Numbness
Nuts. Resurfaced (minor compared to past flare-ups) this morning after no issues for at least a month. Not fond of the idea of surgery. Hmmph!
ViziLite
During a recent visit to the dentist, I was offered an oral cancer screening using a product called ViziLite Plus (Zila Pharmaceuticals). Given a $65 price tag that is not covered by insurance, I accepted the marketing literature but politely declined the screening until I had a chance to do my own research. Apparently, everyone above the age of 18 is at an "increased risk" for oral cancer. I was then asked to sign a waiver (part of the Zila exam materials), which in my opinion, reeks of scare tactics.
As far as the details go, it seems you rinse with a dilute acetic acid solution, after which the dentist sticks a special light in your mouth to better see lesions that may be an indicator of oral cancer. According to the web site, unit price on the exam kit runs from $20-30. There are some interesting references to be found online:
Vizilite denied ADA seal of Approval [2005/11/10]
Kinda long, but very interesting:
listserv discussion of ViziLite [Bulletin Board of Oral Pathology, Nov 2005]
Short and to the point:
Efficacy of the ViziLite System in the Identification of Oral Lesions [abstract from Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, March 2007]
[Edit 2009/04/24: This entry was posted originally a year and a half ago and continues to receive feedback, which thrills me to no end. I am adding a link to a fairly recent article that discusses the subject more thoroughly. Please note that I have no affiliation with the web site, and the author of the article is not a dentist but a retired psychiatrist and consumer advocate.]
ViziLite Screening: Does It Make Sense? [Quackwatch, September 2008]
You tell me it calms your nerves
Surgeon General Sees 4-Year Term as Compromised. Why would anyone try to water down a report on secondhand smoke? Who is bought and sold?
Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel Tuesday that top Bush administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations.
The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.
[snip]
In his testimony, Dr. Carmona said that at first he was so politically naïve that he had little idea how inappropriate the administration’s actions were. He eventually consulted six previous surgeons general, Republican and Democratic, and all agreed, he said, that he faced more political interference than they had.
[snip]
Dr. Carmona described being invited to testify at the government’s nine-month racketeering trial of the tobacco industry that ended in 2005. He said top administration officials discouraged him from testifying while simultaneously telling the lead government lawyer in the case that he was not competent to testify. Dr. Carmona testified anyway.
After nearly a decade of morning workouts, I have started shifting to evening workouts. Getting up before 5:30am is just too brutal.
Gitmo: The Worst of the Worst?. Life is quite nice here (despite my being incredibly busy with work) so it is very easy to forget to be angry about things that should piss me off.
Power Steer: I used to think people who pushed for organic foods were a bunch of tree-hugging freaks, but this article about beef cattle really got me fired up. 
I had thought originally that the hospital would be an interesting place to work, but now I find it rather depressing.
Feeling pretty good today. Extra sleep is finally working its magic. Lots of clean-up to do this week. NFL preseason is just a week away...
Grrr! Sick again. Seems like I've had more sick days in the last year than I did in the 7 years preceding my move to NYC. Think I got too many bad fumes while working on the new apartment. Been drinking OJ like a mad dog all day. Other people seem to forget how cruddy it is to be sick. This is no vacation.
