Clipmarks | Doctor Clips

Patients find support, help via online networking

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:26:39 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Patients find support, help via online networking

By Elizabeth Cohen
CNN Medical Correspondent

(CNN) -- When Susannah Reid learned she had an extremely rare and aggressive cancer at age 41, she was hit with a double whammy.

Susannah Reid, left, benefited when her sister Beth Weiss found a fellow patient on a cancer-centric site.

She was told that no doctor in her home state of West Virginia had much experience treating it. Then when her sister found an expert out of state, her insurance refused to pay for treatment there.

"I was panicked. I cried for 36 hours straight," says Beth Weiss, Reid's older sister. "My sister has an 8-year-old child and a disabled husband."

Late one night, Weiss went online looking for information about her sister's disease, uterine leiomyosarcoma. And there she found the woman she calls her "godsend," Dr. Doreen Kossove.

"It's helpful on an emotional level. There's a lot of support on the thread and there's the comfort of knowing you're not the only one."

Tags: internet

Nintendo Surgeon

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:31:15 GMT

clipped by: aerialsky
clipper's remarks: Scary enough... gaming doctor

Clip Source: xkcd.com

Nintendo Surgeon

Tags: cartoon, funny, tech, geek, nintendo, game

health questions

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:19:31 GMT

clipped by: jillstewart7

Clip Source: www.aichi-gakuin.ac.jp

Have you been sick recently?
Have you seen a doctor recently? About what?
Do you have any allergies? To what?
what is the role of IgE? Who first isolated it?
Have you ever had a chronic disease?
Do you get a fever easily?
Do you think baldness is a disease?
Are you allergic to anything? What?
Have you ever suffered from asthma? Hay fever?
Do you ever suffer from nasal inflammation? When?
How often do you catch a cold?
Do you have delicate skin or other skin problems?
Have you ever had anemia?
Have you ever had mumps, measles, or chicken pox?
If you are sick, what does your family do for you?
Have you ever had a high fever?
How often do you miss school because of illness?

"Large Fella" Bikes Back to Life

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:13:31 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: 50 pounds in the first four months – and they kept on coming off. He'll be quick to point out that he wasn't “dieting”; he was changing his life. Permanently.

He and his family left the east coast for Minneapolis, largely for its reputation as a cycling haven. Thus far Cutshall has dropped to about 230 pounds; he estimates that he'll plateau around 180 but says, “"It's not about a goal weight," he said. "I'm just doing what's healthy for my body, and the results will follow."

Clip Source: www.carectomy.com

Written by Joshua Liberles

In 2005, Cutshall weighed 501 pounds. The avant-garde jazz drummer, husband, and father was in need of a serious change. His size XXXXXXXXXXL lifestyle wasn't going to sustain him for much longer. His doctor told him that he'd need stomach-reduction surgery and lots of medication just to survive – and that his way over-stressed body only had about a 50% chance of surviving the procedure.

Cutshall opted for none of the above. He ordered a custom-made bicycle that could support his body and on Thanksgiving, 2005, he took his first spin around the neighborhood. He rode for 1.9 miles, gasping all the way, with five breaks to recuperate. It took him three hours.

But Cutshall's commitment to change was complete. He completely revamped his diet, cut out all the crap, and went vegan. Veggie soup, portabello hummus pita sandwiches, and “Mega Salads” became his everyday menu.

The 2 mile inaugural ride became 20 to 30 miles per day.

Cutshall's health improved

Widow sues US over Iraq veteran's suicide

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:59:02 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Excellent motives for her actions.

Clip Source: www.theage.com.au

The widow of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide while in outpatient care for depression at a Veterans Administration hospital has sued the federal government for negligence.

Tiera Woodward, 26, claims in her lawsuit that her late husband, Donald, sought treatment at a VA hospital in Lebanon after three failed suicide attempts but was not seen by a psychiatrist for more than two months.

She says doctors were slow to diagnose her husband with major depression, and that once the diagnosis was made, a psychiatrist failed to schedule a follow-up meeting with her husband after he informed the doctor he had gone off his medication.

Donald Woodward killed himself in March 2006 at age 23.

"I intend to make them make changes," said Donald Woodward's mother, Lori Woodward. "I have too many friends whose kids are in Iraq. I have a nephew now in Iraq, in the same unit, and I can't have my family go through this again."

Tags: govt failure

Medical students fail drug tests

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:18:24 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: They were generally unaware of street names of common recreational drugs, a knowledge that can be critical in diagnosis, and the prescribing an antidote or remedy. Very often the information given is from people who are delirious, feel threatened, concerned about being responsible for an overdose, or hysterical because of the fear someone they know well may not survive. They can find it hard to trust a doctor without a clue.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Dani Cooper

A team of British and Australian researchers have found that medical students have little in the way of street smarts when it comes to recreational drugs.

