By now, most clinics have received their supplies of seasonal flu (not H1N1) vaccine. But how effective is it, and who really needs it? Many people are wary of this vaccine, and only about 40% of adults get it annually.
The annual flu virus, for most people, is not a severe illness and is treated like a cold.… Read the rest
I started to discuss rabies in last week’s review on Beijing vaccines, but there’s a lot of other information that expats need to know. Why is this so important? Because rabies is a major problem in China, and thousands of people die every year in China from infected dog bites — the majority of whom are children under 15 years, and whose lives would have been saved by receiving the rabies vaccines earlier.… Read the rest
My father was a lively, warm hearted man. He was also an alcoholic, and he died far too early of advanced alcoholic cirrhosis (complete liver collapse). I see alcoholism as a big issue not only in my life but also, unfortunately, for a lot of expats and their families.… Read the rest
Many people love their tanning booths, especially during the winter doldrums, but there is accumulating evidence that they do cause skin cancer. Last June, the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) officially elevated tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category – “carcinogenic to humans” (Group 1).… Read the rest
Everyone is familiar with the dreaded jet lag, that groggy feeling you can get for days after a long flight as your body adjusts to its new time zone. And everyone also has their own home remedies. But which remedies really work?… Read the rest
Every time a drug company researches a medicine, they need to demonstrate that their pills work better than a “placebo” pill — a dummy pill with no chemicals, usually just a sugar pill. The fascinating issue is that even that placebo pill shows some positive benefit for patients — 30% or more patients report improved symptoms by taking a pill that logically shouldn’t be helping at all.… Read the rest