Thursday, January 01, 2004

Humor in Medicine. Humor in medicine is not a specialty in the traditional sense. Southern Medical Journal [Medscape PublicHealth Headlines] This is a fun article...a pseudo-scientific/review article about "types of humor" in medicine.  The "gallows" humor discussion is particularly appropriate...several times I have tried to tell "funny" stories about work to people who are not in medicine - it just doesn't come across well, especially if the humor is of the "gallows" sort... 5:28:59 PM

U.S. to Prohibit Supplement Tied to Health Risks. Ephedra, the herbal supplement that has been linked to heart attack, stroke and sudden death, will be banned, Bush administration officials said on Tuesday. [New York Times: Health] This one got me thinking...again...about the balance between personal responsibility and need for legislation.  This case is different than seat belts - people in this country need cars to get around - so you could argue that the effect of this legislation would be to make those cars safer.  But no one needs to go to the local GNC and buy a dangerous supplement - should we just publicize the risk and let it go at that?  It's worked with smoking, hasn't it?  Well, maybe that's a bad example...though there has been a change in smoking rates with publicity...I often vacillate between social darwinism and population-based idealism on issues like these. Happy New Year! 5:03:20 PM