December 21st, 2010 by PJSkerrett in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Antioxidants, Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar Control, Brown Rice, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiac Risk, Chia Pet, Chia Seeds, Chian, Chronic Conditions, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Diabetes Management, Fiber, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, HDL Cholesterol, Heart Health, Highly-Refined Grains, LDL Cholesterol, Living With Diabetes, Mint, Oatmeal, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, PJ Skerrett, Protein, Quinoa, Salba, Salvia Hispanica, Texting While Driving, Triglycerides, White Bread, White Rice, Whole Grains, Whole-Wheat Bread
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Like swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano in the spring, Chia Pets begin appearing every December on late-night television and in the gift aisles of many stores. (Full disclaimer: I bought one for the Yankee Swap at Harvard Health Publication’s annual Christmas party.) Water these ceramic figures and they sprout a green “fur” from seeds embedded on the surface. Silly? Sure, that’s why they are such a hit. What you might not know is that the seeds may someday be a real gift for people with diabetes.
Chia seeds come from a plant formally known as Salvia hispanica, which is a member of the mint family. It gets its common name from the Aztec word “chian,” meaning oily, because the herb’s small, black seeds are rich in oils. It was a staple food for the Aztecs, and legend has it that their runners relied on chia seeds for fuel as they carried messages one hundred or more miles in a day. Chia seeds contain more healthy omega-3 fats and fiber than flax or other grain seeds. They are also a good source of protein and antioxidants. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
December 20th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, American College Of Physicians, Annals of Emergency Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, Benefits Vs. Harms, Cancer Risk, Computed Tomography, CT Scans, Defensive Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology, Diagnostic Tests, Doctor-Patient Communication, ER Patients, False Positive, Hiroshima Survivors, Less Is More, Long-Term Consequences, Medical Diagnoses, Number of X-rays, Oncology, Patient Education, Patient Reassurance, Patient Safety, Patient Understanding, Radiation Exposure, Radiation Risks, Ryan DuBosar, Too Much Testing, Unnecessary Medical Tests
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Emergency patients with acute abdominal pain feel more confident about medical diagnoses when a doctor has ordered a computed tomography (CT) scan, and nearly three-quarters of patients underestimate the radiation risk posed by this test, reports the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
“Patients with abdominal pain are four times more confident in an exam that includes imaging than in an exam that has no testing,” said the paper’s lead author. “Most of the patients in our study had little understanding of the amount of radiation delivered by one CT scan, never mind several over the course of a lifetime. Many of the patients did not recall earlier CT scans, even though they were listed in electronic medical records.”
Researchers surveyed 1,168 patients with non-traumatic abdominal pain. Confidence in medical evaluations with increasing levels of laboratory testing and imaging was rated on a 100-point scale. Then, to assess cancer risk knowledge, participants rated their agreement with these factual statements: “Approximately two to three abdominal CTs give the same radiation exposure as experienced by Hiroshima survivors,” and “Two to three abdominal CTs over a person’s lifetime can increase cancer risk.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
December 20th, 2010 by Michael Kirsch, M.D. in Opinion, Research
Tags: American Scientists in Guatemala, Dr. Michael Kirsch, First-Class Ethics, Human Subjects for Research, Indecent Medical Behavior, MD Whistleblower, Medical Context, Medical Ethics, Mentally Ill, Research Studies, Scientific Experimentation, Scientific Testing, Syphilis, Third-World Citizens
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I have always felt that issues should be judged by the context of their times. For some issues, however, context provides no justification. Thankfully, the field of medical ethics has evolved into a robust discipline, and there is an enormous need for it. I have read defenses of prior ethical lapses, and even some recent ones, suggesting that context matters.
If a three-month, placebo-controlled study is conducted in the developing world testing a medicine that was highly effective against a serious illness, are the ethical dimensions considered and respected? Were the pharma companies choosing this study locale as a cheap test run for their drug, which will ultimately be marketed in the west? Is it ethically problematic not to provide additional medications to ill subjects after the 3 month trial ends? Can we be assured that a rigorous informed consent process was followed? Sadly, outrageous practices have been reported in the very recent past.
Our president and secretary of state recently and rightfully apologized to Guatemala for American experiments performed there in the 1940s when patients were intentionally infected with syphilis. These patients were mentally ill. While I can concoct a distorted and tortured rationale that would justify this reprehensible practice, such reasoning passes no threshold of decency. Some behaviors and practices are always wrong, in any context. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at MD Whistleblower*
December 19th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Medical Art, News, Research
Tags: 3D Anatomy Viewer, Google Body Browser, Healthcare and Internet Technology, Human Anatomy, Human Body, Medgadget, Medical Art, Medicine and the Internet, Online Tools For Medical Professionals, WebGL-Enabled Browser
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Google has released an awesome in-browser anatomy viewer to demo the new 3D graphics capabilities of their Chrome development version. It lets you explore the human body in all its glory in a Google Earth-like fashion. Individual anatomic layers (skin, muscles, bones, etc.) can be selected or deselected for viewing, but can also be made semi-transparent on an individual level. Labels can be displayed, and all anatomy is fully searchable.
The catch is you will need a WebGL enabled browser to try it. WebGL is a technique that enables 3D graphics within the browser without the use of plugins. Chrome 9 Dev Channel, Chrome Canary Build and Firefox 4 beta have this enabled by default. In Chrome 8 (the current stable version), you can enable it by going to about:flags (type it in the address bar), and from there enable WebGL. Below are two videos, one demonstrating the body browser, and one of a presentation by the developers.
Link: Google Body Browser…
(Hat Tip: Google Operating System Blog)
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 19th, 2010 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Bad Patient Behavior, Doctor-Patient Communication, Doctor's Recommendations, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Mind The Gap, Patient Health Behavior, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Screening Tests, Steven Wilkins MPH
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It seem like everyone these days is focused on changing some aspect of patient health behavior. You know — getting patients to get a mammogram or PSA test, exercise more, take medications as prescribed, or simply becoming more engaged in their healthcare. If only we could change unhealthy patient health behaviors, the world would be a better place.
I agree with the sentiment, but I think that patients and their health behavior often get a “bad rap” from healthcare professionals. I would even go so far as to say that much (not all) of what we attribute to poor patient behavior is more correctly attributable to ineffective doctor communications with patients.
In my last post I talked about the link between strong physician advocacy, e.g., I recommend, and desirable health outcomes, i.e., patients getting more preventive screening.
Here’s what I mean. Mammography studies have consistently shown that screening mammograms rates would be much high if more physicians “strongly recommended” that women get screened, e.g., “I recommend” you get a mammogram. In studies where physicians advocated for screening, mammography screening rates were always higher compared to physicians that did not advocate for them. The same phenomenon can be found in studies dealing with exercise, weight loss, colorectal cancer screening, HVP immunization, and patient participation in clinical trials. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
