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New Study About Stillbirths Suggests A Possible Screening Test

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One of the most dreaded complications in obstetrics is a stillbirth that is defined as the absence of life upon delivery of the baby. There are approximately 3million stillbirths that occur each year globally and one-half million in the U.S. In developing countries, the most common reasons of stillbirths were prolonged labor, pre-eclampsia and infections whereas in the U.S., the most common causes are abnormal genes, abnormal growth (aka growth restriction) and maternal diseases. According to medical studies, unexplained fetal loss is the most common reason for stillbirths that occur after 28 weeks. Risk factors for stillbirth include women who have infections, abnormal chromosomes, genetic disorders and umbilical cord complications. Race and socioeconomics also play a role. Black women have twice the risk of having a stillbirth as Caucasian women. Smoking and advanced maternal age also poses an increased risk.

Until recently, there are no screening tests available to see if a woman was carrying a baby at risk for stillbirth. However, a medical study presented at a conference reported that stillbirths can now be predicted using Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*

How Your Diet Might Interfere With Prescription Medications

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When people talk about prescription medications, everyone is familiar with the concept of side effects from medication. But, did you know that there are things in your diet that may interfere with your prescription medication?

In addition, your prescription medication may interfere with over the counter medications. In this video, there are two interviews recorded on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 on local TV news. If you find the information above helpful, I invite you to check out other TV interviews on medical/health issues at MikeSevilla.TV

*This blog post was originally published at Family Medicine Rocks Blog - Mike Sevilla, MD*

NPO Allows Medical Professionals To Get Feedback On Rare Health Problems

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Human Health Project is  a non-profit organization funded by donations aiming at giving feedback on medical cases uploaded by medical professionals. Here is the description:

The Human Health Project began in California in 2006 as a non-profit organization when its founder, Dr. Phil Harrington, M.D., decided to create a platform for medical professionals to discuss rare and unusual health problems. The idea came from personal experience – for three years he went from doctor to doctor and struggled to find a diagnosis for his own illness. Even with access to modern healthcare and a background in medicine, the answers were still elusive, and the process was frustrating. For someone without the same access to healthcare, such as a patient in a developing nation, the challenge would have been even greater. This experience was telling of the lack of integration among the medical sciences and sparked the idea for the Human Health Project.

*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*

Tips For Physicians Who Want To Get Involved In Social Media

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My old friend and mentor, Ves Dimov, MD at Clinical Cases and Images shared some great instructions about how to start using social media as medical professionals.

– Start on Twitter, expand to a blog as natural progression.

– Input your blog posts automatically to a Facebook like/fan page.

– Listen to the leading physicians, nurses and patients’ voices on Twitter, and reply.

– Comment on blogs.

– Do not be afraid to share your expertise.

– Comply with HIPAA and common sense.

Also here is what Ves thinks about using Twitter.

I have published a series of similar entries on my Medicine 2.0 page.

*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*

Weight Loss Tips For ABC News

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The weather is heating up, and soon most of us will be back in shorts and t-shirts…  and worrying about looking good in our dreaded bathing suits. I had the opportunity to offer some evidence-based weight loss and fitness tips to ABC News in Washington, DC. You can view the clip or read my summary below:

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Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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