WSJ Article "Ten Ways Patients Get Treated Better"

The first paragraph of this recent Wall Street Journal article caught my eye, it said: “Even healthy people worry about the quality of care they can expect to receive when they become ill. Will a cancerous tumor be spotted early enough? Will hospital staff move fast enough to save my life? What is the worried-looking doctor scribbling in my chart?”

Interested? Here’s a link to the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324296604578179723798981586.html

The Mediterranean Diet: Healthier Looking Brains

From the Wall Street Journal, here’s their report on a study that’s trying to better understand the food-brain health link.  In this case, study participants had brain scans and those who adhered more closely to the Mediterranean Diet had healthier-looking brains.  How so? Their brains had fewer “markers” that seemed similar to lesions.

Here’s the link: http://online.wsj.com/video/the-best-foods-for-thought-literally/4AC8D42C-D9C2-44EC-A66C-F4E1205826CC.html?KEYWORDS=Best+foods+for+thought (Sorry, you have to view a commercial first)

Has this made me change my mind about how I eat?  Well, no, because I did make a big, stomping moussaka the other night which, unlike the Mediterranean Diet guidelines, had an awfully lot of lamb in it.

As a reminder, the Mediterranean Diet primarily focuses on fish and seafood, veggies, nuts and lots of olive oil. Here’s the Mayo Clinic’s description of the diet: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mediterranean-diet/CL00011

All this reminds me, though, of Ms. Strauch, her book entitled The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, and her observation that this "better diet = better brains" playground is a tricky, complex arena in which to find simple, straightforward answers…no matter how much we yearn for them.