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Jeff Perry

San Francisco, CA
Commenter for
3 years 43 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/16/11 at 06:31 pm in response to Spirit's the same, but the message is slightly different in U.K. breast-cancer charity walk

Good for you all! Sorry we missed that. Quite a contrast to the Breast Cancer fundraising "industry" in this country. Hopefully these kind of events won't be needed as much in our future.

Posted on 12/20/10 at 04:37 pm in response to Sad case of a middle-aged nurse shows potential dangers of ‘just to be sure’ medical tests

Although I'm sure this kind of story is rare, I've heard of some other medical care calamities this year that really make me wonder how reliable modern health care is. A minor example in my own life: went for a routine physical several months ago and had a blood draw for some routine tests. The physician's assistant performed the draw and gave me a cotton ball and bandage afterwards. She then instructed me go to the restroom and produce a urine sample. While in the bathroom, I suddently...

Posted on 02/03/10 at 04:07 pm in response to Is it time to abandon the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for antidepressants?

Ms. Perry:

Do you know if the "placebo" research also applies for children and adolescents who take antidepressants? Also, I've read that the most effective intervention for treating depression is therapy combined with medication, rather than one or the other. Perhaps this can be explained by an effective strategy (therapy) implemented in concert with a placebo effect (perception that medication works).

Posted on 10/14/09 at 04:07 pm in response to Medical journals' conflict-of-interest form: Will it be enough?

If only we could get this kind of uniform disclosure from our congressional representatives working on health care reform.

Posted on 07/23/09 at 12:27 pm in response to BMI weight guide: misused, outdated -- but not out of use

I've been classified as overweight at my last two physicals using the BMI. I'm 6', 192 lbs. plus or minus a few lbs., and 38 years old. I think the doctor told me I should be around 170-175 lbs. ideally. If I lifted weights regularly, I'd probably be over 200 lbs., and still classified as overweight by BMI. 155 lbs. would be considered healthy for me using BMI, but I'd have to be starving myself to achieve that weight. I think alternative measures of health are much more appropriate.