Better Health: Smart Health Commentary Better Health (TM): smart health commentary

Latest Posts

Great New Site For Hilarious Kiddie Quotes

My friend Mindy Roberts is a mommy blogger extraordinaire. In fact she was one of the very first in this genre – and is author of themommyblog.com.

I’ve shamelessly stolen excerpts from her book “Mommy Confidential: Adventures form the Wonderbelly of Motherhood” for my blog readers. And now, she has created an entire website for kiddie quotes. If your kids or grandkids have said something funny, please share it with the world at PearSoup. Or if you’d just like to return to your own wonder years… take a look at what kids are saying these days. Here are some quotes that I liked a lot:

“Mommy, are you sure you remember how to make a baby?”

— Terrel, 4

“If I plant this eggplant will it grow eggs for us?”

— Spencer, 4

“Whew, that sure was undignified!”

— Ryan, 3

(After running away from the vacuum cleaner)

This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.

Laughter Is The Best Medicine: Headlines From The Onion

In case any of you aren’t familiar with The Onion, it’s a spoof newspaper whose articles range from hilarious to irreverent. Here are some recent health headlines that struck me as funny:

Depressed Cow Eats Entire Haystack

Nation’s Bachelors Demand Health Care Coverage For All Their Buddies

Pharmaceutical Company Says Its New Anti-Depressant Is ‘Worthless And Dumb’

Very Specific Food Pyramid Recommends Two To Three Shrimp Scampis Per Year

Disease-Free Water Tops List Of World’s Most Popular Beverages

Half Of 26-Year-Old’s Memories Nintendo-Related

Swanson Foods Launches Hungry Man Line Of Apparel

Area Man Thinks He Can Save Relationship With Pancakes

American Cancer Society Unveils 1.2-Megaton Anti-Cancer Missile

New Product Can Do All That, More

Barky Dog Just Going Bark, Bark, Bark

And for you scientists in the audience, here’s an Onion classic, mocking the medical peer review process. Enjoy!This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.

Kiddie Quotes

Here are some good ones from Mindy Robert’s book, “Mommy Confidential: Adventures from the Wonderbelly of Motherhood“:

***

Son (age 6): “Dad, did you have any friends of your own before you married mom?”

Father: “Of course I did.”

Son: “Well, are they all dead?”

***

Mom: “Will, would you like lunch now?”

Son: “Mom, not only do I want lunch, but I want that fly OUT of here!”

***

[Mother is with daughter at a public restroom]

Daughter (age 4): “Mommy, I need a smaller toilet.”

Mom: “Honey, these are the only ones we have right now.”

Daughter: [Every time she wiggled onto the seat to get into a comfortable position, the automatic flushing mechanism was triggered, scaring the girl nearly to death.] “Mommy, make it stop!”This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.

Revolution Rounds: The Best of the Medical Expert Blogs, 2.29.08

Happy leap year everyone! The Revolution Health experts have been blogging away furiously, and I haven’t done a Revolution Rounds in a few weeks (naughty) so without further ado – here’s a nice round up of the best of the Revolution Health blogs…

Health tips

Most vitamins and supplements are not necessary if you’re eating a healthy diet. Dr. Joe Scherger summarizes Harvard’s Men’s Health Watch and concludes that only Vitamin D supplements may be warranted for the general population.

Relationships require pruning. Mira Kirshenbaum suggests that if you’re in an unhealthy relationship, it’s best to get up the courage to cut it off.

Ever wonder which arthritis treatments work best? Dr. Jim Herndon has distilled the latest research.

Children need to be vaccinated against the measles. Dr. Stacy Stryer explains that measles can be deadly in 20-30% of the people who get it.

Calcium can strengthen your bones, but may clog your heart? Dr. Vivian Dickerson cautions women about taking too much of this vitamin.

Did you know?

Only one in four people recognize the symptoms of a heart attack. Dr. Joe Scherger describes how you can tell if you’re having one.

