Research on coffee, brought to you by Dunkin Donuts

I love this, Dunkin Donuts and CareerBuilder funded a study to look at coffee habits in the workplace.  Interestingly, health professions are at the top with nurses followed by physicians.

The hospital I go to next year actually has a 24-hour Dunkin Donuts in the basement, next to the cafeteria! I can just see a Dunkin Donuts board meeting: Agenda item #14: Hospitals, time to perk up those who are feeling down (or working there).  

Also, not surprisingly, government workers at #12 on the list.  They go on to say that coffee consumption correlates with productivity, so draw your own conclusions... :-)

The List:

1)     Nurses
2)     Physicians
3)     Hotel workers
4)     Designers/Architects
5)     Financial/Insurance sales representatives
6)     Food preparers
7)     Engineers
8)     Teachers
9)     Marketing/Public Relations professionals
10)   Scientists
11)   Machine operators
12)   Government workers

Thoughts on the Bears (so far) undefeated season

People are making excuses for the Bears wins (that they are mainly based on penalties) but a win is a win. And there is a definite momentum and energy to being undefeated in the NFL, no matter how you got there. 

These 3 wins were crucial for the confidence of the team moving forward and the proof is the re-emergence of skills that we used to take for granted (defense and special teams).

We need a better run game, because Cutler is no Vick and him out-running Forte is a sad testimony to Forte's lack of skills. In the mean time, the offensive shoot outs that the passing game offers is fine, if the defense can come up big like it did last night.

Lastly, an opposing team often starts committing penalties when the other team has gotten inside its head or somehow has it off kilter. So I don't buy all those, "Green Bay beat itself arguments"

Having a sure-thing FG knocked down does something to you. Messes you up. You'd rather jump off sides than see that happen to you again.

If we keep winning this way, that's fine with me.

Lobby quite empty at night! 

Pioglitazone (Actos) under FDA review

The FDA is now reviewing pioglitazone (Actos), a popular drug for the treatment of diabetes, for a possible link to bladder cancer.  Pioglitazone has been gaining in popularity after a rival drug, rosiglitazone (Avandia), had been shown to increase cardiovascular risk.  Pioglitazone sales top $3 billion annually, while rosiglitazone has fallen to less than $600 million annually due to the negative data on myocardial ischemia.    

So far, the FDA is not recommending discontinuation of pioglitazone, as the association with bladder cancer comes from an interim analysis of a 10-year study being performed by the drug's manufacturer, Takeda.

The entire drug class of TZDs has come under increasing scrutiny over safety.  I am beginning to think that the entire class of medication should be avoided and other means of controlling hyperglycemia in diabetics should be pursued.

Will be interesting to see what future data will reveal about pioglitazone.

Eid Mubarak!