Evidence-based · No agenda
Topics I was interested in and researched, published here without an agenda beyond a desire to share what I’ve learned.
The story is more complicated than either side admits. The observational atrial fibrillation scare fell apart on reanalysis, the randomized dose risk did not, and a 2025 NEJM trial found a 43% reduction in cardiac events in dialysis patients. Who takes it, and at what dose, decides everything.
Nicotine is one of the most pharmacologically broad-spectrum neuromodulators known to science, with real but modest effects on attention, memory, and mood. The harder question is why decades of well-funded trials keep failing to turn those effects into durable treatments. A rigorous look at the evidence on both sides.
How insurers use fast, photo-based estimates to start low by design, why the first check rarely covers the real damage, and what you can actually do about it. The system is confusing by default. This makes it less so.
How many unarmed humans would it take to defeat a gorilla? A rhinoceros? An African bush elephant? A deadpan, rigorously argued thought experiment from the Institute for Unnecessary Science, grounded in comparative biomechanics, primate physiology, and the grim mathematics of attrition combat. No animals were harmed. Several hypothetical humans were.
An independently sourced, link-checked guide to RESPeRATE, guided breathing, and evidence-based blood pressure care: what the trials actually show, where the effect sizes land, and whether the device earns its price tag over free slow-breathing practice.
No matching explorations.