Here is my collection of my personal favorite posts from a wonderful 2011
Disease
Here are all articles discussing diseases: their symptoms, diagnosis and treatments.
 It’s Official: Hourly PM2.5 Reports in BeijingIn what I think is the biggest public health advancement in China during my five years here, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center (BJMEMC) has just started to publish hourly PM2.5 readings on their website at http://zx.bjmemc.com.cn/. You can access the numbers there, and then click on the PM2.5 tag. It’s truly an amazing step, … |
 Amazing PM2.5 Breakthrough, & Stem Cell CrackdownOn this week’s podcast: amazing victory for public health in China, as PM2.5 will be reported by next week — 4 years ahead of schedule. |
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 Finally, A Blood Test For Liver Cancer?A Chinese team has designed a blood test which may be more accurate than the common AFP test. This hopefully will turn out to be truly effective, especially for China, as liver cancer from hepatitis B is extremely common. |
 A Day In Beijing Is Like Smoking Only One Sixth Of A Cigarette? It’s Almost…Disappointing!One of life’s great mysteries is finally answered: “living in polluted City XYZ is equivalent to smoking how many cigarettes a day?” OK, it’s not on everyone’s top ten, but I’ve been asked that question many times by patients and by the media — and now I know what to tell them: a day in … |
 Food Safety in China: The BasicsThe hottest topic on my blog, apart from air pollution, is always food safety in China. The newspapers are filled almost daily with the latest scandal, or a repeat of old scandals, and it’s a legitimate question to wonder just what is safe to eat. I’d like to share my tips both as a doctor … |
 Vote For Your Favorite Alternative To “Crazy Bad”Here’s a little dark humor on a “blue sky” day… |
 Alen Air Purifiers Battle IQAir and BlueairWe’ve just survived yet another winter night with the US Embassy’s air pollution AQI maxed out “beyond index” over 500, so it’s again a good time to review one of Beijing life’s unfortunate necessities: indoor air purifiers. In our expat world’s never-ending discussion of the best air purifiers, many of you have read my article … |
 Respro Vs. Totobobo: Which Mask Works Better For Air Pollution?The air is starting to get a hazy shade of winter, and recently I wrote about air pollution masks and where to buy. But people always ask which ones to buy, if any. Last year I wrote about the Totobobo masks, which had a pretty good research study showing a real-world usage efficiency of over … |
 Official School Air Pollution Action Plan: You’re Not Going To Like ItThe most evidence-based official air pollution action plan for schools states that no outdoor activity should be held when the PM2.5 AQI is above 200, with severe restrictions from 150-200. |
 Obesity in Childhood: How To Stop the Epidemic?It’s no secret that children all over the world are putting on too much weight; in the US, an astonishing 1/3 of children are overweight or obese. Even in China, the obesity rates for children are dramatically rising. Being overweight as a child can lead to many diseases as an adult, including heart disease, diabetes, … |
 Don’t Touch That Escalator Rail!Did you know that everything around you is covered in yucky germs? Yep, we all know that, but it’s again verified to scare everyone… |
