The November issue of the IP’s sister journal, the British Journal of Sports Medicine, is largely devoted to the health and injury concerns of endurance athletes. By the very nature of endurance events, these athletes perform under extreme physical conditions and need to prepare by undertaking very large amounts of training, that would seem excessive […]
Category: Uncategorized
No BlackBerry? Fewer road injuries
A report from Abu Dhabi describes a large reduction in traffic injuries during a week when BlackBerry services were disrupted. The fall was 20% from the average for the same days in Dubai and 40% in Abu Dhabi. Not surprisingly, the fall was greatest among young men, the largest users of the device. The results […]
Gun control: From two sides of the border
I recently commented on Canada’s Tory government’s decision to scrap the long gun registry and destroy all the data that had been collected. Although undoubtedly many farmers, hunters, and some less reputable gun owners welcome this decision, most in public health as well as many police forces, deplore it. But it seems small potatoes compared […]
Connected cars: Safer or more dangerous?
Go the website below from CNET and play the video describing “connected cars” – the future. As far as I can tell, almost everything portrayed seems to add distractions rather than safety features. I am interested in what you think. http://cnettv.cnet.com/connected-cars/9742-1_53-50114558.html?tag=nl.e404 […]
Canadian satirist on bullied gay teen’s suicide
Strong words from Rick Mercer: “It’s no longer good enough for us to tell kids who are different that it’s gonna get better. We have to make it better now”. The statement comes from Rick’s latest rant, which was inspired by the suicide of 15-year-old Jamie Hubley, and was broadcast on this Tuesday’s episode of […]
Peer review and citations: Measuring research influence
I was tidying up the other day and came across an email from Caroline Finch with a link to a paper I had neglected. The paper “The Association between Four Citation Metrics and Peer Rankings of Research Influence of Australian Researchers in Six Fields of Public Health” was published in an open access journal. The […]
Talk about texting while driving!
Thanks to David Lawrence. But I must confess: In the old days I used to do my dictation while riding my bike to and from the hospital! […]
Lower highway speed limits get you there more quickly (from Slate)
A fascinating article in Slate provides evidence suggesting that slower highway speed limits may actually get you to your destination more quickly! This apparent paradox has some seemingly good evidence behind it. For example, some recent trials on a congested highway in Colorado had highway patrol vehicles “riding in tandem with lights ablaze” travelling at […]
Barry’s Blog #5
Cheap imports can be dangerous The safety of items ordered from cheap Asian online shops is being questioned. Although these products appear to be of good quality, many are dangerous and potentially lethal. This is especially true of electrical appliances. It is often difficult for a consumer to know if the appliance has been tested […]
Barry’s Blog #8
NHL star hockey player wants ‘head shots’ banned After being sidelined by 2 successive concussions for much of last season and likely some or all of the upcoming hockey season, the NHL’s star player, Sidney Crosby, has proposed rule changes that would ban all head shots, intentional or not. He began by noting that only […]