March 23rd, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: CRNA, Nurses' Salaries, Physicians' Salaries, Primary Care
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Despite the growing shortage of family doctors in the United States, medical centers last year offered higher salaries and incentives to specialist nurses than to primary care doctors, according to an annual survey of physicians’ salaries.
Primary care doctors were offered an average base salary of $173,000 in 2009 compared to an average base salary of $189,000 offered to certified nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) according to the latest numbers from Merritt Hawkins & Associates, a physician recruiting and consulting firm.
To be fair, they found the highest paid advanced practice nurses, or CRNAs, and compared them to the average family practitioner (FP) salary. I wonder how many FP’s retrain into a specialty field?
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
March 23rd, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Botox, Botulinum Toxin, Motor Disorder, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurology, Spastic Muscles, Spasticity, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury
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Until recently, the therapeutic use of non-cosmetic Botox (botulinum toxin) for adult upper extremity spasticity was considered off-label use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now approved Botox to treat spasticity in the upper extremity flexor muscles in adults.
Spasticity is common after stroke, traumatic brain injury, or the progression of multiple sclerosis. Spasticity is defined as:
“a motor disorder characterized by a velocity-dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes (muscle tone) with exaggerated tendon jerks, resulting from hyper-excitability of the stretch reflex as one component of the upper motor neuron syndrome.”
Spasticity often creates problems with mobility, self-care, and function. The spastic muscles can become stiff. Associated joints can be affected by lack decreased range-of-motion with contractures forming. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
March 21st, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News
Tags: Breast Augmentation, Breast Implants, Double-Bubble Breast Deformity, Mastoplexy, Plastic Surgery
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Recently a Staten Island woman was awarded $3.5 million after developing a double-bubble breast deformity after a breast augmentation/mastopexy surgery — commonly known as breast implants.
I don’t know if the award was warranted, but I do know that the deformity is a known risk of breast augmentation surgery. I try very hard to tell patients about possible risks of surgery, but none of us go into surgery thinking we will be the half or one or two percent. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
March 19th, 2010 by Jon LaPook, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research, Video
Tags: Adult Stem Cells, Columbia, embryonic stem cells, Genetics, Harvard, HES Cells, IPS Cells, Stem Cell Research
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Camouflaged in the politics, controversy, and hype surrounding stem cells have been two stunning and unexpected dividends: the ability to study diseases in a petrie dish and a new way to think about cancer. This is separate from the most well-publicized stem cell story: the potential of embryonic stem cells to morph into any cell in the body and replace injured or defective cells — for example in diabetes, Parkinson’s, and spinal cord injury.
Human embryonic stem cells (HES cells) are collected from unused embryos created by in-vitro fertilization. About two years ago, scientists figured out a way to turn ordinary skin cells into stem cells. This was a huge deal. These cells — called “induced pluripotents stem cells” (IPS cells) — are not identical to HES cells and may not be quite as nimble in morphing into other cells. But they are electrifying the field because diseases can now be studied outside the body – in a petrie dish. For example, researchers have taken skin from patients with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), turned them into stem cells, then turned the stem cells into the kind of nerve cells (motor neurons) damaged in the disease. Read more »
March 18th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Medical Art, News
Tags: EA, EA Sports Active 2.0, Electronic Arts, Fitness, Preventive Medicine, Technology, Video Game, Wireless
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Electronic Arts, the video game development company, has announced its next generation of fitness tools. Following up on its popular EA SPORTS Active product line, the release scheduled for this fall should include a heart rate monitor, arm and leg accelerometers, and an online program to track and share one’s workouts. The name for the new system has yet to be finalized, so for now EA just tacked on a “2.0” to the end of the current name. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
