The Inquisitr » Health

Penelope talks miscarriage – gets slammed, Jarvis talks penis – gets patted on back

Steven Hodson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:55:32 +0000

What are the limits to the conversation in our social media world?

At what point does it become either too much information (TMI) or cross the line of polite society?

Back near the end of September Penelope Trunk, CEO of BrazeenCareerist.com threw the following message out on Twitter

“I’m in a board meeting. Having a miscarriage. Thank goodness, because there’s a fucked-up 3-week hoop-jump to have an abortion in Wisconsin.”

Not only did that one message cause her a lot of flack on Twitter and her blog but she ended up having to defend herself on CNN as well as in the original and follow-up post. Everything from her womanhood to her common sense was questioned in the days that followed. I even had a bit of a hard time with it I will admit but in the end as I discussed on a podcast with my friend Sean I had to giver her credit for being willing to do what she did.

Then today I saw a post come through my feedreader written by Jeff Jarvis where he talks some more about the recent operation he has as a result of his run in with prostate cancer. The post was title Small c: The penis post and my first reaction was as probably with most men as they read the post one of winching.

I didn’t think that it was another case of TMI as Jeff was afraid of and as with Penelope I give the man credit for being willing to lay his life bare like this.

We men have complicated relationships with our penises, of course. We follow them (that’s why they’re in front). They tell us what we like. They have minds of their own. We anthropomorphize them; some give them names (I don’t; it’s just it). So when I see mine looking like an emaciated, depressed, shrunken old man in a hospital bed, well, it’s hard not to empathize.

However when it came to the reaction to Jeff’s post it was the total opposite from what Penelope experienced. Read through the comments to his post and all you see are pats on the back, commiserations with what he was going through, and well wishes for his recovery.

On one hand we have a woman who experiences a traumatic experience and talks about it only to get lambasted for it. Then on the other hand we have a man writing about a traumatic experience but he gets kudos for doing so. Some-one care to explain to me the double standard here?

Why is it okay for a man to write about his dick and not being able to use it – possibly ever again – but it isn’t okay for a woman to write about that she was losing a fetus?

So much for the enlightenment and open conversation that we all seem to be proclaiming is the new social world we are living in. As usual it turns out to be nothing more than a pile of bullshit and if you don’t think so just follow the insanity that is swirling around the death of a gay singer.

HIV Rates Among Black Americans Remain Disproportionately High

AHN — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:00:43 +0000

HIV prevalence among black Americans continues to far exceed rates among whites, despite billions of dollars in government and private spending to combat the disease, according to researchers with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The researchers wrote in a new report appearing in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that black HIV rates are 10 times higher than white Americans.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 45 percent of new HIV infections in the United States in 2006 occurred among non-Hispanic blacks. Among 13,184 adolescents and young adults in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, HIV rates among young black Americans were 20 times higher than those among their white peers.

The researchers say individual-level sexual behavior contributes to the disparity, but they placed more blame in what they term “structural violence” – a social system “characterized by inequalities in power and life chances of sufficient magnitude to restrict a group of people from realizing their full potential” that puts them “in harm’s way,” the researchers said in a statement.

Study Finds Increased Death Risk Among Celiac Disease Sufferers

AHN — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:00:19 +0000

Miami, FL (AHN) – Patients with symptoms of celiac disease, an immune system disorder triggered by gluten exposure in about 1 percent of the western population, have a slight increased risk of death, according to new research.

Celiac disease causes impaired digestion of nutrients through the small intestines. Symptoms include frequent diarrhea and weight loss.

Since the disease is associated with inflammation of the small intestine, it may increase the risk of death, Swedish researchers with the Orebro University Hospital said in a statement.

An analysis of almost 50,000 people with some form of inflammation indicated that patients with celiac disease had a 39-percent increased risk of death compared with the other patients. Cardiac disease and caner were the main causes of death in these patients, the researchers said.

