Yet More "Press Release" Reporting

In the news today is the kind of stuff that used to frustrate me: Calcium Pills Double Heart Attack Risk. Now I do the ten minutes of research needed to find out what the study actually considered, and what the conclusion actually is.  All else is a press release that reporters don't investigate,

So here's the deal: researchers in Germany asked nearly 25,000 people to regularly fill out a form on how frequently they had consumed 148 different foods over the previous twleve months.  Then they were asked if they had taken supplements "regularly"--with regularly defined as daily use for at least a week, or five doses over four weeks.  Participants were not asked how much calcium or what form of calcium.  Eleven years later, supplement versus non-supplement death rates and causes were compared.

So...  An unknown amount of an unknown form of calcium supplements were associated with a higher risk of death from cardiac events...AND (from the study) older age, longer smoking duration, and lower education levels. 

For more than a decade, it's been well-known and well-documented that calcium carbonate--the cheapest and most common form of calcium used in supplements--does little to nothing for one's health, and can in fact lead to kidney stones, hardening of the arteries, digestive issues, and low nutrient absorption.  However, mainstream supplements, like those found on standard drug store shelves, almost all use calcium carbonate.

But other forms of calcium--like calcium citrate--can do the opposite.  Without causing kidney stones.  While strengthening bones, reducing muscle cramps, and so forth.  I have never had a client come see me whose physician had explained the difference.  I've had many clients improve bone density by switching their form of calcium.

And I'm really, really tired of medical professionals--who have no education in these matters--doing little more than relating the contents of researchers' press releases.  If the professional cannot--or sees no need to--distinguish between healthy and unhealthy form of a mineral, I know she or he isn't going to give complete and accurate information.

Is it best to get your calcium from foods?  Absolutely.  Your body will get more usable calcium from greens than from dairy, though.  Will calcium supplements kill you?  Only if you take the unhealthy ones, most likely to be found at big box stores.

Choosing Words

For days, I've been hung up on choosing a single word--an utterly ridiculous-sounding admission.  My only defense is that I haven't yet given myself permission to begin revisions, so I'm not really losing writing time by spinning my wheels.  Um, right?

This word choice thing is something I've run into before, and it comes back to worldbuilding. I tend to like my cultures to default into "consensual sex doesn't need to be restricted."  There are no social/legal problems with enjoying sex.  Partnerships are certainly important, but no formal partnership is needed or expected.  Thus there aren't any illegitimate children.  Inherited stuff goes to whatever man or woman the person designates (Big Deal leadership positions do need approval from the group to be led), though it's customary to give heavy weight to kinship and birth order.

Problem is, I've this character born of inter-tribal relations--which wouldn't be a HUGE problem, other than the fact the man's father is the military leader who conquered his mother's people.  When the man shows up at dad's house--er, palace--and wants to help run the place, people are of course suspicious.

I used "bastard" as a descriptor, but even though that word's secondary meanings are precisely what I want, its primary and assumed meaning implies stuff I don't want in my world.  I started using "mongrel," but that implies it's the inter-tribal relationship that was the problem.

The real problem is the man is "half-enemy."  I didn't have a word for that.  I didn't want to make one up.

So I decided I really, really like the way mongrel sounds--the way it demonstrates the dehumanization of the (my favorite!) character by his detractors--and did this:

He was the mongrel--Maradek's son, yes, but always the enemy's child.

That's it.

When ya can't find the word you want, redefine one that already exists.