March 8th, 2010 by CodeBlog in Better Health Network, True Stories
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My son accidentally ingested peanut butter yesterday. He’s allergic.
He’s done this once before, which is when we found out about the allergy. He had some really awful hives 3 hours after he ate that small bite of peanut butter sandwich but that was all. His allergist told me that it would most likely never get worse than that.
He managed to eat some more yesterday. I braced myself for the hives to come, and we dosed him with Benadryl. An hour later he vomited. The pediatrician’s advice nurse advised me to take him to the ER. At the time I thought it was overkill. He wasn’t having any breathing difficulties beyond the cough he already had (he has a cold). He definitely wasn’t acting quite right, though, so off we went. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at code blog - tales of a nurse*
March 8th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News
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GE Health donated time on their latest CT and MR systems for researchers from the Field Museum in Chicago to image the insides of an ancient baby mammoth. Lyuba, apparently one of the finest preserved mammoth specimens, was found by a Siberian reindeer herder three years ago. Now, thanks to modern technology, the researchers believe they know the cause of death of the mammoth. Lyuba is currently on view at the “Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age” exhibit at the Field Museum. Of course, there’s also something to be said for today’s tomography scanners with bore sizes that can accommodate a mammoth. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
March 7th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor
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Chaos theory – Noun – The branch of mathematics that deals with complex systems whose behavior is highly sensitive to slight changes in conditions, so that small alterations can give rise to strikingly great consequences.
Alternative definition:
Chaos theory – Noun – The branch of healthcare that deals with making the payment system increasingly complex and ever changing. This complexity and confusion impact physicians and patients in such a way that appropriate services in care of the patient are subject to rules and regulations that are deliberately complex, making alterations from the momentary rules inevitable. This exists so that even small alterations will free the insurance company from the responsibility to pay for said service.
I am no physicist, but I honestly think that a grasp and understanding of the first type of Chaos theory is more likely than that of the second. Let me give a demonstration of the second chaos theory in action: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
March 7th, 2010 by MotherJonesRN in Better Health Network, True Stories
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I wonder why these nursing students are smiling. They are hanging out in their room at the nurses’ dormitory. Don’t they look sweet and demure? That’s probably because the housemother was standing in the room. I bet these ladies could tell you some intriguing stories about what it’s like to live in the dormitory, but there are some things best left unsaid. Silence is golden, especially when your housemother is within earshot.
I lived in a nursing dormitory while I attended a three year nursing school in the Midwest. I won’t tell you what state it was in because I don’t want to incriminate anyone. Every resident was expected to follow the dormitory rules. The number one rule was that no man could step foot in the inner sanctum of the dormitory.
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
March 7th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Research
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When I first heard that a retrovirus had been identified as a possible cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, I withheld judgment and awaited further developments. When I heard that two subsequent studies had failed to replicate the findings of the first, I assumed that the first had been a false alarm and would be disregarded. Not so.
It’s a classic case of wishful thinking outweighing good judgment. One unconfirmed report of an association between the XMRV virus and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) resulted in a rush to test for the virus, speculation about possible implications, and even suggestions for treatment. And the subsequent negative studies did little or nothing to reverse the trend. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
