May 20th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Health Tips, Research
Tags: Cancer, Crohns, IBD, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer, Prevention, Skin, Skin Cancer, Ulcerative Colitis
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I stumbled across this review article (first full reference below) earlier this week.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Most skin cancers form in older people on parts of the body exposed to the sun or in people who have weakened immune systems (such as inflammatory bowel disease patients on immunosuppressive therapy).
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in there were more than one million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC) in the United States in 2010. There were less than 1,000 NMSC deaths during the same time.
NMSC includes squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Both occur more frequently on sunlight-exposed areas such as the head and neck. BCC is far more common than SCC and accounts for approximately 75% of all NMSC. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
May 19th, 2011 by KerriSparling in Health Tips, Humor, True Stories
Tags: Diabetes, Endocrinology, Glucose, Insulin Pump, Internal Medicine, Type 1 Diabetes, Wedding Dress, Women's Health
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Yesterday I wrote about my wedding, focusing on the parts that meant the most to me: the man I love, our families and friends, the church service, saying “I do,” and dancing ourselves silly at the reception.
But diabetes was a part of my wedding day. We did our best to keep it quiet and unnoticed, though, using several tricky methods. I’m like a diabetes wedding magician … sort of.
First things first: the dress. Wearing an insulin pump is the easiest and least intrusive way for me to take my insulin, and I wasn’t about to go off the pump just for the sake of fashion. My solution? Design a pocket to hold my insulin pump, hidden in my wedding dress. I spoke with the seamstress at Ye Olde Bridal Shoppe and she and I designed something that left the pump accessible, yet hidden.
Even if you were looking for it, the pump pocket was almost impossible to find. Hidden along the seam of my wedding gown, it was held shut with a small piece of velcro. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
May 19th, 2011 by AndrewSchorr in Health Tips
Tags: Accurate Diagnosis, Health Information, healthcare, Social Media, The Web Savvy Patient
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People generally have a sense there might be information on the Web that can help them when they are worried about their health. They also have a sense there is a LOT of information and some of it may be wrong. All of that is true. What is a strategy to find the good and avoid the bad?
This morning, I chatted with Mike Collins, host of “Charlotte Talks” on WFAE, public radio in Charlotte, North Carolina about The Web-Savvy Patient and some of my “Insider Tips” within. We talked at length about how you can get started looking for health information on the Web.
First of all, if you’re worried about your health, make sure you get an accurate diagnosis, and make sure that diagnosis is specific to you. Don’t be satisfied if your health care team tells you that you have a “thyroid problem.” Find out if it is hyperthyroidism or hypothryroidism. It makes a big difference. If you don’t know what you have you will find yourself wandering all over the Internet, discovering information that won’t be right for you. You might be lead to believe that you have a brain tumor, rather than a migraine induced by monthly hormones or the effects of too much coffee (we know that one here in Seattle!). So rule #1 is know the details of your diagnosis and if you don’t feel confident, recognizing some people are misdiagnosed, get a second opinion to confirm it. Then, and only then, should you start your search online. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
May 19th, 2011 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Clinical Errors, Cognitive Traps, Critical Thinking, Errors, Errors In Thinking, Judgement, Objectivity, Psychiatry, Psychology, Science Based Medicine, The Way Doctors Think
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In my recent review of Peter Palmieri’s book Suffer the Children I said I would later try to cover some of the many other important issues he brings up. One of the themes in the book is the process of critical thinking and the various cognitive traps doctors fall into. I will address some of them here. This is not meant to be systematic or comprehensive, but rather a miscellany of things to think about. Some of these overlap.
Diagnostic fetishes
Everything is attributed to a pet diagnosis. Palmieri gives the example of a colleague of his who thinks everything from septic shock to behavior disorders are due to low levels of HDL, which he treats with high doses of niacin. There is a tendency to widen the criteria so that any collection of symptoms can be seen as evidence of the condition. If the hole is big enough, pegs of any shape will fit through. Some doctors attribute everything to food allergies, depression, environmental sensitivities, hormone imbalances, and other favorite diagnoses. CAM is notorious for claiming to have found the one true cause of all disease (subluxations, an imbalance of qi, etc.).
Favorite treatment.
One of his partners put dozens of infants on Cisapride to treat the spitting up that most normal babies do. Even after the manufacturer sent out a warning letter about babies who had died from irregular heart rhythms, she continued using it. Eventually the drug was recalled.
Another colleague prescribed cholestyramine for every patient with diarrhea: not only ineffective but highly illogical.
When I was an intern on the Internal Medicine rotation, the attending physician noticed one day that every single patient on our service was getting guaifenesin. We thought we had ordered it for valid reasons, but I doubt whether everyone benefited from it. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
May 19th, 2011 by Jessie Gruman, Ph.D. in Health Policy, Health Tips
Tags: Behavior Modification, Dr. Victor Montori, Eating Habits, Employers, Health Insurance, Healthy Eating, Institute of Medicine, Lifestyle Changes, Mayo Clinic, Nutrition, Patient-Centered Care, Primary Care Physicians
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Only one in 10 respondents to a national survey could estimate how many calories they should consume in a day.
Seventy-nine percent make few or no attempts to pay attention to the balance between the calories they consume and expend in a day.
These and other piquant findings from the online 2011 Food and Health Survey fielded by the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) struck home last week as I smacked up against my own ignorance about a healthy diet and the difficulty of changing lifelong eating habits.
The confluence of my failure to gain weight after cancer treatment and a blood test suggesting pre-diabetes meant that as of last Tuesday, I have been on an eat-specific-types-of-food-every-hour-and-write-it-down regimen. And despite a lifetime of recommending that people change their behavior to become healthier, I am frustrated as I try to follow my own advice. I am bewildered about what I’m supposed to eat. Finding it, preparing it and then eating it at the right time requires untold contortions and inconvenience. Writing it all down is tedious. I don’t have time for this – I have a job, obligations. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Prepared Patient Forum: What It Takes Blog*
