Construction on the Panama Canal began in 1881 as a project directed by France, and was completed in 1914 by the US. This 51-mile (82 km) waterway has served as a major facilitator of trans-oceanic trade since its existence. But before there was the Panama Canal, there was the Panama Canal Railway, a form of …
Continue reading “A Brief History of the Panama Canal Railway”
In the US, about 20 million people live with some degree of age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of vision loss in individuals 60 and older. The macula is an oval-shaped spot of pigmentation on the retina, and the degeneration of this part of the eye results in a loss of sharp vision. …
Recently, the drug Wegovy was approved for use in the UK. Similar to other brand-name semaglutide pharmaceuticals such as Ozempic, Wegovy can be used to treat diabetes. It involves a weekly injection in the stomach, thigh, or arm. It has recently made the news, however, for supposedly being a “game changer” for weight loss, and …
Continue reading “Wegovy – the Side Effects and Controversy”
Worldwide, one in eight people have a mental disorder such as depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. In the US, major depressive disorder affects around 7.1% of the population, and around 18.1% of Americans have anxiety disorders. There is much money to be made from giving out medication for these mental health issues. Without insurance, a 30-day …
Last week, I mentioned that Norfolk Southern, the railway that operated the train that derailed and contaminated an Ohio town with vinyl chloride, had set up a $1 million fund for the victims of this disaster. That amount is a pittance compared to the amount the company has spent on stock buybacks and CEO pensions. …
Continue reading “Disgraceful Situation in East Palestine, Ohio Continues”
On 3 February 2023, fifty cars of a train derailed in East Palestine, an Ohio town near the border of Pennsylvania. The train cars contained, among other things, vinyl chloride, a substance that raises the risk of developing several types of cancers. The derailment caused an enormous fire that required the evacuation of a three-square …
We have all heard of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) being used for pharmaceutical products, where one group receives the actual drug and the other receives a placebo. The results of the trial indicate whether the true medicine has a positive effect that is greater than the one potentially caused by the placebo. But what are …
Continue reading “Examining Randomized Controlled Trials for Surgery”
Last week, Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida promised to begin preparations to downgrade COVID-19 to the same disease level as the seasonal flu. In the UK, those under 50 who are healthy and without preexisting conditions like cancer will no longer be offered the COVID booster. Last year, the Danish government stopped offering the vaccine …
Continue reading “Dissecting an Attempt by CNN to Fearmonger”
In the past few weeks, I have encountered several people who were under the impression that humans must eat cholesterol. These individuals didn’t just believe that consuming cholesterol is not unhealthy, they believed it to be essential for human survival. I had not previously heard anyone say this, but perhaps the misperception is more widespread …
Continue reading “The Misperception that Humans Need to Eat Cholesterol”
In January of 2022, New York’s hospital system released their data on COVID-19 hospitalizations for 2021. The data showed that only 58% of these hospitalizations were from COVID, meaning that the virus was the reason why these people landed in the hospital in the first place. The other 42% of COVID hospitalizations were from people …
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