Healthline Connects

Thank You David E. Williams for Grand Rounds 4.34

2008-05-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Our good friend David E. Williams of Health Business Blog hosted Grand Rounds this week. He gathered up some fabulous tales from the medical blogosphere and included my post about HBO's Hear and Now: The Joy of Communication. David writes one of my favorite blogs - he is a strategy consultant to pharma, biotech and other healthcare services industries. Expand your brain with Grand Rounds.

Medical Records Vulnerable Targets

2008-05-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Last month I wrote about wide spread data theft from medical centers. Security authorities have been busy offering reassurances that data wasn't compromised and other "reassurances" that some how wasn't very reassuring. US Today reports that identity thieves have been busy preying on medical records, finding them a rich treasure trove of social security numbers and credit information. ...

HBO's Hear & Now: The Joy of Communication

2008-05-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

HBO premiered the documentary film Hear and Now last night. It is a love story of a fascinating, quirky, intelligent, loving couple who happen to be deaf and the parents of three hearing children. One of the children, award winning filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky decided to document her parents journey through cochlear implant surgery. Paul and Sally Taylor have been deaf all their lives - they...

Study Proves Parents Don't Understand Kids

2008-05-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

A University of Rochester Medical Center study proves what kids have long suspected - parents have unreasonable expectations of them. No matter what parents income and education level, they don't know the basics of child development and often misinterpret their behavior. Here are some helpful tips for understanding your kids: 1 year olds can't tell the difference between right and wrong1 year...

Thank You Doc Gurley for Grand Rounds Smack Down!

2008-05-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Doc Gurley writes Posts from an Insane Health Care System for his blog. He hosted Grand Rounds this week and included my post, Diogenes Syndrome: Living In Extreme Squalor in the Smack Down. (Hey, did anybody catch Dr. Phil's show Secret Inside: Extreme Hoarding on the same topic this week?) Thanks for a take-the-rings off entertaining reading - my head in spinning!

UCB's Cimzia Approved for Crohn's Disease

2008-04-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

The FDA approved Cimzia® (certolizumab pegol) for treatment of Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract on April 22, 2008. Cimzia® is a pegylated anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agent also known as tumor necrosis factor agonists, designed to neutralize inflammatory cytokines. Cimzia® is effective in reducing signs and symptoms and inducing and...

Data Theft from Health Care Facilities - What's Up with That?

2008-04-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

May 2006: Laptopgate - a VA employee took his laptop containing personal data on over 26 million veterans, active duty personnel and their spouses, home with him. The laptop was subsequently stolen by 3 teenagers and later recovered by police. August 2006: 10 computers were stolen from HCA offices, containing the personal information of thousands of patients, providers and employees for Medicare...

Rice Wars - the Poor are Hungry

2008-04-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Rice provides 20% of all the food calories consumed by humans on our planet. It is a staple food for half of the world's population - most of them the poor. We are in a global crisis - a rice shortage while food prices are rising due to increases in fuel prices. The shortage is due to population growth and the conversion of arable land for other uses. Rice production has been outstripped by...

27% of Teenagers Are Unhappy

2008-04-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

In both UNICEF and BBC reports, teens in industrialized nations report low mood. 7 out of 10 teens report feeling pressure to look good and felt under pressure from school, family and classmates. How do you know when your teen has crossed the threshold from low mood into clinical depression, requiring professional intervention? Look for these signs: Change in appetiteChange in sleep...

Take the Stairs - It Might Save Your Life

2008-04-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

If you can't find the time for regular exercise, just building extra steps into your day through simple activities like taking the stairs might save your life. Cancer, diabetes, heart problems, arthritis and premature death can all be prevented by increasing activity levels. Enter a new risk factor in these chronic diseases - decreased physical activity. Researchers found that it only takes 2...

Osteoporosis: Men are at Risk, Too

2008-04-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Low levels of testosterone and age put millions of men at risk for osteoporosis. Low levels of testosterone can lead to decreased bone mineral density (BMD), putting older men at increased risk for bone fractures. Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) has been used to replace muscle mass and improve bone density in men, but is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Healthline...

Healthline: Nominated Website for 12th Annual Webby Awards

2008-04-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

The 12th Annual Webby Awards has nominated Healthline for Best Health Website for 2008! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Webby Awards, they are the “Oscars of the Internet”. This is the second Webby nomination Healthline has received in three years. This Webby nomination is a tribute to the Healthline team’s hard work creating innovative clinical applications like Symptom...

Laughter Really Is the Best Medicine

2008-04-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

Want to decrease anxiety and stress in your life? Plan positive experiences where you know you are going to laugh. Researchers studying the interaction between the brain, behavior and the immune system have found that just looking forward to a good laugh can trigger the release of beta-endorphins and HCG - hormones that protect health. Looking forward to a good laugh can also reduce stress...

