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Reference to severe Raynaud's explained here.

Wait a sec, not a joke:

Human Test: Novel Vaccine Stops HIV It worked in mice. It worked in monkeys. And now in humans, a therapeutic vaccine has stopped HIV in its tracks. The vaccine is made from a patient's own dendritic cells and HIV isolated from the patient's own blood. Dendritic cells are crucial to the immune response. They grab foreign bodies in the blood and present them to other immune cells to trigger powerful immune system responses to destroy the foreign invaders. HIV infection normally turns these important immune system responses off. But animal studies show that when dendritic cells are "loaded" with whole, killed AIDS viruses, they can trigger effective immune responses that keep infected animals from dying of AIDS.source

Web MD source

There has been some recent research to contradict this. Our cells seems a little more willing to replace themselves than we thought. First neuroplasticity, now this... hmmm.

here we have proof that getting stressed ages you.
and here we have proof that pain ages your brain.
and here we have proof that a drink or two keeps you alive longer
and even sites that aim to scare you into Tea-total abstinance admit that "...Alcohol ís a depressant. Many people use alcohol as a means to produce feelings of relaxation..."
Uh...um.....I forgot where I was going with all this....I need a drink. Being a 90 year old wino has its drawbacks but I can never remember what they are.
There must be good stress and bad stress because strenuous exercise on a regular basis churns up a lot of free radicals that are supposed to do the same things to you as the telomere damage cited in the art. but instead that is "exercise" and it does you good. Until somebody makes sense out of that littel dicotomy, I am not paying too much attention to these reports. a good Port is better than a good report?

Faith can be handy, but nothing speaks like preventative action. Good dental hygiene. Seriously. Dead serious. More and more evidence is pointing to poor dental health as a vector for disease including heart disease and stroke.

This writeup on Pulmonary Actinomycosis (the possible disease in question here) reiterates that:

Poor dental hygiene and dental abscess can predispose people to facial lesions and lung infections caused by these bacteria.

So get to those twice-yearly dental cleanings and brush/floss. Plus with the thousands of dollars you save on not getting root canals and crowns, you can buy an awful lot of tech hardware....

WebMD didn't have anything that I could find, but a google found this eMedicine
I am not anything near a Md so this makes no sence to me. But as they say the half of knowledge is knowing where to find knowledge.

Enjoy.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that stem-cell research would be directly helpful for Alzheimer's sufferers. Because Alzheimer's is a diffuse illness, effecting different parts of the brain, it would require dozens of stem cell treatments for it to be work well. However, Parkinson's and huntington's diseases (and other neurological diseases) have a little more hope. You can read more about treatment for Alzheimer's here , with the portion about stem cell treatments starting at the bottom of page 3.

I believe he is talking about the early days of xrays as we are just now in the early days of lasik and pervasive wireless radio devices in everything that surrounds us.

I know people who were treated for relatively minor facial acne with xrays (by a licensed doctor in the US) in the early days of radiation and have skin cancer now. Medicine/government doesn't like to talk about these types of massive failures because it is same learned and parental organizations who tell people that SRRIs are safe now were telling people that xrays were safe for treating all kinds of crap 50 years ago.

Come on, these SSRIs are probably responsible for the most spectacular killings of the last 10+ years (outside 911) and they are still selling them like nothing is wrong with a cartoon egg who lives in a cave and ladybug on TV. And school districts are forcing parents to put kids on the drugs or threatening to sic the child protective service departemnt on them - all the while the FDA is saying exxxcellent.

What about the recent (last month?) results that show AM radio waves appear to cause cancer, etc?

Re Lasik: Although Cofer's case is extreme, new research suggests that a large percentage of people who have LASIK procedures develop vision problems related to the surgery.
Come on down to Original Joe's Lasik and get better than 20/20 vision, yeah! Oh, please sign here and, uh, here...

I'd say insomnia is pretty well known. Did it occur to you that you are suffering from some form of it? Check it here.

WebMD has an article about "pharmazooticals" here. The gila monster drug makes an appearance.

Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey Boulier

I understand you need advice but Slashdot may not be the best place for it. Try webMD. It has many articles on anything medical and even discussion groups. And most of the information there has been put there by either doctors who know what they are talking about or people who are going through the exact same thing.

http://www.webmd.com

I love coffee. I especially love this one Latin brand I buy, but to add something relevent to the discussion:

Awhile back there was an article that explained an Italian researchers findings: That coffee could actually be good for you, perhaps even better than green tea. Some benefits are that coffee could prevent diabetes and regulate blood sugar, which is a plus considering my great grandmother had diabetes. Coffee may actually help children too, it's antioxidants and natural caffiene could potentially reduce the risk of some diseases, help them in school, and even prevent depression. Probably the most important of it's benefits is that it could prevent some types of cancer and degenerative brain diseases, two big killers in the US. that it could also

Coffee's no longer as dangerous as it used to be now, huh? I've heard everything about coffee: It makes you MORE tired, it stunts a childs growth, it makes men impotent, even that it could CAUSE some types of cancer. FUD.

