiatives" and related threats to sanity.I've been there; while a parody, these videos are uncomfortably close to reality.http://www.youtube.com/user/ZombieSymmetry/feed"I'll...

How to be black

I really liked today's "conversation" in the Washington Post, "How to be black" Baratunde Thurston. He's a comedian and writer, and wrote an auto-biographical book, some of which is excerpted in a slideshow on the WP website.Worth a look. I really loved #11 "How to speak for all black people", and #13 "How to be the black employee", because I think they are also applicable to being a woman or other underrepresented person in technology....

How the Anechoic Effect Is Institutionalized - A Hospital Policy Against Unsupervised Discussion with the Media

In a single sentence, a short, obscure article in the Worcester (MA) Business Journal on life at a community hospital after a for-profit corporate take-over:Several Nashoba employees, who didn't want their names used because it's against hospital policy to talk to the media without authorization, said they're happy with the new insurance plan.We have often discussed the anechoic effect, how cases involving or discussions of the topics we address...

TWICHOO Soldiers are Down to Syringes

The following tweet was brought to my attention in comments on another post:garytaubes gary taubes Worried about the greatly-exaggerated death of the insulin hypothesis? Take the latest NEJM image-challenge: bit.ly/db7VF2The image that link leads us to is at right, along with a selection of conditions for one to select as the cause of the malformation.  Well, of course, the answer...

Paleo Diet Article in Sound Consumer

I recently wrote an article for my local natural foods grocery store, PCC, about the "Paleolithic" diet.  You can read it online here.  I explain the basic rationale for Paleo diets, some of the scientific support behind it, and how it can be helpful for people with certain health problems.  I focused in particular on the research of Dr. Staffan Lindeberg at the University of Lund, who has studied non-industrial populations using modern...

Fat Tissue Expansion: Part II ~ Overview of How it Can Happen

In Part I, I laid out some terminology that we'll use in the discussion of how we get fat.  In this installment, I'm mostly going to list the various means by which fat tissue can expand, emphasis on the word can.  Because as future installments will lay out, while some of these mechanisms are plausible, some of these mechanisms contribute very little if at all to the fattening process.  So what mechanisms might be involved in the...

Can You Sue the Government? FDA Whistleblowers Sue Over Surveillance of Personal e-Mail

From the Washington Post:FDA staffers sue agency over surveillance of personal e-mailEllen Nakashima and Lisa ReinJanuary 29, 2012The Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they [the scientists - ed.] warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that they believed posed unacceptable risks to patients, government documents show.The surveillance — detailed...

 i hope y'all had a great weekend!!  my dad's b'day is wednesday so my fam came to visit us for a night and we had an early b'day celebration.  we had an oyster roast, drank lots of good wine, had family game night, and laughed a ton......mostly b/c taylor picked out mustaches for us all to wear...and we really thought it was funny (well everyone but walker)!!*images found h...

My student is so good you can't have them

It's been positively fascinating reading recommendation letters for prospective graduate students. The majority are fairly normal, but a few are kind of clingy."Ms. Hopper is awesome and will do great at your university, except I really don't want her to go there, I want her to stay with meeeeeeeee."Sometimes, the clingy professors will trash the student too, sort of like in the way I tell people, "this chocolate cake is TERRIBLE, you definitely...

Fat Tissue Expansion: Part I ~ Terminology

One of the things that irks me about discussions of various obesity related topics is the inappropriate use of terminology.  I would like to give the benefit of the doubt and presume that for most who do this, it is inadvertent.   Often this is due to not having a complete understanding of human metabolism and physiology (cough ... ahem ... Mr. Gary Taubes) , but at some point, when speaking from a presumed position of authority, this...

Gestational Diabetes and Pre-Pregnancy Fat Intake

Gestational diabetes -- hyperglycemia during pregnancy -- effects a considerable number of women.  It is also a known risk factor for developing diabetes (T2) later in life.    Some degree of peripheral insulin resistance normally develops during pregnancy.  Why?  Because the fetus' growth and development takes priority in nutrient partitioning so glucose is conserved for the fetus much like it is conserved for the brain...

Insulin and Obesity: Another Nail in the Coffin

There are several versions of the insulin hypothesis of obesity, but the versions that are most visible to the public generally state that elevated circulating insulin (whether acute or chronic) increases body fatness.  Some versions invoke insulin's effects on fat tissue, others its effects in the brain.  This idea has been used to explain why low-carbohydrate and low-glycemic-index diets can lead to weight loss (although frankly,...

