Jeremy Lin on Academic Pressure

Food for thought during exam time.

Incredibly, there have been haters responding to Lin's deeply personal account of his own struggles.  Well, screw those people.  I for one am grateful that he shared his vulnerability and offered a space to discuss the sometimes overwhelming pressure to perform, be it academically, athletically, or any other form.  You know, the fact that someone is prominent and successful does not mean that his or her psychological pain and lived experience are any less real or significant.  Let us all make an effort to be better, kinder, and more compassionate to each other, OK?

"The Overseas Selfie": Narcissism and Global Voluntourism

Not surprised.  A blurb:

Voluntourism is ultimately about the fulfillment of the volunteers themselves, not necessarily what they bring to the communities they visit.  In fact, medical volunteerism often breaks down existing local health systems.  In Ghana, I realized that local people weren’t purchasing health insurance, since they knew there would be free foreign health care and medications available every few months.  This left them vulnerable in the intervening times, not to mention when the organization would leave the community.

Dr. Feelgood Doesn't Feel So Good

"How being a doctor became the most miserable profession."  You may remember one doctor's cri du coeur from a little while ago.

Meet MERS, the New Coronavirus on the Block

This Foreign Policy headline sounds way too scaremonger-ish, but none other than the New England Journal of Medicine just published "Hospital Outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus."

Mystery Meat in China Has Been Disgustingly Demystified

And you thought the UK horsemeat scandal was bad!  Get an eyeful of this:

More than 900 people have been arrested in China for selling fake or tainted meat in the last three months, state media say.  Officials say they uncovered almost 400 such cases and seized more than 20,000 tonnes of fake meat. In one case, the suspects made fake mutton from foxes, mink and rats after adding chemicals, state media said.

I'm pretty sure the thing is actually worse than this.

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em. Or Not.

Russia fears its troops will riot if cigarette rations end.  (The ration is 10 a day.)

At the UN: Birth Control 1, Actual Human Rights 0

The UN is beyond parody these days. 

Nerd News: Sandy Destroys Years of NYU Cancer Research

Oh, no!

Old Glory and Karma?

Or you call this poetic justice?

Thoughts on Livestrong

Read this, please.  If you are interested, Livestrong's website is here.  You know, you can slam Lance himself all you want, but his founding Livestrong was a big and big-hearted act of philanthropy, and that remains true.

What Fresh Hell Is This? Deadly Blunders in the NHS

WHAT.

Gaia's Health Matters More Than Yours, Mere Human

Good grief.

Quote of the Day: The Coming Medical Ethics Crisis?

Oh, goody.  Terrifying thought by a practicing physician in the new age of government intrusion:

When the physician’s primary obligation is to satisfy the wishes of the payer—ultimately the wishes of the state—how can patients be truly confident in their doctors’ decisions? 

I submit that it all boils down to a question of professional ethics. 

The medical profession must decide—and soon—which ethical doctrine to follow: Are doctors to be agents of their patients or agents of the state? All of us should dread the latter choice—because we will all be patients some day.

Give Me A Steak, Medium Rare!

Whatever.  Pass the steak sauce.  

What Doesn't Kill You ... Gives You An Awesome Scar

It's a heck of a souvenir of a lightning strike.

Some Health Expert Wants Global Regulation of Alcohol

La Parisienne just sent me this news story.  Good luck with that, pal.  All I'm going to say is: look at Prohibition and how well that turned out.  (Oh, and if you still haven't gotten around to watching Ken Burns's "Prohibition" documentary, you should.  It's really interesting!) 

Nerd Fun: Pretty Much, Yeah

From SMBC, natch:

The War on Sugar

*Sigh.*

Like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is a toxic, addictive substance that should be highly regulated with taxes, laws on where and to whom it can be advertised, and even age-restricted sales, says a team of UCSF scientists.

Dude, Seriously?

Really?

India's Progress Against Polio

Once India led the world in polio cases (5000 cases recorded since 2000).  Now here is the happy news that with India's immunization efforts, since January 13 of 2011 no new cases were recorded.  Pakistan now takes the dubious title of world's most polio-prone nation.