Happy Friday everyone!

My favorites this week include the following:

Thirstiness

Elderly lack strong thirst signal - I’ve heard this before, but its really important to spread around. Apparently as people get older they “become easily dehydrated because their thirst signal can be diminished”. I need to print that out and show it to my mom, I don’t know if she drinks enough and I worry about her.

However, I have to raise one point. The word “elderly” implies weakness and frailty, the proper word here would have been “elders”, I believe. Read here to learn more from Time Goes By: Are You Elderly?.

Real Costs?

Costs of Allergy Treatment - Ruth raises some interesting points here. I have really bad allergies, and the costs of allergy medications can certainly add up. For many people allergy shots would probably cost less and be more effective. I wonder though if doctors tend to discourage them? I see all the free samples from drug companies that allergists have around. I’m sure the drug companies would rather see prescriptions written than allergy shots given.

And then there are the hidden costs. For me, I don’t sleep as well, can’t see or breathe well, I’m less productive, irritable, etc. Of course there are people with worse health problems. But I think allergies definitely cost society as a whole too - lost productivity, etc.

Missed Calling?

Dr. Val interviewed Mike Huckabee recently: Governor Mike Huckabee On Losing Weight and Staying Fit. Now please don’t misunderstand me - I don’t support Huckabee positions on I think anything. And I can’t believe I’m actually going to say something positive about him. But based on that interview, he seems he understands weight loss pretty well. Maybe Huckabee missed his calling and should have stayed out of politics altogether?

People as Garbage

Read this quote: “Ethically, what is the correct thing to do when medicine encounters a difficult problem? Stablize the patient until a solution can be found? Or throw people away like garbage?“.

He’s right isn’t he? Yet we really don’t put that principle in practice. Currently we let people die and then, well, ‘throw them away like garbage’. He goes on: “Centuries from now, historians may marvel at the shortsightedness and rationalizations used to sanction the unnecessary death of millions.”. He’s most likely right there too. Read the rest at Fight Aging.

Demand Choice!

Rachel at Women’s Health News wrote about how the Oklahoma legislature passed a bill that would require women to have an ultrasound performed prior to obtaining an abortion: Forced Ultrasounds for Abortion in Oklahoma - Because Your Government Can Demand That An Object Be Inserted Into Your Vagina. No comments from me are needed - the post and discussion speaks for itself.

Some quicks links:

Socrates in the classroom develops students’ thinking and changes the distribution of power - our schools really need to teach critical thinking skills.

Tel Aviv University finds connection between mental fitness and multi-lingualism - another good reason to at least try to learn another language and for your kids to learn one too.

Prions show their good side - “normally functioning prions prevent neurons from working themselves to death“.

I haven’t had time to read this yet, but it looks interesting: How Boys Become Boys (and Sometimes Girls).

Have a great weekend!