In a year with more than its fair share of lies and half-truths, doctors could find refuge in scientific research, like a Yale School of Medicine study on cranberries as a remedy for urinary-tract infections.
Credit: Graeme Robertson / EYEVINE / REDUX
“At least you have your research world, where there are facts,” a journalist friend told me recently. He was referring, of course, to the sharp Orwellian turn that our public discourse has taken in the past year, when practically anyone who traffics in truth—scientists, reporters, intelligence experts, cyber-security specialists—has been dismissed by our President-elect as a liar or a shill. My friend was right: research has indeed provided a respite from the maddening media conversation, a chance to challenge the assumptions and biases of medical science and public health not with bluster and noise but with rigorous experimentation. It was with this in mind that I selected the notable findings of 2016. Welcome to the sanctuary.
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Great article, written by the ever articulate writer and physician, Dr. Groopman. A self described rationalist and scientist, Harvard Medical School professor. First heard of him when I read his book Second Opinions: Stories of Intuition and Choice in the Changing World of Medicine. A book in which he admitted there were ‘instances when I’ve had a deep sense about a patient that is not informed directly by lab tests. It is a gut sense.
With the ever widening schism between fomented by extreme conservatives, the long history of militias and the hard core racism that’s emerged; along with the deep tentacled hold the NRA has on Congress, it’s hard to imagine better gun control laws being enacted. As a physicist friend once told me – there are probabilities and an infinity of possibilities. And that’s what we need to remember as we continue to seek better solutions for gun control legislation
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My dog, Astro, had a serious Urinary Tract Infection and after the Veterinary Doctor gave him treatment for the infection, he was concerned about crystals which can form from the infection and become very troublesome so we give Astro a cranberry extract formula which works very well to eliminate these worrisome crystals and it works despite what some Vets. say. To me the old trusted remedies are still the better way to go for any ailment. I use coffee for my prostrate problems which started about 15 years ago, and it works better than the many Doctor prescribed medicines which had no effect at all. As far as guns go, we do not need them. No one needs a semi-automatic or automatic weapon for any reason anywhere, anytime. It is ridiculous for anyone to say otherwise.