Does an apple a day keep the doctor away because a phytoestrogen a day keeps the virus at bay? A review of the anti-viral properties of phytoestrogens

From dengue to herpes and influenza to AIDS, the phytoestrogens that are present in many fruits and vegetables have been shown to exert anti-viral properties. Here we review the various different anti-viral mechanisms employed by phytoestrogens.     

Industry calling! Is there a doctor in the house?

Medical service is needed in industry by both management and labor as never before. Industry is just beginning to awaken to this need. The medical profession is largely unaware of it. Unless physicians are prepared to heed this call, there is danger that management and labor will come to a bipartisan agreement over the bargaining table which will specify the amount, quality, and price of medical service irrespective of the effects of such an agreement on the practice of medicine. Such agreements should invariably be tripartite-between management, labor and medicine-if we are to continue to strive for medicine's traditional ideals: The best of medical care for all alike. This situation imposes at least two important obligations on organized medicine at the national level and especially at state and local levels where there is industrial concentration:1. Provision of a strong and competent committee or council whose members are especially interested in occupational medicine and who will make their presence known to management and labor alike, offering to advise with them on all medical problems, to mediate their disagreements or medical questions, and to help them attain a common goal.2. Assisting the members of organized medicine who are interested, to learn more about the medical problems peculiar to occupational health.     

Is being a doctor still fun?

Over the past two decades, a decline in physician job and career satisfaction has been reported. This study was developed to determine the current state of physician satisfaction and to define factors correlated with overall satisfaction. We mailed a survey to 406 physicians in Solano County, California. Responses were anonymous, and data were analyzed by several methods. Of the 406 physicians, 251 (62%) responded. Most respondents were satisfied with their jobs (80%). The vast majority felt good about their ability to help their patients (92%), enjoyed the relationships they had with patients (93%) and colleagues (86%), and found their work intellectually satisfying (89%). Nearly two thirds (63%) of respondents thought their job was "fun." This ability to derive great pleasure from work showed the strongest correlation with overall satisfaction. Overall satisfaction did not differ between primary care and non-primary care physicians or between physicians in a large health maintenance organization and those in mostly solo and small-group fee-for-service practices. Despite substantial challenges to physician morale and autonomy, most responding physicians in our study continued to enjoy overall job satisfaction, and a solid majority thought that their work was fun.     

Acupuncture: it take the pain away?

Acupuncture is growing in popularity in most Western countries and continues to be a major form of medicine in China and Japan. In the USA, an estimated ten million consultations for acupuncture take place each year. Many scientists regard acupuncture, like many other ‘alternative’ therapies, as an over-dressed placebo that fulfills a need for mysticism and ancient ritual. But if we dismiss acupuncture in this way, are we rejecting an opportunity to learn more about the body's response to pain?     

The withering away of the nation? An Afterword

The article examines the argument that the nation, and national sentiments, are now in decline. It identifies contemporary social categories whose ties to individual national settings may become tenuous or ambiguous, and it suggests that in some instances they may be engaged in shaping transnational cultures which cannot be labeled “superficial.” While print language may have supported the delineation of nations as imagined communities, the symbolic modes involved in other media technologies may draw cultural boundaries differently.