A man in his 60s with syncope and ST depression. What does the ECG mean?
Written by Sean Trostel MD, peer reviewed by Meyers, Smith, Grauer, etc.A man in his 60s with a history of severe alcohol use disorder and epidural abscess on long-term ciprofloxacin presented to the emergency department after an episode of syncope while standing in line at a grocery store.He did not have chest pain.Here is his triage ECG: What do you think?My interpretation:Sinus rhythm, normal QRS, widespread wavy ST depression leading into late T/U-waves with very prolonged QT. No evidence of OMI. QTc/QUc is in the range of 630 msec.What is the most likely cause of the patient ’s ECG findings, and wha...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - October 25, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Alfie Health ’ s New AI-Powered ObesityRx Platform Helps Determine Sustainable Weight Loss Approach for Patients with Obesity, Using Precision Medicine and Telehealth Support
With $2.1 Million in Funding, Alfie Health Reports a Cohort of 300 Patients Lost an Average of 10-15% of Body Weight over Nine Months of Following its Holistic Approach
The AI Platform Analyzes Patient Data, Recommends Medication (or Combination Meds) Precisely Prescribed, as well as Behavioral Changes, and Provides Ongoing Telehealth Support
With 42 percent of Americans now struggling with obesity, doctors and their patients are looking for a sustainable approach to weight loss. Currently, prescription medications known as the GLP-1 class of anti-obesity medications (such as Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Mounjaro, etc.) are becomi...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - July 21, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT Alexander Singh Alfie Health Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic's Bariatric and Metabolic Institute Dr. W. Scott Butsch GLP-1 Goodwater Capital Health IT Funding Health IT Fundings Health IT Investment Source Type: blogs
Bonus Features – February 5, 2023 – 78% of data breaches result from hacks or IT incidents, Nova Scotia taps Oracle Cerner for EHR modernization, and more
This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.
Research and Studies
Nearly 80% of healthcare’s data breaches can be attributed to hacking and IT incidents, according to a recent report from managed security services provider Fortified Health Security. That represents ...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - February 5, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Brian Eastwood Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT Security and Privacy Telemedicine and Remote Monitoring Adam Kautzner ADAMS Center Agewell AHIMA AnMed AristaMD Aruba Atlanta Women's Health Group Atlas Dataset Brightside Health CCS Cerner C Source Type: blogs
A New Seizure in a Healthy 20-something
A 20-something year old who is the picture of good health presented with a new onset seizure. A witness described what sounded like a 3 minute tonic-clonic seizure. Her seizure workup was negative and she was scheduled for an outpatient MRI and EEG.Because she was persistently tachycardic, an ECG was recorded. At the time her K was 3.2 mEq/L:Here is the interpretation by the computer, confirmed by the over-reading physician:JUNCTIONAL TACHYCARDIAINTRAVENTRICULAR CONDUCTION DELAY [130+ ms QRS DURATION]ABNORMAL ECGP-R Interval 116 msQRS Interval 158 msQT Interval 422 msQTC Interval 485 msP Axis 25...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - October 14, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
Top 25 Psychiatric Medications for 2018
Psychiatric medications are an important part of treatment for many people with mental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia, anxiety, and others. They play an important role in helping to alleviate the most serious symptoms, allowing people to better focus on their lives and on other treatment types, such as psychotherapy. Psychiatric medications are an important part of many people’s treatment plans for obtaining the most effective treatment for a mental health concern or mental illness.
It’s good to know what drugs are being prescribed most often for mental disorders in the U.S...
Source: World of Psychology - December 15, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: General Medications Psychiatry psychiatric meds psychiatric prescriptions Source Type: blogs
Lifestyle changes to lower heart disease risk
Nearly half of all premature deaths may be due to unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as insufficient exercise, poor diet, and smoking. These risk factors increase the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.
The good news is that lifestyle changes can make a difference. In a study analyzing over 55,000 people, those with favorable lifestyle habits such as not smoking, not being obese, engaging in regular physical activity, and eating a healthy diet lowered their heart disease risk by nearly 50%.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) recently published guide...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - November 2, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: James Yeh, MD, MPH Tags: Alcohol Diabetes Exercise and Fitness Heart Health Hypertension and Stroke Smoking cessation Source Type: blogs
An Overdose that Happens Hours Later
A 15-year-old girl was brought to the emergency department by EMS after a seizure witnessed by her mother. She admitted that she had ingested "a handful of pills" in a suicide attempt five hours earlier. The mother said her daughter had a history of cutting but no prior suicide attempts.Her past medical history was significant for depression, for which she took bupropion XL, and she reported past alcohol and marijuana use. Her initial vital signs were a temperature of 97.9°F, a pulse of 162 bpm, a blood pressure of 127/65 mm Hg, a respiratory rate of 14 bpm, and a pulse ox of 100% on room air. Her exam was si...
