Shaw's Eco-Logic

This HND piece covers yet another crummy diet study, and it is one more junk science affair headlined by big name know-nothings.

This one is a bit unique in that it combines the overhyped DASH diet, with "proof" that low carb is worthless. But, that would be low carb defined as 40% carbs in your diet. Talk about stacking the deck.

As to DASH, it is a warmed-over Mediterranean diet, with somewhat more carbs and a drastically lowered sodium content. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute geeks would freak at the real Mediterranean diet and its typical sodium level of 4200 milligrams per day.

Sadly, the people behind this study are way too high up in the, uh, food chain of influential researchers.

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This HND piece takes a look at the possibility that there may be true-life medical conspiracies. But, are they really "star chamber" type affairs, or maybe these situations—at least some of these situations—only appear to be conspiracies. Perhaps they are more conformity than conspiracy.

We give the example of peptic ulcers and Tagamet, and continue with the matter of neuro-immune disease. Strangely, Senator Harry Reid seems to be involved in the latter.

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This HND piece examines a mostly hidden story: Physician suicide. Conservative estimates put the figure at around 400 per year, and that works out to losing the student body of an entire med school annually. Most experts think the real numbers are a good deal higher.

Of course, it's no secret that ever since Medicare, and certainly since health care became a subsidiary of the insurance industry, being a physician is not what it used to be. Throw into the mix rapacious plaintiff's lawyers, and it's not a pretty picture. Then there's the matter of depression, which is also in play—only those docs affected can't do much about it, since merely seeking treatment for depression can affect licensure status.

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This HND piece examines the matters of chain of custody, specimen tracking, and data integrity. We cite the example of how the very first use of forensic DNA could have been for naught, based on sloppy specimen tracking.

But there is more at stake here than forensics. We also consider the giant business of medical diagnostics. Surely these millions of specimens must be kept with proper identification of their rightful owners, so to speak. Included is shout-out to a smart new company involved in the enterprise of keeping this stuff straight.

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Well, at least now we know why Dr. Huxtable was an Ob-Gyn.