Author: Ring of Fire Staff

Emergency rooms across the country will be prepared this holiday season for the anticipated rise in what has been labeled the “Holiday Heart Syndrome.”  The name was coined by cardiologist Dr. Philip Ettinger in 1978, and the name has stuck. The condition known as “Holiday Heart Syndrome” is triggered by alcohol, caffeine and excessive amounts of food.  This mix can result in palpitations and atrial fibrillation in otherwise healthy people.  Patients may come to the ER with complaints that their heart is racing out of their chest.  In the most severe cases of untreated atrial fibrillation, a patient is...

In a large case-control study recently completed at Copenhagen University, scientists found that smoking is even more deadly than HIV.  The study found that smokers with HIV had much greater all-cause and non-AIDS related death than non-smokers with HIV. The study demonstrates the very potent hazards of smoking and also confirms that patients with well-controlled HIV are able to have longer, healthier lives than HIV patients who smoke.  In Copenhagen, treatment for HIV is available at no-cost, so patients have the opportunity to maximize medical treatment and are consequently able to improve survival rates.  In that setting, the study...

The US government has fined Toyota Motor Corp $17.35 million after the automaker failed to timely report problems to federal regulators, according to the US Department of Transportation. After paying $48.8 million in fines for three violations in 2010, the latest fine once again involves safety defects.  The previous fines included problems related to pedal entrapment, sticky pedal and steering relay rod recalls.  This time the fine involves the June recall of 2010 Lexus Rx 350s and RX 450h models.  The recall was issued after it was discovered the driver’s-side floor mat could trap the gas pedal resulting in...

In the wake of another horrific school massacre, the political conversation has shifted swiftly again to gun control. It seems our only response to every problem in society is to come up with yet another law to outlaw some conduct, impose greater penalties and ensure indiscriminate sentencing. The inadequacy of such a one-sided approach is abundantly clear when dealing with mass murder, as the perpetrators are not going to be deterred by harsher sentences. The murderers often end up dead along with their victims. What is shocking to me is that our society seems to have lost the notion...

Cites Lack of Evidence, Need for Vaccines in 3rd World The American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) has reversed its 1999 position that Thimerosal be removed from all vaccines. The AAP sided with the World Health Organizations’s position that Thimerosal be left in vaccines to promote world safety, particularly in poor nations where cost and accessibility are significant obstacles to regular vaccinations. Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that has been in vaccines for many years. Its use in vaccines has sparked a lot of controversy and public attention, including some unconfirmed reports that it is linked to autism and the...