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Thoughts on Journalist Sydney J. Harris
I just have a few things to say about Sydney J. Harris, who was a journalist whose columns were syndicated to over 200 newspapers. I remember reading them in the Des Moines Register years ago. I ran across one of his books for sale on Amazon. I’ve never read any of them, but I found…
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New Compound MM-120 Related to LSD Gets FDA Nod
I saw the story in Psychiatric Times about the compound MM-120, which the FDA recently granted breakthrough designation. MM-120 is related to LSD. Breakthrough designation is defined by the FDA as, “…a process designed to expedite the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat a serious condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates…
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Do You Really Need to Walk 10,000 Steps a Day?
Since we got this little step counter, I’ve been paying more attention to how I exercise. The step counter will even track steps when I juggle—probably because I drop balls often enough to chase after them a lot. And then I ran across the 10,000 steps as a benchmark for walking to keep healthy. I…
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Jim Updates His Workout and Adds a Step Counter!
Since we added the step platform, I’ve been wondering how to count steps when I use it because for some reason my smartphone step counter won’t count steps when I try to use it on the platform. Sena got a handy step counter and it works! It works if you have it in your pocket…
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The Iowa State University African and African American Studies Research Guide
In keeping with Iowa History Month 2024, you can have a look at the Iowa State University website “African and African American Studies Research Guide.” Iowa State University happens to be my alma mater, or in a way, one of them. I took my Bachelor’s degree there and later graduated from The University of Iowa…
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FDA Advisory Committee to Meet in May 2024 to Discuss Updating Covid-19 Vaccine
The FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on May 16, 2024 to make recommendations on Covid-19 strain selections for the fall vaccine of 2024-2025.
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Fake Snakes Saga Slithers On
The fake snake saga continues with not much change in scaring off birds, evidently. Bird poop calling cards are still being left. I repositioned them and we’re hoping for the best. This reminds me that the other night I was awakened by what I was pretty sure was an owl and dogs raising a ruckus…
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The Good and the Not So Good About Mental Health Treatment
Sometimes I write “depressing” blog posts. On the other hand, I have both good and bad news today. I found out that, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, Iowa’s state psychiatric hospital bed availability is dismal according to 2023 figures. That’s actually not new. Although we rate last in the nation for this, we still…
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Thoughts on a Study of Sitting with Your Patients
I saw this interesting article on a study about the effect of chair placement on physicians’ behavior when in a patient’s room, specifically whether it altered the length of time a doctor spends with a patient or the level of satisfaction patients had with the interaction. In this study, it didn’t lengthen the time, but…
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African American Women in Iowa History
In light of March being Women in History Month (as well as Iowa History Month), I’d like to share some history stories about an African American librarian from Mason City, Iowa named Esther J. Walls. In 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was an essay about her, “Esther J. Walls: The Role of a Black…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 