“Where there is life, there is hope”

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

The ankle-brachial index (ABI), a ratio of systolic blood pressure measured at the ankle and the brachial artery, is a simple noninvasive screening test used to diagnose peripheral arterial disease (PAD). PAD affects over 12 million people in the United States and its prevalence increases with increasing age (1,2). Patients with an abnormal ABI, defined as 0.90 or 1.40, are at increased risk of...

Epilepsy: Is there hope?

Epilepsy is a highly prevalent chronic neurologic disorder and leads to social, behavioural, health and economic consequences. 'Treatment gap' varies from 10 per cent in developed countries to 75 per cent in low-income countries. Stigma and discrimination related to epilepsy are prevalent worldwide. Electroencephalography (EEG) is considered the most important tool for evaluating the patient wi...

Where There is Life There is Mind: In Support of a Strong Life-Mind Continuity Thesis

This paper considers questions about continuity and discontinuity between life and mind. It begins by examining such questions from the perspective of the free energy principle (FEP). The FEP is becoming increasingly influential in neuroscience and cognitive science. It says that organisms act to maintain themselves in their expected biological and cognitive states, and that they can do so only...

Successful aging: is there hope?

Where there is a will there is a way

Peritonitis was a significant problem for our peritoneal dialysis patients in 2003. In January 2004, we initiated a continuous quality improvement project to address the problem. Our project took 18 months to complete. We developed many action items. Our first step was to analyze the data to ensure accuracy, and also to determine the causative organism that contributed most to the problem. The ...