December 22nd, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: A Doctor's Feelings, Appreciation, Being A Doctor, Doctor's Health, Doctor's Personal Story, Doctor's Point of View, Doctor's Well-Being, Doctors Who Care, Dr. Rob Lamberts, Drained Emotions, Drained of Energy, Effects of Stress, Emotional Exhaustion, Emotional Health, Emotional Reserves, Emotional Strength, Emotional Well-Being, Emotionally Exhausted, Family Medicine, Feeling Spent, General Medicine, Helping People, How Stress Affects Health, Mental Health, Musings of a Distractible Mind, Patients Helping Doctors, People Who Care For Others, Physician Stress, Primary Care, Saying Thank You, Stress Management, Stressed-Out Doctors, Stressful Job
1 Comment »
“I need you to do me a favor,” my nurse asked me at the end of our day on Friday.
“Sure,” I answered. “What do you want?”
“Please have a better week next week,” she said with a pained expression. “I don’t think I can handle another one like this week.”
It was a bad week. There was cancer, there was anxiety, there were family fights, there were very sick children. It’s not that it’s unusual to see tough things (I am a doctor), but the grouping of them had all of us trudging home drained of energy. Spent.
I think this is one of the toughest thing about being a doctor (and nurse, by my nurse’s question): The spending of emotional reserves. I’m not physically active at work, yet I come home tired. I don’t have to be busy to feel drained. It’s not the patients’ fault that I feel tired. They are coming to me to get the service I offer to them, and I think I do that job well. The real problem is in me. The real problem is that I care. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
December 21st, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Doctors' Waiting Rooms, e-Patient Dave, E-Patients, Healthcare Social Media, Pain Management, Public Awareness, Social Media In Medicine, Social Media Outreach, Spoonies, The Spoon Theory
2 Comments »
If you don’t truly understand how draining it can be to live with chronic illness, including chronic pain, go read The Spoon Theory right now. In five minutes it forever changed my own awareness of my wife’s arthritis and bone pain.
On Twitter I saw “spoonies” raving about this months ago, but I finally took time to read it: 2,100 words and worth every second. Also, on Twitter follow @bydls – “But you don’t look sick!” – and explore their smart website, where they’re wisely selling posters of the story for doctors’ waiting rooms, and everything else imaginable in modern outreach through social media.
These are smart people, and this is a powerful piece of writing.
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
December 21st, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
Tags: ABV, ACS, Alcohol Abuse, Alcohol By Volume, Alcohol In Moderation, Alcohol-Related Disease, Alcoholic Drinks, Alcoholism, American Cancer Society, Barbara Ficarra, Breast Cancer, Coronary Heart Disease, Extensive Alcohol Use, Health In 30, Heavy Drinking, Holiday Beverage Guide, Liver Cancer, MD Anderson Cancer Center, National Cancer Institute, NCI, Oral Cancer, Red Wine, Type 2 Diabetes
No Comments »
Guest post submitted by MD Anderson Cancer Center*
When you raise your glass at this year’s holiday toast, choose your beverage wisely. Research shows that drinking even a small amount of alcohol increases your chances of developing cancer, including oral cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer.
Yet, other research shows that drinking small amounts of alcohol may protect the body against coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Some evidence even suggests that red wine may help prevent cancer.
Researchers are still trying to learn more about how alcohol links to cancer. But, convincing evidence does support the fact that heavy drinking damages cells and contributes to cancer development.
Confused? Use our beverage guide to choose a drink with the lowest health risk, and learn your recommended drink limit and what alcoholic drinks to avoid. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
December 21st, 2010 by PJSkerrett in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Antioxidants, Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar Control, Brown Rice, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiac Risk, Chia Pet, Chia Seeds, Chian, Chronic Conditions, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Diabetes Management, Fiber, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, HDL Cholesterol, Heart Health, Highly-Refined Grains, LDL Cholesterol, Living With Diabetes, Mint, Oatmeal, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, PJ Skerrett, Protein, Quinoa, Salba, Salvia Hispanica, Texting While Driving, Triglycerides, White Bread, White Rice, Whole Grains, Whole-Wheat Bread
1 Comment »
Like swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano in the spring, Chia Pets begin appearing every December on late-night television and in the gift aisles of many stores. (Full disclaimer: I bought one for the Yankee Swap at Harvard Health Publication’s annual Christmas party.) Water these ceramic figures and they sprout a green “fur” from seeds embedded on the surface. Silly? Sure, that’s why they are such a hit. What you might not know is that the seeds may someday be a real gift for people with diabetes.
Chia seeds come from a plant formally known as Salvia hispanica, which is a member of the mint family. It gets its common name from the Aztec word “chian,” meaning oily, because the herb’s small, black seeds are rich in oils. It was a staple food for the Aztecs, and legend has it that their runners relied on chia seeds for fuel as they carried messages one hundred or more miles in a day. Chia seeds contain more healthy omega-3 fats and fiber than flax or other grain seeds. They are also a good source of protein and antioxidants. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
December 20th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, American College Of Physicians, Annals of Emergency Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, Benefits Vs. Harms, Cancer Risk, Computed Tomography, CT Scans, Defensive Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology, Diagnostic Tests, Doctor-Patient Communication, ER Patients, False Positive, Hiroshima Survivors, Less Is More, Long-Term Consequences, Medical Diagnoses, Number of X-rays, Oncology, Patient Education, Patient Reassurance, Patient Safety, Patient Understanding, Radiation Exposure, Radiation Risks, Ryan DuBosar, Too Much Testing, Unnecessary Medical Tests
No Comments »
Emergency patients with acute abdominal pain feel more confident about medical diagnoses when a doctor has ordered a computed tomography (CT) scan, and nearly three-quarters of patients underestimate the radiation risk posed by this test, reports the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
“Patients with abdominal pain are four times more confident in an exam that includes imaging than in an exam that has no testing,” said the paper’s lead author. “Most of the patients in our study had little understanding of the amount of radiation delivered by one CT scan, never mind several over the course of a lifetime. Many of the patients did not recall earlier CT scans, even though they were listed in electronic medical records.”
Researchers surveyed 1,168 patients with non-traumatic abdominal pain. Confidence in medical evaluations with increasing levels of laboratory testing and imaging was rated on a 100-point scale. Then, to assess cancer risk knowledge, participants rated their agreement with these factual statements: “Approximately two to three abdominal CTs give the same radiation exposure as experienced by Hiroshima survivors,” and “Two to three abdominal CTs over a person’s lifetime can increase cancer risk.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
