The “Dark Matter” of Medical Science

 The “Dark Matter” of Medical Science

What does modern medicine not know?

July, 2024

Steven B. Zwickel

This began with a conversation I had with my doctor. I asked her about a particular medical condition and whether there was a cure for it.

She shook her head. “No, unfortunately that is one illness that we have no cure for. In fact, we don’t even know what causes it.”

She paused, then added, “There are many things like that—illnesses that we know very little about.”

“It’s the “dark matter” of medical science, isn’t it?,” I asked. “We know that it exists, but we really know very little about it.”

 I took that as a challenge. I decided to find out what is in the “dark matter” of medicine.

Dark matter “makes up over 80% of all matter in the universe, but scientists have never seen it.  We only assume it exists because, without it, the behavior of stars, planets and galaxies simply wouldn't make sense.”  See <https://www.space.com/20930-dark-matter.html> Likewise, while it seems obvious that an illness must have a cause, as you can see from the table, in some cases we don’t know what those causes are.

Some illnesses can be cured, others can not

I put together a table listing various illnesses, in alphabetical order by their most common names. The list is by no means complete. NOTE: Hypochondriacs and readers who are worried about or easily frightened about their health should skip reading this.

I am not a physician and nothing in this document should be taken as medical advice. I can’t vouch for the reliability of the sources I used. Readers with questions should go to <https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions>

“Cause Known?” indicates whether medical science actually knows what causes the illness (etiology) or suspects what the cause, or causes, may probably be. Where the answer is “No” you’ll find an area of dark matter. Modern medicine excels at treating the consequences of many diseases, but the root causes of complex conditions remain elusive. 

      People talk about "germs", but medical people call any organism or agent that can cause disease, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites—pathogens. These microorganisms can invade a host's body, evade the immune system, and reproduce, leading to infections and illnesses.

I use the word “probably” to indicate the areas that medical researchers are pursuing in search of a cause.

Here are some other terms used in explaining the cause of an illness:

Arboviral disease is a general term used to describe infections caused by viruses spread to people by the bite of infected insects, such as mosquitoes and ticks. These infections usually occur during warm weather months, when mosquitoes and ticks are active. 

A sexually transmitted infection (STI) is a virus, bacteria, fungus, or parasite people can get through sexual contact. A sexually transmitted disease (STD) develops because of an STI and the term implies that the infection led to some symptom of disease. 

Waterborne diseases Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, Cryptosporidiosis (Cryptosporidium), Cyclosporiasis (Cyclospora spp.), Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infection, Giardiasis (Giardia), Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), Hot Tub Rash (Pseudomonas Dermatitis/Folliculitis), Legionellosis (Legionella). Sources of these diseases include water contaminated with bacteria or viruses; poor personal hygiene, untreated or contaminated drinking water, contaminated air handling systems, seawater, agricultural runoff, and food unwashed or handled by a contaminated or infected individual.

Foodborne diseases are the illnesses people get from eating contaminated food or beverages, including foodborne intoxications and infections, which are often incorrectly referred to as food poisoning. Foodborne diseases are caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxins, metals, and prions. Washing food and cooking it thoroughly can eliminate some of these sources. So can good hygiene—washing hands after going to the bathroom—by anyone who handles food.

“Curable?” explains whether or not there is a definite cure for the illness. In some cases the symptoms of an illness may be treatable, but that is not considered a cure. Where the answer is “No” you’ll find an area of dark matter.

“Potentially Fatal?” shows whether a person with that illness will probably die from it. In many cases an illness is considered fatal unless it is detected and treated quickly. In other cases the illness itself is not lethal, but complications resulting from that illness can kill a person. 

The good news is that our understanding of the different illnesses is growing very quickly and enormous amounts of money and research efforts my soon change some, if not many of, the answers in the table to “Yes.”