-Xeon

I know where you're coming from. My mom died of it in '84... June marks the 20th anniversary of her passing. I don't envy what you have to go through, because I went through it myself.

That said, for those not in the know, the small cell lung cancer (80% of those affected are smokers) is the worst kind you can get. Due to the types of cells that replicate out of control, it almost immediately spreads to the rest of the body, depositing in other organs. If you're lucky, it'll take up to four years to hit the brain. If not, it'll take less than four months.

Here's a link to a good description.

They've made all kinds of progress in the last 20 years with other cancers, like Leukemia, but the small cell lung cancer seems to be a much more difficult beast to tackle.

(Randomly throwing in the WebMD section on CTS)

I learned some exercises to open up the carpal tunnel. Now, IANAD and cannot verify their effectiveness, but they Work For Me(TM). Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to explain it in words. The site I learned it from had pictures. Much easier.

He was actually referring to Ted Grammer, one of several voices in his head.

Besides, you're both guilty. His spelling was improper, and your grammar was incorrect: "us" should not be used here. Instead, one should use "one" as the indirect object.

Booyah!

The Internet, and spam, is just providing an unfortunately convenient way for him to acquire these purchases.

The article explains that he used to hunt rummage sales, thift stores, and flea markets, then turned to the Internet after hurting his back. He buys on eBay, and via spam. Spam is just one part of his disease, and it made an interesting story. From the tour his wife gave of their apartment, it sounds like he doesn't need most of the stuff he buys--a typical symptom of hoarding.

Another symptom will be that he is unable to throw away things that he has purchased (like those boxes of vitamins), even if he doesn't need them or they are no longer of value.

OCD medication is usually ineffective for hoarding, but counseling can help.

At any rate, he does not respresent a typical email user, but at the same time, he is not alone. It is unfortunate, but there are people with these kinds of disorders out there, and they play right into the hands of spammers and telemarketers. The sad thing is when people take advantage of them.

Well, it's a stimulus similar to sunlight shining on you in the morning, especially if you're doing something "active", like playing a video game.

Mentioned here for example.

• lowers risk of getting diabetes by 40% or so
• lowers risk of getting Parkinson's disease by more than 50%
• lowers risk of getting colon cancer

Actually, according to an article I just read on WebMD, the brain has plenty of the chemical responsible, dopamine. The problem is that certain molecules in the brain of ADHD diagnosed children use too much dopamine, leaving too little for it to do what it needs to. Ritalin slows down the rate of dopamine absorption by certain areas of the brain so dopamine can get to where it needs to in order to do it's job.

And no, I am not a bio-chemist :)

Healtheon is gone.

Turned into WebMD

SGI is dying.

Microsoft bought much of their relevant IP so they could ship the XBox, royalty-free. Nintendo, NVidia and ATI got their Engineers. Tera got Cray.

We need much longer holding periods for insiders

Clark is famous for, among other things, writing some of the most favorable deals with VCs ever. He keeps a large share of the company and holds it for a long time. This reduces marke liquidity and makes it more difficult for outsiders to participate in his companies. If anything, Clark's problem was holding his shares for too long, creating fragile, monolithic companies.

Presently, the economy is recovering from the Enron and Worldcom accounting scandals. It is difficult to turn a good idea into $$$ when there is little consensus as to how the new accounting rules should be interpreted to successfully create new wealth.

Until then, expect to see some growth in international companies listing ADS/ADR on US exchanges. It will be a few more years before we see rapid American tech growth.

I agree, in the sense that information overload is a bigger problem than "bad" or meaningless information on the Net.

However, the bigger problem is a lack of information litarcy. It never ceases to amaze me how many people do not know how to evaluate information sources. It is fine to use biased information, if one is aware that it is biased, and in what manner. I have come to the conclusion that there is very little information out there that is not biased in some way or another. Humans are fallible and spin is everywhere. A fairly good look at how both sides of US politics use spin, check out Spin Sanity. Ben Fritz, Bryan Keefer and Brendan Nyhan have impressed me with their willingness to expose many figures, despite party affiliation.

Personally, I try to balance the situation by seeking information from both sides of the issue. For example, both Free Republic (a conservative US site) and Alternet (a progressive site) are politicaly biased. Neither one should be used without verifying facts and occurances from other sources.

More notable is the failure of the US media to cover international stories that are vital to our understanding of world events. Personally, whenever we are treated to a deluge of one story on every channel, station and newpaper, I think.."what aren't you telling me." That is why I go to the net and read news sources from international sources.

A worse situation is evidenced by the number of people, of all ages, who are unable to discern when someone is trying to sell them something, or persuade them of some idea; rather than truly inform them. A prime example is how many people will locate sites that claim to be offering great hhealth information, but are also trying to sell eeither pharmacauticals or herbal remedies. While the information may be "correct" they are far more likely to only present information supporting the use of their products. Commercially supported sites can be great for gaining ideas and facts that one can then follow up by perusing other sites.

