July!

The Sunday New York Times had a very interesting article on the use (and, they suggested, abuse) of CT scans, primarily among cardiologists, but to a certain extent patients as well. The thrust of the article was that doctors are starting to view CT scans as both a normal part of evaluating a person's likelihood of cardiac disease as well as a procedure with limited risk. There appears to be strong opinion that neither is true -- that CT scans should be reserved for people who have had other indicators show a likelihood of disease, both because the scan involves a fair amount of radiation and because the scan is expensive. The first isn't as much of a consideration when you're older (how much? 60 appears to be the dividing line), because the effect over time of the radiation is less than if you'd had the scan at 30 or so). The second is always a consideration, though since Medicare and insurance companies tend to pay for them whether indicated by other tests or not, its not as much of a consideration at the personal level as it is at the insuring body's level. Very interesting and a little disturbing -- you like to think that these people have their opinions pretty much lined up, and not only is that not the case, but they all speak confidently and authoritatively while saying completely different things.

This morning, I said to my wife "Do you think I should take my life in my own hands and tell our daughter 'School starts next month, better get ready!'" She said that I could, but asked that I let her get out of the blast zone before hitting the detonator. After that, even the Enterprise's scanners likely wouldn't be able to find all of me.