Mark Dyken, M.D.
Cincinnati Enquirer

The average American gets less than the recommended 8 to 9 hours of shut-eye each night, sometimes much less, according to Dyken and other experts quoted in a story on how we have become a nation of zombies. Napping, once thought to be a luxury of the wealthy or slothful, is catching on in the corporate world. "A lot of workers do a lot better with a 15-minute nap," said Dyken, a neurologist and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Catnaps of 15 to 30 minutes can do a lot to refresh someone who is ready to nod off, he said. While it won't replace a night's rest, a brief snooze can help people focus better on their work, according to Dyken.

Joel Weinstock, M.D.
Times of London

Weinstock, professor of internal medicine, was quoted in a story about the "hygiene hypothesis"--a belief that modern day hygiene, antibiotics, and vaccinations may actually have led to a precipitous rise in the number of people with conditions like multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease. If the "hygiene hypothesis," as it is known, does account for the threefold or more increase in the prevalence of these illnesses over the past 50 years, then, logically, the exposure to infection should ameliorate these conditions. Thus, the article stated, Weinstock has been treating a group of patients with inflammatory bowel disorders by infecting them with a parasitic worm, with surprisingly impressive results--all but one went into remission. Studies that involved exposing animals with immunologic diseases to a strain of parasite similar to the one used for human treatment have had encouraging results, too. "While we don't want to go back to living in filth," Weinstock said, "we need controlled rather than indiscriminate hygiene"--an interesting concept that we will, no doubt, be hearing more about in the near future, the article stated.

Patricia Winokur, M.D.
New York Times

Some healthy college students injected with the smallpox vaccine in clinical trials have developed aches, pains, and fevers that laid them up for days. The symptoms have been temporary, but they underscore the dangers of the vaccination strategy under consideration by the Bush administration, according to Winokur and other experts quoted in the story. Winokur, an associate professor of internal medicine, estimated that a quarter of the 218 people vaccinated at UI missed a day of work or school. A few missed two or three days. "They mostly feel fatigued," she said. "It's what we expected. We were well-prepared."