There are moments — quiet, unbidden — when one pauses and wonders: how did we come to this? After centuries of inquiry, of minds that charted the unseen and hands that steadied the fevered, we now find ourselves in a peculiar and disquieting place. A place where truth is not refuted for want of evidence, but rejected for daring to inconvenience belief. The antivaxx movement is a malicious rejection of education — not a lapse in understanding, but a deliberate estrangement from reason. It perplexes, not for its novelty, but for its brazenness. This is not the soft silence of the uninformed; it is the clamour of the wilfully blind, adorned in the rhetoric of liberty and cloaked in a defiant performance of scepticism. Vaccines — the elegant product of scientific rigour and logistical triumph — are cast aside in favour of speculation, rumour, and the seductive pull of conspiratorial thinking. To refuse a vaccine is not an emblem of critical thought. It is, more often, a retreat...
Are brief periods of instability silently driving weight gain? A new study suggests so — and acupuncture may offer quiet protection. Many assume that weight gain results from gradual, incremental habits — a slow, steady accumulation over time. But a recent study published in the International Journal of Obesity challenges this linear view. It uncovers something far more subtle: a substantial portion of fat gain occurs during brief, intense episodes — often unnoticed and almost always coinciding with periods of disruption. Holidays, job changes, illness, celebrations, or other transitional phases of life — these are the moments when energy balance is abruptly lost, caloric intake rises, and physical activity declines. Crucially, although these episodes are sporadic, their physiological impact can be long-lasting. As an acupuncture physician, I regard acupuncture as a valuable tool for navigating such critical junctures. Regular sessions help regulate sleep cycles, modulate a...