Category: Health

Of the many foolish ideas I had when I was young, a belief in government run medical care wasn’t one of them.  This rare moment of youthful intelligence came from the fact that I spent a very enjoyable year as a student abroad during the twilight years of the Thatcher

Entirely without effort, I used to be one of those incredibly skinny people you occasionally see around. I could live on ice cream and hamburgers, and still look emaciated. Two children later, those days are gone, so I’m interested in articles that discuss new ideas about weight loss and body

Rather gloatingly, Hillary has indicated that healthcare reform is back on the table.  I’m familiar with the problems of the uninsured, I know about the benefits of and problems with Medicare, I know about skyrocketing drug prices, etc.  I can confidently argue both sides of each issue, since each side

I think all of us have figured out that mass transportation devices are good disease vectors.  Anyone who is familiar with the Black Death knows that it was ship docking in Genoa in 1347 that initiated the plague’s spread throughout Europe, where it subsequently wiped out up to a third

Many years ago, when I was in about seven months along with my first pregnancy, I begged my OB for a C-Section. I didn’t need one, but I’d had surgery before, and figured better the pain I knew than the scary and unfamiliar pain of labor. She refused my request,

NPR is all over AIDS lately, because it is the 25th Anniversary of that terrible disease. NPRcelebrated today with a story blaming the West on the spread of AIDS. The theory is that the French in West Africa, in a well-intentioned move, innoculated too many people with too few needles.

Many, many years ago, I had a puppy who needed abdominal surgery. This was at about the same time that my father, a very stoic man, was dealing with cancer and the attendant abdominal surgery. What was fascinating was to see the psychologic dynamic play out — or, in the

When my son was born, I agonized a lot about circumcising him.  As a Jew, I felt it was appropriate.  However, as someone horrified by female circumcision (which I do know is a much more extreme procedure), I wondered how I could justify cutting into a new baby's healthy flesh

I'm a huge proponent of vaccination. The last two generations of Americans have lived complacently without the spectre of childhood killers such as measles and polio. I always get irked by — and will challenge — suburban mothers who think homeopathy will protect their children from deadly epidemics. At the

I'm actually still in the midst of spring break vacation — so don't expect any blogging for the next 24 hours — but I did learn some lessons and, since I have a moment at a computer, I thought I'd share them: 1.  When your child has a 104.5 degree fever,

Shortly after my first child was born, I heard that the best house for raising a healthy child is one that is fairly well-organized, and slightly dirty. “I can do that,” I thought. I mean, that’s how my house has always been. I grew up in the immaculate house of