Hyperbole (pronounced /ha??p??b?li/ hye-PER-buh-lee; “HYE-per-bowl” is a common mispronunciation) comes from ancient Greek “????????” (meaning excess or exaggeration) and is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create… Read More ›
medicine
GP of the Year sees patients as people: This shouldn’t be news
I’d just like to take a moment to excerpt an MDA magazine interview with Dr Christine Boyce, who was awarded GP of the Year 2008. Dublin-trained, Boyce practises in Tasmania. She has specific interests in teaching and in adolescent and… Read More ›
WA Milk Bank: 470 premature babies served
I love a story that brings a smile to the face! The West reports that my local breastmilk bank, the Perron Rotary Express Milk Bank, has seen 830 litres of milk go through its doors since it started in August… Read More ›
CFS/ME and “faulty illness beliefs”: The incredible hubris of the psychiatro-patriarchal complex
New Scientist this week published an interview with infamous psychiatrist Simon Wessely. Wessely persists in believing, in the face of all the evidence, that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalitis (CFS/ME)* is a uniquely UK/American psychological condition caused by internet-triggered “faulty illness… Read More ›
Pain trouble-shooting
Some days, I need this handy Pain Troubleshooting Guide. Today is one of those days. In other news:
Disgusting
Demotivator made by moi. Feel free to download and share from the Flickr page (click on the pic). Backstory in The Guardian.
More confected fat-baby epidemic panic? The “increasing trend” that isn’t.
This supposed ongoing upward trend in birthweight has been used as an excuse for absurd levels of inductions of labour and skyrocketing C sections, and a springboard for blaming lazy, old, fat, neglectful mothers for the “obesity epidemic”, childhood cancer,… Read More ›
Maternity Services Review: Medicare payments to OBs up from $77m to $211m since 2004.
Update 16 Sep 2009: Last year’s $211 million figure for taxpayer-funded obstetric care, mostly of pregnancies and births that are or could have been normal, has blown out further to $298 million. [Via the Courier Mail.] ~~~ The Maternity Services… Read More ›
What the media isn’t asking about that private hospital birth study (or, Bayes’ Theorem for Dummies)
Have peer review committees just given up on actually including a statistician these days? or do the statisticians need to do more sociology classes?
Guest post by Ruzawench: “Fat and breastfeeding? The amphetamine script’s in the mail.”
This guest post is from Ruzawench, a FOAF of Lauredhel’s. She is posting her experience as a comment on how unexpected weight gain is treated by the medical community, and as a warning to other women. ~~~ I had a… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 