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A “Touch” Of Outer Space For The Blind

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NASA, in an attempt to have visually-impaired people get a glimpse of what’s “out there,” has created a reconstruction of a Hubble image of the Carina Nebula in a 3D touch map.

Different textures applied to the image help in identifying the various parts of the giant dust cloud. We even think that visually-okay folks can get a better sense of the cosmic anatomy when offered such a presentation.

Read more on this from NASA here.

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*

When Hospitals And Patients Are Smoke-Free

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By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA

“This is a smoke-free institution. Thank you for your compliance.”

Nurses and doctors and other members of the healthcare team strive every day to provide quality patient care. We focus on patients by understanding their needs. We listen, assess and evaluate. We work together as a team focusing not only on the patient, but family members as well. We formulate individual care plans addressing each and every need.

Providing quality patient care is the single most important goal for any hospital, and it’s important to note that patients need to understand that there are policies within the hospital. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*

Chemical In Soaps And Sanitizers May Affect Growth And Development

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The Washington Post had a story by Lyndsey Layton this past week: FDA says studies on triclosan, used in sanitizers and soaps, raise concerns. An excerpt:

The Food and Drug Administration said recent research raises “valid concerns” about the possible health effects of triclosan, an antibacterial chemical found in a growing number of liquid soaps, hand sanitizers, dishwashing liquids, shaving gels and even socks, workout clothes and toys.

The FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency say they are taking a fresh look at triclosan, which is so ubiquitous that is found in the urine of 75 percent of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The reassessment is the latest signal that the Obama administration is willing to reevaluate the possible health impacts of chemicals that have been in widespread use.

No where in the article is the use of triclosan use in suture mentioned, yet in my research on allergy/reactivity to suture material I found that it is. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

Why Denying Science Is Dangerous

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I came across a TED video of Michael Specter’s talk about the dangers confronting us as the war against science progresses. Here’s TED’s description of the video:

Vaccine-autism claims, “frankenfood” bans, the herbal cure craze — they all point to the public’s growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

Read more about The Danger of Science Denial, posted with vodpod.

*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*

Now For Mobile + Web: Control of Communicable Diseases Manual

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Unbound Medicine has teamed up with the American Public Health Association (APHA) to release a mobile and web version of Control of Communicable Diseases Manual (CCDM).

Like other Unbound titles, CCDM is available on most popular mobile phone platforms and is optimized for the unique nature of each device type.

Control of Communicable Diseases Manual for Mobile + Web includes Medline Journals, which allow users to view citations and abstracts from the latest issues in selected journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of Tropical Medicine, and the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO), then link to full-text articles.

CCDM for Mobile + Web also includes RSS news feeds from relevant sites such as APHA, WHO, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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