August 15th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: ADHD, Anxiety Disorders, Children's Health, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Healthy Teens, Mood Disorders, Overmedicated Teenagers, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Prescription Drug Abuse, Prescription Medication, Primary Care, Teen Angst, Teen Health, Teen Hyperactivity, Teens on Prescription Drugs
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It is summer camp season for kids and well-run camps require a medical history and record of prescription medications that the child is taking. One prestigious camp for teens (ages 11 to 19 — average camper is 16) in Southern California recently had 153 residential teenagers. These kids come from California and other states across the U.S. Fifty percent come from out of state and a number of campers each week are international.
Okay, so far so good. Healthy teens getting together for a week of learning and fun. Here is the shocker! I was amazed to learn that almost 25 percent of these kids are on prescription medication. Can it be that we are overmedicating teens?
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*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
August 15th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Basic of Medical Care, Dogma of Medicine, ED, Emergency Department, Emergency Medical Technician, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Room, EMT, ER, Eyebrow Laceration, Eyebrow Shaving, Medical Humor, Medical School, Medical Training
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I’ve internalized all the dogma of medicine, for good and bad.
When I was an EMT, green as a twig in an ER, I learned the basics: For any wound with hair employ the razor, and get the hair away from the laceration so the doc could do a good closure.
So, employment week #3: Eyebrow laceration? Shaved that sucker clean off. ER doc freaked out, and I learned some medical dogma: Don’t shave eyebrows, they don’t grow back. Heard it later, too — all the way through training, in fact. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
August 14th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: American Diet, Attack On Fatness, Childen's Health, Childhood Obesity, Doctor Passivity, Education Reform, Exercise Every Day You Eat, Fast Food, Fat-Creating Behaviors, Generational Change, Health of Americans, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare reform, Junk Food, Lack Of Exercise, Obesity Crisis, Obesity Epidemic, Overweight, Pediatrics, Physical Education, Reducing Obesity, U.S. Government
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If I was Surgeon General, I would follow the lead of our country’s first Mom, Michelle Obama. This is serious folks. We as an American society need to solve the obesity crisis, not just for our physical health, but for our country’s financial stability.
Reducing the spiraling costs of healthcare is wanted by all. So far, prevention of the diseases which contribute most to our healthcare costs, (heart disease, cancer and orthopedic issues, to name just a few) has been given only lip service, by our future supplier of healthcare — the American government.
It turns out that the mechanisms to reduce our most costly ailments are the same as those that mitigate obesity. It is like simple math. (If a=b, and b=c, than a=c.) If lifestyle choices reduce obesity, and less obesity means less consumption of healthcare for heart disease and cancer, than better lifestyle choices means less healthcare consumption. Bunches less. (See, simple math was not so useless.) It is for this reason that I believe the most productive way to reduce health care expenditures is to reduce obesity. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
August 14th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Battling Diabetes, Diabetes, Diabetes Management, Diabetes-Related Decisions, Diabetic Mommy, Family Planning, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Reproductive Health
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While I was at CBC a few weeks ago, one of the staff members asked me if I was planning on having more children. “I don’t think so,” I said, without hesitation. “I love my daughter endlessly, and now that she’s part of my family, I can’t imagine my life without her, but I can’t lie to you. I didn’t enjoy being pregnant. I wanted a baby, but spending nine months pregnant was very, very stressful.”
The staff member who asked the question looked disappointed. And in that moment, I sort of wish I had lied. “Oh, you look disappointed. I’m sorry! It’s not just because of diabetes stuff. It’s my own personal preference. I don’t want to lie!”
And I won’t lie. The end result of my pregnancy was the most beautiful, smiley baby I have ever laid eyes on, and having her as part of our family has been the greatest joy that Chris and I have ever experienced. Seriously — it sounds like a cheesy Hallmark card, but it’s true. This kid fills a hole in my heart that I didn’t even know existed until I heard her cry and I finally felt complete. But being pregnant, the actual journey of carrying her inside of me, was not an experience I’m looking to repeat. This isn’t entirely a diabetes-based decision, either. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
August 14th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Alternative To Real Life, Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus, Disconnecting From The Online World, Divide Between Online And Offline, Facebook, General Medicine, Health and the Internet, Healthy Lifestyle, Internet Addiction, Social Media Behavior, Social Media Tools, Twitter, Unplugging From The Internet, Work-Life Balance
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It’s a post you’ll see periodically: Blogger goes on vacation and goes dark from his blog and Twitter. This spawns the requisite post detailing how nice it was to be away. Refreshed and all the stronger, we hear about the lessons from playing parchese, listening to the crickets sing, and ignoring the purr from Tweetdeck.
[Recently] I have been on vacation, but I didn’t necessarily unplug. I screened for critical emails once a day. I had prewritten and scheduled a couple of posts, but they didn’t require much maintenance. Besides that, I was too busy boogie boarding, kayaking, and eating crab cakes to really look at Twitter. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
