Why doctors ignore studies:
This article laments that half of black hypertensives don't get their blood pressure lower than the magic 140/90 number.
Yet a few days ago, I posted about the new "evidence" that this number is now considered too low.
So what's the problem with this new study? Well, they claim that the "best" way to lower the BP is to use a mixture of a diuretic and a beta blocker.
Diuretics are cheap, and if the thousands of years of living in the tropics made folks prone to fluid retention, so that makes sense... but they cause muscle cramps, make you more prone to gout, and increase your cholesterol (and sometimes cause impotence).
On the other hand, beta blockers, which block the "stress" hormone, do not prevent heart disease so we rarely use them any more for blood pressure.
But if they "work" in black populations, the reason might be "white coat hypertension", i.e. that these folks aren't hypertensive 24 hours a day. And whether to treat this stess linked hypertension is an even bigger question in medicine.
But since only 1 percent of the patients in the study were on this combination, one wonders if the study proves anything at all, since the numbers are too low to be statistically significant...
Ironically, the drug company that paid for the study makes generics, but not of diuretics or beta blockers.
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Factoid of the day
...(North Korea plans to) repeal a 1990s law that prohibited women from riding bicycles. This law was passed in response to the death of the daughter of a senior army general, why was hit by a car while on a bicycle in the capital.related item:
and NoKorea is now in the sights of Don King, who plans a music/boxing match there sometime in the future.
Yes, I know: Mass starvation, Torture and Gulags are nothing to laugh at.
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and for up to date convention and hurricane coverage, just check Dave Barry's reports:
But the big story, at the moment, is Isaac. The convention planners have done all they can to prepare; National Guard troops have brought in 65,000 pounds of shrimp cocktail — enough, at normal rates of delegate consumption, to last nearly two days. But still there is concern. The worst-case scenario is that Isaac will develop into a major hurricane, veer eastward toward Tampa and — this is the ultimate public-safety nightmare — get hold of Donald Trump’s hairstyle. If that thing gets airborne in the community, nobody is safe.
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You can buy your very own "Obama Birth Certificate" mug at...barackobama.com
Headsup Instapundit/LegalInsurrection.
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The 24 hour cable news pretty well ignored the death of Neil Armstrong...
Armstrong’s determined effort to live a quiet, private life after his astronaut days also left TV at a disadvantage. There was relatively little tape on hand to roll from interviews reminiscing about his experiences, reunions with old astronauts or public appearances. No Armstrong chats with David Letterman. No appearances in music videos. There was the moon walk, and not much else.Notable deaths often give viewers the chance to reflect, to put into perspective lives of great accomplishment or great notoriety.
Not so with Neil Armstrong. His death was like his life: strangely muted given the magnitude of his achievements.----------------------------------------
But the headlines have noticed: Snooki had a boy.
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