When Your Plastic Heart Changes It’s Structure and Function to Produce What You Need

A recent report from the National Academy of Science documents (not for the first time!) that we humans have a unique ability to develop our heart’s capacity for stress. The investigators compare us with our relatives, the apes and chimpanzees, and say that these animals, unlike us, don’t have this resource: they are only equipped

Artificial Intelligence Scientific Snippets

Following up on my recent blog about artificial intelligence, I wanted to share some expert commentary from Science (July 7, 2017) in a paper by Jennifer Sills summarizing some of the most interesting uses of AI by both health care providers and the world of commerce: Robotic surgery may be ideal for helping to prevent

Higher Death Rates and Lower Birth Rates in the US: A Troubling Double Conundrum

A double load of bad news this week: Sabrina Tavernese reported in the NY Times that the birth rate in our country has fallen for the fourth straight year. In fact, the decline in birth has been 15% since 2007. Whether it’s the result of economics, political turmoil or other reasons,  an increasing number of

Artificial Intelligence: Replacing Human Input in Peace and War

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in our lives, both in peace and in war, has exploded over the past 10 years, from ATM machines armed with facial recognition to Alexa, your friendly companion which can answer questions, let you know the weather for the day  and turn on your television. The problem is that

Beyond 23 and Me: The Many Ways We are Using Genomic Science

I vividly remember the July morning in 2000 when the New York Times printed a front page article reporting the White House announcement that we finally had unraveled the structure of our DNA: the collection of genes that make living things who and what they are. Among the other amazing revelations, it was apparent that

Scientific Snippets

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has just reported an interesting shift in end-of-life interventions offered to patients in European Intensive Care units over the past 17 years: withholding life-prolonging therapy and withdrawing of life-prolonging therapy increased by 10% and 14% respectively. The proportion of women patients was roughly the same (about half)
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When Women’s Memories Work Against Us

“You’re bringing up that again?!?” The husband of my patient Bella* came to her five years ago and confessed he was having an affair. Although he swears that he has been faithful since, that long-ago infidelity still pollutes every moment of her waking life. There’s no pleasant afternoon spent together that isn’t colored for her
Men Never Remember - Women Never Forget

Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget

There is some evidence as a very title of this book suggests that women have better memories than men do for the spoken word. Never is this more apparent than during an argument! During a disagreement, one of my partners – a lawyer – wryly asked me to “read back his last statement” as he
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The Differences Between How We Listen and What We Hear

What Did You Say? The Differences Between How We Listen and What We Hear “You never listen to me!” “Have you even heard a word I’ve said?” “Men just don’t get it” In some ways, meeting one another and getting together are the easy parts. All too often, it’s when we start really relating to
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Can We Leave the Lights On? Sex Differences in the Bedroom

In Plato’s Symposium, Aristophanes tells us that the first humans were both male and female. They were very beautiful, insufferably pleased with themselves, and, above all, self-sufficient (as many of us surely would be if there was never the need to woo and keep a mate!). According to the story, these early humans were so
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