Colleges and Universities libraries in many US states are now offering information literacy classes. I know of several that have added this to required courses. However, this doesn't touch the large groups of credulous people who graduated years ago, who are not attending college and whose secondary schools do not include this skill in their curriculum.

Many people fall for scams, precisely because they do not realize that they ought to research this information-- much less do they know how to do such a thing! I think I reccomend Snopes at laest once a month in response to an email sent to me by friends and family!

Do not rely upon just one web search. No engine is able to scour the entire net, for a variety of reasons. There are information sources with primary sources of data on the Net. However, many of them are prohibitively expensive for an individual. This is where a local public and/or academic library can assist users.

Don't get me wrong, I've often gained additioanl ideas and insight from small weblogs and personal sites. These are especially good for comparing notes with others in similar situations. Sometimes I do not need authoritative data. For example if I want tips on refurbishing furniture Do it Yourself is a great source. On the other hand, if I was a carpentry apprentice, there are probably other sources better suited for a professional. Similarly, if I want to connect with others who are dealing with specific health problems, or simply want basic introductory information Web MD is good enough. However, if I'm making treatment decisions, I'd do better to go to a National or Internations association of folks dealing with the syndrome, as well as sites of doctors and researchers in

Thank you for a reasoned response about ADHD. This is not a troll. Some /.ers obviously have little or no direct experience with ADHD. I want to tell you what it's like to have UNmedicated ADHD, and what proper medication does for it. I'm not attempting to excuse misdiagnosis, or people who just want bouncy kids to shut up and be quiet. That's a different problem from the ADHD itself.
Without meds:
I can't think on my feet, such as in a design discussion with other developers. I know my part of the project, and if what's being said doesn't mesh, I can't put it into words fast enough to be a part of the conversation. This kind of thing leads to a continual low level of frustration.
When working by myself, I have to alternate between the computer, the whiteboard (I have a large one), my desk (I use a large deskpad for laying out flow diagrams, code concepts, notes on related things to look into, etc). I pace. I do other "nervous" activities without realizing I do it. I'm always irritable. Two or three times each morning and afternoon, I must take about a ten minute walk to clear my head. (Less than my co-workers spend smoking, which is considered acceptable). Overall, I'm still a very good programmer, just very frustrated while doing it. I go home totally exhausted.
With the meds:
It's like I'm waking up, without actually changing anything. I'm more aware of my surroundings with less effort. Things bother me much less. The closest I can compare it to, is if you got 3 hours sleep last night, then your morning coffee actually restored the sleep you missed. I feel like I feel after a good workout at the gym. When I take the meds, I can actually stay on an exercise schedule, as well. I work for one-two hours at a time on each part of my projects. I stop when I want to, not when my agitation forces me to. In meetings, I am calm, articulate, and can substantially contribute to make meetings productive. I don't pace. I don't have to switch between task methods.
I am able to focus on /. articles like this enough to make coherent statements. Overall, I'm at peace, without feeling like someone's constantly jostling my elbow.

I just finished working with my company's facilities people to arrange my cubicle so that the furniture arrangement blocks my view of the nearby walkway. This has further increased my productivity. A normal cubical environment like this, carefully arranged, is all I need to block distractions.
The mention of ADHD brought out a lot of comments about kids. This article is about a change in the workplace that affects adults with ADHD, not kids. Some of the postings other than Styro's I have read here sound like echoes of media hype concerning misdiagnosed kids who then get overdosed on inappropriate meds. I'm not saying that doesn't happen. That has nothing to do with ADHD, though, and has a lot to do with improperly trained and/or unethical doctors.
As for one poster's comment "I don't believe in mental disorders", that is an astoundingly unthought-out concept. That concept presumes that, of all the things that can go wrong with the human body, the brain never breaks. Kidney failure? OK. Diabetes, blood sugar problems? Yeah, ok, your blood can be slightly dysfunctional. Severe eye problems that cause "legal" blindness without actually blinding a person? Yup, I can accept that. The brain? No, it always comes out just perfect. Anyone whose brain doesn't work exactly right is to blame - they did something stupid, or they're deluded into thinking their brain isn't perfect. Some mental disorders, including ADHD, show up on MRI scans, by the way...
To those who think it's all made up to sell drugs, I say: Educate yourself: webmd.com

Oh please, lets see: the average american diet consists of fried foods and red meat. Traffic is a symptom of a lack of a decent light rail system. I live in the middle of Chicago, take the train everyday to work and school and avoid the crap everyone else eats.

I used to eat like everyone else and realized I didn't want to carry a gut around and knew if I didn't change my diet soon I was going to be stuck with this gut the rest of my days. Working in technology usually means sitting in front of a computer all day.

Obviously, there's a lot of money to be made in selling greasy, unhealthy foods. Sugarwater is the prefered drink for most Americans and schools sign exclusive deals to provide high-calorie high-sugar/corn syrup drinks directly to children.

