Checking up on Charities

Here are 2 great websites for checking into how your charitable dollars are spent. One of my accounting gurus, who knows about these things, says that these are not perfect, as charities have ways of manipulating these numbers that can't be audited, but it's a start.

Charity Navigator - I like this one best. Has great info.

Better Business Bureau - worth a look.

New Evidence on Vitamin D's role in autoimmune diseases

This news article in Science Daily about a genomic study done at Oxford University and just published in Genome Research, suggests that Vitamin D deficiency is causal, not just a co-traveller with autoimmune diseases. All the more reason for those of us with autoimmune diseases to take it seriously.

Jane Brody (NY Times) weighs in on Vitamin D

Jane Brody's article on Vitamin D in the NY Times seems to come a bit late to the table, and it does not seem to reflect the NCI's latest take on the literature linking low Vitamin D to cancer. But, she does have a way of summarizing issues, so it's worth reading. Bottom line: what we knew already. Vitamin D is good for you. You should take at least 1000 to 2000 IU, depending on your stage in life. Most important: get tested.

How to compare hospitals on quality measures

Here is a great site, from the Commonwealth Fund, Why Not the Best? that allows you to compare hospital scores on a range of quality measures. I just did it for Georgetown University Hospital, a bit late for my surgery that took place earlier this year, but I was gratified to learn that GU has a high quality rating. (Whew!)

Areas of agreement & disagreement on how to reduce federal deficit

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget just published the results of its on-line budget simulation project, where people could vote on which actions they would prefer to see the Federal government take. I'm amazed at how much agreement there is across parties on some things. Seems that it's likely the Social Security retirement age will be raised to 68, if lawmakers follow the will of the pople.

A succinct summary of the Evidence on Vitamin D and Cancer, from the NCI

This NCI summary of the evidence on the link (or lack of it) between Vitamin D and cancer incidence is an up-to-date for each cancer type. Bottom line: cancer prevention is not the strongest reason for taking Vitamin D, though its role may be clarified in the future.

Why Vitamin D recommendations are so low.

Here's a great article in the Financial Times about the politics of Vitamin D recommendations. With this issue, there are no bad guys, only policy makers and scientists with different mind-sets about what constitutes good evidence.