During these hot summer evenings, my wife and I love to bike around Beijing’s hutongs. On every street corner and in every park, generations of families, friends and neighbors dance en masse, sing along to a classic tune, and chat away while walking — often backwards.… Read the rest
“Leaves of three, let them be.” Sounds familiar to many of us, yes? This quote refers to the dreaded poison oak and poison ivy, plants which line the hiking trails and woods of much of the world. To protect themselves from being eaten, these hardy weeds have developed a very effective defense: their shiny leaves are coated in an incredibly reactive oil which causes a severe local, swollen and weeping rash, which often burns but mostly is incredibly itchy.… Read the rest
Due to the incredible media exposure this week to our emergency pollution, I’ve been inundated with questions from both patients and international media about pollution. There’s still quite a lot of misinformation about pollution, so here are what I consider to be the most high yield, evidence-based and readable articles.… Read the rest
I’m facing a bit of a quandary here. Just last week I was bragging about how air pollution isn’t as much a risk factor to health than much less glamorous topics such as overweight and lack of exercise. Since then, of course, we’ve had the biggest public health emergency I’ve seen in my six years here, with air pollution skyrocketing to an astounding 755 AQI and higher in much of northern China.… Read the rest
Treating a fever in a child still uses the same two medicines for decades: ibuprofen (Motrin, 布洛芬) and paracetamol/acetaminophen (Tylenol, Panadol, ). But dosing is actually really tricky, as there are different concentrations for infants and toddlers, and it’s all too easy to give too much or too little.… Read the rest
I do a lot of health checks in my family clinic here at BJU, and a large percentage have problems with their cholesterol tests. Since high cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart disease, I focus a lot of my time with them on proper diet.… Read the rest