If America wanted to, it could change overnight. If people wanted health they could have it, but the current assumptions that 'fast food everyday isnt that bad' and a recent report that toddlers were being fed fries and cola didn't even shock the public. Sometimes people get the bodies they deserve. Its a shame that the media has no problem airing ads from McDonalds that make fast food look like a healthy and practically religious event while books on fast food, like fast food nation are largely ignored by the very same media.

Also, I think he's streching by calling spam abundance. If SMTP didn't become the standard but something else with built in authentication was then spam would be a non-issue yet the same mechanisms of "abundance" would be in place.

In the end, its how something is used not how much of something there is. Futurists need to realize that a simple hypothesis, or a simply answer that ties everything together is probably wrong. What's that famous HL Mencken quote, google?

"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong"

I've discovered that if you are eating anything other than raw, organically grown spinach, it'll eventually kill ya.

Call me back when you become Iron Anemic and have a a heart attack ;)

An example, going back to the Civil Rights Movement analogy, would be a prominent African American pop-star taking on a progressively paler complexion to his skin over a few years (I won't name any names, but his initials are Michael Jackson).

Actually, in slight defense of MJ, his skin lightening has nothing to do with surgery or any voluntary act. Michael Jackson has a condition known as Vitiligo, which causes his skin to become progressively paler over the years as it loses its pigment. I ought to know, as I have the condition as well. As I get older, I'll get whiter and whiter until I have no real pigment left in my skin. It spreads from a patch or two to the whole body, and is extremely pronounced in black people (it's pretty pronounced in me because I'm mixed-racial, but I'm only 24 years old so it won't get really bad for several years). It's the reason Jackson wore a glove in the 80's.

Of course, this skin condition--also known as Leukoderma--has NOTHING to do with the fact that he now has no nose.

I agree with your points entirely -- I'm extremely frustrated by the resources devoted to fertility treatments vs. those devoted to the children we already have. (Multi-thousand-$ international adoptions also get my goat, BTW.) But one of your points needs clarification:

It may not be a popular point of view, but there is no rule out there that says everyone has to or should be able to have a baby if they want to, even though they can't naturally.

In some cultures, there are rules that make it harder to adopt than to undertake extreme measures. In March, 2002, a Saudi Arabian woman underwent a uterus transplant rather than adopt or look into "hiring" a surrogate mother, because of religious and cultural reasons.

Again, I agree with you that this is a waste of resources, and quite likely counterproductive. Not only did the woman not conceive, but her new uterus lost its blood supply after about three months and was removed (again). Even if she had been able to conceive, the effects of powerful anti-rejection drugs on her baby would be hard to predict.

Meanwhile, if I may make a rash generalization, her Filipino maid probably could have put the woman in touch with an orphanage with plenty of healthy babies needing homes.

Because you have no proof its a mental disorder. we can prove somethings a mental disorder by watching a persons actions, you cannot prove they have a mental disorder just by guessing.

Actually, I do. You don't have to be a doctor to have proof. It's called doing a little reasearch: ASK A DOCTOR!

"Mental health professionals agree that pedophilia should never be considered normal, because it is truly a disease. None of the things that make homosexuality a normal variation of human sexuality apply to pedophilia."
-WebMD

I recently went to opening weekend of a movie and purposily picked out a theater that is THX "certified." The theater had the sound turned up so high that there was distortion in the mid-range. Not only does THX fail to enforce any quality in the sound, but for a couple hours after the movie my ears where ringing! If even THX can't keep the theaters playing at an acceptable decibel level to not do damage to my hearing, then I have enough incentive to find "alternative" to see the movie where I get to control the volume level. The MPAA can complain all they want about the cost due to stealing movies but it doesn't come close to the price I put on them stealing my hearing. If the movie industry goes out of business and there is only nature to listen to, I prefer to be able to continue to listen to nature than not have any hearing at all. If THX took reports of these problems more seriously, I might be more sympathetic.

a fscking fantasy. Why is it that in a certain affluent area in Rhode Island fully 33% of the children are in "Special Education" classes? Because the school system caters to it, and Soccer Mommy wants Junior to get that extra attention. Get over it, ADHD et.al. is bogus. Turn off the TV, read a book, and train your brain to focus for more than 10 minutes at a time.

That's the thing those of us who are actually ADHD or HADD (as it was labeled before) know it exists. Ritalin is a nasty little bugger, instead of switching back and forth between paying attention and lala land fifty times a second, I was either really paying attention to you or off in lala land and not coming back. On the plus side I've been non-medicating for years now, as I learn how to control it. Also as far as sitting down and reading a book for 10 minutes, every hear of pathological hyperfocus (unsure of clinical term)? I can't tell you how many times I've sat down to read for just 10 minutes and ended up reading an entire book. That is without any breaks, in fact I've read Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive in three consecutive days.

Hmm, I guess I'm just normal, since ADHD doesn't exist. Here let me give this a try, I'm gonna sponsor a study that says AIDS and HIV don't exist. Is ADHD Over-treated? Yes, Does it exist: unfortunitely.

