September 19th, 2011 by KerriSparling in Opinion
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What I’ve learned in the last twenty-five years with type 1 diabetes:
- Some of what “they” said is wrong. It just is.
- There are times when “they” make a good point, and it’s up to us as patients to figure out what information we react to.
- The needles don’t hurt as much now as they did then. Lancets have become smaller and sharper, syringes can make the same claim. Insulin pump sites, once they’re in, usually go without being noticed. Same goes for Dexcom sensors. (But “painfree” is a misnomer and so subjective that medical device advertisers had best just steer clear of that word entirely. All needles pinch at least a little bit.)
- Progress isn’t always shown in tangible technological examples. Sometimes progress is being able to look at a blood sugar number without feeling judged by it. Or to look in the mirror without wishing you were different.
- There is life after diagnosis.
- Diabetes is sometimes funny. It has to be. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
September 19th, 2011 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in News
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I was lucky enough to see Venus Williams play her first professional tennis match when she was a teenager. It was obvious she was something special and her coach-father said “If you think she’s good, wait until you see her little sister.” (Serena Williams).
Venus and her sister, Serena have dominated women’s tennis over the past decade but she is currently sidelined with a diagnosis of Sjogrens Syndrome. (pronounced Show-grins). It is a chronic auto-immune disorder where white blood cells (immune function cells) target the body’s moisture-producing glands. Symptoms include dry eyes, dry mouth, extreme fatigue and joint pain. Sometimes it co-exists with other auto-immune diseases like thyroid disease or rheumatoid arthritis.
Symptoms can wax and wane and getting the right diagnosis can take time. I can imagine Venus going to her doctor and complaining of fatigue and dry mouth. Considering her athletic schedule, she was probably told to get some rest and fluids. The diagnostic key should have been Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
September 18th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Research
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Middle-aged women who drink alcohol moderately yet regularly throughout the week may age more healthfully, according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study.
After adjusting for variables such as smoking, women who drank light or moderate amounts of alcohol had a modestly increased chance of successful ageing compared to nondrinkers. For example, compared to nondrinkers, women who drank 5 to 15 g of alcohol per day (between one-third and one drink per day) at middle age had about a 20% higher chance of successful ageing, defined as being free of 11 major chronic diseases and having no major cognitive, physical or mental health limitations at age 70.
Independent of total alcohol intake, women who drank alcohol regularly had a better chance of successful ageing than occasional drinkers. Thus, compared to nondrinkers, women who drank five to seven days a week had nearly a 50% greater chance of successful ageing whereas women who drank only one or two days a week had a similar likelihood of successful ageing.
Researchers measured alcohol consumption at midlife using Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
September 18th, 2011 by Shadowfax in Opinion
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Howard Dean wrote an op-ed defending the use of foreign international medical graduates:
Today, young physicians with degrees from international medical schools face skepticism from some in the American medical community. That strikes me as misinformed thinking, given the large number of international medical school graduates practicing in the United States, alongside American medical school graduates, and given that the American medical system depends on them to fill the growing doctor shortage.
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration predicts there will be a shortage of approximately 55,000 physicians in the United States by 2020. We simply can’t build the capacity to meet our growing needs for skilled physicians — especially given budgetary constraints on schools receiving government subsidies. Even if the new medical schools now in the planning stages all come to pass, they won’t turn out enough primary care physicians to meet urgent needs in urban and rural communities.
I actually don’t have a lot to say about the IMG thing, I have worked with and hired many IMG’s and their skill and quality vary as much as US graduates. But this whole argument seems to miss the central point regarding the projected physician shortage. The supply of new medical graduates is not the choke point, under the current state of affairs. The choke point is the number of residency training slots. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
September 18th, 2011 by ChristopherChangMD in Opinion, Research
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MSNBC reported recently that a shot of carbon dioxide gas into the nose can help with allergies based on preliminary findings funded by Capnia, a company that makes the product.
Upside:
Symptoms of nasal allergies improved within 30 minutes.
No liquid is involved… just carbon dioxide gas.
Downside: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*
