Well, I made it back to the USA without any trouble. Unfortunately, as soon as I got back 2 weeks ago, I had to drive to Boston for work. So rather than have time to post about my experiences in science and medicine while in China, I've been helping students study for the MCAT so they too can experience the joys of medical school (I'm not sure myself if that last part is sarcasm).
I'm having a great time here in Boston. The amount of nerd humor I've experienced while around some of the best MCAT instructors in the country has been absolutely mind boggling! However, I simply do not have enough time to give Verbatio the attention it deserves. So I will not plan on posting to Verbatio until I finish my work here in Boston and return home. It's funny, I never would have thought I'd have MORE time for blogging while I was actually in medical school compared to while I was on summer break!
I have a few posts concerning China that I will try to finish and post while I'm here, but I suggest you get outside and enjoy the amazing summer weather while you can. See you in August!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Difficulty posting
Unfortunately, I am unable to access Blogger/Blogspot from China, so it will be very difficult for me to post regularly while I am here. I was able to set up posting via email, so we'll see if/how that works out. My Internet connection here is terribly slow, which is a real shame because I was hoping I'd be able to post some pictures, but that would take forever on this connection and I'm not even sure how it would work posting those via email. Nevertheless, I will try to post about my experiences, especially those related to my travels to the medical school here. The orientation for that starts tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to offer some insight on that by the end of the week.
In the meantime, I don't think I've eaten a single item that I've actually recognized while I've been here. The next 4 weeks will definitely be an interesting experience!
In the meantime, I don't think I've eaten a single item that I've actually recognized while I've been here. The next 4 weeks will definitely be an interesting experience!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The "hCG Diet"
This is something I've been meaning to post about for some time now, but just haven't gotten around to it. A while back, my mom told me about this diet someone in my family had started on. She referred me to this website and asked what I thought about it.
I'm now 25% doctor after completing my 1st year of medical school, so hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) is something I've actually learned a bit about in class. hCG is what some people think of as the "pregnancy hormone." It's a hormone that doesn't show up in a woman's body until she becomes pregnant (it's what at-home pregnancy tests detect) at which point it acts to maintain other hormone levels at high enough levels for the developing fetus. hCG is also responsible for morning sickness, which disappears by the end of the first trimester because at that point the placenta can maintain hormone levels for the fetus all on its own. Such a wonderfully useful structure, that placenta!
So, when I first read about this, I thought, "So he's basically just giving himself morning sickness. I should tell him to take a pregnancy test too just to freak him out!" The website itself is downright awful too, even going so far as to say that their "product is a professional grade homeopathic hCG weight loss product that is made in the USA." A professional grade homeopathic product... so does that mean they use filtered water or spring water instead of just plain old water? And it's made in the USA, so it has to be good, right?
I'm now 25% doctor after completing my 1st year of medical school, so hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) is something I've actually learned a bit about in class. hCG is what some people think of as the "pregnancy hormone." It's a hormone that doesn't show up in a woman's body until she becomes pregnant (it's what at-home pregnancy tests detect) at which point it acts to maintain other hormone levels at high enough levels for the developing fetus. hCG is also responsible for morning sickness, which disappears by the end of the first trimester because at that point the placenta can maintain hormone levels for the fetus all on its own. Such a wonderfully useful structure, that placenta!
So, when I first read about this, I thought, "So he's basically just giving himself morning sickness. I should tell him to take a pregnancy test too just to freak him out!" The website itself is downright awful too, even going so far as to say that their "product is a professional grade homeopathic hCG weight loss product that is made in the USA." A professional grade homeopathic product... so does that mean they use filtered water or spring water instead of just plain old water? And it's made in the USA, so it has to be good, right?
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Going to China
Some interesting news. In just over a week, I will be leaving for China for 4 weeks. It's a trip organized by a group affiliated with the medical school. While I'm there, I'll be studying the language and the culture, as well as interacting with some of their medical students and checking out some of their medical facilities.