As far as the 33% issue from an affluent area, it runs in families, so if the people in that area have a common set of ancestors that could explain it. I can trace my family history of ADHD, learning disorders and manic depression back several generations, genealogy is fun like that.

And for every study linking THC to stopping cancer there is a study refuting that.

Bullshit. Here are the studies I know of.

Here's a study.

Here's another study.

And another.

And then of course there is Dr. Guzman's work itself.

Now you show us the studies that refuse these.

UCLA says smoking weed leads to lung cancer and that THC supresses anti-tumor immune responses.

Thanks for the link. Were you perhaps referring to this study? The study that was funded by the federal government, i.e., the study where if they don't report what the federal government wants to hear they'll lose their funding? Well that was put to rest by a research at Johns Hopkins Medical School who concluded in effect that no such risk exists. UCLA was doing bogus science. Indeed, if you read their report carefully, you'll note that cancer was never caused by the THC; that they simply thought it would occur based on the higher concentrations of certainl chemicals marijuana smoke shares with tobacco smoke, forgetting the whole time that a marijuana user inhales far, far less smoke than the average tobacco smoker.

Of course they had to say something though. Remember that this came out shortly after Dr. Guzman's work in Madrid.

Criminalizing IV drugs spreads AIDS? Is that like criminalizing cats spreads mice?

No, not at all. According to the logic put forth by our drug policy, heroin is a menace because once addicted the user loses the ability to choose (nevermind the fact that tobacco and alcohol are more addictive than heroin according to the NIDA.) So if these addicts have no choice but to use drugs, the only people with the opportunity to make a choice as to whether they transmit deadly diseases or not are those who stand in the way of these addicts using their drugs safely.

In other words, we know they're going to use heroin, and they want to use heroin safely, but we won't let them. We would rather see them spread deadly diseases than let them use clean syringes.

Like I said. Barbaric.

The fact is that the majority of AIDS/HIV transmission comes from sex and from infected mothers giving birth, not drugs.

The fact is that most people die of natural causes, so it's OK for us to kill? Your logic is rephrehsible.

These "indisputable" facts are easily disputed. There is zero evidence that THC would be a magic cure for the hundreds of cancers.

I've just given you four links that say otherwise.

And there is no way that anyone can blame the US for the 6 million cancer deaths world-wide.

It's our drug policy. And thanks to our economic and military might, we've seen to it that this policy is exported throughout the world. Get put on our list of "uncooperative" nations and watch your economy go into the shithole. Stand accused of aiding or abetting drug traffickers and watch our military kill hundreds if not thousands of your citizens.

And by the way, the figure is closer to 300,000,000. From cancer alone that is. Or at least, that is the number of lives that at best we've recklessly endangered. 30 years * 10,000,000 @ year = 300,000,000.

If it's so indisputable, then the Ministries/Departments/Directorates of Health of the other 200+ nation-states on Earth and the World Health Organization are equally guilty.

Do you read the news at all? We were voted out of the U.N. Committee on Narcotics last year! The world is chomping at the bit to institu

Ketosis is only dangerous in people who lack adequate insulin, namely type 1 diabetics, and in some cases type 2 diabetics. Normal people are fully capable of using fat for energy in ketosis, it's only when insulin is absent that the condition turns dangerous, and the result is ketoacidosis. Do a Google search on the two terms for more information.

And, as a type 1 diabetic, I know what Ketoacidosis is and feels like from experience, and it's nothing like dietary ketosis (which I've used to keep nearly normal blood sugars).

Why don't you have proof? It's not like Iraq invented whole new classes of weaponry off the tops of their heads in a decade. The first thing I found on Google. It's not like we kept it a secret or anything. I guess it's just that nobody wants to bring it up right now.

The quote you cite was a call to settle down to someone who was being hostile towards me without cause. I was being hostile (see above) in response to hostility directed towards me. You cannot possibly understand any of this because you are dim-witted and, in all likelihood, have a small penis.

In your post you made a few mistakes. I will point them out now. I don't believe Ritalin is prescribed to cure hypocrisy. Furthermore, if you're claiming that my hostility stemmed from some temporary imbalance, you are mistaken and you should have known this. The parent to which you responded to cites my posting history which you obviously consulted. Clearly you must know that I do not normally post ego-stroking comments for jackasses. Now, your Ritalin crack probably would have been better phrased as a reference to Prozac - that way you can say my rather angry post was a result of lack of medication. But this doesn't make sense either because my past posts do not show any signs of some type of drug-induced happiness. You may wish to consult this article for some information about Ritalin that you should consider before any future posts concerning it. Your implication that I am fat was well-worded, except for a missing "a", but due to the Ritalin issue in the same sentence it lost some of its flavor. Your work needs improvement. You've got potential but you need to apply it.

