In health care, we talk a lot about evidence-based practice or its younger brother, evidence-informed practice. Aligned with this, we have developed what is now known as the three-legged stool of evidence-based practice. The now-legendary three legs of the proverbial stool include research evidence, clinical expertise, and patients' values, needs, and preferences. However, what has been forgotten in this whole construct is that any good stool is useless unless it stands upon a sound foundation, or as Newton would have it, “standing on the shoulders of giants”. Let’s call them the Three Amigos.

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There is nothing more amusing than a cold front barreling into Austin in December. It can certainly be an ominous proposition as freezing rain can shut the city down in the blink of an eye. Although I grew up shoveling snow from my doorstep, removing a half inch slab of ice from your car in the morning can be a daunting task indeed.

A week prior to the impending front, meteorologists were projecting the end of the world - or the winter wonderland equivalent of it. As it turned out, it was all much ado over almost nothing - again. The fear and paranoia of the impending doom made the whole experience far worse than it really needed to be.

Please, oh please, could we have a voice of climatological reason in the deep south?

In the meantime, grab a cup of hot cocoa and get ready for the next episode of the Rhubarb Report.

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Western culture is fascinated by superheroes, great athletes, and entertainment icons. We’re obsessed with larger-than-life personas with big stories and epic adventures. Many spend a lot of time and energy focusing on someone else’s coolness. However, none of us are any different - and here’s why.

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The podcast “Consumer’s Guide To Health” returned to the airwaves in January. This biweekly podcast and live stream airs on BlogTalkRadio every second Thursday at 11:00am central time. Join the discussion!

Episode 49 is entitled “The Why Of Warm Up And Cool Down”.

With the Olympics now in full swing, it only makes sense to have today's Consumer's Guide To Health podcast focus on a sport-related theme. There is no better place to start than the warm up and cool down.

If you ask any 10 athletes what they do in their warm up prior to their training session, they will probably give you 10 different answers. Ask the same 10 athletes about their cool down period post-training, and you will get at least as many answers.

There is a lot of tradition and myth and fallacy involved in the warm up and cool down, much like training in general. This episode of “Consumer’s Guide To Health” will clarify some of these issues.

All previous episodes of CGH are currently available on my BlogTalkRadio channel. You can subscribe via RSS and the podcasts are also available on iTunes. The next episode will be on Thursday,August 16.

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