Illness	Cause Known?	Curable?	Potentially Fatal?
African sleeping sickness = Trypanosomiasis	Yes. parasite Trypanosoma brucei transmitted to humans through the bite of infected tsetse flies	Yes. Treatable depending if caught early	Yes, if not treated early enough
Alzheimer's disease	Not fully; appears to be combination of genetic/family history, age, lifestyle, and environmental factors,or??	No. Some symptoms are manageable. New drugs are coming along quickly.	No, but complications can be fatal
American Trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease)	Yes. parasite Trypanosoma Cruzi. transmitted by bite, followed by contact with feces/urine of infected blood-sucking triatomine bugs	Yes. Treatable depending if caught early	Yes, if not treated early enough
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis = ALS [Lou Gehrig's disease]	No. Possibly genetic, environmental, Neuroinflamation, Glutamate Excitotoxicity, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, or??	No. Supportive care and treatments can help manage symptoms, prolong survival, and improve quality of life	Yes
Anthrax	Yes. bacterium Bacillus anthracis	Yes, with antibiotics and anthrax antitoxin	Yes, lethal if not promptly treated
Arthritis - Osteoarthritis (OA)	Yes. Aging, joint overuse or injury, obesity, joint misalignment or inflammation, congenital abnormality, metabolic conditions, gender	No. Some symptoms are manageable.	No.
Arthritis - Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)	No. Possibly genetic, environmental trigger, autoimmune response, gender, age, family history, obesity	No. Some symptoms are manageable.	No, but complications may affect life expectancy
Botulism	Yes, Foodborne: toxins produced by bacteria Clostridium botulinum	Yes, with Antitoxin	Yes, if not treated promptly
Brucellosis (undulant fever, Malta fever, Mediterranean fever)	Yes, Foodborne: toxins produced by bacteria Brucella	Yes, with a combination of antibiotics	Not usually, but complications may include arthritis, inflammation of the heart (endocarditis), inflammation of the lining of the brain (meningitis)
Campylobacter enteritis = campylobacteriosis	Yes, Foodborne: bacterium Campylobacter	Yes. Manage dehydration, some use of antibiotics.	Rarely
Cancer - Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC)	No	When possible, with surgical removal of tumor	Depends on success of surgery
Cancer - Breast	No. Risk factors include genetic [mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes], hormones, alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, age, family history, exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES), and other occupational exposures.	No. However, for early-stage breast cancer, treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy can be effective in curing the disease.	Yes, unless it is diagnosed and treated early enough
Cancer - Carcinoma: basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs)	No, but possibly: genetic, environmental, chronic inflammation, hormonal, immune system dysfunction, age, infection -human papillomavirus (HPV)	Depends on the type of carcinoma, its stage, and individual circumstances. Radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy may work	Yes, but early detection and treatment can significantly increase the chances of survival
Cancer - Central Nervous System (CNS)	No. Possibly genetic, radiation, chemical exposure, immune system dysfunction, age, viral infection	Yes, with a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy	Yes, if malignant and grow rapidly or spread to other parts of the CNS or body. Location of tumor within the brain or spinal cord can also affect prognosis and potential complications.
Cancer - Leukemia	No. Possibly genetic, environmental, immune system suppression, viral infection, age	No, but treatment possible, depending on leukemia subtype, patient age and health	Yes, if not diagnosed early or if it does not respond well to treatment
Cancer - Lymphoma Hodgkin & Non-Hodgkin	No. Possibly genetic mutations, weakened immune system, viral infection, age, gender, family history, some autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis or Sjögren's syndrome	Yes = Hodgkin;  Non-Hodgkin very hard to cure. Treated with radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and bone marrow transplant	Yes, potentially
Cancer - Melanoma	No. Possibly exposure to UV radiation, genetic factors, skin type and sensitivity, age, immune system supression	Yes, with early detection.	Yes, potentially, if not detected and treated early on
Cancer - Most types	Sometimes. Possibly: genetic syndromes or mutations, environmental/lifestyle factors, age, gender, exposure to radiation.	Depends on the type	Depends on type and if diagnosed and treated early enough
Cancer - Ovarian cancer - epithelial ovarian cancer - germ cell tumors - stromal tumors	No. Possiby genetic mutation, age, family history, reproductive factors, hormonal factors, obesity	Early-stage ovarian cancer (Stage I and II) is more likely to be curable with appropriate treatment, whereas advanced-stage ovarian cancer (Stage III and IV) is more difficult to treat and has a poorer prognosis.	Yes, if not detected and treated early on
Cancer - Pancreatic cancer - Adenocarcinoma - pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs),	No. Possibly genetic, family history, smoking, age, chronic pancreatitis, obesity	Yes, with early detection. Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.	Yes, if not detected and treated early on
Cancer - Renal Cell Carcinoma - Kidney Cancer -transitional cell carcinoma - Wilms tumor - renal sarcoma	No. Possibly genetic factors, smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, exposure to certain chemicals: asbestos, cadmium, organic solvents	Yes, for localized renal cancer completely removed surgically and does not recur	Yes, but early-stage kidney cancers detected before they spread (metastasize) outside the kidney typically have a good prognosis, especially after surgical removal.
Cancer - Sarcoma - bone and soft-tissue	No. Possibly genetic factors, radiation or chemical exposure, inherited DNA mutations	No, but combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy my help	Yes, unless detected and treated early on
Cancer - Thyroid cancer (papillary thyroid carcinoma, follicular thyroid carcinoma, medullary thyroid carcinoma, and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma)	No. Possibly genetic factors, radiation exposure, gender and age, thyroid conditions, or exposure to chemicals or pollutants	Yes.  Most are treatable.	Yes, if not detected and treated early on
Celiac Disease	No, but possibly combination of genetic and environmental factors	No. Treatable with strict gluten-free diet	Not directly, but slightly higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory diseases like flu or pneumonia
Cerebral Palsy	No, but possibly prenatal, perinatal, or postnatal factors, genetic mutations	No.	No.
Chikungunya	Yes, Virus transmitted by mosquitoes	No.	No
Chlamydia	Yes, bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis (see Trachoma); Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)	Yes, with antibiotics	Not directly, but untreated chlamydia can lead to perihepatitis (inflammation around the liver) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord).
Cholera	Yes, bacterium Vibrio cholerae	Yes, with prompt intervention and Oral rehydration solutions (ORS) therapy, sometimes antibiotics	Yes, fatal if not treated promptly; can start an epidemic
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)	Yes, by smoking, secondhand smoke, air pollution, workplace dust and fumes	Not once lungs damaged.	Yes, complications are life-threatening.
Cirrhosis	Yes. Heavy alcohol use, viral hepatitis, Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Genetic disorders, Autoimmune Hepatitis, Bile Duct diseases, some medications and toxins	No.	Yes, but it is not always the direct cause of death.
Clostridioides difficile   (C. diff)	Yes, bacterium Clostridioides difficile infection following antibiotic use, old age, long hospitalization, or other medical conditions	No. Treatments include stopping antibiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)	Yes, if not detected and treated promptly.
Coronavirus /Covid-19	Yes, Virus SARS-CoV-2	No, but oral anti-viral pills, intravenous antivirals, monoclonal antibodies, anti-inflammatory drugs can help.	Yes
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - Sporadic,Familial, and Acquired	No - Sporadic Yes - Familial (inherited) Yes. Acquired = Foodborne	No.	Yes.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever	Yes, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) from tick bites or contact with infected animal blood or tissues	No.	Yes.
Crohn’s Disease	No. Possibly autoimmune reaction, genetic factors, environmental factors, high-fat diet	No. Treatments focus on controlling symptoms	Not directly, but it can lead to severe inflammation, bowel obstruction, fistulas, malnutrition, colon cancer which may be fatal.
Cystic fibrosis (CF)	Yes. Genetic	No.	Yes, it can lead to serious health complications and has the potential to be life-threatening.
Dengue fever (dengue hemorrhagic fever)	Yes, virus Dengue through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes -Arboviral	No.	No. But can be fatal if not promptly diagnosed and treated.
Diabetes - Type 1	No. Possibly genetics or triggered by an autoimmune response.	No. Treated by managing blood sugar levels, insulin injections, diet, and exercise	Yes, if untreated
Diabetes - Type 2	No. Possibly insulin resistance, obesity + sedentary lifestyle, genetic, age, ethnicity, gestation (women)	No. Treated by medication, diet, and exercise	Yes, if untreated
Diphtheria	Yes. bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae	Yes, with antitoxin and antibiotics	Yes, lethal if not promptly treated
Dupuytren's contracture	No, but possibly combination of genetic (Northern European ancestry) and environmental factors	No.	No.
E. Coli Escherichia coli O157-H7 Infection:  1. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC);  2.  Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC);  3. Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC);  4. Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC); 5. Diffusely adherent Escherichia coli (DAEC); 6. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC)	Yes, bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) Waterborne/Foodborne; Transmitted by raw foods, unpasteruized dairy products, human feces to mouth on unwashed hands.	Yes, depending on severity and type of infection	No, but see Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), which can result in hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is life-threatening.
Eastern equine encephalitis	Yes. Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) transmitted by mosquitoes	No.	Yes.
Ebola virus disease (EVD)	Yes. Viruses Filoviridae =Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Bundibugyo ebolavirus, and Taï Forest ebolavirus; transmitted from infected animals	No. Treated with IV fluids/electrolytes, oxygen, blood transfusions, and medications to manage symptoms	Yes
Eclampsia	No, but possibly vascular dysfunction, placental factors, hormonal imbalance, immune system response, genetic factors	No. Treated with anticonvulsant therapy, blood pressure control, fetal lung maturation.	Yes if not promptly and effectively managed