Quarterly Journal of Medicine, the team reports that the majority of final-year medical students in the UK are unable to identify common recreational drugs such as cocaine by their street names - Nose Candy, Blow and Snow.

Based on a survey of 135 students at an inner-city UK medical school, the authors say the findings have implications for the teaching of pharmacology in university medical degrees.

Co-author Alison Jones, professor of medicine and toxicology at the University of Newcastle in Australia, says the students were asked first to identify the proper names of recreational drugs from a list that contained the names of legitimate licensed drugs and words sounding similar to recreational drugs

Jones says the results are of concern because the students managed to get only an average of 11 out of 24 street names correct

If you suddenly fall ill, do your loved ones know your wishes?

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:39:50 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks:

The Five Wishes document helps you express how you want to be treated if you are seriously ill and unable to speak for yourself. It is unique among all other living will and health agent forms because it looks to all of a person's needs: medical, personal, emotional and spiritual. Five Wishes also encourages discussing your wishes with your family and physician.

Five Wishes lets your family and doctors know:
1. Which person you want to make health care decisions for you when you can't make them.
2. The kind of medical treatment you want or don't want.
3. How comfortable you want to be.
4. How you want people to treat you.
5. What you want your loved ones to know.
…
The document speaks to people in their own language, not in "doctor speak" or "lawyer talk." It can be used in the living room instead of the emergency room. And it helps families talk with their physician about a difficult subject.

Clip Source: www.agingwithdignity.org

Something is terribly wrong: The majority of Americans prefer to die at home surrounded by family and friends, but too many end up dying in the hospital or nursing home, surrounded and cared for by strangers. Half of Americans die in pain that could have been treated. The sick and elderly have come to fear losing their dignity or burdening their families even more than they fear death.

In 1997 Aging with Dignity introduced the Five Wishes advance directive in Florida, and a year later, to the nation. Five Wishes proved immediately popular because it is written in plain English, not medical or legal jargon, and helps people express in their own words their wishes for the kind of care they want in advance of a serious illness. Five Wishes is a legally-valid tool you can use to ensure your wishes and those of your loved ones will be respected even if you can't speak for yourself.

Tags: aging, health, medicine, medical, illness, death, advance-directive, living-will

Nick Nolte escapes burning house, sounds like a movie in the making to me.

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:23:24 GMT

clipped by: Nathan_7870

Clip Source: www.efluxmedia.com

Nick Nolte found himself under fire on Tuesday and this time the actor wasn’t on the film set. The blaze broke out yesterday morning in Nick Nolte’s Malibu, California, home and forced the “Under Fire” star to break through a window so as to escape the flames.

The 67-year-old actor suffered smoke inhalation and minor scrapes while he was trying to jump out the window, but his condition was not serious and there was no need for him to be hospitalized, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Sam Padilla, as reported by the Associated Press. He added that the actor’s private doctor would treat him for the injuries.

The fire was reported at approximately 11:34 a.m. and seems to have been generated by an electrical problem. According to authorities, the living room burst into flames first and Nick Nolte, who was in an upstairs bedroom, broke a window to get out after realizing that his house was burning.

Is coffee bad for your skin?

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:41:48 GMT

clipped by: simulacra

Clip Source: answers.yahoo.com

Is coffee bad for your skin?

There are pros and cons in using coffee for skin care.

- some preliminary studies show that topically applied coffee can yield beautiful skin.

- coffee contains antioxidant that can help fight skin cancer.

Pros

Cons

- coffee is a mild diurectic. If drunk in large quantity, coffee can cause dehydration of the skin.

- drinking coffee can interfere with a good night's sleep, which is essential to good skin.

So drinking small amount of coffee shouldn't affect the health of skin. But at large quantity, you should talk to your doctor first to find out if the antioxidant benefit is worth it. There are other ways to prevent skin cancer. One of the best ways is to use a broad spectrum sunscreen everyday even when the weather is cloudy.

Angst is rising,but many must forgo therapy

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:26:40 GMT

clipped by: Tri-City Psychology

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

In the latest sign of the deepening economic crisis, more people are considering cutting back on their mental-health therapy, even as they become more stressed.