Source: The Tox Cave - November 1, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Vaping: It ’s hard to quit, but help is available
E-cigarettes burst onto the scene in the 2010s and were quickly embraced by the public as a solution to the problem of smoking, even heralded by former Surgeon General Richard Carmona as having “very meaningful harm reduction potential” for adult smokers. Astonishingly, e-cigarette manufacturers were never required to demonstrate that their devices were safe, or even safer than combustible cigarettes — the idea that a product could be more health-harming than tobacco seemed so unfathomable as to be not worthy of serious consideration.
Fast forward a decade and a lot has happened
The e-cigarette industry continually d...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - November 1, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Sharon Levy, MD, MPH Tags: Addiction Lung disease Smoking cessation Source Type: blogs
What Do I Do When My Antidepressant Stops Working?
This study examined 103 patients with bipolar 1 disorder who, despite taking a mood stabilizer, experienced frequent relapses. During a 12-month period, the group receiving cognitive therapy had significantly fewer bipolar episodes and reported less mood symptoms on the monthly mood questionnaires. They also had less fluctuation in manic symptoms.
It’s normal to panic in the days and weeks your symptoms return; however, as you can see, there are many options to pursue. If the first approach doesn’t work, try another. Persevere until you achieve full remission and feel like yourself again. It will happen. Trust me on th...
Source: World of Psychology - March 1, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Therese J. Borchard Tags: Antidepressant Bipolar Depression General Medications Manic Episode Mood Disorder Mood Stabilizer Relapse Source Type: blogs
Can vaping help you quit smoking?
It’s hard to overstate the dangers of smoking. Nearly 500,000 people die of tobacco-related disease each year in the US. Over the next decade, estimates are that around eight million people will die prematurely worldwide each year due to tobacco use. The list of tobacco-related diseases and conditions is long and growing. It includes:
cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke
emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma
lung and other types of cancer
tooth decay
weathering of the skin
having a low-birthweight baby
diabetes
eye damage (including cataracts and macular degeneration).
And there are others. The point i...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 27, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Prevention Smoking cessation Source Type: blogs
Transcranial Magnetic Brain Stimulation to Treat Depression and OCD: Interview with Stanford ’s Dr. Nolan Williams
Chances are, someone you know has been affected by mental health problems. With an estimated world-wide burden of 300 million people, depression can be a severely debilitating condition. In fact, in the past year alone, more than 16 million adults in the US have experienced a major depressive episode.
While many of those who seek help are able to find solace in therapy or medication, treatment-resistant depression is not uncommon. Clinicians like Stanford’s Dr. Nolan Williams have been studying the applications of transcranial magnetic stimulation (or TMS) for a variety of neurological conditions. We sat down with Dr. W...
Source: Medgadget - December 11, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Mohammad Saleh Tags: Exclusive Psychiatry Source Type: blogs
Behavioral weight loss programs are effective — but where to find them?
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is a team of volunteer experts from various primary care medicine and nursing fields. They identify big medical problems, review the research, and translate it into action plans (called practice recommendations) for doctors like me.
Just this fall, they tackled obesity, with the goal of identifying effective ways we in primary care can help people to lose weight.
And it’s not about aesthetics. This is about disease prevention, especially diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, which are particularly associated with obesity.
They were NOT looking at surgeries or oth...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - November 12, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Monique Tello, MD, MPH Tags: Diet and Weight Loss Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
Bupropion Overdose Followed by Cardiac Arrest and, Later, ST Elevation. Is it STEMI?
A young woman presented with status seizures and apparent overdose of bupropion. There was a question of cocaine use too (with later suspicion of possible ingestion or body stuffing).She had status seizures for which she was intubated and medically treated (successfully) with propofol and benzos.An ECG was recorded:Sinus tach, with a slightly widened QRS (113 ms) and slightly long QTThere is a slightly abnormally large R-wave in aVR.So there might be some sodium channel blockade here, which is expected with cocaine.Bicarbonate was given.This was recorded 8 hours later:QRS = 148 ms and large R-wave in aVR (very danger...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - July 20, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
Might Depression Be Linked to One of These Popular Medications?
If you’re taking beta blockers, certain kinds of anxiety drugs, certain types of painkillers (including ibuprofen), proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (used to treat acid reflux), ACE inhibitors (used to treat high blood pressure), or anti-convulsant drugs, you may be at greater risk for depression. That’s according to a new, large-scale study published earlier this week in JAMA.
However, this was a correlational study, so it can’t say that these medications actually cause depression or not. It may be that people with greater health problems are more likely to take one of these medications and be depressed abo...
Source: World of Psychology - June 15, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: Depression General Medications Psychiatry Research Drugs cause depression popular medications Source Type: blogs
Could medications contribute to dementia?
Alzheimer’s disease and other illnesses that cause dementia are devastating, not only for those affected but also for their friends and family. For most forms of dementia, there is no highly effective treatment. For example, available treatments for Alzheimer’s disease may slow the deterioration a bit, but they don’t reverse the condition. In fact, for most people taking medications for dementia, it may be difficult to know if the treatment is working at all.
Experts predict that dementia will become much more common in the coming years. We badly need a better understanding of the cause of these conditions, as this c...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 23, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Alzheimer's Disease Brain and cognitive health Drugs and Supplements Memory Source Type: blogs
