" "There’s a tension between cold hard reasoning-what’s called analytic reasoning- and another type of reasoning important to emotions, self-regulation and social insight," [Case Western Reserve professor, Anthony] Jack explained. "The second type of reasoning isn’t characterized by being caught up in reflexive and primitive emotions, as [Harvard ( Read more... )

"Seeing lung cancer in my “first patient” made me feel an instant connection with him and his family. Knowing about the disease process and the decline triggered an emotional response. Yet, at the same time, I found myself casting judgment on him. I assumed that he had smoked, and I found myself wishing that he had not. This response startled me. ( Read more... )

"Psychologists from the University of Chicago and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona found that people who speak multiple languages tended to take a more utilitarian approach to this moral dilemma when it was presented in their non-native tongue. Researchers say their results indicate that the use of foreign languages reduces our emotional ( Read more... )

"In this case, Tammy Adacsi, a woman in her late thirties, sued the landlords of a house she was staying in after it caught fire. Three people died in the fire. Ms. Adacsi survived but was hospitalized for several months, after which she claimed that her debilitating injuries prevented her from ever working again. In response, the landlords ( Read more... )

From the diary of a standardized patient. Interesting view on what things look like from that side.

Personally, what I found the most fascinating was:
* The freakin' classical personal account (why-oh-why do these things still happen, seriously)
* Drawing attention to an issue of medical communication that is not about empathy, cultural competence ( Read more... )

"This statement paper, developed by members of the Belgian Society of Intensive Care Medicine Council, is not about giving analgesics or sedative agents to combat pain or agitation, nor about the so-called double effect, wherein analgesics given to alleviate pain may have the adverse effect of shortening the dying process. The discussion here is ( Read more... )

Despite the Risks, and Because of Them, the FDA Should Permit Recycling Medical Implants

Arthur L. Caplan, a Hastings Center Fellow, is a professor of bioethics at New York University's Langone Medical Center and director of the medical ethics division of the school's department of population health. This post originally appeared in Newsworks.It ( Read more... )

In which Shara Yurkiewicz breaks my heart again.

(She's a very young physician with good eyes. This should be your content advisory.)

This entry was originally posted at http://hagar-972.dreamwidth.org/2430682.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

"No one seems willing to name the elephant in the room. This [experimental blood] test is good news for those of us who would passionately prefer to die before becoming demented, even to the point where we would end our own lives. Here are the facts. If you are 70 or older and “fail” this test, then you know with 90 percent degree of accuracy that ( Read more... )

13:21 -"[...] intentional [...] that is, directed at or towards some object."

*quiet facepalm* This is where I grumble about philosophers being out of touch with ordinary language use, and how the flattened technical language is a problem. Because look, that is not what Intent means; a fantastic example would be sadness (the above is from a ( Read more... )