Posts

This is the story of one woman's journey to better health in a city with some of the most extreme health disparities in the country. I'm very grateful to MsBigg Shirley for letting me follow and learn so much through her. She's incredible, as you'll read:
https://www.theatlantic.com/…/being-black-in-americ…/561740/

In Baltimore and other segregated cities, the life-expectancy gap between African Americans and whites is as much as 20 years.
theatlantic.com

“Within three days, you got an entirely different person. They’re alive, awake, alert, and asking questions, and you’re like, ‘oh hell, what happened here?’”

Black Panthers and other activists brought the ancient Chinese practice into addiction medicine in New York in the 1970s. Despite a lack of firm evidence, it’s still popular in some communities.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan
Posts

In which experts help me manage my time and (hopefully) stop procrastinating

Expert advice on ending procrastination and finishing that manuscript, dissertation, or other big project
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

Conservatives found life more meaningful in data sets from several countries in the early 1980s, in a nationally representative data set of Americans in 2007, and in data collected between 2010 and 2017. In other data sets, conservatives found greater meaning in life when the measures were taken at the end of every day for two weeks. They were also more likely to feel that their lives had “a clear sense of purpose” at any given moment.

It has nothing to do with Trump.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

Nitrates have antibacterial properties, and Yolken thinks the preservative might have been altering the microbiomes of the rats and humans. In past research, he and his colleagues found that when people who were hospitalized for a manic episode were given probiotics, they were less likely to be rehospitalized in the next six months.

In humans and rats, eating cured meats might induce manic episodes.
theatlantic.com

Women on Web doesn’t ship abortion pills to the United States because as Gomperts told me, in America “there’s such an aggressive anti-abortion movement that will do anything they can to close down services. It could potentially jeopardize all the other work of Women on Web.”

The United States, she said, “should be able to solve its own problems” regarding abortion access. “It’s a very rich country,” she added. “The problem there is caused by the huge inequality in the society. There’s no reason the situation in the U.S. should be the way it is.”

What to expect when you’re expecting your abortifacient pill delivery
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

Abbott Laboratories, which makes Similac and other formulas, spent $790,000 on lobbying this year. Their disclosure lists having lobbied the U.S. Trade Representative, among others, on “proposals regarding infant nutrition marketing.”

When Trump administration officials opposed a WHO breast-feeding resolution, they followed a long history of policymakers listening to baby-formula manufacturers.
theatlantic.com

“We shouldn’t be engaging in strenuous physical activity during rush hour or near major roadways"

A massive study solidifies the link between particulates from cars and diabetes.
theatlantic.com

Another reason why it's hard to get wealthy if you're not already

A new study links lower socioeconomic status to detrimental brain changes.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

You know you’re in an open office because you’re trying to write a sensitive email while wedged between one coworker making a gynecologist appointment and another picking tuna-fish salad out of his Invisalign.

Researchers are testing egg-shaped chairs, retroreflective ceilings, and other ways to help people concentrate without cubicles.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

“Obesity is the last acceptable bastion of discrimination in this country, and people who deal with obesity get treated like dirt,” Scott said. “That’s reflected in these insurance plans.”

Bariatric surgery works, but hundreds of thousands of eligible patients can’t get it.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

“It seems that the French model raises questions about the value of tight regulations imposed by many countries throughout the world."

And the United States could, too
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

Have you ever been told you're a "visual learner"? That's probably not true.

A popular theory that some people learn better visually or aurally keeps getting debunked.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

The program helps undocumented teens imagine a brighter future, which encourages them to take steps to make that vision a reality (like delay parenthood)

Research shows the program, which protects undocumented young immigrants from deportation, encourages them to stay in school and delay parenthood.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

The easy-to-follow DASH diet reduced depression symptoms. Here’s why

Several studies show that healthy eating is connected with better mood.
theatlantic.com

"About half of people stop using lifesaving, cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins six months after being prescribed them. About a fifth of people stop taking antidepressants without even telling their doctors." My final story from South Africa, which I visited last month https://www.theatlantic.com/…/why-people-dont-take-…/556538/

People are remarkably bad at getting on and sticking with drug regimens—even when those drugs stop AIDS.
theatlantic.com|By Olga Khazan

My latest from Littleton, Colorado, where I learned that not even survivors of mass shootings necessarily support gun control

Two decades after Columbine, Americans remain split as to whether guns are dangerous or essential—and the school shootings continue.
theatlantic.com