I'm incredibly excited about the trip, not just because I get to go to the other side of the world for relatively cheap, but because I'll be able to observe firsthand the "Eastern" or "alternative" medicine that people here in the states try to tout when they're promoting their supposedly "natural" cures. My expectation is that what we consider to be Eastern medicine will be very similar to Western medicine (albeit with some alternative medicine flavor thrown in at times), at least as far as the medical education establishment goes. I'd expect to find higher usage of alternative medicine in perhaps more rural settings, but who knows. That's part of the reason why I'm going. As a person enormously interested in technology and a supporter of the free exchange of software and ideas, I'm also anxious to see what the general feeling is over there with regard to the Great Firewall of China. People love to talk about China's people, culture, medicine, etc. but how much of that is actually accurate? That's what I hope to find out.
I plan on blogging about the experience as much as I can. A few students who went on the trip last year told me we'll probably be asked if we'd like to experience "cupping" (I swear it's not as dirty as it sounds). If I'm able to try it out, I'll be sure to let you know if it's the best treatment ever and takes away all of my back pain and fixes my eye sight, or if it just relaxes me for a couple hours (a byproduct of the heat and the placebo effect, from what I've read).
This is the first time I've really gone out of the country, and it's about as far out of the country as I can get. I went to a resort in the Dominican Republic for vacation for a week a couple years back, but nothing quite like this. It will definitely be one hell of an experience.
I'm incredibly excited about the trip, not just because I get to go to the other side of the world for relatively cheap, but because I'll be able to observe firsthand the "Eastern" or "alternative" medicine that people here in the states try to tout when they're promoting their supposedly "natural" cures. My expectation is that what we consider to be Eastern medicine will be very similar to Western medicine (albeit with some alternative medicine flavor thrown in at times), at least as far as the medical education establishment goes. I'd expect to find higher usage of alternative medicine in perhaps more rural settings, but who knows. That's part of the reason why I'm going. As a person enormously interested in technology and a supporter of the free exchange of software and ideas, I'm also anxious to see what the general feeling is over there with regard to the Great Firewall of China. People love to talk about China's people, culture, medicine, etc. but how much of that is actually accurate? That's what I hope to find out.
I plan on blogging about the experience as much as I can. A few students who went on the trip last year told me we'll probably be asked if we'd like to experience "cupping" (I swear it's not as dirty as it sounds). If I'm able to try it out, I'll be sure to let you know if it's the best treatment ever and takes away all of my back pain and fixes my eye sight, or if it just relaxes me for a couple hours (a byproduct of the heat and the placebo effect, from what I've read).
This is the first time I've really gone out of the country, and it's about as far out of the country as I can get. I went to a resort in the Dominican Republic for vacation for a week a couple years back, but nothing quite like this. It will definitely be one hell of an experience.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
I'm not dead, I feel fine.
I know I've been absent for a while, but I swear I'm not dead. It's been a hectic 2 weeks of finals, but I'll be done for the semester and back here after Thursday.
In the meantime, as I said: I'm not dead!
In the meantime, as I said: I'm not dead!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Beating Obesity
An interesting article about obesity was recently linked on Rational Arguments. It's worth a read, especially considering all the misunderstandings people have when it comes to obesity and weight management.
Last week, we had a few lectures about nutrition and exercise, and how the body reacts to lifestyle changes when people try to lose weight. To put it simply, your body can be a real prick when it comes to trying to lose weight. Granted, if you want to lose weight, you certainly can, but it's not always as simple as changing your diet. You might lose some weight that way, but it's going to take a lot more to continue to lose weight, especially if you want to keep that weight off. Either way, your body will put up quite a fight by lowering its energy needs so that even though you're taking in fewer calories, you still won't lose as much weight as you hope/expect.
Obesity is a major problem in the US right now, and it's a more complex problem than people want to admit. Yes, it would be great if it were as simple as going on a diet for a few months, but long-term benefits require greater long-term commitments. And when the obesity problem starts in childhood, it's going to be even harder to get those children to change their unhealthy habits when they reach adulthood. The article isn't trying to make excuses for obesity, but it does well in explaining the more complex nature of the obesity epidemic we're experiencing right now.
