November 24th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Audio, News
Tags: Andre Hartung, CT, CT Scanner, Dr. Val Jones, Dual Source, Fast, Gene Ostrovsky, Imaging, MRI, Radiology, Siemens, Somatom Definition Flash Dual Source CT Scanner
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I really like new technology, especially when it offers a very obvious advantage for patients. I recently heard about a new CT scanner that is so fast, it dramatically reduces radiation exposure for patients and can take crisp images of moving organs (like the heart). I asked to speak with Siemens’ VP of Sales and Marketing, Dr. André Hartung, to find out about the new Somatom Definition Flash Dual Source CT Scanner (it takes longer to say the machine’s name than to scan your entire body). Of course, I invited my Medgadget friend, Gene Ostrovsky, to join the call. I’ve included a “bonus track” for more advanced readers at the end of this blog post. Enjoy!
Listen to the podcast here:
[audio:http://blog.getbetterhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/andrehartunglowq1.mp3]
Dr. Val: Just to set the stage for our listeners – can you explain what a CT scanner is, and how it differs from an MRI?
Hartung: Both CT scanners and MRI machines allow healthcare professionals to look inside the human body for diagnostic purposes. While CT scanners use x-rays to produce images, MRI machines use magnets. CT Scanners are very fast and widely available – almost every hospital has one.
Dr. Val: When would a doctor want to use a CT scanner instead of an MRI machine?
Hartung: CT images are especially good at detecting cancer. Also, because CT scans can be done so quickly, they are also useful diagnostic tools for stroke, heart attack, or when a patient is in critical condition – when every second counts.
Dr. Val: You said that CT scans are based on x-ray technology. How much radiation exposure does the average CT scan cause?
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November 10th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in News, Opinion
Tags: Barbara Romberg, Find A Psychologist, Give An Hour, Marines, Mental Health, Military, Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs, Veterans Day
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“My daddy’s in Iraq, but he’s not dead yet.”
— 5-year-old son of a US Marine
Roughly 1.7 million Americans have been deployed to Iraq so far. An estimated 320,000 US military have received a traumatic brain injury in the Iraq war. Another 300,000 suffer from major depression or post traumatic stress disorder. The VA is not equipped to handle the mental health needs of all returning veterans and their families. What can we do?
The Give An Hour organization has challenged mental health professionals to donate 1 hour of their time/week to serve the needs of the military. If only 1 in 10 providers joined the program, there would be enough hours to cover the unmet needs.
I met with Dr. Barbara Romberg today to discuss her plans for the program. She envisions an in-office, phone, and online platform for Give An Hour. I sure hope that I can help out with the online platform one day.
If you’re a mental health professional, please consider joining the Give An Hour initiative. Our troops risked their lives for us, and others have sustained life-long injuries – some visible, some invisible.
And there are little boys out there, wondering if this is the day their daddy will die.
Let’s consider how we can be of comfort to those who are suffering on this Veterans Day.
November 5th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Medblogger Shout Outs, News
Tags: Autism, Infectious Disease, Matt Lauer, Nancy Snyderman, Pediatrics, Science, Vaccines
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This news from Gary Schwitzer’s excellent blog:
Dr. Nancy Snyderman of NBC News appeared on the Today Show with Matt Lauer last week, profiling a physician-author who has written that the best science does not establish a causal link between childhood vaccines and autism. 
Lauer, in a followup question, mis-spoke and called it a “casual” link – not causal. One wonders whether he truly knows what the words mean.
Snyderman talked about how the physician-author, Dr. Paul Offit (author of “Autism’s False Prophets”), has received death threats. Snyderman herself said she had been physically ambushed by those who contend that vaccines cause autism.
As Snyderman was wrapping up the segment, Lauer said – in typical anchor throwaway language:
“Controversial subject …”
Snyderman immediately shot back, “Not controversial subject , Matt. …It’s time for kids to get vaccinated. The science is the science. It’s not controversial.”
You can see the video here or here.
Kudos to Snyderman for educating her big-bucks anchor colleague live on-the-air.
For a full review of Offit’s book, please check out this link.
October 28th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Medblogger Shout Outs, News
Tags: Cornea, Corneal Transplant, Geriatrics, Longest Surviving, Oldest Transplant, Ophthalmology, Organ, Transplant
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A fascinating story from Reuters (h/t Dr. Wes):
Bernt Aune’s transplanted cornea has been in use for a record 123 years — since before the Eiffel Tower was built.
“This is the oldest eye in Norway — I don’t know if it’s the oldest in the world,” Aune, an 80-year-old Norwegian and former ambulance driver, told Reuters by telephone on Thursday. “But my vision’s not great any longer.”
He had a cornea transplanted into his right eye in 1958 from the body of an elderly man who was born in June 1885. The operation was carried out at Namsos Hospital, mid-Norway.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the oldest living organ in the world,” eye doctor Hasan Hasanain at Namsos hospital told the Norwegian daily Verdens Gang.
In the 1950s, doctors expected it to work for just five years, Hasanain said. Such cornea operations date back to the early 20th century and were among the first successful transplants.
October 14th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: BlogHer, Carol Jenkins, conference, DC, estrogen, healthcare, Lesley Stahl, mainstream media, media
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Photo Credit: wowowow.com
I attended a fantastic conference hosted by BlogHer yesterday. It’s a strange experience, entering a convention hall filled with 98% women. My ears were ringing with an unfamiliar “crowd noise” pitch – instead of the usual rumbling that one expects on entering a ballroom full of people, I noticed the same volume of noise, but a few octaves higher. I suppose it was the sound of estrogen.
The co-founders of BlogHer, Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort Page, and Jory Des Jardins are a media tour de force. Within a span of 3 years they have built the largest and arguably the most influential group of women bloggers on the Internet. BlogHer drives an astounding 4 billion page views per year and has 16 million unique visitors per year.
The closing panel discussion was riveting. Lesley Stahl described the decline of television journalism, explaining that the line between pundits and journalists had been blurred beyond recognition.
Anyone on television is considered part of ‘mainstream media.’ There is no distinction made between opinion and fact. That’s why the media has lost trust in the eyes of Americans. Pundits don’t necessarily care about accuracy, and so traditional journalists (who spend a good deal of their time fact checking) are lumped in with them. I get tarred too.
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