Dr Joel Yong
Bio
Engineering biochemical support strategies for optimal health. Subscribe to my mailing list to not miss out on the latest content!
Stories (38/0)
No, You Are Not Entitled To A Refund Of Your Prescription Drugs.
I recently had to consult a doctor for an infection derived from an ingrown toenail. It was sore, throbbing and painful — all the classic signs of an acute inflammatory reaction right there. I just wanted to ensure that there weren’t any other complications or broken toenail bits to be forcibly removed, ya know.
By Dr Joel Yong3 years ago in Longevity
The Four Essential Cs of Human Relationships
A relationship is defined as "a connection, association, or involvement" between people. I am related to my parents - my father's sperm and my mother's egg brought about the requisite biochemical reactions that brought me into this world 9 months after.
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Humans
The Dissonance Between Medical Research And Human Health
In 7 Things I Learnt About My PhD Degree, I noted a problem with research culture: The publish-or-perish culture is pervadingly strong in PhD life. If one wants to become an academic, they have to be in a rat race to get noticed. Get more articles published, get more readership and citations, and get noticed. Of course, this rat race is heavily rooted in the concept of social Darwinism, and academia is not exempt from it. This concept is also common among Medium writers, Instagram influencers, content creators and business operators. It’s all about getting noticed and turning viral. Seminal research papers, therefore, are just like any other viral Youtube video or Instagram story. They are meant for academic consumption, however. Researchers are evaluated based on the impact factor of their publications and their own personal H-index, in the very same vein that Instagram influencers are evaluated on their engagement metrics and their number of followers. So even though the PhD project is not meant to be 100% of your life, it can damned well take up at least 99.99% of it. Having a consistent theme and direction to the project is also necessary, because sometimes a new research idea can come in — but is it relevant to the thesis at hand? That must be evaluated very carefully — because the idea, if successfully executed and researched, can land a publication in a journal with a high impact factor and boost one’s H-index… but it can lengthen one’s graduation timeframe too, if it isn’t that relevant to the thesis.
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Longevity
What The Deuce Is This Clottery All About?
Our blood is a very unique fluid. It doesn't just contain water. It contains a whole load of other dissolved substances such as proteins, electrolytes and vitamins, as well as other insoluble components such as the red blood cells.
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Longevity
Does A Lack Of Social Awareness Constitute Self-Centredness Or Narcissism?
I would say that this image represents me really well. When I have an idea that I have thought long and deep about, considering the multiple different perspectives and the nuances of the theses and the antitheses in my analysis to bring about a useful synthesis...
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Humans
Stability and Balance As A Function Of Our Physical Health
The idea of having a stable baseline is firmly ingrained in our psyches. The baseline provides a sense of stability for us in our day-to-day lives. For example, a salaried employee gets paid a baseline salary of X dollars per month, and from there, they are able to properly plan and budget for their expenses.
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Longevity
The Building Of A Dream
All of us have dreams. They can appear in the day as we're zoning out and daydreaming, or they can appear in the night as we sleep. Some dreams are pleasant and leave us with warm fuzzy feelings when we wake up in the morning, while others are downright unpleasant nightmares.
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Journal
The Science Of Banana Browning And Parkinson's Disease.
The banana is a carbolicious fruit that many of us do like snacking on. It’s a source of quick, “natural” energy. Professional athletes chomp down on them in between games to get their second wind. We love using it in other carby dishes, such as with ice cream (the banana split), pancakes, waffles or with bread. In fact, people who grew up in the UK in the 1980s and the 1990s would also have been exposed to little Eric Wimp, a wimpy looking kid who gains superhuman strength after eating a banana — and becoming Bananaman in the process.
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Longevity
The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner And Its Analogy With Our Blood Sugar
Water, water everywhere, / Nor any drop to drink - this line from The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge does provide a poignant aspect of a sailor out at sea. On a becalmed ship, he is surrounded by gallon after gallon of seawater - which he knows will do him more harm than good if he tries to drink it.
By Dr Joel Yong4 years ago in Longevity