Oh, does that mean we get to count sales tax, gasoline tax, alcohol tax, etc. as income tax now? Perhaps you might even say that's correct and a travesty -- but it's not a double standard.

You haven't seen enough people then, because it may not be so quick. Talk to someone with class IV heart failure from ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Mesenteric ischemia from atherosclerotic disease would be another. Smoking is a risk factor for your intestinal arteries just like your coronaries.

Not sure if this is sarcasm, but x-rays most definitely "bounce" or reflect off surfaces. You're correct in your thinking -- either the poster was incorrect or was referring to the fact that you need x-rays to pass through the patient to tell you anything.

There are different types of IUDs. While the progesterone form shouldn't really change sex drive, you could look into the copper ones. They release no hormones; it works by irritation of the lining of the uterus.

I preferred a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War.

I'm sorry you had side effects from a medication or felt that your physician was not being honest with you. However what you are saying about cholesterol and statins is utter BS. Sure cholesterol is necessary for us to live -- every cell has cholesterol in its cell membrane to regulate membrane fluidity. We use it in construction of bile salts for fat absorption and to make endogenous steroids. But its role in cardiovascular disease is well documented since the 1950s. Here, let me cite you the Framingham Heart Study website. Literally thousands of papers demonstrate that high cholesterol, specifically LDL, leads to atherosclerotic plaque formation, then eventual arterial occlusion, infarct, and possibly death.

Regarding statins -- sure there are side-effects, the most notable being liver dysfunction and myalgia. But let me cite you another famous study, the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S). The pertinents: 30% relative risk reduction in all-cause mortality and 42% relative risk reduction in coronary mortality (patients with angina or prior MI).

So please cite me some evidence for what you are saying, or stop spreading ridiculous misinformation.

This is complicated by the fact that if you ask those over the age of 50 what 2 + 2 * 2 equals, they'll answer, "Get off my lawn."

Without making any arguments about immigration in the current time, let me point out the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Ok it was 89 years ago rather than "100+", but that's pretty close in my mind. It had also been proposed several times before. Immigration quotas are nothing new.

Gestures and multi-touch I'd guess.

Perhaps you don't realize this, but not all antibiotics can be given as an intramuscular injection.

No problem :)

As for your question, infection implies pathological invasion of the host. Otherwise you are merely colonized with the organism. For example, many people have MRSA present inside their nose, but that doesn't mean they are infected. And yes, you do have a symbiotic relationship with your bacteria, especially the skin and gut. Just have a look at wikipedia for lots of fun facts.

Basically. If you somehow lost them all in the same proportion, this might not happen. The general problem is that you take, for example, an antibiotic like clindamycin that selectively kills anaerobes of the gut but not Clostridium Difficile. Now all of a sudden you have created a selective pressure that favors the growth of C.diff, and you develop an infection with pseudomembranous colitis.

And get off my lawn! </sarcasm>

Anyway, I look forward to your RCT comparing not being a sissy to placebo.