For instance, this post suffers from another grammatical issue. You may think that these types of issue do not matter in an online forum and, for the most part, you are correct. But when you are attempting to lob insults at others, leaving a dangling preposition will merely serve to open you up to insults. I do think the phrase "we be some funny shit" is amusing BUT it is not working in the context you placed it in. Here is your homework for this evening: You must post five comments which pose as serious responses but have a very small reference to Jews controlling the strings of the puppet we call America. Don't be over-the-top about it because then you'll come off as a whack-job. Be subtle. And while I normally don't encourage the racist schtick, I think it might be a good start for you. I hope this helps!

More information on Tourette Syndrome can be found at WebMD

I wish WebMD would request AOL to stop implying that they have an exclusive relationship.

cuz I post links to insightful articles that are completely on-topic. Sorry, I guess I should stick to flaming and offtopic rants.

Anyhow...

Here is another link to an article critical of the Atkins diet. Nobody denies it works but it is essentially supported by anecdotal evidence - my man Randi taught me better than that!

As far as I am concerned, we are losing sight of the basic truths of nutrition... quit looking for a quick fix and be sceptical of everything.

I not only researched various diets - I also talked to people that had lost a lot of weight and kept it off for years.

Here is what I ended up doing (I won't call it a diet - it's the way I live now):

I went to Ask a Dietitian and used the healthy body calculator to calculate my caloric needs. I was very careful not to overestimate my daily activities. I arrived at a recommended daily caloric intake.

I referenced that against the Canadian food guide to find out approximately how much I should eat each day from each category. For me, it was 6 ounces of lean meat, 2 servings of dairy, 6-8 servings of grains, and 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. This is what I eat six days per week. If I ate this seven days per week, I would lose 2 pounds per week.

On one day per week, I pretty much eat what I want without gorging. The first few weeks I gorged until I was sick - now I'm not so bad. This really helps me stick to eating healthy because I know that for the rest of my life, I can occasionally eat snacks and not feel guilty!

Based on this, I should lose no more than 2 pounds per week - however, thanks to exercise, I have lost a bit more - 10 pounds net. Based on my bodyfat changes, I have actually gained a little bit of muscle, so I have actually lost more than 10 pounds fat, but I'm too lazy to do the math.

As I mentioned, exercise is important. I exercise 20 to 60 minutes, three times per week in addition to walking for 30 minutes (to and from the train to work) each day. I also weight train three times per week. On my eat-what-i-want day, I sit on my ass and play video games.

I keep a food and exercise journal to help me keep track of what I eat. And if I slip, I don't freak out or give up - I move on.

Here is the main thing I learned - there is no "one size fits all diet" - you have to do some research and decide what will work for you while filtering out the crap (fat blocker pills, ab rollers, etc). Talk to a registered dietitian (beware of nutritionists though) if you need help. If you are obese, talk to a Bariatric physician. Set small, realistic goals - don't say "I'm gonna lose 20 pounds in 4 weeks" - say "I'm gonna lose 5 pounds in 4 weeks".

I now have lots of energy, feel great, look good, and my girlfriend says I don't look so pasty anymore and I'm more of a sexual Tyranosaurus now :) Every other diet I tried left me tired, weak, and/or nauseous.

Once I have lowered my bodyfat, I intend to increase my caloric input again and continue to weight train to build more lean tissue and increase my basal metabolic rate.

I'd suggest you show your boss the results of various studies on lack of sleep and overworking (such as here)
Its not only detrimental to you, its bad for the company because you can introduce lots of mistakes into your code when your overworked
Your boss just has to see the downside to a overworked employee, and how it'll effect him (ie: poor code comes back to bite him).
I know many of the times I've pulled 18 hour coding binges, I've ended up doing more damage than good.

Kava is quite dangerous, as is St. John's Wort. Here is an article on WebMD talking about it.

Remember, natural does not mean safe. Herbal drugs are not tested like commercial ones for safety and effectiveness. Many other herbal drugs, such as comfrey, can also cause liver damage and other problems.

I never understood why they chose that name for a car.

Furthermore, your reference to Avogadro's number is ignorant. We actually don't understand dilution very well, but we do know that the simplistic model you assume (one in which you simply divide the moles of active agent by moles of water) does not describe the results of multiple dilutions very well at all. In actual fact, molecules often "clump" together, with more or less unknown effects on their agency inside human beings.

The tragedy, and needless danger, is created by know-it-all types who dismiss anything they don't understand rather than acting like grown-up scientists and doing research.

Oh yeh, and

As one doctor said regarding the recent governmental report on "alternative" medicines (to paraphrase), "There are only two kinds of medicine -- that which works and that which doesn't. If something that's considered to be alternative is shown to work then it's adopted. If not, it is not."

If you believe this, why all that piss, wind and vinegar about homeopathy? In the treatment of allergies and osteoarthritis, homeopathic remedies have been widely adopted. Around 32% of French and 42% of English general practitioners regularly refer patients to homeopaths. Because, presumably, they care more about making people better than about looking good in front of the Science Police.

Leave it to a deaf guy to worry about how it sounds.

