April 15th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
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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*
April 8th, 2010 by JenniferKearneyStrouse in Better Health Network, News
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An article in the New York Times this week looks at a raft of new public health initiatives passed by Congress that are aimed at boosting disease prevention. Examples include requiring restaurants with at least 20 locations to include nutrition information on their menus and mandating employers with at least 50 employees to allow new mothers to express breast milk at work. In addition, Medicaid will now cover smoking cessation counseling for pregnant women and Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible for an annual physical. The initiatives are expected to eventually save money by decreasing the country’s chronic disease burden. (New York Times)
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University recently did a study applying physicians’ ethical codes to the conduct of the fictional doctors on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House, M.D.” Perhaps to no one’s surprise, TV doctors are behaving very badly. As the abstract of the study states, both shows feature “egregious deviations from the norms of professionalism and contain exemplary depictions of professionalism to a much lesser degree.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, Journal of Medical Ethics)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
April 1st, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
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I have written two posts in the past on proper disposal of unused medications, and I have always been mindful of the medicines as a source of environmental water pollution. This past week the American Chemical Society reminded (head-slapped me) that topical medications are a source of environmental water pollution from their active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Yes, the simple act of bathing washes hormones, antibiotics, and other pharmaceuticals down the drain into the water supply.
Ilene Ruhoy, M.D., Ph.D. and colleague Christian Daughton, Ph.D. looked at potential alternative routes for the entry into the environment by way of bathing, showering, and laundering. These routes may be important for certain APIs found in medications that are applied topically to the skin — creams, lotions, ointments, gels, and skin patches. These APIs include steroids (such as cortisone and testosterone), acne medicine, antimicrobials, narcotics, and other substances. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
March 23rd, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor
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So I’m at work the other day and I see this Glade bathroom air freshener sitting in a bathroom and it hits me: What’s the appropriate bathroom air freshener protocol? I know everyone should always wash their hands when they use the restroom to help control infectious disease, but having a touchable canister of bathroom air freshener instead of an automatic air freshener made me think:
Should I wash my hands before I spray the bathroom air freshener or should I spray the air freshener before I wash my hands?
You just never know what’s on the spray nozzle of these manual bathroom air fresheners. So do you wash your hands and then spray the air freshener out of common courtesy for others and not trust that others have done the same and then wash your hands again? What’s the protocol for this? Take the Bathroom Air Freshener Poll and put the controversy to rest once and for all. The world wants to know.
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 21st, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, True Stories
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I can’t get the stories of Haiti out of my mind. A patient showed up at the Port au Prince hospital ward with a massive left sided paralysis: an obvious stroke. This 48-year-old woman had collapsed the day before and was now accompanied by her three grown daughters, who were most attentive and worried. I examined her in the bed with other patients and families gathered around. (There is no sense of privacy and even an exam seems to be everyone’s business in Haiti). One daughter spoke broken English, but I had a good translator that helped me get the information I needed. It was a sad story. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