The report is in the Sept. 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Bone density in women improved by drinking beer

Steven Hodson — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:45:00 +0000

This isn’t an endorsement for women to go out and get hammered everyday but as with all things moderate drinking of beer appears to be beneficial for women’s bone density.

In a study conducted at the University of Extremadura in Caceres, Spain, scientists had 1,697 healthy women, 811 of whom were postmenopausal and 176 were going through menopause, fill out questionnaires that asked about smoking and levels of alcohol, caffeine and nutritional consumption. As well the women agreed to undergo ultrasound scan to measure the density of their bones.

The researchers found that participants who reported drinking beer on a regular basis tended to have greater bone density than those who did not drink beer or who tended to consume wine.

Reporting their findings in Nutrition journal, they suggested that "the greater bone density found in women beer drinkers might be a result of the phytoestrogen content of this alcoholic drink".

Phytoestrogens are plant hormones that are similar to the human hormone oestrogen and which may therefore help to replenish low levels of oestrogen following the menopause.

Source: Arthritis Research Campaign – Moderate beer consumption linked to improved bone strength

The key here is moderation as other studies have also found that drinking alcohol to excess can lead to weaken bones.

The 10 Best and Formidable Hot Dogs

Steven Hodson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:34:22 +0000

Next to apple pie and baseball nothing says United States of America than the legendary hot dog. Even though many of us wouldn’t touch one with a ten-foot pole if we knew what was really in those tubular steaks they continue to be a mainstay of our dinner tables, backyard BBQs and culture.

Recently Brynn Mannino over at WomansDay.com compiled a list of ten of the best and admittedly formidable hot dog recipes around. I have – with a big at tip to both Brynn and Papa Melony – posted it here for your recipe collecting pleasure.

Spaghetti Dogs

Personally I think this one is just a little too off the wall but I am sure something like this would be a hit with the kids. To produce this kid delight simply puncture slices of raw hot dog with uncooked spaghetti and boil.

picture courtesy of Boing Boing

Corn Dog Casserole

Hmm .. I guess the prerequisite for this one is that you like corn dogs, which I don’t and that you have a very low cholesterol level. What you do is layer much like a lasagna the following items: hash brown patties, crumbled bacon, baked beans, corn and French Fries. This is all topped with quarter-inch slices of corn dogs and drizzled with yellow mustard.

picture courtesy of ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com

Ditch Dogs

Wow people are actually willing to pay $14 dollars for this creation at the Ditch Plains restaurant in Manhattan but you can do the same thing by combining a potato bun, a hot dog along with a Gruyere/American/Parmesan mac ‘n’ cheese blend. Me .. I think I’ll pass.

picture courtesy of AlwaysHungryNY.com

Chinese Hot Dog

Almost as much as hamburgers, hot dogs and apple pie our version of Chinese food is a big part of our culture. For those that just can’t do without their weekly fixing of sushi and wonton soup you can try out slices of hot dog wrapped with egg-dipped dough and then deep fried. Apparently they do really well at Eden Wok in New York where they sell for $2.50 each.

picture courtesy of oneannieatatime.com

Le Pogo et Frites

Never mind those Freedom Fries because we have for you the Americanization, thanks to Phil Lee, of a South Korean roadside snack. Basically nothing more than a hot dog surrounded by french fries Phil transformed it using corn meal batter and french fries.

picture courtesy of LastAppetite.com

The Chihuahua

Not surprisingly given the popularity of the venerable hot dog there are a lot of restaurants that specialize in overloading the poor little things with all kinds of stuff. Crif Dogs in New York City is well known for this concoction that sees a hot dog blanketed in bacon and then join with sour cream and avocado.

picture courtesy of chelseaperetti.blogspot.com

The Hamdog

If you are ever in the mood to really hurt yourself then the place to head to is Mulligan`s Bar in Decatur, Georgia, and pony up to one of their Hamdog`s. This `little`creation has the following goodies in it: one hot dog wrapped in a half-pound of beef patty. This is then deep-fried, placed in a hoagie roll and topped with chili, bacon and a fried egg.