Emphysema	Yes.Long-term exposure to irritants that damage the lungs (smoking, air pollution, dust, fumes, chemicals), genetic, age, respiratory infections	No.	No, but complications can be fatal.
Encephalitis lethargica (EL)	No, but possibly viral infection, autoimmune reaction genetic and environmental factors	No.	Sometimes
Endometriosis	No, but possibly retrograde menstruation, immune system dysfunction, or genetics	No, treatments focus on managing symptoms	No.
Epilepsy	No, but possibly genetics, brain injury, brain developmental disorder, infection, stroke/vascular disease, metabolic disorder, autoimmune disorder, developmental abnormalities	No, but there are ways to control seizures.	Yes, from complications
Fibromyalgia	No, possibly Central Nervous System (CNS) abnormalities, genetic, stress	No. Symptoms treated with a combination of medication, exercise, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and lifestyle modifications	No.
Glanders	Yes, bacteria Burkholderia mallei after direct contact with infected animals or contaminated materials	No. Antibiotics may help	Yes, lethal if not promptly treated
Gonorrhea	Yes, bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae - sexually transmitted infection (STI)	Yes, with antibiotics	Rarely, but complications may include Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), Disseminated Gonococcal Infection (DGI), Increased HIV Transmission
Gout (hyperuricemia)	Yes, diet, alcohol, medical conditions like obesity, hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, diuretics and aspirin, genetics	No, but managed with medication and lifesyle changes	No, but complications can be fatal.
Guillain-Barré syndrome	No, but possibly triggered by infection, autoimmune response, vaccination	No. Treated with immunomodulatory therapies, pain management, PT, respiratory support	No.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)	Yes, Virus transmitted by rodents	No.	Yes.
Hashimoto’s Disease (Hashimoto's thyroiditis)	No, but possibly combination of genetic and environmental factors	No. Treated with synthetic thyroid hormone, monitoring, lifestyle changes to diet, exercise, stress, sleep	No.
Hepatitis A & E	Yes. Virus - foodborne/waterborne. Also caaused by autoimmune response, alcohol and drugs, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), Metabolic disorders	No. Most patients recover with supportive care.	No.
Hepatitis B & C & D	Yes. Virus transmitted by bodily fluids. Also caaused by autoimmune response, alcohol and drugs, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), Metabolic disorders	No. Treated with antiviral medicines.	Yes. Increased risk of death from complications.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)	Yes, virus Lentivirus retroviruses HIV-1 and HIV-2; person to person Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)	No, Treated with antiretorviral therapy.	Yes, if left untreated HIV can progress to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection	Yes. Virus - one or more of 100 varieties of papillomavirus  person to person Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) or through other skin-to-skin contact	No.	No. But some types of genital HPV can cause cancer of the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina (cervix), cancers of the anus, penis, vagina, vulva and back of the throat (oropharyngeal).
Huntington's disease	Yes. Genetic.	No.	Yes. From complications.
Influenza - Bird flu - avian influenza (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza = HPAI)	Yes. Influenza A virus that belong to the family Orthomyxoviridae  transmitted from poultry	No. Supportive care and symptom relief may help, antiviral medications	Yes, especially in cases where there are complications such as severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Influenza - H1N1 (Swine Flu)	Yes. Influenza A virus that belongs to the family Orthomyxoviridae	No. Treated with anti-viral therapy and symptom management	No.
Influenza - Seasonal	Yes. Influenza B Virus (IBV) that belongs to the family Orthomyxoviridae	No. Most patients recover.	No. But dangerous for infants, elderly, weakened immune system, obesity, chronic illnesses, stroke victims
Influenza C Virus (ICV)	Yes. Influenza C Virus (ICV) Gammainfluenzavirus	No.	No.
Invasive Aspergillosis	Yes. fungal infection caused primarily by Aspergillus species, most commonly Aspergillus fumigatus	No.	Yes, especially for people who are immunocompromised.
Invasive listeriosis	Yes. Foodborne - bacterium Listeria monocytogenes	No. Treated with antibiotics.	Yes, especially for people who are immunocompromised.
Larval tapeworm infection (Cysticercosis)	Yes. Foodborne/waterborne by larval stage of tapeworm; undercooked pork	Yes. Anti-parasitic drugs	Yes, depending on number and size of cysts.
Lassa  Fever	Yes. Virus Arenaviridae spread by urine, droppings, or saliva of infected West African rats	Yes. Anti-viral drugs.	No.
Legionnaires' disease	Yes. Waterborne by bacterium Legionella pneumophila	Yes. Antibiotics.	Yes, if not promptly and effectively managed
Leprosy [Hansen's Disease]	Yes. Bacterium Mycobacterium leprae Possibly spread person to person through respiratory droplets	Yes. Antibiotics.	No.
Leptospirosis (Weil disease; Icterohemorrhagic fever; Swineherd's disease; Rice-field fever; Cane-cutter fever; Swamp fever; Mud fever; Hemorrhagic jaundice; Stuttgart disease; Canicola fever)	Yes, bacteria leptospira Waterborne from drinking contaminated water	Yes, antibiotics usually work	Yes, if not detected and treated early on. Complications include Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction to penicillin, Meningitis, Severe bleeding
Louse-Borne Relapsing Fever (LBRF)	Yes. bacteria Borrelia recurrentis. Transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected human body louse	Yes. Antibiotics.	Yes, if not promptly and effectively treated
Lupus erythematosus	No. Possbily combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors	No. Treatments may help suppress immune system and relieve symptoms.	No. But if not diagnosed early and treated, complications may be fatal.
Lyme disease	Yes. bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi from the bites of infected ticks	No. Treated with antibiotics and to relieve symptoms.	No. But if untreated, it can lead to arthritis, nerve pain, cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), or Lyme neuroborreliosis (inflammation of the brain and spine).
Malaria	Yes. parasites Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax from bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes	Yes. Anti-malarial medications	Yes, if not detected early and promptly treated
Measles = Rubeola	Yes. Measles virus, spread person to person through respiratory droplets: coughing & sneezing	No.Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms.	No, but may cause fatal pneumonia and can kill malnourished and immunocompromised people.
Meningitis - Bacterial [Meningococcal meningitis]	Yes. bacteria, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) spread person to person through respiratory droplets	Yes, with antibiotics, corticosteroids, and symptom management.	Yes.
Meningitis - Fungal	Yes. fungal infections, such as Cryptococcus, Histoplasma, or Coccidioides	Yes, with antifungal medications.	Yes.
Meningitis - Parasitic	Yes. Foodborne/Waterborne. Parasites such as Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba, and Angiostrongylus cantonensis.	No.	No.
Meningitis - Viral	Yes. viruses such as enteroviruses, herpes simplex virus, and varicella-zoster virus	No. Treated with antiviral medicines if the virus is identified.	No.
Mental Disorders: Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias; Depression, bipolar disorder, and other mood disorders; Eating disorders; Personality disorders; Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia	Yes, including genetics, family history, life experiences, biological & chemical factors, traumatic brain injury, prenatal exposure to viruses/toxic chemicals/drugs/alcohol, use of alcohol or drugs, serious health problems, social isolation.	No, but many kinds of treatments for symptoms, including psychotherapy paired with medication	No, but some can increase the risk of health complications or behaviors that can be life-threatening.
MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)	Yes. Virus coronavirus (MERS-CoV) from dromedary camels to humans, possibly from bats.	No. Treatments focus on symptoms.	Yes.
Monkey B virus [Herpes B virus]	Yes. Virus after being bitten/scratched by a monkey, or from contaminated syringe	No.	Yes. Infection can cause encephalitis, which can lead to permanent neurological damage or death
Mononucleosis (mono or glandular fever)	Yes. Virus = Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Adenovirus, and Toxoplasmosis. spread person to person through respiratory droplets and saliva	No.	No.
Mpox (Monkeypox) - Clade I and Clade II	Yes. Virus Monkeypox virus transmitted from infected animal or person.	No. Treated with antiviral medicines and relief from symptoms.	Yes, Clade I can kill; Clade II is rarely fatal.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)	No, but possibly genetics, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Vitamin D deficiency, smoking, childhood obesity	No.	No. But can reduce life expectancy.
Mumps (Epidemic Parotitis)	Yes, mumps virus, of the paramyxovirus family. Spreads through respiratory droplets or saliva from an infected person, enters the body through the nose, mouth, or throat, and infects parotid glands — salivary glands near the ears.	No.	No, but in very rare cases, severe complications such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord) can lead to serious outcomes.
Muscular dystrophy (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, Myotonic Dystrophy, Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy, Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy)	Yes, genetic mutations	No. Treatments focus on relief from symptoms and slowing progress of disease.	Yes, when heart or respiratory mucsles are  affected.
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)	No, but possibly insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, High blood lipids (dyslipidemia), genetics, sedentary lifestyle.	Yes, if diagnosed and treated early.	Yes, from liver failure.
Noninvasive listeriosis (febrile listerial gastroenteritis)	Yes. Foodborne - bacterium Listeria monocytogenes	No.	No.
Norovirus	Yes, virus Norovirus Caliciviridae. From contaminated person to person, Foodborne/Waterborne, aerosolized particles	No.	No, but can kill sick and elderly people.
Onychomycosis	Yes, fungus dermatophytes  Trichophyton rubrum,Trichophyton mentagrophytes,  and  Epidermophyton floccosum  transmitted from hotel carpets, public showers,  pool decks and other dark, warm, moist surfaces	Yes, treated with systemic antifungals	No.
Parkinson's disease	No, but possibly genetics,  exposure to toxins(pesticides, herbicides),head injuries, age	No, treatments focus on managing symptoms	No, but complications like falls, pneumonia, and difficulty swallowing can increase the risk of death
Phthisis (phthisis bulbi)	Yes, from from various ocular insults like trauma, surgery, infection, inflammation, malignancy, retinal detachment, and vascular lesions	No.	No.