ADHD is basically a kid whos not normal, who rebels.

• does not pay close attention to details; may make careless mistakes at work, school, or other activities
• failure to complete tasks
• has difficulty maintaining attention in tasks or play activities
• does not listen when spoken to directly
• has difficulty organizing tasks
• is easily distracted
• unable to follow more than one instruction at a time

While I agree that some are misdiagonsed with ADD/ADHD, there are those for whom it is a real problem.
--Ben

...celebrated 30 days of survival on the AbioCor artificial heart by eating ice cream and cheesecake A heart patient eating ice cream and cheesecake? His kidney and liver functions are stable and his lungs are clear, the doctor said. Or at least they were... Still, it's pretty cool this thing seems to be working so well. He sounds like a much happier camper than Barney Clark was on the Jarvik 7.

No, they still do. There is a reason it is called the "Original" formula. Cocaine is still a bi-product. They just extract it all later. I once read that Coca-cola is the world's largest producer of Cocaine for pharmacies. BTW, cocaine is legal for some mediacal use, including as a local anastetic for the nose. Fun facts, eh? Please see Web MD's page about the legal uses of cocaine.

Check out http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1728.79157

He is not the only one that is anti-fruit juice (or too much fruit juice).

BTW- I've never heard anyone argue that kids today are not getting enough sugar- just think how popular you would be if you took that crusade to the playground...

Over the past year, I've had several more tests done by several different doctors that confirm the bad heart valve. One Army doctor thinks I have Marfan's Syndrome, but I think that's a mis-diagnose due to the lack of evidence and I only have the heart problem. None of the other problems. Anyways, back to the Pink Slip part.

My doctor used this information to deem me "Not Worldwide Qualified" category, which basically means I got fired. Of this, a medical board conviened and confirmed his decision. I challenged their decision on a basis of lack of evidence. They had the results from 2 Echocardiograms and 1 MUGA Scan. They decided that I should be discharged with a severance pay and a disability rating. I did not want to leave the military. So I challenged their decision and flew to Texas to a formal Medical Evaluation Board. After a whole bunch of political and monetary bullshit, I got to see a cardiologist, finally. And talk with an Air Force lawyer. The cardiologist did a few more tests and basically just confirmed that I had a bad Aortic Heart Valve. He does not think that I have Marfan's Syndrome. And my lawyer was of little help. He just wanted to not do any paperwork, I think. He did tell me that if I did challenge the board, I would lose. I would lose because the team of medical experts that sat on the formal MEB would somehow prove that this was a pre-existing, read genetic condition. And if they did, I'd lose everything. The severance pay, disability rating, and my job. So I decided not to pursue it any farther and risk losing everything, so I took their original offer and got out.

They still haven't proved anything other than I have a heart problem. So now, I have a heart problem that could or could not be related to my AF duties, but I have something that I can go to the VA with.

Soooo....to make a long story short, I was fired because of a possibly genetic condition. A Lose, Win situation if you ask me. Sure, I lost my job, but I'm getting out of this freezing place that's in the middle of nowhere and heading back to the states. I start school again next month and will have some experiance 'under my belt.' At least now I can have some chance of getting out of such a deeply entrenched WinNT network that barely has funding and go to something that at least has money flowing into its IT department. And get that piece of paper that says, "[Insert name here] you have shelled out several [ten's of] thousand dollars to us so that we can certify that you are smart enough to become part of the vast corporate ladder."

Amigori

--------------
The Air Force. A good experience if you can deal with politics and stupid people, you can work here.

Over the past year, I've had several more tests done by several different doctors that confirm the bad heart valve. One Army doctor thinks I have Marfan's Syndrome, but I think that's a mis-diagnose due to the lack of evidence and I only have the heart problem. None of the other problems. Anyways, back to the Pink Slip part.

My doctor used this information to deem me "Not Worldwide Qualified" category, which basically means I got fired. Of this, a medical board conviened and confirmed his decision. I challenged their decision on a basis of lack of evidence. They had the results from 2 Echocardiograms and 1 MUGA Scan. They decided that I should be discharged with a severance pay and a disability rating. I did not want to leave the military. So I challenged their decision and flew to Texas to a formal Medical Evaluation Board. After a whole bunch of political and monetary bullshit, I got to see a cardiologist, finally. And talk with an Air Force lawyer. The cardiologist did a few more tests and basically just confirmed that I had a bad Aortic Heart Valve. He does not think that I have Marfan's Syndrome. And my lawyer was of little help. He just wanted to not do any paperwork, I think. He did tell me that if I did challenge the board, I would lose. I would lose because the team of medical experts that sat on the formal MEB would somehow prove that this was a pre-existing, read genetic condition. And if they did, I'd lose everything. The severance pay, disability rating, and my job. So I decided not to pursue it any farther and risk losing everything, so I took their original offer and got out.

They still haven't proved anything other than I have a heart problem. So now, I have a heart problem that could or could not be related to my AF duties, but I have something that I can go to the VA with.

