Ira R. Allen's blog
Where you live may have as much effect on your overall health as any racial disparities, studies are finding.
People living in AIDS-epidemic countries in Africa understand the ABC approach to prevention -- "Abstinence, Be faithful, use Condoms." They just don't practice it. Same in the USA -- abstinence works only up to a point -- the point when kids want to have sex.
Meet two candidates for the corporate chutzpah hall of fame.
Anyone who gives any real thought to the problem of alcohol or drug addiction, or any other bad habit, realizes that "will power" is not the cause. Families of addicts don't seem to get it.
Research into human behavior has finally caught up with the old gag: "What's the most dangerous part of a car? The nut behind the wheel."
As with other conditions with a psychological component -- like insomnia -- treating depression involves more than throwing pills at the problem.
There's too much teenage pregnancy, too much risky teen behavior. But let's not link "doing it" with listening to music. Again.
Where would we be without the venerable toilet seat? Well, for one thing we wouldn't have a good standard by which to measure the cleanliness of cell phones, purses, office desks or restaurant ice.
There is zero reputable evidence linking MMR vaccines to an increase in autism. It can be harder to educate the supposedly educated on this subject than to get a Kansas school board to accept evolution. Oh? Wait a minute! Well, there's a lot more educating to be done about science, and maybe some home-schooled kids in Indiana have something new to share.
Obese people think they are eating healthily and doing vigorous exercise. In their dreams! But nutritionists are hardly any better. Give them a big bowl and an ice cream scoop and watch them pack it away.
The government's top doctors appear to be writing their own prescriptions. Will they be found to be safe and effective?
The human animal is taller, heavier, healthier and longer-lived than in the past. Whatever the reasons, maintaining health should not necessarily be to extend life but to enjoy life.
A baseball fan sitting in the left field stands in Baltimore once yelled at alcohol-abuser and all-around jerk Albert Belle that the best way to play a long fly ball was to "take 12 steps back."
If you think it's hard getting a break from your HMO or a driver's license from your local motor vehicles department, try losing weight!
The Institute of Medicine defines an entirely new kind of drug abuse -- medical error.