Plague - Bubonic (Septicemic, Pneumonic)	Yes, bacterium Yersinia pestis through the bite of infected fleas that have fed on rodents such as rats	Yes, with a combination of antibiotics	Yes, if not detected and treated promptly may lead to Septicemic Plague = Yersinia pestis bacteria multiply in the bloodstream, causing severe sepsis (blood infection) and potentially leading to multiple organ failure; or Pneumonic plague, when Yersinia pestis infects the lungs
Pneumonia - Bacterial	Yes, bacteria, primarily Streptococcus pneumoniae, also Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, and Klebsiella pneumoniae	No, treated with antibiotics.	Yes, for children, elderly, and people with weakened immune systems, if not promptly and effectively treated
Pneumonia - Fungal	Yes, fungi, including Aspergillus, Mucor, Candida, Pneumocystis jirovecii from inhaling fungal spores	Yes, with antifungal medication, depending on type of infection	Yes, if not detected and treated promptly.
Pneumonia - Viral	Yes, virus SARS-CoV-2 and, children, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) spread person to person through respiratory droplets and saliva	No. Treatments focus on relief from symptoms	No, except for children, elderly, and people with weakened immune systems
Polio [Poliomyelitis, infantile paralysis, Heine–Medin disease]	Yes, virus poliovirus Waterborne; also spread person to person through contact with the feces of an infected person	No.	Yes, but rarely.
Psoriasis (Plaque, Guttate, Pustular, Inverse, Erythrodermic)	No, but possibly faulty immune cell activation, genetic, environmental (infection, stress, injury), family history, smoking, alcohol, medications, climate, obesity outside.	No. Treatments focus on controlling symptoms	No.
Quinsy (peritonsillar abscess) / tonsillitis	Yes, bacteria A beta-hemolytic streptococcus	Yes, with antibiotics, drainage, tonsillectomy, and treatment of symptoms	Yes, the abscess can rupture and the contents of the abscess can travel into the lungs and cause pneumonia
Rabbit fever =  Tularemia	Yes, bacterium Francisella tularensis transmitted by bites of infected ticks (dog ticks, wood ticks, and lone star ticks) or deer flies; Foodborne = undercooked wild game, inhaling aerosolized organisms, Waterborne = drinking contaminated water.	Yes, with antibiotics.	Yes, if untreated.
Rabies (Hydrophobia)	Yes, virus lyssaviruses, Rhabdoviridae, Mononegavirales and Australian bat lyssavirus. Transmitted by animal bite or scratch.	No, once symptoms appear, but getting a series of vaccinations post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can prevent disease.	Yes, once rabies patient develops neurological symptoms.
Raccoon roundworm [Baylisascaris infection]	Yes, parasite raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis. Transmitted by inhaling eggs of the parasite, which are shed in raccoon feces.	No. Treatment of symptoms and supportive care.	No, but may cause serious neurological complications.
Reye's syndrome	No, but possibly exposure to salicylate (aspirin), viral infection, metabolic disorder.	No.	Yes, if left untreated.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF)	Yes, Tickborne from bite of American dog tick: (Dermacentor variabilis) Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni)	Yes, if diagnosed and treated early with antibiotics.	Yes.
Roseola (roseola infantum or sixth disease)	Yes, by human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) or 7 (HHV-7), spread person to person through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes, and by saliva	No.Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms.	No, but complications can be serious.
Rotavirus	Yes, virus rotavirus, spread from human feces to mouth on unwashed hands.	No.Treatment focuses on managing symptoms and preventing dehydration.	No, only if dehydration is untreated.
Rubella (German measles)	Yes, virus RuV, a rubivirus of the family Matonaviridae, spread person to person through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes, or by touching a surface with the virus on it.	No. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms.	No, but serious when a pregnant woman passes rubella to the fetus = Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). This can cause skin, hearing, vision, heart and brain problems in newborns.
Salmonella infection (salmonellosis)	Yes. Foodborne/Waterborne bacteria salmonella. Transmitted by raw foods, unpasteruized dairy products, human feces to mouth on unwashed hands.	Yes. Treatments focus on symptoms; antibiotics given if bacteria enter bloodstream.	No, but complications can be dangerous for infants, childen, elderly, transplant recipients, pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems.
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)	Yes. Virus SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Spread person to person through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes, or by touching a surface with the virus on it.	No. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms.	Yes. Increased risk of death from respiratory symptoms.
Scarlet fever	Yes. bacteria from group A Streptococcus pyogenes. Spread person to person through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes, or by touching a surface with the bacteria on it.	No, but treatable with antibiotics.	Yes, if left untreated.
Septicemia (blood poisoning)	Yes. Bacterial infections from wounds, injuries, surgery, infections in other parts of the body. May also be caused by fungi and viruses.	No, but treatable with antibiotics.	Yes, if not detected and treated promptly.
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection	Yes. Bacteria Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) E. coli O157:H7. Foodborne/Waterborne; Spread person to person through poor hygiene.	No. Treated by supportive care to manage symptoms and prevent/treat complications.	No. But complications, like hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), can be fatal.
Shingles (herpes zoster)	Yes, reactivation of the virus varicella-zoster (VZV) virus that causes chickenpox; possibly triggered by aging, weakened immune system, stress.	No. Treated to reduce symptoms.	No, but severe complications possible.
Sjogren’s Syndrome	No, but possibly combination of genetic and environmental factors (viral or bacterial infections)	No. Treatement focuses on relieving symptoms and preventing complications	No.
Smallpox = variola	Yes, virus ariola poxvirus [Variola Major & Variola Minor] Spread person to person through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes, or by touching a rash surface with the virus on it.	No.	Yes, and could lead to severe complications, including: secondary bacterial infections (pneumonia or septicemia), permanent scars on the skin, damage to internal organs.
Staphylococcus aureus / Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)	Yes, bacteria Staphylococcus aureus  infection when bacteria enter the body through cuts, abrasions, or other breaches in the skin.	Yes, with antibiotics the bacteria is not resistant to.	Yes, depending on type of infection and patient’s health; severe complications include sepsis, pneumonia, endocarditis.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)	No, but possibly immature development of baby’s brainstem, sleeping on stomach or side, soft bedding, overheating, maternal smoking during pregnancy, premature birth, low birth weight, family history	No.	Yes.
Syphilis	Yes, bacterium Treponema pallidum; sexually transmitted infection (STI) spread through direct contact with a syphilitic sore (chancre) during sex	Yes, with antibiotics	Yes, if left untreated.
Tetanus (Lockjaw)	Yes, bacterium Clostridium tetani; infection occurs when the bacterium enters the body through a wound or a break in the skin—puncture wounds, burns, surgical wounds, even minor injuries like cuts or scratches.	No. Treated with antibiotics and immunoglobulin and focus on relief from symptoms.	Yes, if not detected and treated promptly.
Thrush	Yes, fungus Candida; when illnesses, stress or medications disturb the amount of Candida, the fungus grows out of control and causes thrush	Yes,  treatment is antifungal medications	No.
Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS)	Yes, bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph) and Streptococcus pyogenes (group A strep). Can also be caused by toxins produced by bacterium Clostridium sordellii.	Yes, in-patient care including IV fluids, antibiotics, medication to control blood pressure, with close monitoring of vital signs.	Yes, depending on type of bacteria, speed of diagnosis, and health of patient. Clostridium sordellii infections are usually fatal.
Trachoma	Yes, bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis; transmitted through direct or indirect contact with eye and nose discharges of infected people	No, but treatable with antibiotics.	No, but may cause blindness
Trichomoniasis	Yes, sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the single-celled parasite Trichomonas vaginalis.	Yes.	No.
Tuberculosis (TB)	Yes, bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis; transmitted through coughing, sneezing, or saliva discharge of infected people	Yes, treated with a combination of antibiotics	Yes, if not detected and treated promptly.
Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever	Yes, bacteria—Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella serotype Typhi. Paratyphoid fever is caused by Salmonella serotype Paratyphi. Waterborne: contaminated drinking water; Foodborne: poor food handling hygiene	Yes, treated with antibiotics	Yes, if not detected and treated early on.
Typhus - Arbovirus	Yes, bacteria: Rickettsia prowazekii {epidemic typhus} and Rickettsia typhi {murine typhus}. Spread to humans through the bites of fleas, lice, or ticks	No.	Yes, if not detected and treated early on and can become an epidemic.
Vibrio illness [Vibriosis]	Yes, bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio alginolyticus; Foodborne in raw/undercooked shellfish or from open wound.	No, treated with antibiotics depending on severity of symptoms. Note: Vibrio cholerae (causes cholera) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus (causes gastroenteritis)	Yes, Vibrio vulnificus can be fatal. Note: Vibrio cholerae causes cholera.
West Nile Virus (WNV) - Arbovirus	Yes, RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family. It is transmitted to humans by the bite of a Culex mosquito.	No, treated with supportive care, rest, fluids, pain management	Yes, if West Nile virus enters the brain, however, it can be life-threatening.
Whooping cough / Pertussis	Yes, bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.	No, but antibiotics can reduce severity	Yes, but extremely rare.
Yellow Fever (Flavivirus) - Arbovirus	Yes, virus Flavivirus or Yellow fever virus (YFV); transmitted to humans by the bite of Aedes aegypti or Haemagogus mosquito.	No, treated with supportive care.	Yes, but most cases are mild.
Zika - Arbovirus	Yes, virus Zika; transmitted to humans by the bite of Aedes aegypti mosquito.	No, treated with supportive care.	No, but complications can be dangerous for pregnant women and their infants, may possibly cause Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS)

