Medicine demystified: acupuncture.

            In checking back to see if modern medical science has succeeded in explaining how acupuncture works, it turns out our understanding has become more complicated. At first it looked as if a “simple” electrochemical activation changes how the nervous system perceives pain, but now it seems the needle simultaneously stimulates multiple body systems. The blood circulatory, lymphatic, and electromagnetic bio-information systems are activated as well.

            ‘The more you know, the less you know.’ (Paraphrased from Lao Tzu, Socrates, George Bernard Shaw, Don Henley…)

Modern medicine demystified: the doctor-patient relationship.

Doctors and patients are more aware nowadays that attention should be directed to the patient as opposed to the disease. “Patient-centered care” is the describer used for this approach. The patient’s values are paramount, and the doctor should comply with them. Sometimes, there is one obvious best way to go, but when that’s not the case, the doctor’s job is to work with the patient to help him/her understand the options, pro and con. The patient should recognize the right and responsibility to actively participate as well. In this way, shared decision making can evolve.

Modern medicine demystified: the doctor-patient relationship.

A patient’s welfare used to be a doctor’s primary concern, and a patient’s rights were secondary. Consideration of those rights now drives medical decision-making, and the patient, not the doctor, makes the decisions. You get to do what you want to do. That’s appropriate, but you should be careful. A ton of medical information is available to most of you, thanks primarily to the computer, but often it’s plain wrong, out-dated, or simple marketing. Acting upon such misinformation may do you more harm than good. You can manage your own care, but don’t do it without help. Take advantage of your doctor’s medical knowledge to assist you in developing your preferences. Before you decline or demand care, use your doctor as an educated consultant and make your decision an informed one.

Building a mystery: another excerpt

Ahead of him, every square inch of sand was smooth, like fresh poured cement scraped flat with a board. The ocean had denied Grandfou his moment of glory; it had scrubbed the beach. Between Sunday morning and now, those nonidentical twins, flood tide and ebb tide, had eradicated any signs of human traffic. After the rising tide had set-up a short drag to the dory and the murderer rowed off with his cargo, it ran farther up on the beach to erase the tracks. After the receding water had finished its further mopping, the whole process recycled just to make sure the clean-up job was complete. Such are the moonstruck machinations of spring tides.

The Extremes of the Annisquam River

And here's how the river broadens and the club sits at high tide:

Stranger than fiction: more body parts

A body in Arizona is missing its head, hands, and feet:
http://www.kvoa.com/news/officials-body-parts-found-in-la-likely-not-linked-to-body-found-in-pima-co-/

The cops there don't think they connect with the LA parts.

Which killer is the copy cat? When I wrote my book, I had no idea that adding up body parts was such a common problem.

Stranger than fiction: more body parts

First, a head, then one hand, then the other, then two feet…

It’s a lot more gruesome than my book, and my story’s FICTION!

Details at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/us/body-parts-found-in-los-angeles-bronson-canyon.html