Study: Alzheimer’s symptoms reversed within minutes

This is great news: a recent study showed a remarkable improvement in Alzheimer’s patients given a drug designed to treat immune-related disorders. In one case, the patient’s symptoms were reversed quickly:
The new study documents a dramatic and unprecedented therapeutic effect in an Alzheimer’s patient: improvement within minutes following delivery of perispinal etanercept, which is etanercept [...]

Fever can unlock autism’s grip

Looks like there’s been some progress in figuring out how to reverse the effects of autism, at least temporarily. According to a recent study, some children have shown improvement while they have a fever over 100 degrees:
More than 80 percent of those with fever showed some improvements in behavior during it and 30 percent had [...]

Yet another reason not to buy products made in China

As y’all know my aunt and uncle have been heavily involved with the fight against asbestos in this country. Their latest endeavor has been assisting with consumer product testing. The results were released to the press this week. Seattle PI ran an exclusive article last Tuesday. Some highlights are below:
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news roundup

I read news from a bunch of different sources each day, including Google News, Reddit, and a whole host of blog feeds. Some items are worth commenting on here, but often I just want to say “hey, read this one” instead of finding something specific to comment on.
So, I’m going to try a new [...]

British backtrack on Iraq death toll

British backtrack on Iraq death toll, from the Independent Online:
British government officials have backed the methods used by scientists who concluded that more than 600,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion, the BBC reported yesterday.
The Government publicly rejected the findings, published in The Lancet in October. But the BBC said documents obtained under freedom [...]

Giving Weight to Childhood Baggage

Families Weight Comments May Harm Girls for Years is the title of the article. This may seem obvious, but I sure wish someone had pointed that out to my parents. You know, diet programs at age eleven are 1) never a very good idea and 2) really hard on one’s self esteem, [...]

Ambushed by the Asbestos Industry

Here is a link to the Sonoma Medicine website with an article penned by my uncle about his experience fighting mesothelioma on the medical, legal, social, and political fronts. It is a worthy read.
I’ve also put the entire article below in case the link changes.

Journalism, San Diego style

I don’t know what makes me angrier about “this Union-Tribune article”:http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20040808-9999-1n8pill.html, the topic or the amazingly transparent bias.
_(Note: I just watched “Outfoxed”:http://www.outfoxed.org/ today, so I’m in that kind of mood.)_

…but we’re #1 in doctors on T.V.

Looks like the U.S. is second to none… when it comes to “wasteful health care”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1875-2004May4.html. I know, it’s not shocking that we pay twice as much as people anywhere else in the world, but it *is* shocking that we get the same or worse care overall. The trend carries through across America, too; cities [...]