Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Who is Gregory Hinton?

Saturday Profile, June 24, 2017, New York Times

Gregory Everest Hinton, sometimes called “the godfather of deep learning,” is perhaps the most influential person you’ve never heard of. This profile in the NY Times is a fascinating introduction to a remarkable human life.

Hinton’s career has helped to further the fields of neurobiology, psychology, neural networks and artificial intelligence (AI). There is much in this Times profile that will interest you.

Hinton famously said: “There is no reason to think computers won’t get much smarter than us.”  Can't wait for the dumbing down Hollywood biopic!

Fat Planet

Study Finds: More Than 10 Percent of World’s Population Is Obese

More than 10 percent of the world’s population is now obese, a marked rise over the last 30 years that is leading to widespread health problems and millions of premature deaths, according to a new study, the most comprehensive research done on the subject.

Published Monday in The New England Journal of Medicine, the study showed that the problem had swept the globe, including regions that have historically had food shortages, like Africa.

The study defined obese as a body mass index of 30 or higher and overweight as a B.M.I. from 25 to 29. By those measures, nearly 604 million adults worldwide are obese and 108 million children, the authors reported. Obesity rates among children are rising faster in many countries than among adults.

No country in the globe has reduced overweight or obesity levels. This is astounding given the huge health and economic costs linked with overweight and obesity.”

The study largely did not go deeply into the causes of obesity, but the authors said the growing accessibility of inexpensive, nutrient-poor packaged foods was probably a major factor and the general slowdown in physical activity was probably not.

Here is a BMI calculator if you want to see where you fall.

Just so you don’t feel too bad if your BMI is hovering at 30 or above, there is the Obesity Paradox hypothesis which holds that obesity (and high cholesterol) may, counterintuitively, be protective and associated with greater survival in certain groups of people, such as very elderly individuals or those with certain chronic diseases. It further postulates that normal to low body mass index or normal values of cholesterol may be detrimental and associated with higher mortality in asymptomatic people.

The Daughter Care System

“The best long-term care insurance in the United States is a conscientious daughter.”

“As medicine advances, people are surviving longer and longer with chronic conditions, and will need more and more caregiving.” It seems clear that women will continue to shoulder a disproportionate burden of the care. “A lot of women have been in caregiver roles traditionally. They may have that skill set, or intention, or a feeling of obligation.”

This is a concise and important article from the NY Times, by Roni Caryn Rabin. For full article, go to: The Daughter Care System.

One thing it does not cover is the negative health effects that family care-givers suffer. Katie Butler describes those in her landmark book, “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.” Here are some notes on Butler’s book.

The End

The End is a New York Times series that features essays by people who work in fields dealing with death and dying, like medicine, ethics and religion, as well as personal essays by those who have experienced the death of a loved one.  It started at the end of January, 2015 with a piece by Ira Byock.

The End

The End is a New York Times series that features essays by people who work in fields dealing with death and dying, like medicine, ethics and religion, as well as personal essays by those who have experienced the death of a loved one.  It started at the end of January, 2015 with a piece by Ira Byock.

Physicians on the Take

Recently, payments to your physicians by PHRMA and device makers have been made public. That's good news. The bad news is that it is damnably difficult to access this information. There appear to be many firewalls. Suffice it to say, many physicians in the US are on the take. It may even be worse in Canada. It must be the same everywhere expensive drugs and treatments are utilized.

Here are links to the recent New York Times articles about this new database.
1.  What We’re Learning About Drug Company Payments to Doctors, September 30, 2014
2. Detailing financial links of doctors and drugmakers, October 1, 2014

I found the government site difficult to navigate.
However, the Dollars for Docs web site was much simpler and gives similar information.

These sites probably underreport payments, but they still have meaningful information.

America's Health Worker Mismatch

In the U.S., we rely on foreign-trained physicians, nurses and other professionals to care for our citizens.  Our professional schools have not taken on the responsibility of traing health care workers in sufficient numbers.  An Op-Ed essay in the NY Times (September 14, 2012) discusses this topic and concludes:  "It is irrational and immoral to recruit health workers from countries where one in five children die before their fifth birthday when we could be recruiting and training workers domestically."

Please read this informative article:  "Health Worker Mismatch."

My Mother-in-Law’s One High Day

When my mother-in-law was in the final, harrowing throes of pancreatic cancer, she had only one good day, and that was the day she smoked pot.  Read this thoughtful, sad piece from the NY Times Journal of Medicine (12/10/11).

Bring Medical Care Home!

Jack Resnik, a physician practicing on Roosevelt Island, New York, had an eloquent and impassioned Op-Ed piece in the December 5, NY Times.

"[In 1998], one of my patients called me with a high fever, chills and dropping blood pressure. He was 48 and had been a quadriplegic since he was shot during a robbery in the hardware store he owned. I called an ambulance and admitted him to the hospital, where we soon brought his urinary tract infection under control. But he developed a bedsore, which became infected with an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that breeds in hospitals. He didn’t survive the hospitalization."

Dr. Resnick has learned a few things since then.  Read:  Bring Health Care Home.  It may save your life!!

Help One Robin

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.         Emily Dickinson

"Doors Swinging Open" by Frank Bruni, in the September 27, NY Times, is a story that brings the Dickinson poem to mind.  It chronicles the journey of Energy Maburutse, a young man with osteogenesis imperfecta from rural  Zimbabwe, to Lynn University in Florida.