Tag: health

The face of evil

There’s a new vaccine for cervical cancer caused by human papilloma virus (HPV). In its latest trials, it is 100% effective in preventing precancers and noninvasive cancers. Since 70% of cervical cancers result from high-risk strains of HPV, this is incredibly good news. Currently there are about 10,000 cases of cervical cancer in the U.S. alone each year, and roughly 3700 deaths. The amount of death and suffering that could be saved if this vaccine was universally available is amazing. One estimate is that a quarter of a million lives could be saved a year worldwide if this was widely distributed.

Does anyone think this is a bad idea?

Yes, someone does. Organizations like the Family Research Council, the Abstinence & Marriage Education Partnership, and other sexual conservatives think that vaccinating minors against a sexually transmitted disease will encourage promiscuous sex. From their point of view, HPV infection only affects sexually active women with multiple partners and gay men. HPV is also their great example of why condoms “don’t work”, because it can be spread by skin contact other than the penis itself. So, no HPV problem means that condoms are 100% effective; can’t have that.

Some pretty rich quotes from the FRC are in this article from New Scientist.

So, here we have a disease that kills thousands upon thousands of people a year, and causes incredible amounts of fear and pain even when it doesn’t kill. It’s spread by a virus. We have a vaccine that wipes it out. And these people don’t like it because it might encourage extramarital sex among teenagers. Because to their mind their sky god has told them that sex outside of marriage is worse than death.

This why I am no longer a Christian. And why I am not the agnostic I was before Christianity, but a thoroughgoing atheist. This kind of behavior outweighs any good that may result from spirituality. Look, you can do what you want for your religion: wear 17th century clothing, refuse military service, eat a restricted diet, carry a little knife everywhere, wear magic underwear. But if you tell me that a quarter of a million people a year need to die for your abstraction you are my mortal enemy. I’m really uninterested in your arguments.

There’s your problem. Someone set this thing to “dorkwad”!

Tomorrow I get an EEG. The object is to find out whether my disastrous brain freakouts have a measurable neurological element that might benefit from neurofeedback or other approaches. It does sound like I fit the profile for this kind of evaluation.

Neurofeedback might be recommended if this is the case; I’m not sure what else they might recommend if I have brain waves that are out of baseline.

This won’t be anything like Laura K’s ordeal; apparently it only takes an hour or so.

Even if it’s a wash, I get a map of my brain. That’s kinda cool.

Globalization and its discontents: the adult film industry

From this week’s CDC Morbidity and Mortality Report: HIV Transmission in the Adult Film Industry: Los Angeles, California 2004.

The first identified case was in a man aged 40 years (index patient) who tested HIV-negative on February 12, 2004, and on March 17, 2004, through regular monthly testing of blood samples, but subsequently tested HIV-positive on April 9, 2004. […] During the time between his two negative tests, the index patient performed in film productions in Brazil, engaging in unprotected sexual acts. While in Brazil, he experienced an influenza-like illness that resolved before his return to California on or around March 10, 2004. According to LACDHS investigators, upon the return of the index patient to California, he participated in film productions in which he engaged in unprotected sexual acts with 13 female partners. Three of these 13 female partners subsequently tested HIV-positive by PCR after having tested HIV-negative during the preceding 30 days. […] During film production, all three of the infected female partners had engaged with the index patient in specific acts associated with increased possibility of mucosal tears. None of the other adult film industry workers or private partners with whom these three women had contact during the 30 days before their diagnoses subsequently tested HIV-positive. As of May 20, 2004, the index patient reported having had no sex partners outside of work since February 12, 2004. The person who was the source of HIV infection for the index patient is unknown. […] Production companies in the heterosexual segment of this industry have generally not required condom use for any type of sexual act.

(Emphasis added.) So, here’s the drill. If you want to be a porn star 1) don’t let any of your coworkers go to Brazil and 2) Do GAY porn only.

I link, I link, I link.

  1. How’d they pull that off? The Atkins diet people have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Oh, probably because they bet $300 million on a diet trend lasting forever.
  2. Acupuncture can reduce tension headaches by half according to a recent study.
  3. These people claim that they can “fingerprint” the unique identity of a document, package, or credit card.
  4. An Iraqi town has named a U.S soldier as a sheik, or village elder.
  5. The Gitmo trials are so thoroughly rigged that military prosecutors have resigned in protest. Have you ever seen what military “justice” is like? Hint: everyone is guilty. What could possibly squick these guys? Were actual kangaroos involved?

Soylent Green, M.D.

If you are having “issues” or “a situation” or “some problem of a personal nature” at my job, you get referred to these assholes, who will recommend an appropriately inexpensive short-term fix for what ails you, and counsel you out of long-term psychotherapy or expensive drugs for your madness or drug habit.

If you’re just sick, the insurance company will push you pretty hard to call these other assholes, who will recommend an appropriately inexpensive approach to what ails you, and counsel you out of surgery or expensive drugs.

They’re both promoted to the employee as caring, committed professionals who will help you through hard decisions, and to the business as cost control.

This is how we ration health care in my country, by hiding triage behind a helpful smile.

Sometimes these maneuvers are performed while you wear a vibrating headband.

The likely diagnosis for my big adventure on Sunday is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. I gave a cute metaphorical description of it before. Basically little rocks fly around where they shouldn’t in tiny structures in the ear and make people dizzy and nauseous, and sometimes other effects. There’s no reason why it occurs, nor any reason why it stops. It’s just one of those things. Unpleasant but not deadly.

There are a number of things to do about this, and I’m doing two: taking 50 mg of niacin a day, and taking a diuretic. (Excess fluid in some ear part or other can set this off too, apparently.) But that’s not all!

If this keeps happening, I can try one of two Liberatory Maneuvers for Vertigo: the Epley, and the Semont. I picture them as two old grumpy men like Statler and Waldorf on The Muppet Show.

This is the Semont Maneuver:

semont maneuver

And this is the Epley Maneuver:

epley maneuver

This is fabulous stuff. Immediately I forget that I’m ill, and I imagine myself in an ancient office full of phrenology heads, giant clamps, perhaps a van de Graaf generator or two, with an elderly German man grasping my head harshly with gloved hands and flinging me around as I vomit explosively on his hapless assistant, yelling “JU MUSST REMAINEN SCHTILL!” until finally the tiny bit of calcium that’s been tormenting me comes loose and falls down the back of my skull like it went behind the fridge. Then I tip my hat to him and leave my card, and stride down the Strand to my club. With luck I’ll be asked to stand in a zinc basin first, and everyone will be wearing spats.

Now to look up the “Brandt-Daroff Exercise”, which I hope involves Indian Clubs, a Medicine Ball or two, and a pint of oatmeal stout afterwards. Physical culture is the key to life, men! To the icewater baths!