Restless legs syndrome might increase your risk of a heart attack. Dr. Steve Poceta explains why.

Stem cell research could be the key to unlocking the mysteries of how cancer develops. Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz describes some promising new research.

Pit viper venom might be useful in reversing strokes. Dr. Olajide Williams explains that the venom can dissolve blood clots in the brain.

There is a real mind-body connection in health and disease. Dr. Joe Scherger explains how it impacts men with erectile dysfunction.

Nighttime anxiety might convey a survival advantage. Dr. Steve Poceta wonders if we worry more at night because the ancestors who did so, lived to procreate.

A hospital is being sued for denying a surgical procedure to a transgender female. Dr. Cole Brown is not sure that this is fair, since the procedure was not emergent.

Orthopedics Corner

Dr. Jim Herndon is a faithful friend and blogger. He has had a particularly fine week – so many of his posts are great that I thought I’d give you a little summary of them all in one place…

Americans spend as much on back and neck pain treatments as they do on cancer treatment. Jim discusses the incredible financial burden of back and neck pain and the disappointing efficacy rates of treatments.

Neck pain is fairly common and particularly resistant to treatment. Jim describes the prevalence of this condition.

Glucosamine does not seem to improve hip arthritis. Jim discusses the mounting evidence that the benefits of glucosamine are very limited if they exist at all.

Patients with spinal stenosis (narrowing of the canal that contains the spinal cord) may benefit from surgery.

About 10% of total hip and knee replacements require revisions. Before you have yours, be sure that your surgeon is experienced with revisions.

Kiddie corner

Dr. Stacy Stryer is also a faithful friend and excellent pediatrician and blogger. Her sound advice and empathic tone is a key to her success. Here’s what she has to say this week:

First of all, Dr. Stacy reports on the strange practice of a nursing mom on America’s Next Top Model TV show: she’s drinking her own breast milk. Yuck!

Studies show that parents spend more time with their first child. Stacy wonders if she’s been a neglectful parent of her younger child.

Measles is a fatal illness for up to 30% of children who get it. Sadly, measles is on the rise because parents have opted out of the MMR vaccine due to unsubstantiated fears of vaccine harm.

Depression in a parent might be a risk factor for poor health among their children.  Dr. Stacy  takes a fresh look at how to keep America’s children healthy.

Dr. Jim Hill explains why children who don’t exercise regularly may perform worse on academic tests.
And my final post of Revolution Rounds is from a couple of neurologists who relay a compelling story: they saved a woman’s arm from a mistake made by an orthopedist in Serbia!

This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.

Some Great Books

Sorry folks, I haven’t been blogging as frequently this week because I’m in the process of finishing up two great books:

1. Fixing American Healthcare, by Richard Fogoros, MD

2. When Good People Have Affairs: Inside the Hearts and Minds of People in Two Relationships, by Mira Kirshenbaum

The first book was sent to me by the author, a fellow blogger and kindred spirit. I have to tell you that Dr. Rich’s description of our dysfunctional health care system (and his explanation of how we got where we are) is crystal clear, compelling, and painfully accurate. If you like feeling righteous indignation, than hurry on over to his site and get the book! I’m hoping to summarize some of his key points here in this blog – but it may be challenging to explain things any better than he does…

The second book was sent to me by Mira’s publisher, who’d like me to read it and comment on the book for a potential back cover testimonial. So far it’s terrific, though I might relate to it a little more if I were personally struggling with a marital affair – and thank goodness that’s not one of Dr. Val’s issues. I’ll ask Mira if I can summarize some key thoughts from her book as well…

Thanks for your patience, o faithful readers. Lots of good discussion topics ahead!

This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

Read more »

How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

Read more »

See all interviews »

Latest Cartoon

See all cartoons »

Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

Read more »

The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

Read more »

Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

Read more »

See all book reviews »

Commented - Most Popular Articles