Tag Archives: medicine

Equanimity

As the son of a nurse and brother of a doctor (and brother-in-law of two more), this squib in the latest University of Chicago alumni magazine caught my attention: “Why Doctors Don’t Feel Your Pain.” Brain scans show that physicians apparently learn to “shut off” the portion of their brain that helps them appreciate the pain [...]
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Resolution

On December 31, I thought about resolving to be even lazier in 2007 than I was in 2006, but I never got around to it.
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Phages

We have a problem with bacteria. They can make us sick. Sure, we have antibiotics, but it turns out the little buggers are smarter than we gave them credit for. They keep changing, making our medicines ineffective. We also have a problem with viruses. They, too, can make us sick. But it turns out there are [...]
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Slippage

Well, another month has all but slipped away. Make that: another year. My year, that is—the reckoning that began when I stuck my head out of my mother’s belly and thought: “Crap, it’s bright out here!” Moments later, a new thought: “Crap, it’s cold, too!” Actually, the story goes that I had to be dragged out. [...]
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Birthday

Laura’s 51st. Her first as a cancer—what? survivor, I guess (better than “victim” or “patient” or “battler” …). Postlumpectomy, prechemotherapy. At the threshold of a long ordeal.
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  • Proverbs for Paranoids, 3: If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.
    Gravity’s Rainbow

    ‘Is it about a bicycle?’ he asked.
    The Third Policeman