Teeth

I was in a bicycle accident last month.  Of all things, my teeth sustained the most damage.  Everything else, lips, wrist, and leg, is healing fairly quickly, but teeth don't grow back.

after getting back

from the hospital

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

dental damage 

Anyway, I'm getting 2 implants and many crowns.  I already got 2 bone grafts to prepare for the implants.  I'm becoming quite the expert in dental work so one day, probably more like when you're 70 and need a dental implant, you can ask me for outdated information.

Also, drivers and cyclists beware of dooring!  Especially when parked or riding downhill because doors are more likely to swing out (because of gravity).  

Not Outside Enough

Why I have bad eyesight

I KNEW IT

Although, I have to say, it's not like I never played outside. I used to play tag all the time. But I did not play any sports so I guess it wasn't enough. I don't wish I played sports as a kid, though.

doctors learning to cook

thank goodness

Kaiser Permanente, which is a provider and an insurer, is the largest nonprofit health care system in the country, with about 8 million members, 15,000 doctors and 170,000 employees, predominantly in western states. The sheer scale of Kaiser, which holds farmers’ markets at 30 sites, makes changing the way food is bought a challenge, but also an opportunity.

“We can leverage our size to create greater demand for healthy food,” Dr. Maring said. Kaiser Permanente Oakland, for example, serves 6,000 inpatient meals a day, 80 percent of which have no special restrictions.

“It’s difficult for farmers to crack the institutional supply chain,” he said. “We need a ‘universal adapter’ that can pair small producers with big customers.” Toward that end, he helped start a regional growers’ cooperative and joined the board of the nonprofit entity that administers it, the Community Alliance With Family Farmers.

Dr. Maring also envisions Kaiser’s role expanding into areas like environmental stewardship, and he has carved out a kind of subspecialty in institutional real estate, with the goal of eventually putting some of Kaiser’s undeveloped land into agriculture.

Hallucinogens

NYT article on using hallucinogens to treat depression.

However, I don't know if there are clinical studies, but hallucinogens like LSD seem to trigger emotional instability if used too often.

Bill Gates as a Public Figure

This past year was Gates' first year working full time on the Gates' Foundation. He put out an annual letter and has been going on the morning circuit with his views on various policy issues.

ABC News article and video with George Stephanopolous

article at PCWorld

Breakthough Institute blog

He has come out in support of bank fees and tax increases. At the same time, he seeks to moderate people's expectations in the government's ability to make a full recovery, saying that the government is limited in what it can really do. According to Gates, the best thing the government can do for the economy and for social equity is invest in education. The government needs to focus on long term goals. I think changing people's expectations would help a lot or else Scott Browns are going to get elected everywhere.

His main interest is in health services. He talked about the need for innovation in health and the need for more pills. What about preventative measures and things like diet, though? He also notes that we need a lot more investment in clean energy and he downplays the effectiveness of energy efficiency measures. He is right about the lack of funding of clean energy in the US, but I wonder what he would think about the concept of a steady state economy, less work hours, and less material throughput.

He even had a diplomatic analysis of the Google v. China free speech issue.

He has an interesting blog http://www.gatesnotes.com.

It's interesting how billionaires like Gates and Warren Buffet have much more credibility than any actual politicians. On the one hand, it makes sense because they are proven to be successful people. On the other hand, it's a little sad because I don't think there are any politicians that people really trust.

Obamacare Officially Announced

I listened to Obama's health care speech last night, and I thought he made some a very comprehensive reasoning for his ideas.

I'm definitely a lot more excited to learn more about the issue and attend events and possibly throw events at MIT about health care.

Health and Bankruptcy

neato study about the causes of bankruptcy. Guess it really makes sense.

Global Payments for Healthcare

I heard an interesting piece on healthcare reform on WBUR the other day. It was about changing the way we pay for healthcare to encourage preventative care without letting healthcare providers deny care. This is exciting to me since I do think fundamentally there is a problem if healthcare providers make more money the more services you use.

Agree to Healthcare Reform

In an ironic political twist, healthcare providers, pharma, and medical devices have agreed that the cost of healthcare need to go down and that they want to be part of the solution. Now to lock them in and see that they follow through with it. Very exciting all in all, though.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I am supposed to read this.

AIDS

I saw this flyer yesterday for an AIDS study. It said, "Would you take a pill a day to prevent HIV?" Or something like that. And had a bunch of phone numbers you could rip off to participate in their study. I thought it was kind of a bad idea. You could be taking those pills every day of your life. I just think pharm companies or whatever should not try to make daily pills all the time. It's not the best solution. It just seems like a way they can make a lot more money, and a way to get people to be more dependent on their stuff. Anyway. I guess it's hard to get around for certain drugs. But it seems like you could have a better HIV prevention method. But I guess each problem is different. Oh well! But I just hope they've thought about the other, non-daily methods as well.

Silly Republicans

So I had this assignment in my public health class to see what all the presidential candidates' stances on health care were. Of course, I know my Dems quite well. So I decided to take a peek at the Republican side. Ron Paul has absolutely nothing to say. He says, give everyone shady information on nutrition, and let them decide for themselves on what to eat. WHAT TO EAT?!!?! yeah. Rudy Giuliani doesn't say anything about health care. And Mitt Romney gives us a high tech little video that I have yet to watch of him answering a few people's questions regarding his stance on health care. Don't you love Republicans?

Here, look for yourself:
Mitt Romney
Ron Paul's Super-Smart "Health Freedom"
Giuliani because he's Italian AND Roman Catholic!