March 26th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Humor
Tags: Add new tag, Cardiac Device, Cardiology, EKG, Humor, ICD Shock, Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator
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He was 60-year-old man who underwent surgery for an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) approximately 3 years prior who was returning to the clinic for routine followup. He felt well and had no other complaints.
He was connected to the EKG and the programmer’s wand was placed over the device. I interrogated his device and when the initial screen appeared, there it was — a single shock from his device, received two weeks ago.
“Mr. Smith, are you aware that you had an ICD shock about two weeks ago?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you call us?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did it bother you?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
There was a pause. I looked up from the programmer and took a quick look at him. He was looking away. Instantly, I realized the answer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
March 26th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor
Tags: Healthcare reform, Humor, Jokes
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The only sure thing about healthcare reform is that it’s going to add to the country’s collective case of bad temper. How can we not feel down for having to go through weeks of listening to partisans of all stripes say anything imaginable to attack the other guys’ arguments?
For at least one day, then, let’s turn down the heat, and look to humor to put smiles back on our faces.
For even-handed skewing of all things Washington, see this link to the “Top Ten Healthcare Reform Jokes,” selected by Daniel Kurtzman from material provided by Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, and others.
My favorite: “The healthcare bill was introduced yesterday. It’s 1,990 pages long and costs $894 billion dollars. Or $2.2 million per word. That makes them the most expensive words to come out of Washington since ‘Mission Accomplished.'” – Jimmy Fallon Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
March 25th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: CT Guided Biopsies, CT Images, Death of Soldiers, Dover Air Force Base, Forensic Examination, Forensic Robot, High Definition Images, University of Bern's Institute of Forensic Medicine, Vitrobot, Vitual Autopsies
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Virtobot is the name of a forensic robot used at the University of Bern’s Institute of Forensic Medicine to perform virtual autopsies. In the futuristic Virtopsy laboratory, the robot scans the contours and texture of the human body by projecting light bars on it and acquiring high definition images.
These data are combined with the CT images acquired by the scanner in the same room. A three dimensional image of the body is then reconstructed that can be used during forensic examinations and be preserved as long as necessary. Additionally, the robot can also perform CT guided biopsies. The US forces have already installed a Virtopsy laboratory at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to assess the cause of death of soldiers sent back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Video of the Virtobot in action:
Press release: Digital future heralded for forensic medicine…
The Virtopsy Project on Youtube…
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
March 25th, 2010 by Jon LaPook, M.D. in Better Health Network, Expert Interviews, Health Policy, News, Video
Tags: 32 Million New Patients, Doctor Shortage, Dr. Jason Marker, Dr. Jon LaPook, Family Medicine, General Practice, Healthcare reform, Internal Medicine, medicaid, Medicare, Primary Care Shortage
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With the passage of healthcare reform, an estimated thirty two million new patients will try to find primary care doctors. That’s not going to be so easy because we already face a shortage of primary care doctors and about 13,000 more will be needed to take care of those newly eligible for insurance.
According to the American Medical Association, there are about 312,000 primary care doctors practicing in the United States. That includes family medicine, general practice (GP), internal medicine, and pediatrics. (In addition, there are 43,000 ob-gyn’s who also may serve as primary care doctors.) The estimate that another 13,000 will be needed comes from a study done by the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care in partnership with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Sixty five million Americans already live in areas that don’t have enough primary care doctors. And relief is not on the way anytime soon. It takes 5 to 8 years for a first year medical student to be trained as a primary care doctor. And the trend for budding doctors over the past decade has been away from primary care and towards more lucrative specialties. Read more »
March 25th, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Opinion, Research
Tags: Global Recession, Socioeconomics, World Population
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I’ve been searching Twitter for “population” and “economics” this month and came across this article on LifeSiteNews.com. The contention: Low population growth is responsible for the current recession. Here’s a snippet:
“With the decline in births, there are fewer young people that productively enter the working world,” Tedeschi explained. At the same time, he said, “there are many more elderly people that leave the system of production and become a cost for the collective,” increasing social welfare costs that a shrinking proportion of taxable young workers will have to sustain.
There’s actually a smidgen of truth to that. In a nation where the population is growing, the young outnumber the old. Where there are “pay as you go” retirement programs like Social Security in the U.S., this places an increasing burden on the working class to support the elderly.
But to say that the current global recession is due to slow population growth disingenuous. China is still doing quite well, even though its population growth has also slowed. The US continues to have relatively rapid population growth, but it’s in a recession just like places where population is stagnating, like Western Europe and Japan. The places world where population is growing fastest are typically highly impoverished. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