picture courtesy of TexasBurgerGuy.com

The Hot Dog Flower

Obviously a pretty simple offering of hot dog goodness but apparently these cumin-flavored goodies are popular food fair in New York City`s Chinatown – especially at the low price of $1 each.

picture courtesy of SeriousEats.com

Hot Dog Summer Roll

Continuing with our mashing up of American hot dog love and Chinese food obsession we have this offering from Jill Snyder where she takes slices of hot dogs and wraps them with rice paper and filled with various vegetables. Unfortunately this little creation didn`t help her win season five of Bravo`s cooking show – Top Chef, but hey you still might like it.

picture courtesy of ModernDomestic.com

And finally we give you The Cornhole

This one should come with a warning that unless you have a cholesterol level of a new born baby this might not be something you want to try – or at least not make a habit of having. Using the picture as our guide to heart attack hell we have the corn on the cob wrapped with hickory bacon, which is then surrounded by alternating hot dog slices and Colby-Jack cheese sticks which is then encased in ground beef. Good luck and may your cardiologist be with you.

picture courtesy of ThisIsWhyYou’reFat.com

No related posts.

Not your normal ‘the dog ate my homework’ excuse

Steven Hodson — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:15:00 +0000

As concern over the rising number of children who are obese many researchers are trying to find ways to keep track of how active children really are. In one recent study done by the Mile End Center for Sports and Exercise in east London decided to attach pedometers to the children involved in the study.

The idea was to be able to gauge how active the children by automatically counting how many steps they walked and ran. In the beginning they were quite enthused by the results of the 200 hundred students involved in the study. That was until they discovered that the kids had found a unique way to cheat the test results.

It appears that a majority of the children were attaching the pedometers to their dog’s collars.

The pilot study in Whitechapel required 11 and 12-year-olds to clip a pedometer to their waists, with researchers at the centre collecting the readings by satellite.

"But after a week we found there were some kids who were extremely active but still obese," said Professor Maffulli.

It was "not unheard of" for participants in previous studies to manipulate the readings of pedometers, he added.

Source: BBC News – Sly children fool exercise study

So much for the extremely active part.

Who knew? Junk in the trunk linked to longevity

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:00:32 +0000

Red beans and rice didn’t miss you? That might not be such a bad thing.

A Canadian study recently indicated that people who carry “a few extra pounds” live longer than both their average and obese counterparts. According to the study, underweight and very obese people tend to die earlier than average people. But slightly overweight people had a clear advantage. Yay, science! This totally makes up for skinny jeans and Karl Lagerfeld.

Buzzkills reseachers added that the study accounted merely for longevity, not for quality life. In my entirely unscientific opinion, any lifestyle that includes less restricted access to crème brûlée, butter and brie is of a markedly higher quality.

Some statistics:

During the study period, from 1994/1995 through 2006/2007, underweight people were 70 percent more likely than people of normal weight to die, and extremely obese people were 36 percent more likely to die.

But overweight individuals were 17 percent less likely to die. The relative risk for obese people was nearly the same as for people of normal weight.

Study results echoed a previous study in the US.

An earlier study, conducted in the United States and published in 2005 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed similar results.

[Source: Reuters]

England’s English isn’t good enough for Australia

Steven Hodson — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:45:43 +0000

British nurse Julie
Dutton with her husband
Dale Mervin and their
son Connor

Listen as one living in a multi-cultural country I can understand the need for language proficiency testing especially when you are going to be dealing with the health and welfare of people seeking medical care; but I think at some point common sense should come to the foreground. It is even idiotic when the person coming into your country where English is the primary language also comes from where the damn language was first spoken.