Cardiovascular disease

I did not include Cardiovascular disease in the table. This category includes:

• Aneurysm
• Angina or angina pectoris
• Atherosclerosis = hardening of the arteries
• Atrioventricular block
• Arrhythmia 
• Bacterial endocarditis
• Blood clot (A blood clot that forms inside one of your veins or arteries is called a thrombus. A thrombus may also form in your heart. A thrombus that breaks loose and travels from one location in the body to another is called an embolus)
• Coronary artery disease (CAD) - Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Coronary heart disease (CHD) 
• Heart and blood vessel disease 
• Heart failure, congestive heart failure 
• Heart Valve Disease - stenosis, regurgitation, prolapse
• Hemorrhagic stroke 
• Ischemic stroke 
• Myocardial Infarction = heart attack  

Our knowledge of Cardiovascular disease and coronary care is changing rapidly and the focus now is on prevention and finding new treatments. In some cases, the cause of these illnesses is fairly clear—smoking, diet, and a sedentary lifestyle, although genetics and family history also play a part. 

<https://www.texasheart.org/heart-health/heart-information-center/topics/a-z/>

More Dark Matter 

Here are some other examples of the “dark matter” limitations of modern medicine:

Connections between Psychiatry and Medicine: The relationship between the mind and body is not fully understood. This complicates the treatment of conditions with both physiological and psychological components, such as chronic pain syndromes and psychosomatic disorders.

Understanding the Human Microbiome: The human microbiota consists of 10–100 trillion symbiotic microbial cells harbored by each person, primarily bacteria in the gut; the human microbiome consists of the genes these cells harbor. Microbiome projects work to understand the roles these symbionts play in human health. The human microbiome in our bodies is linked to health and disease. Reasearchers are looking at the specific mechanisms by which these microbiomes influence well-being and studying how they might be manipulated for therapeutic benefit. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426293/>

Personalized, Precision Medicine: Personalized medicine uses an individual's genetic profile to guide decisions made regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Personalized medicine is being advanced through data from the Human Genome Project. <https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Personalized-Medicine>

Aging (Gerontology) and Intervention Strategies: The aging process is a complex interplay of biological pathways. Despite significant advancements, a comprehensive understanding of cellular senescence and effective strategies to slow or reverse its effects remain elusive. Gerontology encompasses all avenues of the aging process from the cellular level to the social level. {Gerontology is the scientific study of aging, while the study of disease and illness in the elderly is geriatrics.} According to WebMD, “There are several subfields of gerontology that focus on all aspects of aging:

Biological Gerontology: The study of aging at both the molecular and cellular levels. Researchers are trying to understand changes in cells and tissues as the people age and to identify mechanisms that affect age-related illness. They try to develop ways to prevent, delay, or reverse the underlying aging processes.

Social Gerontology: This is the study of aging in a social context, focusing on the relationship between the elderly and their caregivers, families, and extended society. Researchers try to understand how aging affects social relationships and roles to develop policies and programs to improve the life quality for older adults.   

Environmental Gerontology: This is the study of the interaction between people and their social and physical environments. Researchers try to identify environmental factors that aid in healthy aging and to find ways to improve the built environment [human-made conditions = architecture, landscaping, urban planning, public health] for the aging”. < https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/what-is-gerontology>

Lessons Learned from 135 Illnesses

• Cause known: Yes 97
• Curable: Yes 42
• Potentially Fatal: Yes 77

Follow the advice your parents gave you: wash your hands after you use the toilet, don’t smoke, use sunscreen and wear a hat, avoid mosquitos and ticks, go easy on the alcohol, get some exercise, cover your nose when you sneeze and your mouth when you cough, keep your vaccinations up to date, cook food thoroughly and watch what you eat, don’t drink raw milk, don’t pick food up off the floor and eat it (the “5-second rule” is nonsense), and, if you feel sick, don’t “wait and see” —go talk to a doctor!

For a carefully researched and well written in-depth look at the impact of diseases on humans, see Harper, Kyle "Plagues Upon the Earth: disease and the course of human history" (2021; Princeton University Press) ISBN 9780691192123.

Bard/Gemini Let Me Down

Bard/Gemini Let Me Down

 Steven B. Zwickel

May, 2024

When AI tools first came out, in late 2022, I was curious to see how it would work, mainly because I spent three decades as a writing teacher. I tried using ChatGPT, but decided that I really didn’t want to open a new account with yet another password to remember. So I decided to give Google’s new AI tool, Bard, a shot, since I already had a Google account.

My first attempt at using Bard involved having it write a college-level essay on why Americans are afraid that the government is going to come and take away their possessions. Bard responded with a simplistic essay that could have been written by a high school sophomore and lacked citations (which I had specifically requested). A second attempt, with a better prompt, was a little bit better, but not very impressive. (I know now a lot more about how to prompt these AI tools than I did in 2022.)

I was not impressed, but not quite ready to give up, so I gave Bard another chance. This time I asked it to write an obituary for someone I know very well—myself—and I gave it more helpful prompts: “…including his family background, education, occupations, publications, hobbies, and next of kin.” Good old Bard spat out an incredible piece of fiction—nothing it wrote was true, except for my major in college. The rest was just a complete fabrication. Bard, I realized, was hallucinating!

When I told this story to my granddaughter last week, she had an interesting take. “Why didn’t I try to see if Bard can do fact-checking?” It was a clever idea and worth a shot. After all, it’s now 2024, Google says that Bard is now “improved” and called Gemini, so why not see if it can catch factual errors.

