Transgender Women Dying Faster Than General Population
Transgender women, i.e., persons born as natal males who transform in some way to live as females, die at lower ages than either cisgender males or cisgender females, according to a study of approximately 3,000 individuals in Denmark. The primary drivers of the earlier mortality were HIV, suicide, and heart problems. The fact that suicide was a high contributor to early deaths, even in Denmark, which is very accepting of various sexual lifestyles, suggests that simply acceptance of transgender lifestyles does not eliminate the likelihood of suicide. Click here to read full article.
Use of artificial intelligence for image analysis in breast cancer screening programmes: systematic review of test accuracy
Breast cancer is a leading cause of death for women world-wide. Therefore if AI (artificial intelligence) could help radiologists make more accurate diagnostic decisions this would be meaningful. This compilation of 12 research studies (131,000 women) found that AI was less accurate than a single radiologist or having two radiologists review each result. Click here to read full article.
Does the Bible Limit Gender to Just Male and Female?
A recent argument by some Christians is that since not everything that God created fits into a distinct binary (e.g., amphibians, which aren’t limited to land creatures or creatures that live in water), that He may also have created people who weren’t distinctly male or female. This article gives a good answer to that argument. Click here to read full article.
6 Evidence-Based Ways to Encourage Persistence in Children
Sometimes children give up too quickly when faced with a difficult task, and parents may come to you for advice on how to help them become more persistent in facing difficult tasks. Here are six suggestions based on research studies of what parents should and should not do. Click here to read full article.
Wi Spa indecency case exposes the anti-woman thrust of trans ideology
In June of this year women who were changing in a spa in California were confronted by a man with an erect penis. When they complained to the management they were told that according to California law he had every right to be there because he claimed to believe he was a female. It turns out that he had a history dating back twenty years of inappropriate sexual behavior and was a Registered Sex Offender.
The reason I’m including this article is that the good news is that several of these women have persevered and are filing legal charges against this man. Click here to read full article.
“Please Don’t Hug Me! Seriously. And More Weird Things That Trigger My Hypersensitive ADHD”
I think several of the issues this woman talks about in this article refer to something that has been called “sensory processing disorder.” Sensory processing disorder is something that causes normal sensations to be experienced as intolerable It is recognized by physical therapists but never put into the DSM for some reason. Physical therapists have developed a treatment for it, but they seem to be the only professional group who know how to help an individual reduce its symptoms. It seems to be more prevalent in people with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you’re not familiar with it, read this article. Click here to read full article.
‘The Battery’s Dead’: Burnout Looks Different in Autistic Adults
Even though more than 5 million people in the U.S. are on the autism spectrum, burnout in these individuals has received very little research and very little attention. This article describes some of its features. Click here to read full article.
Ten Bedtime Tips for Kids
One couple whom I know had a nightmare experience getting their first child to fall asleep, and eventually resorted to a sleep coach to solve the problem. If you know a family who has difficulty getting one of their little ones to fall asleep, these ten suggestions may help before recommending they consult a sleep coach. Click here to read full article.
How Alcohol Affects the Heart
For many years moderate alcohol consumption was thought to offer health benefits. Recent research has shown that not to be true. If your clients need one more additional reason to stop drinking, it comes from this careful study.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and its frequency in the U.S. population is rapidly growing. It is a common contributor to strokes. This study found that even small amounts of alcohol increased the likelihood of atrial fibrillation and the likelihood of it occurring was dose-dependent (the more one drank at one setting, the greater the likelihood of fibrillation). Click here to read full article.
Never Caught Up, Never Balanced, Never Believed
Because ADHD is an invisible disorder, many times people without ADHD underestimate the toll having ADHD plays on persons. This is a good glimpse into the experience of some people who have this disorder. Click here to read full article.
Effect of Screen Time on Recovery from Concussion: A Randomized Clinical Trial
This was a research study of 125 persons from age 12 to 25 who suffered concussions. During the acute recovery period (the first 48 hours) they were randomly assigned to either no screen time or they were allowed screen time. For those who avoided screens during this 48-hour period, their average time to resolution of symptoms was 3.5 days. For those who did have screen time the average time to resolution of symptoms was 8 days. Click here to read full article.
One in 5,000: The real chances of a breakthrough infection.
Based on some of the headlines one would think there is little benefit to getting one of the COVID vaccines. But after looking at the data further, the research shows that for vaccinated people, the likelihood of getting COVID on any given day is one in 5,000. And if you are in a highly vaccinated area or are taking precautions, the likelihood may go up to as high as one in 10,000 each day. And if you do get COVID in most cases it will be like a mild case of the flu. This data may help us (and our clients) do a little less catastrophizing. Click here to read full article.
Steps per Day and All-Cause Mortality in Middle-aged Adults in the Coronary Artery Risk
This study followed 2000 middle-aged adults for 10 years and found that those who walked 7,000 steps per day had a 50 to 70% lower risk of dying from any cause than those who did not walk as much. Apparently the intensity of walking did not matter. So encourage yourself and your loved ones and your clients to walk in order to remain healthy. Click here to read full article.
A Dishonest Study on Dishonesty Puts a Prominent Researcher on the Hot Seat
The “replication crisis” is the phenomenon that is increasingly common in research studies, where subsequent researchers find that they cannot get the same results as a previous researcher. Sometimes this may be caused because subtle differences in methodology create different results. But a growing problem is where researchers, to get tenure in academic institutions or to get research grants, fabricate data and sometimes fabricate studies that they never conducted. This is, unfortunately, a growing problem and causes credibility problems for scientific research.
Dan Ariely, a psychology professor at Duke University and a popular speaker at TED Talks conventions, published a study on dishonesty that was actually dishonest. It seems that Dr. Ariely was not the producer of the faulty study and he says that from now on he will scrutinize data more carefully before publishing articles. The article says that the field of science is increasing its ability to detect fraudulent research.
To read this article in its entirety you’ll need to register for a free subscription to the Chronicle of Higher Education. This free registration takes only a moment to do and allows you to read a limited number of articles per month from the Chronicle. If you are considering a future in academia the Chronicle is a highly-respected publication to follow. Click here to read full article.
What does ‘sex positivity’ mean?
This term is being used more frequently these days. Although I think Christians should be sex positive (it is one of God’s good gifts), we probably should be aware that the secular use of the term is significantly different than the way many Christians would understand the term.
If you go to this article you will find it is followed by another article comparing sexual fluidity in women versus men which is also quite interesting. Click here to read full article.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Henry Virkler