Diogenes Syndrome: Living in Extreme Squalor

2008-04-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

Always looking for positive ways to channel my teenager's energy, I signed us up to help with a church-affiliated community rebuilding project. Hmm...Think Grey Gardens minus The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeouis. We were just along for the ride - I didn't know any of the back story, but it didn't take long for the clinician in me to assess the situation. It was a case of three able bodied...

15 Million Americans with Social Anxiety Disorder

2008-04-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

The Harvard Medical School is reporting that 15 million Americans have Social Anxiety Disorder that interferes with their ability to lead productive social and romantic lives. People with the disorder have difficulty developing friendships and romantic relationships, because of fears of humiliating themselves or making mistakes. The anxiety results in symptoms of sweating, heart palpitations,...

Thank You, Dr. Wes for Grand Rounds 4.29!

2008-04-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

Dr. Wes is a blogging cardiologist who seems to be implying my piece on a Public Health Crisis at Endoscopy Center gave him Atrial Fibrillation. Still, he included it his round up of great writing in cyberspace and for that, I thank him. Great reading all around!

American Idol Gives Back Again: Saving Children 2008

2008-04-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

IDOL GIVES BACK, the historic Emmy Award-winning television event and music celebration airs tonight. Wednesday, April 9 (7:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) FOX to raise awareness and funds to benefit six charities. including: the Children's Defense Fund, The Global Fund, Make It Right, Malaria No More, Save The ChildrenU.S. Programs and the Children's Health Fund. The Children's Defense Fund: seeks to...

Wake Up Call for Pediatricians & Parents: Underage Drinking

2008-04-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

Kids as young as 10 are now using alcohol as their drug of choice, making them at risk for problem drinking as they develop. Heavy drinking in late adolescence leads to neurological and social problems that continue to plague them the rest of their lives. 11 million kids in the US use alcohol but parents, educators and pediatricians are in a state of denial. US Surgeon General Michael Levitt...

Geography Matters: Survival of Children depends on what State they are born in

2008-04-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Every Child Matters Education Fund has reported startling findings. 13 million US children live in poverty, 8 million kids lack health insurance coverage and 3 million kids are abused and neglected annually. The state a child is born is a determining factor in the health, well-being and even life expectancy of the child. The highest ranking state for quality of life of children is Vermont. ...

Worried about Superbugs? Drink Green Tea

2008-04-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Out of Egypt comes a study reporting findings that drinking green tea while taking antibiotics increases their efficacy (ability to fight disease) by as much three times. For some reason, drinking green tea while taking antibiotics decreases the drug resistance of bacteria and increases the drugs effectiveness in fighting disease. Green tea is brewed from the dried leaves of the evergreen shrub...

It's Come to This: Lottery for Health Insurance in Oregon

2008-03-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

New risk factor identified for early death - lack of health insurance. In the US, 18,000 preventable deaths occur annually due to lack of health insurance coverage, costing the nation $65- 130 billion dollars. 600,000 people in Oregon are uninsured. Oregon decided to hold a lottery for the 3,000 spots that it can afford to cover and 80,000 people have applied. The winners will be randomly...

Heart Disease as an Interactive Drama - You Can Change the Outcome

2008-03-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

A piece of writing from The Lancet this month is so beautiful and eloquent, I am just going to quote it here: "Age can be deconstructed into time-related effects of disintegration that affect all of us versus time-related effects of exposure to the modifiable causal factors that affect some of us more than others. This crucial distinction is not taken into account by the methods we use to...

World TB Day: March 24 - 82% of US cases in ethnic minorities

2008-03-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

Dr. Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacteria that causes Tuberculosis on this day in 1882. Today, public health officials are calling for elimination of the disease. While some in our country want to act as if race is no longer an issue, as if 40 years of civil rights legislation have suddenly reversed 400 years of disparities, those of us who work in health care see, everyday, the...

Interview with Coach E of HBO's Autism: The Musical

2008-03-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of interviewing Elaine Hall – Coach E – of the HBO documentary Autism: The Musical. The movie premieres Tuesday at 8 PM. Click here for the complete viewing schedule. JC: So what would you like to tell me about this project? EH: It’s really about the ability within the disability. And we are so privileged to be part of HBO with this, that they picked this up…They are...

AUTISM: The Musical Premieres on HBO March 25 at 8PM

2008-03-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

HBO rocks. They keep bringing these crazy love stories to TV - and Autism: The Musical is yet another. The movie ends with Stevie Wonder's song As, fitting for this testament of love mothers have for their children. The fathers love their autistic children, too, but not with the passionate vehemence of the mothers. Autism: The Musical, directed by Tricia Regan tells the story of Elaine...