November 29th, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in News, Opinion
Tags: Air filters, Allergens, Allergy UK, Behind the Headlines, Britain, Chemicals, Dust mites, Home allergies, Mattress, Mold, News Report, Pets, symptoms, United Kingdom
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The NHS Choices Behind the Headlines project in the UK analyzes claims that there is an epidemic of home allergies. Excerpt:
At least 12 million Britons now suffer from allergies caused by dust mites, The Independent has today reported. The newspaper says that a report by the charity Allergy UK has revealed an epidemic of “home fever”, a range of symptoms caused by dust mites and other triggers around the home.
The report has been published as part of Indoor Allergy Week, which is intended to raise awareness of the kind of steps that can be taken to remove allergy triggers, or ‘allergens’, from the home. A survey in the report suggests that, currently, around two-thirds of people with allergies experience symptoms such as sneezing and itchy eyes caused by allergens including dust mites, chemicals, pets and mould.
This new report raises lots of questions, such as Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
November 28th, 2011 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Alternative Medicine, CAM, Evidence, Foundation for Integrative Health, Homeopathy, Natural Medicine, Natural Remedies, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Science, Science and Medicine, Simon Singh, United Kingdom
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Prince Charles is a big supporter of “natural” medicine, which in practice means unscientific and ineffective medicine. He has no particular expertise in this area, and there is absolutely no legitimate reason why he should have any influence over the practice of medicine in the UK. But he is the Prince of Wales, and he has chosen to use that celebrity to promote CAM.
Prince Charles has also recently been criticized for his credulous support for medical nonsense. The Telegraph recently reported that Simon Singh, co-author with Edzard Ernst of Trick or Treatment, and exposer of CAM pseudoscience, spoke about Prince Charles at the recent Hay Festival in India. Singh had some sharp criticism, including:
He only wants scientific evidence if it backs up his view of the natural treatment of health conditions…
We presented evidence that disputes the value of alternative medicine and despite this he hasn’t changed his mind…
Singh’s point is that Prince Charles is Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
November 28th, 2011 by Michael Sevilla, M.D. in Opinion
Tags: Blogging, Break, Doctor, extra work, Fatigue, Frequency, Online, Social Media, Stress, Time-consuming, Tired
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Ever feel like you’re kind of stuck and you need a change? I was there last week. With the upcoming Thanksgiving week, life was adding more stress that was difficult to handle. For weeks now, I felt like I was taking all my efforts and playing catch up. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy where I’m at right now professionally and personally. I was just tired.
“Social Media Fatigue” is a dirty little secret that the early adopters never write about – especially those in health care social media. That’s why I was surprised when a few months ago, my good friend, Seattle Mama Doc wrote the post “Online Sabbitical.”
I’m taking an online sabbatical this month. Consider this an act of both self-reflection and self-awareness but also an act of self-preservation. As any blogger knows, blogging every few days, taking photographs daily, approving and responding to comments 24 hours a day (7 days a week), while authoring content in your head every few paces, is an entirely consuming experience. Blogging has completely changed my life. And this job is an utter privilege… But I’ve been consuming media, blogging, and authoring content without reprieve since November 11, 2009.
Now, my blogging frequency and my podcast frequency have Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Family Medicine Rocks Blog*
November 27th, 2011 by EvanFalchukJD in Opinion
Tags: Challenges, Developing Countries, Diagnosis, Doctor Patient Relationship, Drugs, Guatemala, health care, Humanitarian, leaders, Medical Care, Medications, Medicine, Technology, treatments
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Guatemala is a developing country, with great natural beauty, hard-working people and many challenges. Most Americans look at places like Guatemala and see only the challenges. Some see opportunity.
I’ve just returned from Guatemala, where I met with our business partners, government officials, and others. And I can tell you a universal truth. People across the world want the best medical care they can get. They aren’t looking for the latest technologies and drugs and treatments – or, rather, they aren’t looking only for those things. No, what is most important to whoever I meet, no matter where they live, is that they are able to get the right diagnosis, and the right treatment.
It’s a harder thing to get in some places than in others. Americans don’t realize that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at BestDoctors.com: See First Blog*
November 27th, 2011 by DrWes in News, Opinion
Tags: Annals of Emergency Medicine, Cardiac Tamponade, Case Study, Characteristics, Compliant, Details, Emergency Care, HIPAA, Identifiers, Personal Information, Rules, Small Cell Problem, Specifics
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It was an interesting tweet that referenced a soon-to-be-published case report from the Annals of Emergency Medicine (via @EmergencyDocs) that piqued my interest:
Thrilling case study: emergency doc cracked chest to save 42 y/o woman in cardiac tamponade after ablation therapy. http://bit.ly/umnydc
Details about the case are quite specific and the case report heralds from a town in Minnesota. It describes, in very specific detail, the management of a patient who presented to the emergency room in shock from cardiac tamponade after a catheter ablation procedure for right ventricular outflow tract tachycardia.
Is this unique case report HIPAA compliant?
I would say, according to our current definition of HIPAA’s “personal health information,” such a case report is Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
