Unless you’ve been sequestered from television news and social media, you probably know that heart disease is the leading killer in the U.S., responsible for killing over 800,000 people a year. That’s more people than cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined. Over 92 million Americans are currently living with some form of cardiovascular disease, to the tune of $316 billion in health costs and loss of productivity. Common risk factors for heart disease include: Hypertension High blood cholesterol Cigarette smoking Diabetes Obesity Sedentary lifestyle Family history Gender Age The newest risk factor for heart disease is gray hair. Yes, you heard that right. Before you go running for a…
-
-
Watching Grandma Circle the Drain Alkaline hydrolysis: the latest way to get rid of a dead body
There’s only so many ways you can get rid of a dead body. Regardless of how it got that way – stabbed, shot, bludgeoned, run over by a truck, pummeled, poisoned, choked, tossed off a building or just withered from old age – its final demise has to be handled with care. Up until recently, you only had two choices. You could bury Grandma in a casket or cremate her. Both cost a lot of money and take weeks of planning. Or, if money’s tight, you could always drive into the middle of the desert in the dead of night, dig a hole by the glow of your car’s headlights…
-
She Can’t Forget You – or Anything Else How Jill Price conquered her memories of The Brady Bunch Christmas Special
At one time or another, most have us have forgotten where we left our car keys or paused in the middle of a sentence because we lost our train of thought. Call them lapses in memory or “senior moments.” But, wouldn’t it be nice if you could remember everything you wanted, going back your entire life? Well, for one California woman that capability is both a gift and a curse. Life on Automatic Rewind Jill Price can remember every detail of her life from the time that she was 14 years old to the present. Not just familiar memories but every minutia from the date, time and day of the…
-
Toad-ally High Smoking the Bufo Alvarius Toad: 100 times more powerful than LSD or magic mushrooms
If you think you’ve already tried all of the traditional ways of getting high such as alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and are looking for a new disgusting, unhygienic way to leave the planet earth for a while, then look no further than a toad sitting on the banks of the Colorado River. Hopping along the river’s shores in southern Arizona, California and northern New Mexico, the “Bufo Alvarius Toad” (also called the “Cane Toad” or “Colorado River Toad”) would otherwise be in danger of being a wolf’s or Gila Monster’s main course if it weren’t for a highly toxic venom it produces whenever it gets agitated – the same venom…
-
Take One Leech and Call me in the Morning How leeches, maggots and scum-sucking fish have improved medicine
One of the last things a patient imagines seeing as they look across a sterile operating room are maggots, scum-sucking fish and the occasional leech. But, all three have earned a solid place in the medical community based on the results they achieve – simply by doing what comes naturally. The Flies Have It Maggots are nothing more than fly larvae: one of the most basic forms of life. But to many patients with wounds that refuse to respond to conventional treatment, they are a godsend. For the majority of people recovering from life-threatening wounds, contusions and limb re-attachments, antibiotics provide much of the follow-up care they need. But for…
