If you’re reading this article, you’re probably worried about wildfire smoke nearby. What can you do to protect yourself and your family? I’ve done a lot of research and blogging about air pollution, during my ten years living and practicing family medicine in Beijing, so I hope to share with you now how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke.… Read the rest
If the tooth fairy gave you 10,000 RMB every year in China that you could only spend on your health, what would you buy? Would you get an air purifier? How about a gym membership; an organic delivery service; a daily massage — what would you choose?… Read the rest
I’m usually quite proud of my Irish ancestry, but one unfortunate vestige of that heritage is pasty white skin that sunburns quite easily. When my mother was pregnant with me and my twin brother, the doctors discovered a large melanoma on her leg which required immediate surgery.… Read the rest
“Maximum Results With Minimal Investment”. It sounds like a shady late night infomercial, but it’s actually the subtitle of a recentreview article from the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal. Titled High Intensity Circuit Training Using Body Weight, it made worldwide headlines, especially after the New York Times picked up on it.… Read the rest
I just turned 49 in March, which was no big deal. But when I realized that I’d turn 50 next year, I suddenly felt an anxious pang of — something. Mortality? Life winding down? Being put out to pasture? Fortunately, it was difficult to brood too long with two toddler boys running me around in circles (literally).… Read the rest
I miss my father. He should be around to be granddad to my wonderful boys, helping me raise them to be good men. But he’s not around, dying far too early, from alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Only in his mid-60’s, he was a wonderfully warm-hearted man with a deep belly laugh, very much the average-guy Martin Crane to my Frasier Crane-like stuffiness.… Read the rest