Sociologist Elena Portacolone was taken aback. Many of the older adults in San Francisco she visited at home for a research project were confused when she came to the door. They’d forgotten the appointment or couldn’t remember speaking to her. It seemed clear they had some type of cognitive impairment. Yet they were living alone. Portacolone, an associate professor at the University of...
As I explored in two recent posts (“The Managerialist Revolution in Medicine” and “Why We Are Sick“), our medical institutions—from hospitals and licensing boards to medical schools and professional societies—are failing us. The complex of problems in many of these institutions makes reform or repair, in the short term at least, impractical and perhaps impossible. Too many vested financial or...
Central Oregon Pathology Consultants has been in business for nearly 60 years, offering molecular testing and other diagnostic services east of the Cascade Range. Beginning last winter, it operated for months without being paid, surviving on cash on hand, practice manager Julie Tracewell said. The practice is caught up in the aftermath of one of the most significant digital attacks in American...
Q&A — Health communications researcher Lucy Popova Regulatory hurdles, industry objections and legal fights have gone on for decades over traditional tobacco. What’s in store for the next generation of smoking? In 1966, the first warning label appeared on the side of cigarette packs in the United States. Stating “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” it was also the...
In a major shift, psychologists now view an out-of-control compulsion to work as an addiction with its own set of risk factors and consequences An accountant who fills out spreadsheets at the beach, a dog groomer who always has time for one more client, a basketball player who shoots free throws to the point of exhaustion. Every profession has its share of hard chargers and overachievers. But...
Insulin resistance links MASLD to several other metabolic diseases. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images ~~~~~ Liver disease is frighteningly common worldwide. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, is an umbrella term describing conditions related to a buildup of fat in the liver. Formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, this condition...
