UCS Lab Coat cartoon

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:

This spring, to draw humorous attention to the serious issue of political interference in science, we offered Union of Concerned Scientists supporters the chance to enter Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest.

Please vote on the right for your ( Read more... )

I’m not feeling so good, so I’m mostly posting links. But they’re good ones!

Marvelously fun toy:

Killjoy Cooking With the Dungeons & Dragons Crowd

Gays marry, world does not end

Mirrored from Cyn Armistead.

This isn’t specifically about CFS/ME or FMS, but I found it interesting, and I think it makes sense.

Why Mental Lethargy When Sick

During an infection, humans typically experience a set of physiological and psychological symptoms, including fever, confusion, decreased motivation, depression and anxiety that are accompanied by a slowing of movements ( Read more... )

The interview we did is up!
Chronic Pain and Sex: a Couple’s Gentle Battle With Fibromyalgia

I’m pleased with it. There are very few, mostly immaterial inaccuracies.

Mirrored from Cyn Armistead.

About models and the effects of the media on body image in their populations, at least. Following Spain’s move last year that banned ultra-thin models from catwalks, France is acting. The “French parliament’s lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone-including fashion magazines, advertisers and Web ( Read more... )

There’s been a lot of buzz over the past week about a study published in the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that suggests treating fibromyalgia and ME/CFS with cortisol (a steroid), based on the fact that most patients have low cortisol levels. I do not have access to that publication but would like to point out some concerns.

First, most of ( Read more... )

Happy Valentine’s Day to all, whether you’re part of a couple (triad, quad, etc.) or not :-)

Sambear brought home truffles and flowers! And iTunesiness! And then he went and cooked delicious steaks for dinner!

My baby girl’s sweetie has mono. Ewww. They had to put off their special dinner tonight ’til after he’s feeling better. Hopefully, he’ll get ( Read more... )

I’ve had these two stories bookmarked to post here for a bit, so it seems past time for me to actually do it.

The best new pain cures, with a focus on women

Many women have a tough time finding the right kind of relief for their pain-and for good reason: Until recently, experts hadn’t actually studied women’s pain specifically, and most research ( Read more... )

Well, Time Magazine reports that the National Academies of Science’s Institute of Medicine says that’s the figure, anyway.

Doctors’ sloppy handwriting kills more than 7,000 people annually. It’s a shocking statistic, and, according to a July 2006 report from the National Academies of Science’s Institute of Medicine (IOM), preventable medication ( Read more... )

Not that it’s news to those of us who have it, but it’s good to be validated!

Fibromyalgia often has been misdiagnosed as arthritis or even a psychological issue. Increasingly, though, the scientific knowledge about fibromyalgia is growing, and a new paper from the University of Michigan Health System says there are “overwhelming data” that the ( Read more... )