Category: Health

• The Ostrich Report On: Social Security Disability

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on March 15, 2019

  

  Social Security Disability Insurance operates on the idea that if a person or their family have contributed to the workforce and paid into Social Security, they should be able to receive money in the event of a medical condition preventing them from pursuing employment. You know, socialism. Instead of sticking a hook at the end of your mangled arm and going back to your gynecological practice, you can now live it up on Easy Street, all on the taxpayer’s dime. That’s what some TV pundits would have you believe. But in practice, getting SSD is an extremely complicated and long process. Rachel, an SSD examiner, and Manny, an SSD consultant, explain why:

  Research by Evan Symon. Continue reading →

  Posted in Health, Money | 0 Comments | Tagged insurance, social security, social security disability

• The Ostrich Report On: Mad Hatter Disease

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on February 20, 2019

  

  Have you ever wondered why the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland was, well, a hatter instead of something cooler that kids could identify with, like a Mad YouTuber or Mad Yeeter? It’s because he was eccentric, wacky, and generally two bananas short of a split, and back then that sort of behavior was associated with one profession: hatters. In the olden days, hatters used mercury to make felt, and over time, the mercury vapors they inhaled caused them to develop neurological disorders like memory-loss, irritability, erratic behavior etc. The disease is known more professionally as erethism and what’s really strange about it is that it hasn’t been eradicated even today. Modern people still get exposed to mercury and come down with Mad Hatter syndrome, like what happened with Richard, who suffers from a moderate form of it. This is his story:

  Research by Evan Symon.

  Continue reading →

  Posted in Health | 0 Comments | Tagged erethism, mad hatter disease, mercury

• The Ostrich Report On: New Age Stores

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on February 15, 2019

  

  New Age stores are one of the great success stories of the modern age. When the people behind them looked at the world, they saw an untapped market for crystals that can realign your vagina’s moon charts and herbal tarot cards for dogs. Then they looked at it like six more times to make sure that their eyes were working right, and after that they went to work to fill that market need. Since then, New Age stores have popped up all over the world, and eventually Craig managed to land a job at a one in Birmingham, England, where he learned that…

  Research by Evan Symon. Continue reading →

  Posted in Health, Money, Religion, Science | 0 Comments | Tagged new age, new age store

• The Ostrich Report On: Crohn’s Disease

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on February 13, 2019

  

  An adult’s digestive tract is about 30 feet long. It takes a piece of food up to 66 hours to traverse it all, making it the shittiest (literally) slide ever constructed. Given the length and inevitable complexity of such a system, it’s no surprise that a lot of things can go wrong with it. One of the worst, non-lethal things on that list is Crohn’s Disease, a subset of IBS with a variety of unpleasant symptoms. Holly knows about it all to well because she suffers from the disease, which manifests itself in the form of mouth sores, cramps that go on for hours, fatigue, anal fissures, diarrhea, joint pain, brain fog, and migraines. Put them all together and you end up with one of the most pain-in-the-ass diseases you could ever come down with, especially seeing as… Continue reading →

  Posted in Health | 0 Comments | Tagged crohn, crohn's, crohn's disease

• The Ostrich Report On: For-Profit Hospitals

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on January 25, 2019

  

  For-profit hospitals were first invented by a man who, when faced with the wails and groans of people in pain and in need of medical attention, was only able to hear the sounds of a cash register opening. Since then, FPHs have flourished in the United States, trying to quite literally turn shit into gold, only here the shit might be infected with cholera or something. Maybe not exactly in Mary’s case because she used to work for a for-profit psychiatric hospital. Still, the experience has taught her a lot about running a medical facility as a profit-oriented business, like: Don’t. Just don’t. Here’s why: Continue reading →

  Posted in Health | 0 Comments | Tagged for-profit hospital

• The Ostrich Report On: Transitioning From Female To Male

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on January 23, 2019

  

  Today, the Supreme Court has allowed President Trump to ban transgender people from serving in the military. A lot has been said on the topic but the focus of all the debates has primarily been on trans women, which is how these things usually go. I felt like we are not talking enough about trans men (people assigned female at birth) not just in the context of the military ban, but just in general. That’s why I reached out to Edgar and Ash to learn more about the lives, experiences, and obstacles faced by people like them. This is what I’ve learned: Continue reading →

  Posted in Health | 0 Comments | Tagged ftm, trans men, trans military ban, transgender

• The Ostrich Report On: Prison Healthcare

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on January 16, 2019

  

  Despite being the best motivation ever to work out besides your spouse giving the mail carrier flirty looks, prison isn’t actually that good for your health. And not just because of the violence, isolation, depression, and meals that legally have to be sold as animal feed but, like, for animals that have embezzled from a children’s cancer charity or something. The real problem starts after all those things have kicked your butt and you find yourself in need of medical attention. That’s when people like Rebecca, who served over 2 years at a large women’s prison, learn that… Continue reading →

  Posted in Crime, Health | 0 Comments | Tagged healthcare, prison, prison healthcare

• The Ostrich Report On: America’s Heroin Epidemic

  Posted at 1:00 pm by ostrichreport, on January 11, 2019

  

  The U.S. is in the midst of a heroin crisis. It’s estimated that tens of millions of Americans are addicted to some kind of opiate, with heroin overdose deaths reaching unprecedented heights all across the country and… You know what? This topic is so depressing that the only way we’ll get through it is if I call “heroin” by some other, friendlier name, like “Jeffrey.” So, the thing about Jeffrey is that he gets really angry when you try to stop being his friend and the best way to combat this is by befriending another, weaker version of Jeffrey (so… Jeff?), which here stands for methadone. I wanted to learn more about this process so I talked to Bob who works at methadone clinic, and he told me that… Continue reading →

  Posted in Health | 0 Comments | Tagged heroin, methadone, opiates, opioids

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