You may have heard the word “comorbidity” before, but do you know what it means? Comorbidity refers to the presence of more than one disease or disease process in the human body. Derived from the word “morbid” the term suggests a seriousness that may not always be considered. Yet as the population ages, comorbidities increase. A study...
Read More
When bacteria are stressed, they stop living their lives singly, the way plankton do. Their adaptation is to find co-locate with other bacteria and build a type of fortress. That fortress is called biofilm. Biofilm is an organized structure made of sugars (polysaccharides), proteins and DNA and of course, bacteria. In some cases other microbes like fungi,...
Read More
Asking for help has been really bothering me lately… Before writing this post, I read a lot about the topic. It seems that the experts agree that it is a strength to ask for help. They actively promote asking for help. But that just felt wrong to me. I’d been advocating for months for a loved one and getting absolutely nowhere. Maybe it was...
Read More
After November 1st, the retail world starts decorating and promoting Thanksgiving and the December holidays of Hanukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve as well as other religious and secular hallmarks. If you celebrate Three Kings Day, the holidays may not end until after the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th. What if you don’t feel...
Read More
Over the years spent tweeting together, the #BCSM (Breast Cancer Social Media) tweetchat community has asked some tough questions. #BCSM is a community on Twitter that meets every Monday night at 9pm ET. On November 18th, they continued their annual “holiday survival guide” or holidays and chronic illness. How To Celebrate With a chronic...
Read More
Losing The Man Who Helped Us Laugh The news that beloved actor and comedian Robin Williams killed himself should jar us from complacently accepting the status quo of mental healthcare in the US. His suicide also exposes the stigma of mental illness. In 2006, during an interview on “Fresh Air,” Williams’ responded to Terry...
Read More
