October 8th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Medblogger Shout Outs, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: 33 Charts, Breaking Oncology News, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Chemotherapy, Childhood Cancers, Children's Health, Children's Hospital Blogs, Children's Oncology Group, Cinchcast, COG, CureSearch, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, Dr. Katherine Matthay, Facebook, Healthcare Social Media Camp, Hematology, Medical Blogosphere, NEJM, Neuroblastoma, New England Journal of Medicine, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Pediatric Medicine, Pediatric Oncology, Press Release, Social Media In Medicine, Twitter, UCSF, University of California-San Francisco
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I [recently] received a press release from a friend in the Bay Area. Investigators at UCSF have published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that less chemotherapy can be effective at treating some childhood cancers.
The paper was the result of an eight-year clinical study in children with neuroblastoma. In this particular population, researchers were able to reduce chemotherapy exposure by 40 percent while maintaining a 90 percent survival rate. You can read about it here.
The press release sparked a brief email exchange between me and my friend: Who might be interested in writing about this study and is there any way to get it to spread? What would make it sticky in the eyes of the public?
Here are a few ideas:
Figure out who cares. Sure it’s niche news, but there are people who would think this is pretty darn important. Think organizations centered on parents of children with cancer, adult survivors of childhood cancer, pediatric hematology-oncology physicians, pediatricians and allied professionals in pediatric medicine like nurse practitioners and hematology-oncology nurses. Networks form around these groups. Find them and seed them.
Make a video. Offer powerful, visual content beyond a press release. A four-minute clip with the principal investigator, Dr. Matthay, would be simple and offer dimension to what is now something restricted to print. The Mayo Clinic has done this really well. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
October 8th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Accelerated Heart Rate, Acute Myocardial Infarction, Cardiac Arrhythmia, Cardiology, Circulation, Dr. Wes Fisher, Exhaustion, Healthy Relationship, ICD, ICD Shocks, Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator, Intercourse, Regular Physical Exertion, Sexual Activity, Sexual Health, Shortness of Breath
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Have a defibrillator and feel like getting frisky? For the first time that I can recall, there’s a very helpful article published in Circulation addresses the concerns of implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) patients and sexual activity. There’s all kinds of helpful tidbits, like this one:
A study of 1,774 patients who had experienced an acute myocardial infarction showed that sexual activity was a likely contributor in fewer than 1 percent of cases. In fact, regular physical exertion, such as that associated with sexual activity, was associated with a decreased risk of cardiac events in patients.
Now that’s helpful!
Recall that defibrillators are designed to detect rapid, potentially life-threatening arrhythmias. Most of the time, sexual activity does not lead to heart rates at a level that ICD’s would consider elevated during intercourse. (This, of course is patient specific). While your doctor can tell you the rate cut-off at which your ICD might possibly fire, watching your heart rate rise with a monitor during those moments might be a bit of a, shall we say, turn-off. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
October 7th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Big Phama, Consumer Drug Marketing, Cost of Medications, Dr. Rob Lambert, Drug Costs, Drug Manufacturers, Drug Rebates, Expensive Medications, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, General Medicine, Generic Drugs, Healthcare Economics, Musings of a Distractible Mind, Pharmaceutical Companies, Pharmaceutical Industry, Pharmacology, Prescription Drugs
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I used to defend pharmaceutical companies. ”What companies out there have contributed more good? Should care manufacturers make more when all they do is make transportation that breaks after a few years?”
It made sense to me that you should put a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so that companies are motivated to invent more drugs and innovate. We throw a lot of money to athletes and movie stars who simply entertain us, shouldn’t we do better to those who heal us? I used to say that. I don’t anymore.
No, I don’t think the drug companies are “evil.” People who say that are thinking way to simplistic. These companies are doing exactly what their shareholders want them to do: make as much money as possible for as long as possible. That’s what all companies do, right? They are simply working within the system as it is and trying to accomplish the goal of making money. To say that they should “sacrifice” is foolish. They are simply playing by the rules that have been set out there. Those rules are the thing that has to change. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
October 7th, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Admitted To The Hospital, Andrew Schorr, Athletic Screening Program, Athletics, Big Ten, Blocked Cardiac Artery, Cardiac Stent, Cardiology, Effects of Stress, Empowered Patients, Football, Heart Attack, High-Stress Life, Hospital Amenities, Hospital Medicine, Hospitalist Medicine, Hospitalized Patients, How Stress Affects Health, In The Hospital, Inpatient Care, Mark Dantonio, Michigan State Spartans, Patient Empowerment, Patient Power, Rest And Recovery, Stressful Job, University of Wisconsin Badgers
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Nobody is in the hospital these days feeling good. Regulations have made it so sick people are hospitalized and not-so-sick people are usually outpatients. People who are horizontal are there to have procedures, take heavy duty meds, rest and, hopefully, get better.
Hospitals have increasingly put in sophisticated television systems so you can be in bed and distracted and entertained. But that is not restful for everyone. Here’s an example from this past weekend that stands out:
Mark Dantonio, the coach of the Big Ten’s Michigan State Spartan college football team, was diagnosed with a heart attack right after last week’s game. Boom. He was hospitalized. Boom. He had a stent put in to unblock at least one artery. This past Saturday he was still in the hospital resting and recovering, right? In the hospital, yes. Resting, no! Are you kidding? Keep the coach down during the big game against Wisconsin, a Big Ten rival? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
October 7th, 2010 by Jennifer Shine Dyer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Basal Rate, Blood Sugar Control, Blood Sugar Levels, Bolus, CGM, Chronic Disease Management, Continuous Glucose Monitor, Diabetes Management, Disease Pathology, Dr. Jennifer Shine Dyer, Insulin Pump Site, Insulin Pumps, Insulin Sensors, Lack Of Vanity, Lessons For Doctors, Living With Diabetes, Medical Lessons
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As doctors, sometimes the biggest lessons that we learn about disease pathology are those that we learn from the people that have that disease. Diabetes is one such disease.
I recently gave a show-and-tell lecture about insulin pumps to the new interns and residents as well as the 3rd-year medical students on their pediatric clerkship with the inpatient endocrine service. We discussed different types of pumps (point A on the picture) and they got to push the buttons and send a bolus or change a basal rate. They also looked at real time CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitors, points C and D on the picture) sensors used to check glucoses levels every five minutes. Read more »