Across the country, psychiatrists and psychologists say they are seeing an increasing number of patients who are worried about paying for treatment. Some are reducing the amount of time they spend in therapy. Others are trying to negotiate a reduced fee

Help For Stressful Times

If you are suicidal or in crisis, call your therapist or a crisis hotline.
Do not reduce or stop taking your medication without your doctor's approval.
If you really can't afford your therapist's fee, ask for a reduced rate, based on what you can afford.
If your therapist cannot provide a reduced rate, ask for a referral.
A crisis hotline can help you find a therapist with a reduced feeor can steer you to community services.
Many pharmaceutical companies provide medications to people who cannot

Tags: economic crisis, wall street journal, mental health therapy

Kids want a hamster? Ask your doctor first

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:09:03 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Kids want a hamster? Ask your doctor first

Group warns about risks from unusual pets like hedgehogs for tots under 5

Hedgehogs can be dangerous for young children because their quills can penetrate skin and have been known to spread a bacteria germ that can cause fever, stomach pain and a rash, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics in a new report about dangers from exotic animals.

CHICAGO - Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets — or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter — because of risks for disease.

That's according to the nation's leading pediatricians' group in a new report about dangers from exotic animals.

Besides evidence that they can carry dangerous and sometimes potentially deadly germs, exotic pets may be more prone than cats and dogs to bite, scratch or claw — putting children younger than 5 particularly at risk, the report says.

Tags: pets, kids, animal, exotic pets, illness

Mentally Ill Killed by Medication

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:02:48 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: The gentle, artistic boy who played the cello and bass guitar was long gone.

"At 15 Daniel was being bullied at school and then started to have strange thoughts, anxiety and sleep problems. A doctor prescribed him a powerful drug called Stelazine and that was the start of a nightmare which eventually led to his death. He had bad physical reactions to the medication straight away but every symptom was seen as more evidence of schizophrenia and treated with more medication. Alternative treatments were never an option; keeping him calm was the priority.

"Daniel was really passive and never complained but my mum was convinced the medication was going to kill him. She changed GPs many times, went private, bought vitamins and demanded blood tests; getting better care for Daniel became her full-time occupation but she was accused of interfering. In the months before his death, Daniel suffered from three major epileptic fits brought on by drinking too much water. Why was he so thirsty? I

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

Daniel Galvin died of a heart attack in August. He was six stone overweight and had high blood pressure; his hair was falling out and he was incapacitated by trembling legs. He was 29.

Daniel's family believe his symptoms, and his untimely death, were caused by side effects from the powerful psychiatric drugs he had been taking for 14 years. He is, they think, one of thousands of people with mental health problems who have died prematurely because their physical health was neglected.

People with mental health problems and learning disabilities die on average 10 years younger than the rest of the population, according to the Disability Rights Commission. Obesity, diabetes, certain cancers and heart disease are far more common among people taking psychiatric drugs

"When my big brother died at the age of 29, he was a fragment of the person I used to know. He was obese, had no energy; his legs were constantly restless and cigarettes had become his life.

Tags: mental illness

No contest

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:19:19 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: calcatholic.com

One woman of a two-sister pair accused of practicing medicine without a license for a chain of Southern California abortion clinics catering to low-income Hispanics has been sentenced to three years formal probation, ordered to perform 500 hours of community service and to pay $3,270 in restitution to six victims.

“This defendant preyed on women in the Hispanic community,” said San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. “By passing herself off as a doctor, she put these women’s lives in serious danger.”

In one case, a bungled abortion allegedly performed by Bugarin required a woman to be hospitalized three times. Her unborn child was later delivered prematurely and survived for three hours, police said.

In a 1996 incident at the Panorama City Clinica Medica, Braemer left an unborn baby’s cranium inside a woman, requiring her to spend a month in the hospital in order to have her bowel repaired, according to Medical Board records.

Tags: abortion

So THAT'S a Post Turtle

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:49:23 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth

Clip Source: attackerman.firedoglake.com

Post Turtle

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher
whose hand was caught in a gate while working with cattle,
the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually,
the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to to be a heartbeat
away from being President.

The old rancher said, “Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle.”

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post
turtle was.

The old rancher said, “When you’re driving down a country road and you
come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a post turtle.”

He continued, “You know she didn’t get up there by herself, she doesn’t
belong up there, she doesn’t know what to do while she is up there, if she
tries to make a move she’ll fall down hard, and you just wonder what kind
of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.”

Nobel medicine prize goes to HIV and cancer researchers

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:11:05 GMT

clipped by: darkduskx

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases.

French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were cited for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV; while Germany's Harald zur Hausen was honored for finding human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women.

The German medical doctor and scientist received half of the 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) prize, while the two French researchers shared the other half.

In its citation, the Nobel Assembly said Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier's discovery was one prerequisite for understanding the biology of AIDS and its treatment with antiviral drugs. The pair's work in the early 1980s made it possible to study the virus closely.