I had a second wisdom tooth out on Saturday — bottom left, the counterpoint for the top left which I had extracted back in 1998. The dentist had said it was best it came out now. It was moving upwards anyway, due to no pressure from the top left one. Worse, cleaning around it was ... [More]
After suffering through several days of a bad cold this week, I finally decided to seek out medication. I remember years ago using Codral Day And Night to get through it… but then a little later, having no success with what appeared to be the same medicine. Turns out there’s “New” Codral, which does little ... [More]
Sometimes amongst the bum jokes you’ll learn something really Quite Interesting on QI. Last week I learnt that when washing hands, how clean you get them is not about the heat of the water, which can’t possibly be warm enough to kill off bacteria and escape without serious burns. Rather, it’s about how vigorously you ... [More]
Tony Hancock’s legendary line in The Blood Donor was “A pint? That’s very nearly an armful!” (I really should find the DVD somewhere and watch it again.) I referenced it the other day after going to the blood bank, and Ian noted that Tony Hancock was from Ian’s home town of Birmingham, and kindly snapped ... [More]
In my family we do a non-anonymous Kris Kringle for the adults. This fell into the category of a specific request. Keen to avoid the all-too-common strategy of asking for a gift voucher (if this pattern goes on, we’ll end up just exchanging direct debits via net bank) I thought I’d throw the punching ball ... [More]
Oh joy. My cluster headaches are back for spring. In fact they returned on the 1st of September, which Australians consider to be the first day of spring. Boom, just like that. (Previous posts. Doesn’t everybody use blog posts to track their personal health history? I know I do.) To recap Cluster headaches are, as ... [More]
Excellent. Smoking rates are continuing to drop, from 21.2% in 1998 down to 15.3% now. So, how about the next step, government? Now that smoking is almost entirely banned indoors, what about extending smoking bans to include all undercover areas — I’m thinking particularly of under shop awnings. (If I ran the world, I’d be ... [More]
I’m sure (more than usual) people were staring at me on the train today. And you should see the amount of gunk that was in it this morning. The doctor’s given me some eyedrops for it.
I’ve never been a drinker. Oh sure, there were the social pressures in my uni days. But it’s a habit I just never picked up. My parents weren’t drinkers. My partner isn’t a drinker. It’s just not my thing. I’m not a teetotaller though. Occasionally (perhaps a few times a year) I’ll indulge in a ... [More]
I had intended for us to do regular bush walks this year, as part of getting fitter and burning off some flab. We did one, at the You Yangs, in January. We did the walk up to Flinders Peak to admire the view and get the heart pumping. Turns out the park was damaged during ... [More]
For many years I’ve used Herbal Essences shampoo. While I hated the ads, I liked the shampoo. But recently I’ve noticed tell-tale white residue on my clothes. Oh no. Dandruff. Not nice. So I’ve switched to anti-dandruff shampoo for a while. It doesn’t smell as nice, but it appears to be working.
My dad turned 79 the week before last. He got sick and went into hospital on Thursday. Pneumonia. Over the weekend he was very unwell, and yesterday he expressed the view that he would like to go soon. Tonight he got his wish, and slipped peacefully away. RIP JQ. 7/8/1931 — 16/8/2010. Update Tuesday 8:40am: ... [More]
In the comments of a previous post was mention of superfoods. There appears to have been a recent reluctance from dieticians to use the term because of its manipulation by food marketeers, with the EU banning its use unless it can be proven. However this page from Kraft Foods flags their top ten (none of ... [More]
In the past I’ve been unconvinced by the benefits of electric toothbrushes. They just seemed like a gimmick to me. That was until at a checkup last month when the dentist noted that the kids might well find them better, to counter less-than-perfect manual brushing. He recommended the Oral B brand specifically (interesting since the ... [More]
As reported in The Age, the US Health Effects Institute recently published a report on the effects of living near busy roads. Its conclusion was that: …there is sufficient evidence that exposures to traffic-related air pollution cause asthma exacerbation in children and suggestive evidence that they might cause other health effects. …the zones most impacted ... [More]
One of the things the nurse said at the workplace health check a couple of weeks ago was about including a variety of fruit and vegetable in my diet. And she said “Even beans on toast.” You beauty! That there is an official recommendation to cook one of the laziest, least effort meals known to ... [More]