Happy Year of the Tiger to all! I’ll be taking a much-needed break next week with family here in Beijing, and I wish you all and your families a fun-filled, relaxing break.

Last week I did a fun one hour interview on the BON TV network‘s prime time talk show called Easy China.  BON, the “Blue Ocean Network”, is a new cable station currently seen in New York City on Time Warner channel 92, with full broadcast internet streams and soon to be in China via satellite. They …

Food allergies in children, as a diagnosis, are more common than before. But are we over-diagnosing? The main issue is that the tests we perform, especially the blood tests for allergens, may show a positive “in vitro” allergy but “in vivo”, AKA in real life, there may not be a clinically significant allergy. This growing …

People may not realize that there have been amazing advances in technology that can help deaf children hear again. It’s called a cochlear implant, a surgical implant that amplifies sound waves directly into a child’s brain — and allows them to hear again. A study in the current Otolaryngology, discussed in the New York Times …

I’ve touched a bit on the state of China’s public health care system; now there’s an outstanding 4-part series from China Healthcare Blog discussing the state of rural health care and how it affects the elderly. The main issues center on the lack of adequate health care for most rural Chinese; the elderly, with far more …

(The following is a second post from a new contributor, Chris Buckley of Torana Clean Air) Many of us rely on the Air Quality Index (AQI) supplied by the US Embassy as a guide to pollution levels in the capital. In this, the first in an occasional series of posts on this topic, I will …

Are you aware that certain plants can act as natural air purifiers? Indoor air pollution is a serious problem in many communities, especially in cities. But there are also issues with indoor pollutants such as formaldehyde or varnishes that can also cause problems. There are many air purifiers on the market, but why not save …

Just a couple weeks ago I posted an article discussing the trendiness of vitamin D. Since then, there is even more press about this; last week I reported how sales of vitamin D are jumping. Now, the New York Times also reviews the literature, with a cautionary note (The Miracle of Vitamin D: Sound Science, …

The current issue of the newly revamped CityWeekend Beijing Parents & Kids magazine includes an air pollution story where I discuss tips on what you and your family can do to protect yourself while living here in Beijing. It’s essentially a follow-up study of my piece last autumn discussing my one week project walking around …

It’s a bit, um, difficult to make air pollution a cool subject for kids. Even my recent slide show on air pollution left a few high-schoolers eyes glazed. Fortunately, I spread out a couple fun internet games to perk up the group. Fun and educational! Throw in free and you have an instant hour or …

One of my favorite consumer websites is from ConsumerLab.com; they perform independent testing of the common supplements, herbs and vitamins that most of us use. Consider it the Consumer Reports of supplements. They charge to use the site but they have a free weekly newsletter, which this week had the following survey results of the most …

I’ve written a whole series of posts on both indoor and outdoor air pollution, and the current CityWeekend Parents and Kids has an article about indoor pollution as well. I had a lot of fun taking pollution measurements with a particle monitor, and I’m pleased to report that now you can check your indoor pollution …