I'm sorry to hear that about Lea Hernandez.
As a lurker with some knowledge about the blood pressure issue, I wanted to add that although 120/80 has been determined in the US to be the new high-end-of-normal, it is much, MUCH lower than the standard in the UK (and indeed, in much of Europe, iirc). My doctor--who is fantastic--believes that this change is really more about selling pills than treating conditions. And I--working as I do amongst health researchers--tend to believe that lurking in the background of all this is corporate-sponsored research. It doesn't need to be Bristol-Myers (or whomever) giving you $500,000 a year to check on blood pressure standards; it can be the $1.2 million dollar lab at your university paid for in large part by corporate donations, or the $5000 you hope to score from a corporate donor for a small project or extra lab tech. The culture of corporate research makes me very, VERY suspicious when my blood pressure goes from being very good to pushing the margins of treatable overnight.
Hi there. I'm a lurker, but I feel compelled to add that I decided not to read the Tiptree story when I saw the lead-in on the front page: "...a beautiful woman who struggled under the weight of her talent, depression, and sexuality". I really dislike that whole "she's so interesting because she's pretty and messed up, and besides, we can talk about her sex life" trope, especially when used to reduce a feminist writer to Salon-size. While I know that mainstream venues like Salon wouldn't give a good god-damn about any woman unless they could describe her as beautiful, I still find it disappointing that the "don't worry, you're not wasting your time reading about some ugly chick" reassurance actually has to appear on the front page.
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| 2006 | 2 |
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