February 13th, 2010 by PhilBaumannRN in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Advertising, DTC, Effective Campaign, Ethics, Marketing, Nursing, Pharma, Pharmaceuticals, Reptilian Brain, Sweet Spot
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The Pharmaceutical industry has effectively made a mockery of itself with television advertising (harsh assessment, I know, but bear with me). In the late 1980s – 30 years after television advertising was figured out – Pharma finally jumped into the game after regulatory constraints were lifted. Some of it worked – but mostly, the efforts just amplified the industry’s public relations comorbidities.
I actually believe that the industry could learn a few things in this video I came across. It’s a road safety advertisement and it brilliantly weaves together a simple idea with visual and emotional vigor. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*
February 13th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, News
Tags: App, Application, Extreme Twitter, Fetal Tweets, Kickbee, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pregnancy, TMI, Twitter, Twitter Over Load
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When I first talked about Kickbee, it created a buzz about how this method could be utilized in health management. In a nutshell, Corey Menscher, the father of kickbee, probably the youngest Twitter user, has designed a kick sensor which monitors his pregnant wife’s belly, and generates a fetal tweet whenever the baby kicks.
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
February 13th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Blame, Genes, Genetics, Obesity, Personal Responsibility, Stuttering
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Just heard a news story that researchers have identified three genes responsible for about 9 percent of stuttering. In the story, a woman who stuttered as a child and teenager and who now works with other stutterers was nearly in tears at the news. Her clients, she said, would be so happy to learn that their stuttering “wasn’t their fault.”
I’m happy for the stutterers of the world. But this story made me think about so many other things related to our health that we try to find an “out” for, something that makes it not our “fault.” The more we learn about the contribution of genes to human health, the more stories like the stuttering one we’ll hear. The thing is, our genes do not operate in a vacuum. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Medical Writer's Musings on Medicine and Health Care*
February 12th, 2010 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Alcohol, Caffeine, Drunk, Emergency Medicine, Energy Drinks, Food and Nutrition, Pediatrics, Primary Care, Risky Behaviors, Youth
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What is it about our culture that encourages newer and riskier ways to challenge our health? Public health folks have become very concerned about the latest challenge – alcoholic energy drinks. These are prepackaged beverage with alcohol and caffeine, as well as other stimulants, that look like other energy drinks but carry a much more powerful, and dangerous, punch!
There were 500 new energy drink products introduced worldwide in 2006 with average sales topping $3.2 billion. These products are targeting youth by creating brand confusion with nonalcoholic versions; providing a cheap alternative to mixing energy drinks with alcohol; and using youth-friendly grassroots and viral marketing. The names of these products say it all – Rockstar, Sparks, and Tilt. Read more »
This post, Why You Shouldn’t Mix Energy Drinks With Alcohol, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
February 12th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Admissions, Cognitive Traits, MCAT, Medical School, Personality, Test Scores
1 Comment »
Currently, the most important test prospective medical students take is the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT.
Despite what schools say, an MCAT score holds tremendous weight, more so than a brilliant essay or a stellar recommendation letter.
In an interesting New York Times piece, Pauline Chen wonders whether that score itself leads to a great physician. She discusses an article showing that students’ cognitive traits may be equally important.
Although students go through several interviews to get an assessment of their personality, these are rarely standardized, and certainly not quantified. It’s important to know, for instance, how a student responds to stress: “If I know someone is not just stress-prone, but stress-prone at the 95th percentile rather than the 65th. I would have to ask myself if that person could handle the stress of medicine.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
