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capsule moments

DIAGNOSING THE CANVAS:

Even though the wonderful diagnostic tools like blood tests and X-rays weren’t available centuries ago, artists painted what they saw and painted rashes, skin pallor and abnormal skin conditions from which today’s observant doctors can predict the medical problems the artist’s model had. Even Rembrandt, when he painted his self-portraits showed his eyes a bit misaligned.  This indicates he lacked stereo vision and in real life he did struggle with depth perception.  In the Andrew Wyeth painting, “Christina’s World” (1948), the girl could have had polio by her inability to walk although some experts feel she had Charot-Marie-Tooth disease. a peripheral nerve disease affecting millions world-wide.

SAUNA BENEFITS:

In the Finnish sauna, temperatures range from 80-100℃ with a relative humidity of between 10-20%.  People usually spend from 5-20 minutes in the sauna followed by a swim or a shower.  I remember once in my youth, I actually rolled in the snow after a sauna bath but I think it was more the beer than logic talking.  The benefits of a sauna on the body include a reduction in blood pressure, improvement in endothelial function, reduction in inflammation, improved circulation and improved cardiac and pulmonary function.  I was looking for the down side of saunas and found a reference to “sudden death” but the authors attributed this more to excess alcohol consumption rather than the sauna itself.  There are other forms of passive heat therapy like infrared and steam rooms and hot tubs but it hasn’t been proven that the effects are the same as the sauna.

TRUTH DECAY:

A good example of this is the artificial sweetener industry.  Many of the “studies” on these products were funded by the industry that produces them and 75% of these studies conclude that artificial sweeteners are associated with weight-loss.  Only 10% of independently-funded studies make the same conclusion.  The whole field of obesity is fraught with similar truth decay and it is easy to understand how the general public with no science background and an inability to critically think through various claims, are taken in by all the hype.  In the field of obesity treatment, everyone is looking for a quick fix and as we know, there isn’t one.

BREASTFEEDING AND BIRTH CONTROL:

When a woman breastfeeds 100%, this can suppress the hormones from the pituitary gland that facilitate ovulation.  So fertility does drop somewhat.  However, it is not foolproof and for those not wanting another child so soon, the best insurance is to go back on birth control.