April 6th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: American Journal of Infection Control, Antibiotics, Dissemination, E-Medicine, E-Tools, Evidence-Based Social Media, General Medicine, Misunderstanding, Misuse, Positive Behavior Change, Primary Care, Real-Time Health Data, Social Health Media, Social Media Sites, Social Networks, Twitter, Valid Health Information
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This is the era of evidence-based social media as more and more papers focusing on medicine and social media are coming out. An interesting paper was published a few days ago in the American Journal of Infection Control. Scanfeld et al. tried to reveal the rate of misunderstanding or misuse of antibiotics in Twitter messages in their study: Dissemination of health information through social networks: Twitter and antibiotics.
BACKGROUND: This study reviewed Twitter status updates mentioning “antibiotic(s)” to determine overarching categories and explore evidence of misunderstanding or misuse of antibiotics.
METHODS: One thousand Twitter status updates mentioning antibiotic(s) were randomly selected for content analysis and categorization. To explore cases of potential misunderstanding or misuse, these status updates were mined for co-occurrence of the following terms: “cold + antibiotic(s),” “extra + antibiotic(s),” “flu + antibiotic(s),” “leftover + antibiotic(s),” and “share + antibiotic(s)” and reviewed to confirm evidence of misuse or misunderstanding.
RESULTS: Of the 1000 status updates, 971 were categorized into 11 groups. Cases of misunderstanding or abuse were identified for the following combinations: “flu + antibiotic(s)” (n = 345), “cold + antibiotic(s)” (n = 302), “leftover + antibiotic(s)” (n = 23), “share + antibiotic(s)” (n = 10), and “extra + antibiotic(s)” (n = 7).
CONCLUSION: Social media sites offer means of health information sharing. Further study is warranted to explore how such networks may provide a venue to identify misuse or misunderstanding of antibiotics, promote positive behavior change, disseminate valid information, and explore how such tools can be used to gather real-time health data. 
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
April 6th, 2010 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Expert Interviews, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: 60 Minutes, Addiction Therapy, CBS, Chew, Cigarettes, Dissolvable Products, Documentary, Dr, Dr. Karl Fagerstrom, Dual Use, Dual User, General Medicine, Indiana University, Lung Cancer, Nicotine Addition, Nicotine Delivery, Pancreatic Cancer, Primary Care, Quit Smoking, Smokeless Tobacco, smoking cessation, Snus, Spit Tobacco, Spitless Tobacco, Stephen Jay, Sweden, Tobacco Companies, Use By Youth
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This week the respected CBS documentary news show “60 Minutes” included a feature on smokeless tobacco, focusing on the recent launch of snus in the United States. The show was relatively balanced in focusing on the main potential risks and benefits of snus.
It started by featuring a young man who enjoys using snus in places where he cannot smoke, while continuing with a pack-a-day smoking addiction. The interviewer gave him the bad news: “You are a dual user.”
It then had a segment with the widely respected Swedish nicotine addiction expert, Dr Karl Fagerstrom, who stated that snus is 90-99% less harmful than smoking (while admitting some risks, including of pancreatic cancer). Read more »
This post, Smokeless Tobacco And The U.S. Launch Of Snus, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
April 6th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Belching, Constipation, Diarrhea, Digestive Problems, ED, Embarrassing, Erectile Dysfunction, Gastroenterology, General Medicine, Health Problems, Hemorrhoids, Impotence, Incontinence, Medical Conditions, Obesity, Odor, Passing Gas, Primary Care, Sexual Problems, Shame, smell, Social Conditioning, Urology
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April is “Embarrassing Subject Month” for my podcast. I am covering the following problems:
- Hemorrhoids
- Digestive problems (constipation/diarrhea)
- Urinary incontinence
- “Male problems”
It should be fun, and it will be promoted on iTunes, so it should drum up more subscribers and downloads.
But it begs the question: Why are certain conditions embarrassing to people? Why can people open up to me about so many personal things, yet be embarrassed to discuss hemorrhoids? Why is it easier to talk about your marriage falling apart than your urinary “accidents?” Why is diarrhea more embarrassing than vomiting? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
April 5th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
Tags: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Cardiology, Defibrillators, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Functionality, Implantable Medical Devices, Internal Medicine, Medical Device Safety Institute, Medical Technology, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Pacemakers, Primary Care, Privacy, Regulations, Security, University of Washington in Seattle, Wireless Hacking
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Researchers from the Medical Device Safety Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle have published an article in the latest New England Journal of Medicine suggesting technological and regulatory actions that they hope will increase the security and privacy of implantable medical devices.
As has been reported earlier, implantable pacemakers, defibrillators, and similar devices are subject to wireless hacking that may influence their functionality. Although a lip-smacking target for devious hackers, an actual incident where a person’s implant has been interfered with is yet to be reported.
NEJM: Improving the Security and Privacy of Implantable Medical Devices…
Flashback: Implant Hacking Possible, Not Probable…Yet
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
April 5th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Ambulance, Bankrupt, Detox, Emergency Medicine, General Medicine, Health Insurance, Healthcare Reform Bill, Hospitals, medicaid, Poor, Poverty, Primary Care, Racist, Underfunded, Underinsured, uninsured
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We learn from the healthcare reform bill that the federal government will help subsidize Medicaid funding for all the new patients who qualify, but they will only do it for two years. After that, the states are on their own. Medicaid unfunded liabilities will crush state governments everywhere.
Why is Medicaid so expensive and going bankrupt? I’ll give you one example why. This is played out day after day, night after night in communities all across our country. And the only ones paying for it are you and me. The ones spending all the money have no incentive to stop.
I’m in the ER the other day when I see a chief complaint fly by on the radar. What is that chief complaint, you ask? Let me tell you a story.
Refused By Detox
The patient was so drunk even the community detox center refused him. So how did this play out? The patient was taken by ambulance from his home to a small-town community ER for altered mental status. There he was checked into the ER and seen by a small-town community ER physician, family practice resident, or PA or NP.
Diagnosis: Acute alcohol intoxication. Plan: Discharge to community detox center. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
