September 24th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Boston Globe, Consumer Vigilance, Dave deBronkart, Deceptive Health Websites, Detoxification, Drug Users, e-Patient Dave, e-Patients.net, Federally Mandated Drug Tests, Gilles Frydman, Health Information on the Web, Health Website Credibility, Lisa Neal Gualtieri, Online Health Information, Public Awareness, Stephen Sharp, Urine Temperature, Urine Test, US Airways Express Pilot, Yourintheclear.com
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By Lisa Neal Gualtieri. (Her earlier much-commented post on this subject is here.)
The Boston Globe reported this month on the sentencing of a former US Airways Express pilot, Stephen Sharp, “for selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was ‘100 percent’ effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots, and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests.” The ungrammatically-named “yourintheclear.com” no longer seems to exist.
Mindful of ongoing debate by Gilles Frydman and others about indicators of health website credibility, I searched for other sites selling similar products (there is no shortage) and looked on sites like Craigslist where people post questions about how to pass drug tests and how to detoxify. Based on a quick perusal, I found answers ranging from product advice that I suspect is similar to what “yourintheclear.com” sold to more than I ever want to know about urine temperature to what seemed like common sense advice. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
September 24th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Acyclovir, Adult Chickenpox, Anti-Viral Medication, Contagious, Dr. Toni Brayer, Everything Health, Family Medicine, Famvir, General Medicine, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, Nerve Root, Primary Care, shingles, Skin Rash, Valtrex, Varicella Zoster Virus
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We think of chickenpox as a childhood disease, but there are adult cases and they tend to lead to more serious complications.
Chickenpox is caused by the varicella virus and it is extremely contagious. Most people are exposed in childhood (or they receive the chicken pox vaccine), and so adults rarely contract it. It is especially dangerous for pregnant women because the fetus can become infected. The latency period from infection exposure to disease is 10 to 21 days. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
September 22nd, 2010 by Jeffrey Benabio, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, True Stories
Tags: Aerobic Exercise, Athlete's Health, Cleanse Out the Toxins, Dermatology, Dr. Jeff Benabio, perspiration, Physical Activity, Sports Medicine, Sweat, toxins, Urea, Working Out
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Can you sweat out toxins?
The guy next to me on the bike yesterday morning was working like Lance Armstrong in training: He had laid towels on the floor to absorb the impressive perspiration he was generating.
He shouted over to me: “I’m hitting it hard to cleanse out the toxins from last night. Too much Captain Morgan and buffalo wings, ya know?”
“Really,” I said.
“Actually, I’m a dermatologist, and sweat does not contain any toxins,” I said to myself so that he could not hear. (Gym decorum dictates men do not correct men in the middle of a workout — especially if prefaced by “Actually, I’m a dermatologist.”) I left him to his aerobics and wrote this post in my head while I finished mine. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Dermatology Blog*
September 21st, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Clean Hands, Disease Prevention, Dr. Ramona Bates, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Hand Hygiene, Handwashing, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Spread of Infection, Surgeon's Hands
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Some interesting items this week involving hands. The one which has gotten much news coverage is the issue of handwashing. Take a look at some of the headlines:
High five! Handwashing on rise (Chicago Sun-Times)
For Many, ‘Washroom’ Seems to Be Just a Name (The New York Times)
93% of women wash their hands vs. 77% of men (USA Today)
All the above are reporting on the same study, but the difference in presentation is amazing to me.
The study doesn’t involve handwashing in a hospital or doctor’s office setting. The JAMA article (2nd reference below) does, but this article focuses on whether public reporting of handwashing compliance is helpful or not. Do we inflate our numbers to make ourselves look better? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
September 21st, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Dr. Edwin Leap, Greenville News, Mental Health, Mental Health Crisis, Mental Health System, Mental Illness, Psychiatry and Psychology, South Carolina
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This is my column in [the September 17th] Greenville News. It’s a follow-up to a recent column I wrote on the mental health “crisis” in America, as seen in our emergency rooms.
My last column addressed the unfortunate truth of the overwhelmed mental health system in South Carolina, and indeed in much of the U.S. While I lament the fiscal condition of our mental health system, and while I feel for those who truly need the help we are often powerless to supply, I would be a poor observer if I didn’t report the truth. And the second truth we must face is that much of what we call mental illness is neither truly “mental,” nor even “illness.”
Let me first state the obvious: The brain is an organ. It is incalculably complex and truly a wonder of design and engineering. But, it remains an organ despite its wonderful capacities. Therefore, it requires energy, its support structures feel pain, it may be injured and swell, it can bleed and parts of it can die when its owner has a stroke.
Sometimes the dysfunction of this fantastic organ, or of the chemicals which course through it, is manifest[ed] as mental illness. In certain cases, medications can restore the brain to normal function. Therefore, I am not suggesting that true mental illness is wicked, or reflects character flaws. I have met too many sweet, confused schizophrenics to believe either of those things. I am suggesting that too often we allow character flaws, unpleasant personalities, remorse over bad choices — and even, yes, wickedness — to masquerade as mental illness. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
