A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that one in five U.S. high school students have taken a prescription drug that they didn’t get from their doctor.
According to the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) that was released today from the CDC, the survey asked more than 16,000 high school students if they’ve ever taken a prescription drug such as Oxycontin, Percoset, Vicodin, Adderall, Ritalin and Xanax. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
As a cardiologist and advocate for healthy living through exercise, the bleak news of rising childhood obesity hits me hard. But as an endurance athlete well versed in the inflammatory effects of excessive exercise, and a coach of middle school children, recent news reports on the overtraining of American youth is equally troublesome.
The overtraining of the young American athlete has risen to the level of capturing the attention of the American Academy of Pediatrics. I planned on letting this New York Timespiece pass quietly, as yet another documentation of how adults are either explicitly or implicitly drilling out the young athlete — sacrificing fun at the alter of performance. Little League-like overzealousness is old news dating back to my era, I thought. But I just couldn’t help myself. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
It seems that each year, I just miss National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which is the third full week of May. As you know, it’s June already. But can it ever hurt to review such important information?
More than 4.7 million people a year receive bites from man/woman’s best friend. If you have read this blog for very long, you know I dearly love my dogs — deceased ones (Columbo, Ladybug, and Girlfriend) and the living one, Rusty. I have no illusions that dogs bite, and given the right provocation I think mine would (although most of the time they are totally harmless and would just invite you in to rob me).
Most dog bite-related injuries occur in children 5 to 9 years of age. Almost two thirds of injuries among children 4 years or younger are to the head or neck region. Dog bites are a largely preventable public health problem, and adults and children can learn to reduce their chances of being bitten. Read more »
Here on this balcony, in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the wind is cool, the air typically thick with humidity, my wife reading a novel by my side. Inside the rental, our children are winding down after days of sun, sand and sea. Their bodies scrubbed pink by salt water and ocean breezes, their faces glowing with sun. My daughter’s lovely blonde hair is more blonde than usual.
I am on leave, in a sense. I am not, however, in the armed forces. Furthermore, I am not at a conference or working at all (except for a little writing, which is as much breath as work.) I am, in fact, celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary on a trip suggested and planned by my love.
I have accomplished little that the world would view as substantial this week. I have viewed it as a kind of sabbath. I have enjoyed my family, played on the beach, eaten far too much and delighted in every single, solitary minute…and Oreos.
“Sabbath,” “on leave,” “R&R” — however one describes it, we must remember to do it — we need it — because life is a kind of battle. Many well-educated, peaceful post-moderns think that’s far to bellicose a description, but the truth remains: Life is a struggle that rises to the description of battle with stark regularity. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
This video has been available for months, but I just saw it for the first time. I suspect many women would get a chuckle from seeing the always buffed, ripped, and jacked comedian Jack Black partially disrobe to put his breast in a mammography machine — or as he calls it, the “Boob Saver 5K.”
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that one in five U.S. high school students have taken a prescription drug that they didn’t get from their doctor.
It seems that each year, I just miss 
