Monday, December 31, 2007

Seven medical myths, exposed

Eight glasses of water a day? Myth!

Paper in the British Medical Journal referenced by Reuters says that other popular myths with no evidence in the literature include:
Reading in dim light ruins eyesight;
Shaving makes hair grow faster or coarser;
Eating turkey makes you drowsy;
We only use 10% of our brains;
Hair and fingernails grow after death (even a pathology myth!)
Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Ministry on Sexuality in Denver

Today in church we had several interesting presentations as part of ringing in the New Year. One was a young man from Where Grace Abounds, a ministry that addresses sexual issues in a Christian context. He comes from a Christian and Homosexual background. He said that their motto is 100% Grace, 100% Truth, no compromise. If you've worked in healthcare very long, you have inevitably met with homosexual people as well as those with other sexual problems: pornography addictions, extramarital sex/affairs, prostitution, many others. I spent a while talking with Scott and came away impressed that they have a good message for us all.

He also suggested an organization called Exodus that deals with similar issues around the country and the world.

I tell you, sex is like nuclear energy. It can keep you warm at night, or it can blow you to atoms.

the Highest Good at end of life

So, what is the highest good at the end of life? Comfort? Freedom from pain? Alleviation of suffering? Patient autonomy of choice? These are of course good things. Suffering for its own sake is certainly not to be sought.

But aren't there higher goods? Reestablishment of relationships? Asking and giving forgiveness? Mundane tasks like wills, bequests, insurance?

And for those of us who are Christians, if we really believe the story we claim, temporal suffering just isn't as big a deal for us as the decision to pursue God with faith, to confess our transgressions, to reach a saving faith.

An article in Touchstone magazine by a Hospice chaplain covers some of these concerns and I commend it to you.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Carl Jung on Retrieving the Soul

As a pathologist, my professional reading does not often involve the spirit or mind! It was delightful to come across this quote on a message board from First Things (I still highly recommend the magazine to thinking Christians.)

"Among all my patients in the second half of my life - that is to say, over thirty five- there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living religions of every age have given to their followers, and none of them has really been healed who did not regain his religious outlook "

Carl Jung, "Retrieving the Soul."

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Maybe the sky ISN'T falling??

My daughter's boyfriend sent me this story from Commentary. The author argues that most social indicators have actually improved over the last 15 years after much hand-wringing in the 90's (and before.) There are of course still some issues particularly with strength of families in lower income groups, but the article is worth a read.

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