June 13th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Cracked Helmet, Cycling Safety, Cyclists, Damaged Bike Helmet, Dr. -Ing Christof Koplin, Family Medicine, Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM, Freiburg, General Medicine, Germany, Head Gear, Head Protection, Microcapsules, Polymers, Smelly, Sports Injuries, Sports Medicine, Stink
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Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg, Germany, have developed a helmet that will make you think twice about continuing to cycle with a damaged helmet.
For maximum protection, safety helmets need to be damage-free, but it’s often impossible to know if a helmet is actually flawed after it’s been dropped or hit by something. The researchers have used polymers that start to smell if there are any small cracks, and will really stink in the case of any large cracks. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
June 13th, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: 10-50, Accidential Death, Compassion, Coroner, Dead On Arrival, Dead Person, Death Of Strangers, DOA, ED, Emergency Department, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Room, EMS, EMT, ER, General Medicine, Loss, Motor Vehicle Accident, Mourning, Paramedics, Patient Dies, Signal Nine, Sudden Death, Tragedy, Trauma Patients, Victim Dead At The Scene
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I was about to leave work a few nights ago when EMS was dispatched to a 10-50, which is a motor vehicle accident.
Enough years in emergency care and that tone makes your radar, but doesn’t create much of a blip. Many of those crashes have EMS arrive, only to discover no injuries. Some have patients transported, with minor problems that lead to their speedy evaluation and discharge from our ER. A few have serious, life-threatening injuries. They take all our speed, skill and attention to save life and limb. And often, require transfer to other facilities.
But this last call was none of those. Around 1AM the radio traffic crackled back to dispatch (which we could hear in the emergency department): “Probable Signal Nine.” Signal Nine means the victim is dead at the scene. Not “Dead On Arrival” (DOA) at the hospital, but no hospital necessary.
I knew the paramedics were finished when they asked dispatch to call for the coroner. And my heart sank a little. For all that a multi-trauma is work, I’d rather do it anytime than have someone die, and someone learn of the death. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
June 13th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Children's Health, Children's Vaccinations, Diabetes, Dr. Amy Baxter, Environmentally-Friendly, Family Medicine, FDA-Compliant, Gate Control Theory Of Pain, General Medicine, immunizations, Injections, Internal Medicine, kids, Needle Pain, Pain Relief Device, Pediatrics, Primary Care, Shots, Splinters
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Here’s Buzzy, a reusable pain relief device developed by a pediatrician. It works based on the gate control theory of pain:
Buzzy is a newly developed reusable pain relief device that children can bring to the doctor’s office with them to help dull the pain of shots! As the brainchild of Pediatrician Amy Baxter, Buzzy rapidly reduces pain when pressed onto the skin. Buzzy is especially helpful for children who receive shots often, like those suffering from diabetes. Buzzy can also be used for the small things, like taking splinters out! Not only is Buzzy a kid-favorite, but it’s safe, effective immediately on contact, FDA compliant, and environmentally friendly, too.
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
June 12th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Cardiology, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Happiness In Life, Heart Health, Life's Lessons, Managing Stress, Mental Health, Personal Outlook, Personal Perspective, Philosophical, Philosophy On Life, Positive Attitude, Positive Thinking, Primary Care, Psychology, Quality of Life, Religious, Treadmill Of Life
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Life sometimes gets in the way of daily posting. Specifically, the treadmill of life sometimes roars too fast.
But as I strolled through the hospital this morning, there was a plain piece of white paper taped to the wall around the nurses station. Although I’m not overly religious (and even highly conflicted about which rituals are the right ones), these words from a pastor/celebrity stopped me for a moment:
Attitude
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.
It will make or break a company, a church, or a home. The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change the past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is plan on the one thing that we have, and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.
As a cardiologist programmed to “alert” most of the time, words such as these help me. I haven’t seen the studies yet, but I’m guessing that positive attitudes reduce inflammation, which is good for our atria, and our arteries.
JMM
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
June 12th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, True Stories
Tags: Brain Activity, Brain Teasers, Brain Tricks, Contagious, Mouth-Brain Connection, Neurology, Psychology, Side Effect, Speech Impediment, Stroke, Stuttering
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Recently I was seeing a patient who was left with somewhat of a stutter after a prior stroke. It was a long history and probably longer for the patient, who had to work very hard to be understood through an unwanted speech impediment.
Inexplicably, when I walked out of the room I started to stutter, too — I wasn’t trying to make light of the patient’s problem, and I had to stop talking for a few moments before I could speak in my normal cadence. It was super-strange, like my brain heard the new cadence and said “Oh, that’s how you do it.” Awful.
It was embarrassing and weird. Fortunately the patient didn’t hear it, and I apologized to the staff who did. I have no idea why my mouth-brain connection picked that anomaly to repeat. Strange.
Anyone else have this?
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
