March 31st, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Humor, News, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays
No Comments »
“Am I having a heart attack?” From the files of the strange and unusual comes this self-test kit for myocardial infarction, otherwise known as a heart attack.
For the lay people out there, a heart attack occurs when bloodflow to the heart muscle stops, usually because of a blockage in the arteries around the heart (coronary arteries). (It’s what happened to Bill Clinton, although his heart muscle didn’t die, as it likely had collateral bloodflow from other arteries.) When bloodflow stops, the heart muscle dies. When the heart muscle cells die, they release compounds into the bloodstream which can then be detected on blood draws.
That is the basis for detecting a heart attack by drawing blood. There are some compounds that are specific to the heart, such as troponins that will only go up when the heart muscle is dying. Other enzymes, such as the CK go up with any muscle damage, including the heart.
That is the basis of this new self-test kit for heart attack testing from China Sky One Medical that tries to answer the “Am I having a heart attack?” question at home. It was approved in China in 2007 and recently received European Union clearance as well. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 28th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
No Comments »
Have you ever asked yourself the question: “Who has access to my medical records?” It’s supposed to be secure. Your medical records are supposed to be protected. For many people, they don’t want anyone knowing they have genital warts or that they were treated for depression five years ago.
Many people believe that those with access to their medical records protect their privacy according to HIPAA rules. Well folks, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but your medical records aren’t as secure as you may think they are. In fact, if you live in Happy’s town, you might even be lucky enough to have ME get access to your medical records without even trying.
You see, my home fax number is very similar to a laboratory fax number in my city. And because of that, every week I’m getting faxes from hospitals and doctors’ office with lab results. I used to call them back to let them know, but so often I’d get put on hold or have to navigate through twenty phone options that I just said “forget it.”
Now when I get these faxes I chuck them. If I feel like taking the time to shred them I may. Otherwise, they go straight into the garbage. Except for the fax I got last week regarding Mary Smith and her condyloma results. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 26th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion
No Comments »
From the Tonight Show and the Jay Leno News Service comes this morsel of information about doctors, nurses, patients and hospitals. According to Jay, a Men’s Health poll indicates that 65 percent of men would prefer a sexy nurse over a competent doctor. That’s shocking, but not surprising. I suppose it takes a lot of pressure off the doctors for a perfect hospital outcome. Unless, of course, the nurse happens to be ugly.
I can see it now: In an effort to improve patient satisfaction and reduce malpractice risk, hospitals just need to fire the ugly nurses and keep the hot ones. In fact, as a hospitalist, my malpractice risk depends on it. Forget about all the other quality improvement junk we put ourselves through. I’d put my money on hot nurses any day.
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 23rd, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor
No Comments »
So I’m at work the other day and I see this Glade bathroom air freshener sitting in a bathroom and it hits me: What’s the appropriate bathroom air freshener protocol? I know everyone should always wash their hands when they use the restroom to help control infectious disease, but having a touchable canister of bathroom air freshener instead of an automatic air freshener made me think:
Should I wash my hands before I spray the bathroom air freshener or should I spray the air freshener before I wash my hands?
You just never know what’s on the spray nozzle of these manual bathroom air fresheners. So do you wash your hands and then spray the air freshener out of common courtesy for others and not trust that others have done the same and then wash your hands again? What’s the protocol for this? Take the Bathroom Air Freshener Poll and put the controversy to rest once and for all. The world wants to know.
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 20th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Tips
1 Comment »
How much does a shopping cart full of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables cost? Let’s see:
Oranges (4.25 lbs @ $1.28/lb): $5.44
Bananas (2.66 lbs @ $0.48/lb): $1.28
Grapes (2.50 lbs @ $2.78/lb): $6.95
Green Onions (one bunch): $0.66
Asparagus (1.00 lbs @ $1.47/lb): $1.47
Apples (2.79 lbs @ $1.46/lb): $4.07
Nectarines(1.53 lbs @ $1.98/lb): $3.03
English Cucumbers ($1.78 each): $3.56
Tomatoes (1.37 lbs @ $2.78/lb): $3.81
Strawberries (1.00 lb @ $1.37/lb): $1.37
Bag of carrots (1 lb): $1.48
Mini sweet peppers (2 lb bag): $4.98
That’s $38.10 for 21.1 pounds of fruit and vegetables. That’s $1.80 per pound. Interestingly, that’s cheaper than just about everything else you can buy in a grocery store whether it’s boxed, canned, processed, fresh or frozen. It’s also interesting that this is what you’ll pay for the right to eat fast food. Go to any McDonald’s and you’ll spend about $5 for a value meal, which I suspect doesn’t even reach 3lbs of weight. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