Last week, we had a few lectures about nutrition and exercise, and how the body reacts to lifestyle changes when people try to lose weight. To put it simply, your body can be a real prick when it comes to trying to lose weight. Granted, if you want to lose weight, you certainly can, but it's not always as simple as changing your diet. You might lose some weight that way, but it's going to take a lot more to continue to lose weight, especially if you want to keep that weight off. Either way, your body will put up quite a fight by lowering its energy needs so that even though you're taking in fewer calories, you still won't lose as much weight as you hope/expect.
Obesity is a major problem in the US right now, and it's a more complex problem than people want to admit. Yes, it would be great if it were as simple as going on a diet for a few months, but long-term benefits require greater long-term commitments. And when the obesity problem starts in childhood, it's going to be even harder to get those children to change their unhealthy habits when they reach adulthood. The article isn't trying to make excuses for obesity, but it does well in explaining the more complex nature of the obesity epidemic we're experiencing right now.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Science Reporting
Pretty much the only evening news show I watch is NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. It's usually pretty good reporting, and I'm a big fan of Brian Williams. I've always enjoyed his appearances on late night talk shows -- I sometimes wish he'd ditch that whole serious reporting thing and do his own late show!
Anywho, tonight's show had a segment about the environmental effects of the recent volcanic eruption(s) in Iceland. It was doing well until Anne Thompson, the "NBC News Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent", threw out this particular gem:
You're right, a single volcanic eruption is going to spew enough sulfur dioxide into the air to reverse global warming. Before I could even start to laugh at this idea, immediately after she stated this, it cuts to Richard Wunderman of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who says:
Why would she even pose the question like that if the next person is going to refute it? To me, it seems like she's leaving the possibility open and acting as though this one particular expert says no, but people are still wondering if this is our cure-all for global warming! With a subject like global warming, it seems to me that she shouldn't have left the idea lingering such that people might start thinking that these volcanoes are going to solve climate change. It would have been much better to tack on something like "but climatologists say that these small effects are not significant enough to impact global climate change" before cutting to Wunderman's clip.
Maybe I'm overreacting, but I strongly believe that the media as a whole does a piss poor job when it comes to science reporting. It's always about painting this picture of a big controversy that doesn't actually exist (e.g. the false notion that vaccines cause autism). It's incredibly frustrating to watch.
But you be the judge and check out the clip:
Anywho, tonight's show had a segment about the environmental effects of the recent volcanic eruption(s) in Iceland. It was doing well until Anne Thompson, the "NBC News Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent", threw out this particular gem:
But [Sulfur Dioxide]'s reflective properties can also cause global cooling, leading some to wonder if this isn't the silver lining in the volcanic cloud. Could it actually help reverse global warming fueled by man-made carbon dioxide, CO2?
You're right, a single volcanic eruption is going to spew enough sulfur dioxide into the air to reverse global warming. Before I could even start to laugh at this idea, immediately after she stated this, it cuts to Richard Wunderman of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who says:
And it's pretty hard to reverse that [global warming] without reducing the greenhouse gases like CO2.
Why would she even pose the question like that if the next person is going to refute it? To me, it seems like she's leaving the possibility open and acting as though this one particular expert says no, but people are still wondering if this is our cure-all for global warming! With a subject like global warming, it seems to me that she shouldn't have left the idea lingering such that people might start thinking that these volcanoes are going to solve climate change. It would have been much better to tack on something like "but climatologists say that these small effects are not significant enough to impact global climate change" before cutting to Wunderman's clip.
Maybe I'm overreacting, but I strongly believe that the media as a whole does a piss poor job when it comes to science reporting. It's always about painting this picture of a big controversy that doesn't actually exist (e.g. the false notion that vaccines cause autism). It's incredibly frustrating to watch.
But you be the judge and check out the clip:
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