Answers about health from the world’s smartest woman

“What the word needs now is love, sweet love, that’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” 

Hal David, lyricist

One of my Sunday traditions is reading Parade , a magazine in the newspaper. One of my favorite parts is the “Ask Marilyn” column where Marilyn Vos Savant answers complex questions on a wide range of subjects- math, science, medicine, technology, economics , games, sports and just about any topic you can imagine.

I have wondered how she does it, imagining it must take hours and hours of research.

But then I learned her history.  She has one of the highest IQs in the world. She is the world’s smartest woman, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, having one of the highest IQs ever recorded.

Parade published an article about how she met her husband. She is married to none other than Dr. Robert Jarvik, developer of the artificial heart.

He called her after reading a magazine article about her, and they had a long distance courtship lasting one year.

At their wedding, science fiction author Isaac Asimov walked her down the aisle; the best man was the 7th recipient of one of the Jarvik artificial hearts! How’s that for romantic. They have been happily married since 1987.      

Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Vol. 1

Books by Marilyn Vos Savant 

Growing Up: A Classic American Childhood

The Power of Logical Thinking 

exploring the HEART of health by Marilyn  

After she and Dr. Jarvik married, she became Chief Financial Officer of Jarvik Heart, Inc. But she also addresses health issues in the questions she answers in her Parade column and online. Here is a sample of some of them. (I have paraphrased her answers. )

question

Why do some drug side effects wear off and some don’t?

answer

Our bodies respond to drugs in different ways, positive and negative. Sometimes the effects are positive, relieving symptoms or curing an illness. Negative effects range from bothersome to dangerous. Either way, effects may increase or decrease depending on our genetic ability to respond to that particular drug. So sometimes drug dosages need to be changeto continue being effective or the med stopped if side effects persist or worsen.

question

Can you catch a cold from your cat?

answer

Not likely. Viruses that affect dogs and cats are different from those that affect humans, plus humans are susceptible to many more. But mutations an occur and cause animal viruses to infect humans, such as the swine flu.

question

Why do men burn more calories than women?

answer

A person who weighs more will burn more calories. However, men typically have more muscle mass and women have more fat mass; muscle burns more calories than fat.

question

How much of our brain do we use; is it true we only use 10%?

answer

No,it is not true. We use nearly all of our brain. Different parts are more active at times, depending on what we are doing. Only a small fraction of our billion brain cells are active at a time.

Read more of Marilyn’s popular answers at this link.

 

“All you need is love.”

Beatles John and Paul (Lennon and McCartney)

(These and some other links in this post are to affiliate sites that may pay this blog a small commission. )

My love story

My husband and I shared a romantic dinner on vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Read about our romance at the link below the photo

Two Words That Changed My Life

 

Sharing the HEART of love

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