Soooo....to make a long story short, I was fired because of a possibly genetic condition. A Lose, Win situation if you ask me. Sure, I lost my job, but I'm getting out of this freezing place that's in the middle of nowhere and heading back to the states. I start school again next month and will have some experiance 'under my belt.' At least now I can have some chance of getting out of such a deeply entrenched WinNT network that barely has funding and go to something that at least has money flowing into its IT department. And get that piece of paper that says, "[Insert name here] you have shelled out several [ten's of] thousand dollars to us so that we can certify that you are smart enough to become part of the vast corporate ladder."

Amigori

--------------
The Air Force. A good experience if you can deal with politics and stupid people, you can work here.

Over the past year, I've had several more tests done by several different doctors that confirm the bad heart valve. One Army doctor thinks I have Marfan's Syndrome, but I think that's a mis-diagnose due to the lack of evidence and I only have the heart problem. None of the other problems. Anyways, back to the Pink Slip part.

My doctor used this information to deem me "Not Worldwide Qualified" category, which basically means I got fired. Of this, a medical board conviened and confirmed his decision. I challenged their decision on a basis of lack of evidence. They had the results from 2 Echocardiograms and 1 MUGA Scan. They decided that I should be discharged with a severance pay and a disability rating. I did not want to leave the military. So I challenged their decision and flew to Texas to a formal Medical Evaluation Board. After a whole bunch of political and monetary bullshit, I got to see a cardiologist, finally. And talk with an Air Force lawyer. The cardiologist did a few more tests and basically just confirmed that I had a bad Aortic Heart Valve. He does not think that I have Marfan's Syndrome. And my lawyer was of little help. He just wanted to not do any paperwork, I think. He did tell me that if I did challenge the board, I would lose. I would lose because the team of medical experts that sat on the formal MEB would somehow prove that this was a pre-existing, read genetic condition. And if they did, I'd lose everything. The severance pay, disability rating, and my job. So I decided not to pursue it any farther and risk losing everything, so I took their original offer and got out.

They still haven't proved anything other than I have a heart problem. So now, I have a heart problem that could or could not be related to my AF duties, but I have something that I can go to the VA with.

Soooo....to make a long story short, I was fired because of a possibly genetic condition. A Lose, Win situation if you ask me. Sure, I lost my job, but I'm getting out of this freezing place that's in the middle of nowhere and heading back to the states. I start school again next month and will have some experiance 'under my belt.' At least now I can have some chance of getting out of such a deeply entrenched WinNT network that barely has funding and go to something that at least has money flowing into its IT department. And get that piece of paper that says, "[Insert name here] you have shelled out several [ten's of] thousand dollars to us so that we can certify that you are smart enough to become part of the vast corporate ladder."

Amigori

--------------
The Air Force. A good experience if you can deal with politics and stupid people, you can work here.

Over the past year, I've had several more tests done by several different doctors that confirm the bad heart valve. One Army doctor thinks I have Marfan's Syndrome, but I think that's a mis-diagnose due to the lack of evidence and I only have the heart problem. None of the other problems. Anyways, back to the Pink Slip part.

My doctor used this information to deem me "Not Worldwide Qualified" category, which basically means I got fired. Of this, a medical board conviened and confirmed his decision. I challenged their decision on a basis of lack of evidence. They had the results from 2 Echocardiograms and 1 MUGA Scan. They decided that I should be discharged with a severance pay and a disability rating. I did not want to leave the military. So I challenged their decision and flew to Texas to a formal Medical Evaluation Board. After a whole bunch of political and monetary bullshit, I got to see a cardiologist, finally. And talk with an Air Force lawyer. The cardiologist did a few more tests and basically just confirmed that I had a bad Aortic Heart Valve. He does not think that I have Marfan's Syndrome. And my lawyer was of little help. He just wanted to not do any paperwork, I think. He did tell me that if I did challenge the board, I would lose. I would lose because the team of medical experts that sat on the formal MEB would somehow prove that this was a pre-existing, read genetic condition. And if they did, I'd lose everything. The severance pay, disability rating, and my job. So I decided not to pursue it any farther and risk losing everything, so I took their original offer and got out.

They still haven't proved anything other than I have a heart problem. So now, I have a heart problem that could or could not be related to my AF duties, but I have something that I can go to the VA with.

Soooo....to make a long story short, I was fired because of a possibly genetic condition. A Lose, Win situation if you ask me. Sure, I lost my job, but I'm getting out of this freezing place that's in the middle of nowhere and heading back to the states. I start school again next month and will have some experiance 'under my belt.' At least now I can have some chance of getting out of such a deeply entrenched WinNT network that barely has funding and go to something that at least has money flowing into its IT department. And get that piece of paper that says, "[Insert name here] you have shelled out several [ten's of] thousand dollars to us so that we can certify that you are smart enough to become part of the vast corporate ladder."

Amigori

--------------
The Air Force. A good experience if you can deal with politics and stupid people, you can work here.