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Latest Posts

The Friday Funny: Baby Storage Device?

engrish-funny-plastic-baby

Diabetes Be Damned, Pregnancy Is Amazing

Blue hippo - BSparl is NOT a fan.Yesterday’s Diabetes 365 photo was this:

This little, blue, ceramic hippo came with a circus playset I received decades ago.  I can’t even remember how long I’ve had it, but since college, this one creature has been living in the drawer in every bathroom of every apartment I’ve ever lived in.  It just refuses to be lost or misplaced, though its face is chipped and it’s not the same vibrant blue it once was.

Over the last few days, BSparl has been moving actively and visibly, poking her little legs and arms into my abdomen and dancing around in there.  Being the mature adult that I am, I wanted to see if she would respond to things being placed on my belly.  If Chris puts his hand on me, she reacts immediately.  (She loves her daddy best, I think.)  I rested a glass of ice water on my stomach for just a second the other day and she went after it like Siah after a pump cap.  And yesterday, a warm mug of tea made her jut her legs out aggressively.  (Someone on Twitter said this baby has beverage editorial going on.  I’m not shocked – she’s my kid, so she’s bound to have some strong opinions on stuff.) Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*

Why Not To Drop Your Baby On His Head

Exaggeration, drama, and histrionics are very much the rule of thumb in the ER.  Someone comes in and claims they were stabbed with an eight-inch butcher’s knife, and the police later bring in the actual weapon, and it turns out to be a three-inch penknife.  Someone claims to have taken a whole bottle of tylenol, but their serum levels turn out to be nowhere near the toxic level (or even zero).  A patient reports to you that their last pneumonia was so bad their doctor didn’t think they’d pull through, but you check the records and see they weren’t even in the ICU.  (The sole exception to this rule, of course, is the stated alcohol intake, which is usually about half to a third the actual alcohol intake.) Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*

Do Newborn Babies Cry With Mother’s Accent?

French and German scientists decided to analyze the crying of newborns from the two countries for differences in intonation. Turns out that German babies have a different “accent” to their cry compared with those from France, which implies that language learning perhaps begins even in the womb.

The analysis of crying conducted under the supervision of the psychologist Kathleen Wermke from the ZWES showed that the newborns tended to produce the intonation pattern most typical for their respective mother tongue. The crying patterns of the German infants mostly began loud and high and followed a falling curve while the French infants more often cried with a rising tone. This early sensitivity to features of intonation may later help the infants learn their mother tongue, the researchers say. “When they begin to form their first sounds, they can build on melodic patterns that are already familiar and, in this way, don’t have to start from scratch”, says the neuropsychologist. The evolutionary roots of this behaviour are older than the emergence of spoken language, the researchers believe. “The imitation of melodic patterns developed over millions of years and contributes to the mother-child bond” says Friederici.

Press release: Babies with an accent …

Abstract in Current Biology: Newborns’ Cry Melody Is Shaped by Their Native Language…

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*

Latest Interviews

The Surprising Economic Burden Of ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

If you can read this you need to download a more recent browser It is estimated that as many as million U.S. adults have ADHD Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder A recent research study publication-pending suggests that the economic burden of ADHD on America could be as high as billion annually. I…

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Is The Adderall Shortage A Harbinger Of Future Drug Supply Problems?

If you can read this you need to download a more recent browser Today most- if not all- Doctor’s offices are strained by the shortage of some prescription medication or vaccine. A month ago President Obama signed his executive order directing the FDA to take steps to reduce drug shortages…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: The First Step To Improve Health Care Is A Close Examination Of How It’s Delivered

My friend and former Chair of the CFAH Board of Trustees Doug Kamerow has written a book that I think you will like. Besides being a mensch and witty as heck Doug is a family doctor and a preventive medicine specialist. In his new book Dissecting American Health Care Commentaries…

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“Your Medical Mind” Explores Factors That Influence A Patient’s Medical Decisions

Recently I had a conversation with Shannon Brownlee the widely respected science journalist and acting director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation about whether men should continue to have access to the PSA test for prostate cancer screening despite the overwhelming evidence that it extends few…

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Book Review: Food Truths, Food Lies

Food Truths Food Lies written by family physician Eric Marcotte M.D. may be the most refreshingly evidence-based diet book of the decade. You will not find a single mention of super-foods magical berries or supplement must-haves in the entire book. What you will find is the cold hard truth about…

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