ME/CFS: A new explanation – and cure?

[Update from Sept. 2018 here!] In a recent paper, Dr. Willy Eriksen proposes a complete explanation for the development, diversity, and persistence of myalgic encephalomyelitis, aka chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). He also suggests a possible cure. Seeing that this potentially groundbreaking research was attracting little attention, I contacted Dr. Eriksen and interviewed him via email. This post contains a summary of his hypothesis, which I’ve tried to present in everyday language.

Other posts contain 1) the interview, which contains considerable new information about his hypothesis, and 2) my understanding of how Eriksen’s model fits with other research—and with my experience. Continue reading →

Eriksen’s ME/CFS hypothesis: my comments

[Update from Sept. 2018 here!] In two other posts, I summarize Dr. Willy Eriksen’s hypothesis for the cause of and cure for myalgic encephalomyelitis, aka chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and I interview Eriksen. Here I—a well-educated sufferer but no biologist or physician—consider this model in the light of other research and my own experience. In other words, I’m thinking about it in print. While I have questions and reservations, I think Eriksen might be right about some important aspects of ME/CFS. Continue reading →

ME/CFS: Why There’s Less Energy, Even on Good Days

The Emerging Energy Paradigm, Simplified

This post contains the narration to this slideshow: 

Why do people with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, have less energy than healthy people – even on relatively good days? On bad days – after overexertion – everything goes haywire, but why do they have less energy on ordinary days?

Several bits of recent research converge on an answer to this basic question. Continue reading →

Nutrients reduce harm from air pollution

Cyclists and pedestrians don’t emit pollution, but they ingest it—especially particulate matter (PM) from cars. Happily, recent research shows that various nutrients can offset some of the damage from these tiny airborne particles.

Continue reading →

Everyone Likes Porn—Yes, EVERYONE

Unlike Justice Stewart, many people don’t know porn ‘when they see it.’ Yet we all see it all the time—and happily.

Not you? Momentarily lift your mind out of the gutter. What about food porn or decorating porn? Kitten porn or fashion porn? All around us is porn porn porn porn porn – including sex porn. These various porns share something basic: fans know what’s coming, and they find it satisfying. Continue reading →

I Got Your Hippie Ape, Right Here

Spotting my bonobo-themed T-shirt, a woman recently approached to say that they were her favorite primates.

“Not humans?” I asked, but I knew better. Thanks to Frans de Waal and other primatological popularizers, bonoboism has become widespread. I’m part of the problem, having written a novel about it as a metaphor for anthropology. But people looking for a “hippie chimp” are lionizing the wrong species. Continue reading →

Best novel for your Mazatlán vacation (maybe)

Well, at least it’s a contender: About half of my novel, Bonobo!, takes place in a fictionalized version of Mazatlán. While the book turned into something broader, I began it as a way to share my knowledge about Mazatlán, where I performed ethnographic research on everyday life over a span of several years in the 1990s.

Or, if you find a plot unnecessary and prefer to cut to the chase (although actually there’s no chase), try my nonfiction work: Moral Compromises in Mazatlán.

Or read both! They’re quite affordable. At least something about your Spring Break in Mexico could be redeeming.

Indivisible guide: An appreciation

My post-election analysis was that, galling as it is, progressives should emulate the Tea Partiers’ tactics, because they have been so successful. Others have said the same thing. Now a group of “former congressional staffers” has actually written a free guide to show us how – at least in dealing with members of Congress.

As the author of a work-in-progress titled, How to Change the World: A Step-by-Step Guide, I really appreciate several aspects of Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda: Continue reading →

Bad Sex in Fiction Award: How To Avoid Winning

It’s easy to find awkward depictions of sex in literary fiction. The excerpts from this year’s nominees for the Literary Review’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award represent a good starting point, as do previous years’ winners. But the bad sex-writing hardly ends there. Serious Novelists, being tellers of hard truths, can depict all sorts of horrors without flinching – and then get flustered at describing sex. All the ease leaves their writing, and out come the metaphors. And the euphemisms. And the metaphors serving as euphemisms. Continue reading →

Do chimp fathers protect their offspring?

To some evolutionary researchers, parental love is a mechanism to foster the transfer of genes through successive generations. Feeling emotionally attached to our children, most humans feed and protect our offspring and prepare them to thrive as adults, including as breeders. But when did this start for fathers – did our common ancestor with chimps and bonobos do the same? Recent research among chimpanzees suggests that the answer is yes. Continue reading →