Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken or rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and analysis when you find out that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
-Buddha
THE GOOD NEWS is …
Neurosurgeons in one hospital were able to double-book operations (operate on two patients at the same time) without increasing complications like infections and bleeding, and they had same, good outcomes of those who didn’t double-book. The other good news is that seven separate studies of double-booked cases (all since the MGH dust-up caused by a whistle-blowing orthopedic surgeon) revealed no difference in complications compared to single cases.
THE BAD NEWS is …
The double-booked neurosurgical patients had 30 minutes longer of anesthesia and their incisions were open for 30 minutes longer (increased chance of contamination). The other bad news is that orthopedic surgeons who double-booked hip surgery have higher complications than those who didn’t. (JAMA Surgery. Nov. 15, 2017)
THE GOOD NEWS is …
Congress just passed the Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) co-sponsored 2016 bill that will allow people to obtain hearing aids (called PSAPs- “Personal Sound Amplification Products”) over the counter (OTC)without a prescription. These PSAPs will be much cheaper than the currently exorbitantly priced “professional hearing aids”, and will be just as good using upgraded technology.
THE BAD NEWS is ...
You won’t be able to buy them for at least three years. That is how long the FDA will take to develop regulations (specifications) and approve their sale. In the meantime, some of my friends will continue to “not hear me”, and my post office box will continue to overflow with offers of “free hearing tests” from professional vendors of very expensive hearing aids. (Boston Globe November 12, 2017)
THE GOOD NEWS FOODS of Thanksgiving are…
1. Turkey – Lower calories than a standing rib roast and a lot less sodium than spiral ham. The myth of tryptophan making us drowsy has been debunked several times.
2. Pumpkin – That’s “pure” pumpkin spice. No sugar. Pumpkin pie filling with 27 grams of sugar in a half-cup is a no-no.
3. Sweet potatoes – cooked in just a little olive oil only. Casseroles and canned variety are to be avoided.
4. Cranberries – It is high fiber and has rich plant compounds to help you metabolize the sugar which they grudgingly admit you have to add to make it taste good.
5. Hot cocoa – Make your own, of course, with unsweetened cocoa, low-fat milk, and a teaspoon (a whole teaspoonful?!!) of sugar.
6. Shrimp cocktail – This is my favorite. I am so glad nutritionists suggest it over cheese and crackers. Forget about its cholesterol (dietary cholesterol has little impact on your blood level), but go easy, of course, on the high sodium cocktail sauce. (You knew the nutritionists had to ruin a good thing eventually).
THE BAD NEWS FOODS are …
1. Egg Nog – 224 calories and 20 grams of sugar per half-cup (Whoever drinks only half a cup?)
2. Coffee drinks made with peppermint flavor, 2% milk, and 13 teaspoons of sugar. (A holiday grande latte at Starbucks can contain as much sugar as 7 glazed Dunkin Donuts.)
3. Pecan pie – A surprise. Twice the calories of pumpkin pie!
4. Green bean casserole – Another surprise. The word “casserole” is the tip-off. A half cup of green beans has 20 calories. A half cup of the green bean casserole with creamy mushroom soup and crispy fried onions weighs in at 227 calories a half cup.
5. Cranberries – What? They were labeled “good” above. Yes, but their medical benefits (separate from their nutrition ones) have been debunked. (On Health, Consumer reports, December 2017)
THE GOOD NEWS is …
A daily dose of a 83 mg.baby aspirin reduces your chances of a cardiac event, either a repeat event or even a primary cardiac event if you are at high risk.
THE BAD NEWS is …
If you stop taking that aspirin for any reason your chance for a cardiac event in the next year increases by 37%, … at least for 1 out of every 74 Swedes in this study. “This study provides strong evidence for continuing aspirin indefinitely…” (NEJM Journal Watch Cardiology, Nov. 2017)
THE REAL NEWS is …
EMS and ER personnel for decades have been immediately slapping an oxygen mask on anyone who has chest pain, even if they have good levels of oxygen in their blood, because “oxygen is good”.
THE BAD NEWS is …
Since 1950 we have “known” that oxygen doesn’t really help. In 1976 a prospective, randomized study showed that the patients receiving oxygen had larger infarcts and a slight trend toward higher mortality than those who didn’t receive oxygen. “Notwithstanding the results of this trial, for the next 40 years, oxygen therapy continued to be administered routinely to patients with acute coronary symptoms even though their oxygen blood levels were normal.” A current study of 6629 Swedes (what is it with all these studies of Swedes?) with chest pain and normal oxygen levels in their blood showed that those who received 100% oxygen rather than ambient air had no benefit from it. “It is clearly time for clinical practice to reflect this definitive evidence.” (NEJM September 28, 2017)
THE GOOD NEWS is…
The brains of astronauts in prolonged zero gravity (average of 160 days) actually float within the skull without causing any real danger to them.
THE BAD NEWS is …
Three of 35 astronauts with prolonged time in space had edema of the optic disc and slightly increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure causing minor visual impairment back on earth. Actually, this was good news for the researchers because it gave them a publishable article justifying expensive use of MRIs, including cine MRIs, to define a new syndrome, VIIP (“visual impairment and intracranial pressure syndrome”. (NEJM November 2, 2017)
THE GOOD NEWS was…
In August of 1415 Henry V with an English army of about 7,000 men repulsed 20,000 to 30,000 heavily armored French men-at-arms in a surprising victory near the village of Agincourt. Celebrated by Shakespeare as a triumph of English rhetoric, historians point to the self-defeating crush of the French charge as the cause.
THE BAD NEWS is …
Exercise physiologists recently dressed volunteers in 15th century armor weighing from 30 to 50 kilograms and ran them on a treadmill while monitoring their oxygen consumption. The armor caused at least a doubling of the volunteers’ metabolic requirements. The same amount of weight worn in a backpack only caused a 70% increase. The weight of the armor distributed over the French arms, hands, legs, feet, and head as the men-at-arms slogged through 300 yards of deep mud to reach the English probably helped make it the “final charge” for many of them. (Scientific American October 2011)
HUB's LIST of medical fun facts 
How does my traditional Friday pizza fit in here?