The National Football League Tried to Shut Him Up.
Bennet Omalu MD, is a Nigerian-American forensic pathologist at the University of California Medical School, Davis. He holds multiple advanced degrees and certifications from top American medical schools, and is currently the medical examiner for San Joaquin County. In 2002 Dr. Omalu studied the brain of 50-year-old Mike Webster, former center for the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. Before his death Webster had suffered a steep decline in his mental capacity with depression, violent behavior swings, loss of memory, and severe chronic pain. Dr. Omalu published a paper in the journal Neurology “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in a National Football League Player,” documenting Webster's brain damage. He had hoped to initiate an academic discussion of athletic concussion trauma. Instead the NFL demanded that he and the journal Neurology retract the paper. He was shocked, and both sources refused a retraction. The NFL's “Mild Traumatic Brain Injury” committee stated that Dr. Omalu misinterpreted his own work, and the paper had serious flaws. (The committee members were paid by the NFL and the chairman was a rheumatologist.) In an attempt to discredit him the NFL committee demanded that his work be reviewed by an expert trauma pathologist. Big mistake! Their expert not only substantiated Dr. Omalu's work, but found Webster's brain damage worse than reported. Moreover, with subsequent additional studies the NFL opened the door on the serious threat of concussion injury by competing in pro football. Congress is now involved, forcing the NFL to study and act upon the CTE that is obviously permeating the brains of many retired athletes.
For Pete Rose It's Makeover Time.
Pete Rose was known as “Charlie Hustle” in his playing days. He gathered more base hits than any player in baseball history, and his competitive spirit was best exemplified by his head-first slide to make the next base. He did not use performance-enhancing drugs, did not beat his wife nor children, and he is revered in Cincinnati where he spent most of his baseball career. Peter Rose is banned from baseball for life because it was found that he gambled. He admitted that during one season while he managed the Cincinatti Reds he bet on his own team. He claimed that he did not bet while he was playing. According to Commissioner Robert Manfred, “He hasn't presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life.” How does one prove he “reconfigured” his life at age 74? Major league baseball is replete with illicit drug-users, and several have even confessed that they were injected with various compounds, often steroids. Full on cheaters. None have been banned, and only rarely even suspended. The Commissioner apparently does not find any hypocrisy in his portrayal of Peter Rose as a lifetime sinner.
Okay, Bossie. Did You Donate This at Nighttime?
A study reported in the Journal of Medicinal Food found that drinking cow's milk produced at night may be a potential treatment for anxiety and insomnia. A glass of milk taken at bedtime has long been touted as a sleep aid. Researchers in South Korea gave lab mice varying doses of dried milk powder from cow's milk collected during the day or night and mixed with distilled water. Analysis of the powders showed the night milk contained 24% more tryptophan and nearly 10 times as much melatonin as day milk. The mice underwent a series of tests about an hour after treatment. Mice that got night milk were significantly less active than either the mice fed day milk or water controls. Caveat: the effects of night milk haven't been tested on people with sleep problems and anxiety disorders. Still, for insomniacs it is worth a try.
Sunglasses for Children are Not a Fashion Statement.
Most parents are careful to spread sunscreen on their children when they hit the beach or the great outdoors, but do not think of possible damage from ultra-violet rays to young eyes. Everyone buys into what happens to skin when it comes to sun damage, but most parents are unaware of what happens with cumulative u-v damage to the eyes. For kids, bright summer days at the beach, surfing and sailing, pose the highest risk. In extreme cases, especially at high altitudes, exposure can cause photo-keratitis that can lead to temporary loss or blurring of vision. The same effect can occur with u-v reflection from snow, often referred to as snow blindness. It may be difficult to get the child to wear sunglasses, but special shades are available designed for infants or toddlers. They are durable, flexible and safe. It's a bright world out there.
It's Yesterday All Over Again.
The fanciful premise of the movie “Groundhog Day” is that the hero wakes up each morning believing it is the previous day. It is an amusing, entertaining, and meaningful film. The story has largely come true for the patient of a British psychologist. Following general anesthesia for a root canal procedure, the patient awakened with amnesia. His memory span has been reduced to approximately 90 minutes. He wakes up each morning believing he has an appointment for dental work. He has been examined by numerous neurologists who could find no abnormality to that part of the brain associated with amnesia or anesthesia. He is able to function with the aid of an electronic diary, probably an iPhone.
Hey Wait, Governor. We are Not in the Killing Business.
In October 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed the End of life Option Act into law, thereby legalizing physician aid-in-dying in California. Eligible patients must be 18 years or older, residents of the state, of sound mind, and diagnosed with a terminal illness that will prove fatal within 6 months. The significance of this is overwhelming. When the country's biggest state allows physician-assisted suicide, many other states will follow.
Starbucks is Looking Better, or Maybe Not.
To no one's surprise, after dinner coffee can lead to sleepless nights. A new study posted in Science Translational Medicine from the University of Colorado Boulder helps explain why. Caffeine before bed distorts the master clock that tells the body what time it is. Clocks tick throughout the body, managing the circadian rhythms that control everything from sleep to appetite to hormone levels. Caffeine taps directly into the master clock that syncs these far-flung timekeepers. Researchers noted that caffeine has a larger impact than we previously realized. The team found that caffeine's clock-shifting effects could be used for good to help regulate people's sleep patterns, like avoiding jet lag.
Addenda
Kaiser Permanente will launch a medical school focused on training students in its integrated style of care. They plan to build in Southern California with the goal of enrolling a first class of 48 students in 2019.
A University of Michigan survey, backed by the National Institutes of Health, found daily smoking of cigarettes by teenagers has fallen 50% over the past five years. The percentage of 10th graders who report daily use of marijuana is now higher than cigarette smoking, largely because of the drop in tobacco use.
Whether they be the musician cats in my band, or the real cats of the world, they all got style. (Ray Charles).
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We are not attempting to circumcise the rules.
(Bill Cowher Pittsburgh Steeler coach)
Dawn! A brand new day! This could be the start of something average.
I would help my wife get pregnant if I could be assured she would have puppies.
Aloha and keep the faith rts
(Editorial comment is strictly that of the writer.)