July 10th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Medical Art, True Stories
Tags: Created By Kids, Diabetes, Diabeticons, Endocrinology, Friends For Life Conference, International Children With Diabetes
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Some of the most inspiring moments from the “Friends for Life” International Children With Diabetes conference were found in the expo hall, where kids were creating their own diabeticons. These are two that I absolutely loved:
“Let the sun rise on a cure, let the sun set on diabetes.”
“Love your life with or without diabetes.”
Now I need to figure out how to use that Bamboo so I can doctor up my own diabeticons at home. (Siah has asked for one that says “I love pump tubing!” Because oh, does she. She loves that chewy, Band-Aid taste.)
[Animas disclosure]
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
July 10th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Patient Interviews, True Stories
Tags: Alopecia, Autoimmune Disease, Baldness, Dermatology, Dr. Maria Hordinsky, Hair Follicles, Hair Loss, Karen Barrow, Male-Pattern Baldness, Patient Stories, Patient Voices, Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times, University of Minnesota
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The New York Times has a series called “Patient Voices” which gives insights from the patients with the disease, physical and emotional changes in their lives, and accommodations made. The most recent series is on patients with alopecia (hair loss).
“The Voices of Alopecia” by Tara Parker-Pope (July 6, 2010):
This week, Patient Voices explores alopecia, an autoimmune disease that leads to a few bald patches to the loss of every hair on a person’s body.
To hear what it’s like to live with alopecia, listen to the Patient Voices audio slideshow that features adults, children and their parents who are coping with the condition.
Listen to these seven people tell what it’s like to live with alopecia:
– Matt Kelly, 43, lost his hair at age 38 over a 6 week time span.
– Jennifer DeFreece, 29, developed alopecia totalis as a child.
– Margaret Staib, 42, an artist with three daughters.
– Rafi Wasselman, 16, says his best medicine is his collection of caps.
– Maureen McGettigan, 47, began losing her hair at age 16.
– Annie Kazmi, 33, tells her daughter Noori’s story. Then Noori tells her own. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
July 10th, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research, True Stories
Tags: Accelerated Heart Rate, Anesthesiology, Angel's Trumpet, Anticholinergic Poisonings, Asthma Attacks, Atropa Belladonna, Belladonna Alkaloids, Bronchoconstriction, Brugmansia Genus, Erowid, Fatal Cardiac Rhythmic Disturbances, Feingold, Hallucinations, Hospitalizations, Mydriasis, Physostigmine, Pilocarpine, Poison Control, Poisoning In Kids, Tea, Tree Datura, Tropane Alkaloids, Witches Brew
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Toxicity reports are re-emerging in southern California this week after a dozen hospitalizations of kids using teas made from a fragrant flowering plant called Angel’s Trumpet.
A tea made from the plant is used to produce hallucinations, but they can progress to extremely unpleasant experiences. Moreover, Angel’s Trumpet can be deadly, accelerating the heart rate and causing fatal cardiac rhythmic disturbances and bronchoconstriction that can trigger asthma attacks in sensitive individuals. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
July 9th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, News
Tags: Automatic Reminders, Bottle Cap, Cellphone Technology, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Geriatrics, GlowCaps, Internal Medicine, Medication Compliance, Patient Compliance, Pharmacology, Pill Bottle, Prescription Bottles, Prescription Drugs, Primary Care, Remind Patients To Take Their Pills, Reports To Caregivers And Physicians, Vitality, Wireless Networks
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Normally, the patient calls the pharmacy for a prescription. Now, the prescription is doing that by itself. GlowCaps, a prescription bottle cap made by Vitality, has assumed control for medication compliance.
The bottle cap fits prescription bottles, but has uses cellphone technology to tap into wireless networks. Once connected, the pill bottle does everything imaginable to remind patients to take their pills.
There’s lights — plenty of them. The bottle cap really does glow and make noise to remind patients. Plug-in units wirelessly connected to the bottle cap can be placed anywhere there’s a wall socket. Oh, and it will call you, too, if you forget. The company calls this “Reminders Ramp from Subtle to Insistent.” (Add “relentless” to that.)
Ultimately, GlowCaps tallies compliance and sends reports to caregivers and physicians. Not surprisingly, studies show that constant nagging to take one’s medications works.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
July 9th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, True Stories
Tags: ALF, Assisted Living Facility, Becoming A Doctor, Childhood Memories, Elderly Family Members, Emotional Time, Family Caregivers, Family Medicine, General Medicine, How To Treat Patients, Kindness, Mother, Primary Care, Son, The Reason I Stayed A Doctor, Time Of Transition
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This week I traveled to a small town outside Chicago to help my mother with her move from an assisted living facility to Alabama so she can live with my sister. I suspect many people, thanks to current economic times, have realized that the savings that were supposed to be there are not and change must happen. Such is the case with my mother.
It’s sure to be an emotional time, one which both of us had hoped to avoid. For her, she will be moving from the region of her childhood, her college, her marriage, her first home, her dream home, her caldron of first-grade student graduates and her dearest friends. For me, I will miss our spontaneous visits, morning coffee conversations, trips to the local restaurant in the town of my childhood, her gentle smile, and her helpful advice.
But this is not what I’ll miss the most. For me, I’ll miss the single greatest gift she could ever give a son: her kindness. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