I pulled two paragraphs from a biography from a reliable website:

“John N. Laycock was born in Methuen, Massachusetts on 18 May 1892; he attended primary and secondary school in that city and was subsequently appointed to the Naval Academy in  1910. He graduated in 1914 and then served aboard the battleship USS VIRGINIA. His ship was at Vera Cruz, Mexico, during the occupation of July-December 1914. Following his tour with the VIRGINIA, ENS Laycock began postgraduate work at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and received a bachelor of engineering degree in 1917. On 6 June 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant, junior grade, and transferred to the Civil Engineer Corps.

“During the 1920s Laycock's career was much like that of his fellows; between 1917 and 1927 he performed public works functions at the Naval Air Station, Cape May, New Jersey; the Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina; the Fifteenth Naval District (Canal Zone); and the Naval Station, Newport, Rhode Island. In 1927, the President nominated Laycock, now a lieutenant commander, as Treaty Engineer of the Republic of Haiti and the President of Haiti appointed him as such. In this position, LCDR Laycock served as Director of Municipal Engineering from 1927 to 1928, and as Executive Officer of the Public Works Administration of the Republic of Haiti from 1928 to 1931. Laycock was the last such Treaty Engineer and was made a Commander of the Order of Honor and Merit by the Haitian government for his services.”

<https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/seabee/explore/civil-engineer-corps-history/john-n--laycock.html>

Then I re-wrote it and deliberately altered some of the facts (changes are shown in red):

John N. Laycock was born in Madison, Wisconsin on 18 July 1901; he attended Madison War Memorial High School and was drafted into the US Navy in 1918. After the war he was appointed to the Air Force Academy and served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Vermont. His ship was at Cancun, Mexico, during the occupation of July-December 1919. 

Ensign Laycock began postgraduate work in Theology and Criminal Law at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Laycock wrote his dissertation on “The Role of the US Navy in the Battle Of Gettysburg” and received a bachelor of engineering degree in 1917. On 6 June 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant, junior grade, and transferred to the Civil Engineer Corps.

During the 1920s Laycock performed public works functions at the Naval Air Station, Cape May, New Jersey; the Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York; the Fifteenth Naval District (Canal Zone); and the Naval Station, Newport, Rhode Island. 

In 1927, President Roosevelt nominated Laycock, now a lieutenant commander, as Treaty Engineer of the Republic of Haiti and the President of Haiti appointed him as such. Commodore John N. Laycock served as Director of Municipal Engineering from 1927 to 1938, and as Executive Officer of the Public Works Administration of the Peoples Republic of China from 1928 to 1931. Laycock was made a Commander of the Order of Honor and Merit by the Haitian government for his services.

I ran the revised error-filled biography past two AI tools, with a prompt asking them to fact-check it.

The first response, from You.com, was encouraging:

Based on the search results, there is no evidence to support the claim that John N. Laycock was born in Madison, Wisconsin on 18 July 1901, attended Madison War Memorial High School, or was drafted into the US Navy in 1918. The search results provide information about a different individual named John N. Laycock who was born in Methuen, Massachusetts on 18 May 1892 and attended primary and secondary school in that city before being appointed to the Naval Academy in 1910 1 . Therefore, the information provided in the claim is not accurate.

Additionally, there is no information in the search results about John N. Laycock serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Vermont or being in Cancun, Mexico during the occupation of July-December 1919. The search results do not mention John N. Laycock's postgraduate work in Theology and Criminal Law at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his dissertation on "The Role of the US Navy in the Battle Of Gettysburg," or his appointment to the Civil Engineer Corps 1 .

Furthermore, the search results do not provide any information about John N. Laycock performing public works functions at the Naval Air Station, Cape May, New Jersey; the Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York; the Fifteenth Naval District (Canal Zone); or the Naval Station, Newport, Rhode Island during the 1920s.

Lastly, there is no evidence in the search results to support the claim that John N. Laycock was nominated by President Roosevelt as Treaty Engineer of the Republic of Haiti, served as Director of Municipal Engineering from 1927 to 1938, or served as Executive Officer of the Public Works Administration of the Peoples Republic of China from 1928 to 1931. There is also no mention of John N. Laycock being made a Commander of the Order of Honor and Merit by the Haitian government 1.

In conclusion, the information provided in the claim about John N. Laycock is not supported by the search results.

<https://you.com>

============

A second response to a request for fact-checking to Perplexity.ai was even better and more specific:

The claims made in the query about John N. Laycock's biography appear to be inaccurate based on the information provided in the search results. Here are the issues:

1. There is no mention of John N. Laycock being born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1901 or attending Madison War Memorial High School in the search results.
2. The results do not indicate that he was drafted into the US Navy in 1918 or that he attended the Air Force Academy after the war.
3. There are no details about him serving aboard the USS Vermont or being in Cancun, Mexico in 1919.
4. His supposed postgraduate work in Theology and Criminal Law at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, writing a dissertation on the Battle of Gettysburg, and receiving a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1917 are not corroborated.
5. The claims about his promotions, assignments, and roles in Haiti, the Canal Zone, China, and as Treaty Engineer are unsubstantiated by the provided information.
6. There is no evidence in the results of him being made a Commander of the Order of Honor and Merit by the Haitian government.

In summary, the biographical details presented in the query about John N. Laycock do not align with the information found in the search results, which focus primarily on Thomas Laycock, a 19th century physician, and the experiences of Black Seabees during World War II. Without additional credible sources, the claims about John N. Laycock's life and career cannot be verified as factual.

<Perplexity.ai>

I decided to give Bard/Gemini a shot at it:

If you can read this, thank whoever taught you to write!

Steven B. Zwickel

April, 2024

 My handwriting was an awful scrawl all the way through my school years. I was taught cursive in grade school (probably Palmer) but executed it poorly. 

In the 1950s children started by writing with pencils and switched to using pens in 3rd or 4th grade. Most people were still using fountain pens, so each pupil in my school had to buy a sheet of blotter paper large enough to cover our desk tops.

I took a typing class in junior high school, but I missed most of a semester due to illness and never really caught up. I could hunt-and-peck with two fingers, but it was slow going and I made a lot of mistakes.

I was OK in high school because I rarely had to write anything longer than a short answer on an exam. For longer papers, I wrote them out in longhand and then read them aloud to my dad while he typed.

I caught a lucky break—a month of free time between finishing high school and starting college—and, since I hoped to do better in my college courses, I decided it was time for me to really learn to type.

I got a book for beginning typists from the library and sat down at the keyboard of our manual Remington.

J-U-G-space. J-U-G-space. J-U-G-space. Over and over. At the end of the month I knew how to type and handwriting was no longer a problem.

My college papers rolled out of the typewriter paten with ease and, thanks to “white-out”, I was good enough and fast enough to become a reporter, and later an editor, of the college newspaper. (I was actually fast enough so that years later when I was “between gigs” I was able to earn money working as an office temp.)

By the time I graduated I had great typing skills but the same lousy handwriting I’d always had. (And my spelling was much, much better!)

Then I spent six months abroad without access to a typewriter. My postcards home were illegible. Family members, and my girlfriend, complained that they had no idea what I had written. They couldn’t figure out what I was trying to say.

Now, in spite of the fact that my penmanship stank, I was a long-time fan of the fountain pen. Perhaps it was some kind of teenage rebellion; my dad worked for a large stationery company and helped introduce the ball point pen to the American business world. And, going against tradition and stereotypes, I got a Cross ballpoint pen for my Bar Mitzvah.

Some time in high school I bought a fountain pen and ink and took them with me to school. Before you ask—yes, they leaked and yes, they stained my pants, and yes, my folks were upset. I should note that those early ball-point pens were not a lot better; they often leaked and also made a mess.

But I was not going to give up. I wanted to write the old-fashioned way with a pen and ink. One time, I recall filling a film canister with cotton and a small amount of ink. I took it to school and, in class, opened the canister and dipped my pen into the ink. Dumb idea! What a mess!

