Author: SupremeCmdr

Scary Chart of the Day – 12/06/10

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

This is scary if you think about it enough.

I debated whether or not this chart deserved to be a scary chart.  Obviously I decided it was scary enough.  Despite the lower cost of some stuff, deflation overall is not a good thing.

Economist’s View: FRBSF: Disinflation – It’s Not Just Housing

DM1 Mortality Rate Improves

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Type 1 Diabetes Death Rate is Falling, But Not Fast Enough

When the researchers broke the mortality rate down by the time of diagnosis, they found that those diagnosed later had a much improved mortality rate. The group diagnosed in the 1960s had a 9.3 times higher mortality rate than the general population, while the early 1970s group had a 7.5 times higher mortality than the general population. For the late 1970s group, mortality had dropped to 5.6 times higher than the general population. 

Watch Those Uric Acid Levels

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Medical News: ACR: Lowering Uric Acid Cuts Cardiac Death Rate – in Meeting Coverage, ACR from MedPage Today

There is a significant association between lowering uric acid in patients with high levels and a reduction of their mortality from cardiovascular disease, researchers said here. 

During the study period, hyperuricemia patients who were treated with urate lowering drugs such as allopurinol achieved a 44% reduction in death caused by heart disease and a 58% reduction in deaths caused by stroke (P<0.001 for both), according to Jiunn-Horng Chen, MD, PhD, of China Medical University, Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan).

Smoking and Dementia Risk

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Arch Intern Med — Abstract: Heavy Smoking in Midlife and Long-term Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Vascular Dementia, October 25, 2010, Rusanen et al. 0 (2010): archinternmed.2010.393v1

Conclusions – In this large cohort, heavy smoking in midlife was associated with a greater than 100% increase in risk of dementia, AD, and VaD more than 2 decades later. These results suggest that the brain is not immune to long-term consequences of heavy smoking. 

Think Brand Strategy NOT Social Media Strategy

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Sanders Says – You don’t need a social media strategy

Sanders Says – Brand strategy first, social media tactics second

You don’t need a social media strategy – You need a brand strategy that leverages social media.  Don’t get off the brand strategy just because there’s a new communications channel, that’s how you lose the plot as a brand.  Technology is the tail, not the dog.

Here are two links to two blog posts by Tim Sanders.  If your company is struggling with social media these articles will help.