Yet the twits in charge of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board of New South Wales in Australia have dictated that Ms Dutton, a specialist in cardiothoracic intensive care, would have to sit an English language test for her application to be processed. They say this is the standard procedure for any immigrant applying to be registered or enrolled with the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board – as of a new policy introduced January 1.

The written and spoken tests will cost £131 ($280), and Ms Dutton was told that she will have to wait until June to sit them because there are no available places before then.

She was told that despite her obvious proficiency in the English language there were no exemptions.

“I think it’s just ridiculous,” Ms Dutton told The Times. “I am English, I was born in England, I speak English, I have a British passport, I was educated in Britain and I got my nursing degree in Britain, so I just couldn’t believe it when they told me. I think it’s just a joke – this is just a mad, stupid policy.”

Source: Times Online

I only have one thing to add to this stupidity

Yet another way to needle smokers

Steven Hodson — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:28:48 +0000

Got friends who still smoke?

Well here’s a perfect way to let them know what you think of the habit as well as remind them what it is doing to there lungs. And no I don’t have one outside of my front-door, I got the pics courtesy of Fresh Pics.

Honestly dear the Viagra is for the dog

Steven Hodson — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:13:06 +0000

Ah Viagra – our modern day wonder pill that has probably saved more than a few marriages now has a new use that I am pretty sure no one would have thought of – saving a dog’s life. Yes folks it appears that the little blue pill has saved the life of Bentley a Springer spaniel in Highgate England.

The dog’s owner discovered that Bentley was suffering from a deadly case of lungworm when he took the dog into his local PetVet veterinary clinic. Vet Ben Harris discovered that the parasites has spread to seven-year-old Bentley’s pulmonary artery and he was suffering from heart failure as a result. Harris prescribed the dog a course of Viagra which works by relaxing the blood vessels in the heart and lungs that have become narrow and fibrous.

According to Bentley’s owner David Roach of Church Vale, East Finchley, the drugs have not produced any unwanted side effects. “He was neutered when he was very little so he’s never had a very active reproductive life,” he said.

“He will be on Viagra for the rest of his life now,” added Mr Roach.

[picture of Bentley with Mr. Roach courtesy of Nothing to do with Arbroath]

Touching Tributes to Bernie Mac Revealed

Meieli Sawyer — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:09:13 +0000

What started out as a rumor is true: Bernie Mac has passed away from complications with a severe case of pneumonia, with his rep confirming the sad news:

“Actor/ comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital. No other details are available at this time. We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected.”

In a touching tribute to the hilarious family man, actors-slash-comedians spoke out regarding Bernie’s early, untimely, and frankly pretty surprising death (considering that his rep had just told us yesterday that he was “make a full recovery.”

Tributes from Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Chris Rock After the Jump!

From Brad Pitt: “”I lament the loss of a ferociously funny and hardcore family man. My thoughts are with [his wife] Rhonda and their family. Bernie Mac, you are already missed.”

From George Clooney: “The world just got a little less funny. He will be dearly missed.”

From Chris Rock
: “Bernie Mac was one of the best and funniest comedians to ever live but that was the second best thing he did. Bernie was one of the greatest friends a person could have. Losing him is like losing 12 people because he absolutely filled up any room he was in. I’m gonna miss the Mac Man.”

Image: WireImage

Shia LaBeouf Not At Fault for Crash

Meieli Sawyer — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:01:09 +0000

Here’s the kicker: Shia LaBeouf has been named “not at fault” for his weekend car accident by authorities after a full investigation. While initial reports claimed that LaBeouf had made an illegal left-hand turn, now officials have determined that the other driver caused the crash by running a red light.

Okay. So Shia’s (kind of) in the free-and-clear, although his DUI still stands after “exhibiting obvious signs of intoxication.” It could be worse– at least passenger and co-star Isabel Lucas and the other driver weren’t seriously injured, or he’d be facing a fat felony charge instead.

Let’s just see if his injured hand heals up well enough to return to filming next month.