Anyway, while I was overseas I got a ride into town and found a bookstore that sold books in English. On the shelf I found a little paperback by an Englishman who argued, very persuasively I thought, that anyone willing to take the time to learn and to practice, practice, practice, could develop an elegant, calligraphic writing style. No special pen or paper was required, just a desire to write legibly.

I began working on the exercises in the book. After a while, I became fairly good at it. I dropped many of the characters I’d been taught in grade school in favor of more legible ones that looked more like printed text. No more f, s, G, r, Q or Z. I even changed my signature so it looked more legible and a lot more professional.

Eventually my penmanship was so nice that people invited me to write out their formal invitations and to do the lettering on posters. I even got paid for some of this work! When I spent some time in China, I got a lot of compliments from the Chinese—who know great calligraphy when they see it—on my beautiful handwriting.

The debate over whether children still need to be taught cursive writing reminds me of  what I heard  parents saying in the 1980s. Many saw the computer as the tool of the future and they were vocal proponents of teaching “keyboarding” in the schools. I don’t know where this movement went, but  in the 1990s and 2000s some of my college students were still typing with two fingers. The word-processor eventually replaced the typewriter. When people started using Apple computers they used the mouse; later, with Siri responding to verbal commands and the arrival of voice-to-text dictation software, the need for typing skills decreased even more.

 After “keyboarding” we heard loud cries for the schools to teach young people to write computer code. It now seems that computers running on artificial intelligence will soon take over the job of coding.

Is handwriting a useless skill these days, as some argue? Is it worth the time and effort it takes to learn?

The arguments in favor of teaching cursive include scientific studies that concluded that learning cursive helps children’s brain development, it improves their memories, and it makes handwritten documents accessible to them. People who can’t write in cursive have trouble reading things that are hand written. So, if you are having trouble reading this, it may be because you have not been trained to write in cursive. 

All I can say is that learning to write clearly helped me and boosted my self-esteem.

Here’s one last thought about cursive writing. Many, many people who are my age or older have something that I don’t think younger folks will ever have. Somewhere in our homes, maybe in an old shoebox or in the back of a drawer, there is a batch of smallish envelopes, possibly tied together with a ribbon or an old rubber band. Those are love letters—notes people sent to their significant others in the mail. This was something people did for hundreds of years.

Sometimes love letters were written when we were far apart, but also when we just needed to tell our special person how we were doing. Some have X-X-X and O-O-O for kisses and hugs. A few have stains, possibly from tears. These letters were special to us and that is why we kept them. 

Love letters are not really a big deal. Few of them could be considered great literature or poetry. But they conveyed emotions in a truly human way. I just can’t see a text message or a bunch of emojis having the same kind of meaning. Young people don’t know what they have lost.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

{I am not citing sources here, so feel free to type in some keywords and look these studies up online.}

 Thank you for reading this

March, 2024

Steven B. Zwickel

It seems like such a simple thing. Someone gives you something or offers you a compliment and you respond with “Thank you.”

People have different reactions to not being thanked. Some ignore it, but others, myself included, take it as a personal affront.

This topic came to mind when I realized I was angry about someone not thanking me for something. I won’t name names, but I sent a young person a special, valuable gift and got no response. Nothing. Not a word. I know the gift was received because I paid for insurance and tracking.

Now I am not going to rant about young people today having no manners, etc. That has become steady fodder for the advice columnists, after weddings and boundary violations. Perhaps an advice columnist would tell me to gently, and non-judgmentally, contact the donee’s parents. What could I say to them that wouldn’t sound like I’m criticizing their parenting skills? Better to keep silent and wait for the anger to dissipate.

Why does it matter? It matters because giving and receiving are part of an interpersonal transaction. The giving of a gift or kind remark creates a kind of debt, which can be repaid by saying thanks. The debt is cancelled with “You’re welcome.”

I don’t think most of us are natural thankers and I think thanking people is something that must be taught to children. My parents did a pretty good job of teaching me to say thank you and to write thank you notes. 

I have few regrets in life, but I do feel bad about the times I can remember being less than gracious. {The Spanish word for “thank you” is, of course, gracias}. I wish I had done a better job of showing appreciation for a gift or compliment.

Better Than What?

Steven B. Zwickel.

March, 2024 

I think it started years ago when I was shopping at Sears. A young salesman was pitching something to me. He listed the “features” of whatever it was and then told me, “You should buy this; it’s better!” 

I muttered some kind of response and left, but it got me to thinking. Why should I take his word for it that what he had to sell was better? How could he possibly know that what I already had wasn’t adequate for my needs?

Of course he couldn’t know. The whole point of his sales pitch was to make me dissatisfied with what I had so I would buy something “new and improved” from him.

This got me to tuning in to situations where people were trying to get me to buy something. I realized that the vast majority of the ads I saw, heard, and read in different media were all trying to do the same thing, namely make me feel discontented.

I started paying closer attention whenever someone, not just advertisers, used the word better. The more I heard the word, the angrier I became. “Do NOT tell me that something is better,” I wanted to say. “I will be the one to decide what is better for me!”

Here’s an example of what I am talking about: I was content listening to music on vinyl discs, but they got scratched and it was easy to break them. So, when audiotape cassettes became available, I realized that they were better for someone like me. I recorded my LPs on audiotape. The cassettes were small, portable, and, when they did wear out all I had to do was make a new recording.

The arrival of CDs didn’t move me to become a customer, at first. The digital sound, to my untrained ear, had a mechanical quality. I preferred analog. People insisted that CDs were better, but I was unconvinced. It wasn’t until I inherited a large collection of CDs that I decided to buy a machine that could play them. I still don’t think digital is better than analog, but it is more convenient.

I am not anti-technology; in fact, I really love playing with new toys, especially those that provide an outlet for creativity. But I see no reason to jump in just because something is popular. I reserve the right to decide what is better, so you won’t find me on social media or carrying a smartphone. Many people have tried to convince me that I need to do so, but no one has been able to show me that it is really any better than what I already use.

In a similar vein, I have decided to resist reading about anything that an author labels “important.” As soon as I get to the word important, I stop reading. I think I should be the one to decide if an artist, an event, or a publication is important. 

I feel the same way about anything called significant and I am very wary of anything referred to as iconic. Can something be significant or iconic if I’ve never heard of it? I think I should be the one to determine if something is significant or iconic.

After you have read all the way through this important essay, I assure you that your life will be better than it was!

⚾ The Game Broke My Heart

Steven B. Zwickel

February, 2024

Now that the Super Bowl is over, you might have expected me to start getting excited about Spring Training. But, I have a confession to make; I no longer follow baseball.

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, so you might guess that my first love was the Dodgers, and you’d be wrong. My first love was Willie Mays, the Say Hey Kid. On our black and white TV, he caught baseballs without looking. {See “The Catch”} 

I couldn’t believe it when my dad told me he played for the New York Giants. “Pop, are you sure he doesn’t play for the Dodgers?” “I think he must play for the Dodgers, Pop.” “Are you absolutely positive Willie Mays isn’t a Dodger??” 

Broke my heart, but peer pressure in first grade was too powerful and I became a Dodgers fan.

The photo shows me and my dad at Ebbetts Field on Sept. 21, 1957 at one of the last Brooklyn Dodger games played in that wonderful old ballpark. That Saturday 5,120 fans watched the game. The Phillies won, 3 to 2. 

We got to see the game because my dad worked with makers of mechanical pencils and the new ball-point pens. Companies like Venus courted him and tried to get him to buy their products. In 1957, Venus sponsored the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball pre-game TV show “Happy Felton's Knothole Gang” on WOR‐TV, [Channel 9]. They gave Pop tickets to the show and Pop and I made our first appearance on television, live from Ebbetts Field. The show was 25 minutes long and ran before home games at Ebbetts Field. We had our 15 seconds of fame when we were interviewed by Happy Felton.  I was so excited that, when I was asked how old I was, I had to pause before I could remember to say “7.”

