How human evolution causes diseases
John DiTraglia MDContributing ColumnistI just read a book, recently featured on the Cobert Report, by Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard, called The Story of the Human Body (1) that’s about how our genes, programmed during evolution, cause lots of disease, the most prominent of which is obesity.The first half of the book talks about chimpanzees and Australopithici and early human species and is full of interesting nugget...
Style plays role in profile
Frank LewisPDT Staff WriterThere is a dangerous new trend in college football. Maybe you didn’t notice it. Maybe it just sneaked up on you, but all of a sudden this year, all I heard from the talking heads was the phrase “style points.” That’s a very nice way of saying, if you want your team to get respect and rankings, you will run up the score on all of your opponents.Now it is no longer enough to win games. Now you have to beat up on...
Cost-effectiveness of obesity surgery
John DiTraglia MDContributing ColumnistObesity or bariatric surgery probably works better than diet and exercise for long-term weight loss and cure of type 2 diabetes. We still say “probably” because even thought the evidence is overwhelming, people still have a problem with issues of will power and blame and whether this kind of surgery is a mortal sin in the Catholic Church.
Let’s Talk Poetry: Lifting the Veil
Neil CarpathiosContributing ColumnistPoetry’s duty is to surprise us. We long for the poet, in some way, to lift the veil of the ordinary allowing us to see something in a new light. Too many poems deal with the same subjects and fail to jolt the mind.Kevin LeMaster writes from South Shore, Ky. He offers a poem that, I guarantee, will force you to never see its subject in quite the same way.The LeavingsWhen the ...
Memoir: The game
Bob StrickleyPDT Content ManagerWhen I arrived on the campus of The Ohio State University in 2004, I was a naive, 40-pound lighter version of myself that had little real grasp of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry besides the fact it was important to students and fans of the two schools.Growing up in Cincinnati will do that to you. College sports allegiances in the Queen City are fragmented between the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, University of Ke...
Thanks to those that matter to me
Frank LewisPDT Staff WriterThere is one thing I have learned over the years - great people, successful people - seem to know they are not alone, and that providence plays a major role in whatever they do. For centuries, presidents took the time to thank God publicly for his role in our nation’s successes, whether it was deliverance from an economic downturn or war.Here is an excerpt from one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, on Thanksgiving....
Kennedy’s words continue to inspire
Jack BurgessContributing Columnst50 years ago, on the 22nd of November, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed as he and his wife campaigned in Dallas, Texas. As though we might forget that fact, TV and newspapers are reminding us this month with a flood of painful stories, some with shreds of new information, but mostly heavy with old suppositions and mythology. Careful scrutiny of the evidence indicates that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal bullets, but we don&...
Do you have what it takes to jumpstart your life and keep it running?
Marcia HarrisContributing ColumnistWelcome to “Do You Have What It Takes monthly personal development program for the month of November.As the end of the year is approaching, you may want to end it with added value through volunteering your services.Volunteering creates win-win situations which have so many benefits. For Instance, you may have often thought to yourself “I would love to work with and encourage those who are in nursing hom...
Lets’ Talk Poetry: Poetry and Food
Neil CarpathiosContributing ColumnistNovember. Month of food. Of eating. And overeating. And giving thanks for what feeds us.During this month we have a holiday at whose center the celebration of food radiates.Indeed, it has been said that a thoughtful meal is a wordless way of saying grace.
Long term childhood obesity rates
John DiTraglia MDContributing ColumnistEverybody knows we have gotten fatter. But when did we start getting fatter? Studies show that the rate of overweight and obesity among children has stopped going up in the last 10 years. The rate hasn’t gone down, but it’s not going up anymore. A report in October’s Pediatrics shows that adolescents are exercising more and eating less sugar over the last 10 years. (1) Epidemiological studies that try to figure out...
50 years later, Kennedy is still missed
Frank LewisPDT Staff WriterI am sure nearly everyone reflected back this week on where they were when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It is one of those events that will stay etched in my mind my entire life. I was working at WIOI. I was barely 18, when I heard the bells ring on the Associated Press wire machine. That only happened a couple of times in my career. It is one of those sounds that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It scares you be...
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,I am writing in response to an advertisement in the Portsmouth Daily Times on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2013 in which a law firm encouraged anyone who suspected that a loved one was abused or neglected at Heartland of Portsmouth to call them. I’m not disputing anything that was written, but I am shocked to think that anyone was ever mistreated at Heartland. My father-in-law was in Heartland for 11 years and a member of our family visited everyday. He got fantastic care ...
Let’s Talk Poetry: Forgiveness
Neil CarpathiosContributing ColumnistNo doubt, the act of forgiveness is one of the most intensely human of gestures. It might seem less taxing to just harbor a grudge, or to let past hurts fester, or to indifferently ignore the tangled knot of the heart instead of working at untangling it. And yet, who among us has not been in a position at some point in time, hoping and wishing to be forgiven by somebody? As the great English poet, Alexander Pope, wrote: “To err ...
Testosterone maybe not so good
John DiTraglia MDContributing ColumnistSeveral weeks ago we reported on a report in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed that for old men who have low testosterone, supplementation improved a lot of things. I was ready to ask my doctor, Dr. Arrick, to give me a prescription for testosterone to shrink my belly and make me run faster - or at least test me to see if I was low.
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