Showing posts with label medical blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical blog. Show all posts

Friday, June 6, 2008

1 out of 10 doctors recommend against breastfeeding


Why make time to go to a doctor when without leaving your keyboard, you can get cantankerous advice from an actual physician on a range of medical topics:

The medical literature abounds with evidence of the beneficial effects of breastfeeding: maternal-infant bonding, enhanced response to immunizations and higher intelligence in breastfed infants, to name just a few. I don't dispute any of this, but I would like to point out an unintended consequence that I have not seen addressed previously.

Breastfeeding is too damn expensive.

Using my family as an N of 3, we observe that the first two children, each breastfed for about a week, ended up graduating from high school in the middle of the class and went on to in-state public colleges; a highly economical way to obtain a higher education. The third child on the other hand, breastfed for two years, wound up fourth in his high school class and now attends an outrageously expensive out-of-state private university, where expenses run five times higher than those of his siblings.

Clearly the effect of enhanced intelligence from prolonged breastfeeding led directly to these ridiculous tuition bills. Even if you banked all the money saved on formula via breastfeeding, there's no way to accumulate $40,000 per year; no baby eats that much!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

is your doc a secret blogger? examine this site to find out

You know how hard it is to find a good doctor. Well, statcounter shows that, for some reason, docs are finally coming to me. Which is how I discovered this hilarious site:
Random thoughts from a few cantankerous American physicians. All contributors board certified. Trust us, we're doctors.
See, unlike clients who secretly want to be creatives, many docs, imho, could have been damn good writers if they hadn't been sidetracked by the thrill of serial graduations, the selfish need for socially responsible employment, and, oh yes, the prospect of stratospheric hourly rates. 

You tend to hear more about lawyer-turned-writers because (being results-oriented) JDs tend to write stuff that sells. But docs have been known to pen actual literary achievements. I'm not saying you're going to find Checkhov on MDOD. But you will obtain extremely well-written and entertaining advice from people in the profession your life might depend on someday. You'll learn how not to talk to a pediatrician. And (next brand brief for Gilette?) why it's best to avoid those lower-shelf off-brand shaving creams.

another inappropriate greeting from someecards