Elephants We Can Notice But Cannot Name

We have often discussed the anechoic effect, how cases involving or discussions of the topics we address on Health Care Renewal, the concentration and abuse of power in health care, fail to produce any responses, or echoes.  Last month, an article with the provocative title, "Elephants in Academic Medicine," by Souba et al addressed the anechoic effect, but was unable to discuss what people in academic medicine cannot discuss.(1)"Organizational...

Wikipedia page on EHR's: ==Disadvantages== material seems to keep disappearing

It's interesting how most of the information below seems to have a hard time "staying put" on the Wikipedia page for "Electronic Health Record" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_health_recordThe information is presented in a neutral fashion from impeccable sources. Yet several Wikipedia "editors" take issue with it and, rather then editing it or refuting it (and stating their rationale and sources!), they keep deleting it. (The most recent...

well hello there friday....you snuck up on me but i'm SO glad to see ya!! *images courtesy of meg biram, is it love or just paris, jan show...

A perfect example of why I post what I do about LC personalities

I frequently read folks wondering out loud why I spend (waste?) the time that I do to post on various low carb gurus and personalities.  It doesn't seem like a worthwhile endeavor at times ... and I must admit I occasionally wonder if it's worth the flack and time either.  And then along comes another LC'er "helping others" with their wisdom.  Some of the people I've written about don't "get me" ... after all they are just every day...

Introducing the Cocoon collection

!Designs that twist turn and wrap feature within our new Cocoon Spring 12 designs!We've wrapped fine strands of silver in a honeycomb of circles - the ultimate in stand out style!  With great silver cuffs – perfect for when you just need to make a statementWeekend bracelets perfect to wear with jeans. And necklaces that will perk up a simple neckline with blue topaz, peridot and purple amethyst,...

Some thoughts on fructose studies

I've been poking about the literature lately ever since the insulinogenic (in terms of circulating insulin levels but not necessarily secretion of insulin) properties of jelly beans were made known to me a while back.  I've been looking into studies comparing sucrose to glucose or fructose separately, or that measure insulin secretion and/or clearance per se.  It's a rough go.  Much of the research that turns up with fructose in the...

racing out of the door today but here's a little something something to hold you over!!  see y'all tomorrow!!!*images from for the dream, birch and lily, barrie benson, windsor smith, ana antunes styl...

Lowe’s Focus on Swimming Highs

Jemma Lowe is one of the hot-properties in British swimming. An Olympic finalist in Beijing, she took 100m butterfly Bronze in 2010 at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.Along with her colleagues from the Swansea Performance Centre, Jemma took part in the high-class USS Grand Prix event in Austin, Texas, recently.The competition was the final part of their three week long USA training camp as they stepped...

If this makes it to TV, will they be consistent?

Earlier this week, Dana Carpender let her audience in on a little more news ... and I do mean just a little ... on the potential upcoming LC TV cooking show.  In a short but sweet announcement, she encourages readers to go "Like" the show on Facebook.  We learn the proposed title:  Your Doctor's in The Kitchen.  She describes this as a "low carb cooking and health advice show that Dana and Dr. Jim Carlson hope will find a network...

Google Giggles

I have a twofer today.The first one I have no idea how it got someone here!  Beth's Weight Maven blog perhaps, what with her always enjoyable Friday Cat Blogging.   But nonetheless, someone found the Asylum with: Mean KittyThe next one makes me wonder if I haven't been cursing too much here on the blog.  I don't do it often, but Google sees all apparently.  I'm happy that someone landed here searching on:Gary Taubes bullshithee...

Another Quote to live by?

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect"                            -Mark TwainAt the time of publication of this blog post, this Mark Twain quote comes from Larry Istrain's blog.  As much as I admire Twain, some of his "isms" are not, in my opinion,...

Unequal Justice Under Law - Comparing Cases of Alleged Misbehavior by Large Health Care Organizations and Individuals

How the wealthy and powerful have become able to play by a different set of rules than those affecting ordinary people may be the defining issue of our time.  Yesterday, President Obama's State of the Union message asked for an economy in which "everyone plays by the same set of rule."  We posted about how this issue, which got national attention due to the Occupy movement, affects health care here.We have previously posted again...