1957 Topps Baseball Card #400 Brooklyn Dodgers' Sluggers: Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider

I got a program that showed the Dodgers as “Dem Bums.” They were originally called “Trolleydodgers” because it was dangerous for fans to cross streets like Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights. I also got a baseball autographed by all the 1957 Dodgers, which I still have. My grandparents lived so close to the stadium that you could hear the fans cheering (sometimes booing) from their apartment windows.

The guys on that team were immortalized in books like The Boys of Summer, a 1972 book by Roger Kahn and Confessions of a Trolley Dodger From Brooklyn by Stan Fischler. 

I watched Johnny Podres and Ed Roebuck pitch; disappointing because I really, really wanted to see Brooklyn’s own Sandy Koufax pitch. Gil Hodges was at first base and Duke Snider was out playing center field.

 The following spring, the Dodgers left town and broke my heart. But I fell in love with the game. Ebbetts Field was demolished in 1960.

That left me with the Yankees and the Giants. Games were almost all played during the day and occasionally there was a twi-light double header or a night game. Baseball was on the radio or TV just about every day of the week. On any night in the summer you could hear Mel Allen or Red Barber calling balls and strikes through the open windows; this was before air-conditioning shut us all off from the world. Then the Giants left town.

I was a teenager when we got another team worth watching. The New York Mets arrived with the World’s Fair in 1964. They were absolutely awful and a lot of fun to watch. We used to sneak out of school early and catch the train to Flushing, Queens to watch the Mets (attempt to) play baseball in Shea Stadium. 

I grew to love the game. I would develop an unexplainable "sore throat" in the fall and have to go home early, usually when there were World Series games on TV. 

When I moved to Wisconsin in 1976, I still considered myself a fan. I followed the successes of the Yankees and the ??? of the Mets for a few years. I never really cared for the local MLB team; the Milwaukee Brewers. I went to a Brewers game in June and nearly froze. The team didn’t seem to make any effort to hit or field the ball—they looked bored, or lazy. I didn’t enjoy it.

The last major league game I saw was in Minneapolis in 1992, when we took our granddaughter to watch the Twins play. That was fun.

Meanwhile, back in Madison in 1982, one of my friends got it into his head that Madison could have its own professional baseball team. He persuaded the Oakland As to bring a farm club to Madison and the Madison Muskies quickly became "my team.” 

The games were fun and for ten years, I went to several Muskie games every summer and did the "fish clap" and cheered, "Go, fish, go!" I got to see Jose Canseco play! Then the A’s shut down the franchise and broke my heart. 

A year or so went by without baseball, until they brought in another farm club, this one for the St. Louis Cards. Their mascot was a cute little mouse and they were called the "Mad Hatters". I went to a dozen games that summer and had a great time. After one season, St. Louis moved the franchise to Illinois and broke my heart.

Another team, this one in the Northern League, came to Madison in 1996. The Madison Black Wolf team was terrific. They brought up some great players, including a left-handed woman pitcher, Ila Borders, and they put on a great show. They lasted until 2000, when the owners moved the team to Michigan and they broke my heart.

In 2001 a new minor league team came to town, the Madison Mallards. I wasn’t all that interested in going, but my granddaughter wanted to see a real baseball game, so I got us tickets to a double header. I was thinking she’d get bored after the first game and we would leave. 

I absolutely hated it. The crowd was more interested in buying food and drinks {lots of drinks} than in watching the game. Most of them spent the whole time staring at their phones or watching the game on the big-screen scoreboard. After every pitch, loud music blasted and didn’t stop until the next pitch. It felt like artificial fun; the way I imagine baseball would be if Disney was producing it.

I stood up to yell at the ump about a bad call and found I was pretty much alone in the crowd. No one cheered. No one booed. No one clapped. I don’t think anyone sang “Take Me Out…” during the seventh-inning stretch. My granddaughter insisted we say for the bottom half. For me it was torture.

That was the last time. I stopped watching baseball cold turkey. I stopped reading the sports pages altogether (when the Packers aren't playing). I watched a movie called “Moneyball” and it made me nauseous. 

I tuned out baseball completely. 

I miss it, but I don't think it misses me. I'd like to break its heart.

1912 Brooklyn Dodgers cap {replica}

Watch Out For Partners!

Lawyers define a partnership as a business enterprise entered into for profit which is owned by more than one person {for legal purposes, corporations are considered to be 'persons'}, each of whom is a "partner." So what happens when you do business with a corporation and you find out later that it has a partner and then you learn that the partner has mishandled personal information you shared with the corporation?

This happened to me this month. I discovered that my health care system, SSM Health, had shared my personal and health information with a company called Navvis. A hacker had gotten into Navvis' system and gained access to my information. 

I received a “Notice of Security Incident” dated 29 December 2023 from Navvis {They are located at 555 Maryville University Dr. Suite 240; St. Louis, MO 63141} <https://www.navvishealthcare.com/>. The Navvis website says "At Navvis, we work with partners across the health ecosystem to do something radically, unapologetically different. We are reimagining new models of care. Helping providers and payers move collaboratively toward value-based arrangements, and delivering the expertise and technology to power change and ensure alignment. It’s a change agenda where everyone wins." I think it's great when everyone wins, except of course if the winnings are shared with a hacker. And I worry about that "unapologetically" bit. Who wants a partner that doesn't apologize?

The letter refers to a “recent incident” detected by Navvis on July 25, 2023 in which “certain files and information…may have been accessed, or acquired, by an unauthorized actor.” The letter included information about how anyone affected by this “incident” could get one year of free identity protection from a company called IDX ("America's leading provider of breach response services" according to <https://www.idx.us/>).

I contacted Navvis directly by phone and I was told that SSM gave my personal and medical information to Navvis without my knowledge or consent. It was OK, I was told, because Navvis was a “partner” of SSM and that my information was used to improve operations with “a comprehensive value-based care solution,” a term with which I am not familiar. The man I spoke to tried to explain a) why it took 5 months to figure out that they had been hacked and b) what exactly Navvis was doing with my personal information.

From the Navvis website, it appears that Navvis is, in fact, a consulting firm that will help clients “Reach the highest level of performance in risk-based models with a solution that brings together deep knowledge of care delivery, analytics, payment models, culture change, and enabling technologies.” Aren't they wonderful? I wonder what that means in English.

I then called SSM Health Privacy/HIPAA Contact and spoke to a woman there. She also told me that SSM and Navvis were in a partnership. She maintained that SSM had the right to share my personal information with Navvis and SSM had done nothing wrong.

I went to the SSM website and read the SSM Patient Rights and Responsibilities. It  says: “You are a key member of your Health Care Team and you have the right to: Privacy and confidentiality regarding your treatment, care and medical record.” Good to know that I am a team player!

Now, before each appointment I have with an SSM healthcare provider, I am asked to sign a “HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices SSM Health”  {Effective Date: July 1, 2015}. I re-read this document and nowhere does it mention Navvis or any other “partnerships” or consultants. 

I dug deeper and, after reading about the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)”, I found that I may let providers or health insurance companies know if there is information I do not want to share. I can ask that my health information not be shared with certain people, groups, or companies. <https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/index.html>.

So I sent SSM a letter, describing what had happened with Navvis and I concluded by asserting my HIPAA rights: 

As a “key member” of my “Health Care Team” and in accordance with  my rights under HIPAA, I hereby request that none of my personal, medical, or insurance information be shared with Navvis or any other SSM partners or consultants. 

We shall see what comes of this. 

In the meantime, beware of your team's partners!