New book shares science and techniques to breathe better and promote calmness not anxiety
Scrolling social media, amid frantic election-related posts and news of escalating COVID-19 cases, you may have come across a friend reminding everyone to just breathe.
But can just-breathing really make a difference?
In his new book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, journalist James Nestor argues that modern humans have become pretty bad at this most basic act of living. We breathe through our mouths and into our chests, and we do it way too fast. There’s even a phenomenon called “email apnea,” where multitasking office workers breathe irregularly and shallowly, or even hold their breath, for half a minute or m...
Source: SharpBrains - November 17, 2020 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Greater Good Science Center Tags: Education & Lifelong Learning anxiety book Breathing breathing techniques email apnea James Nestor meditation mental health mindfulness parasympathetic pranayama yogic breathing Source Type: blogs
Nasal Endoscopy for Urgent and Complex ED Cases
Fiberoptics and endoscopy have changed the way we treat patients in the emergency department. Endoscopes are relatively easy to use, and can aid your diagnosis and treatment plan. Endoscopy may be useful in urgent cases, such as epistaxis, nasal foreign bodies, and ear debridement. It may also be helpful when dealing with more complicated presentations and critically ill patients, such as those with Ludwig's angina, epiglottis, tracheostomies, or those who need intubation.Fiberoptic tools are not just for surgeons and consultants. The endoscope has many uses in the emergency department, and we have a few tips and tricks...
Source: The Procedural Pause - October 28, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Coping with the loss of smell and taste
As I cut a slice of lemon for my tea one morning last March, I found that I could not detect the familiar zing of citrus. Nor, it turned out, could I taste the peach jam on my toast. Overnight, my senses of smell and taste seemed to have disappeared. In the days prior to that I’d had body aches and chills, which I ascribed to a late-winter cold — nothing, I thought, an analgesic and some down time couldn’t take care of. But later that day I saw a newspaper article about the loss of smell and taste in patients with COVID-19, and I realized that I’d likely caught the virus. While I was fortunate enough to eventually ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - October 19, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Leo Newhouse, LICSW Tags: Coronavirus and COVID-19 Ear, nose, and throat Mental Health Source Type: blogs
Relearning to Breathe
As I noted in yesterday’s post about learning to breathe differently, I’m leaning into a different way of thinking about breathing and working on changing old habits to see how The Oxygen Advantage approach affects me.
This morning I went for my second nose-breathing run with a similar format like I tried yesterday. I started with a 15-minute walk (all nose breathing), and then I was able to run for 3 minutes with nose breathing before dropping back to walking for a few minutes. That’s longer than the 1:44 I did yesterday for the first round.
For the second round, I ran for 5 minutes before dropping...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 8, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Source Type: blogs
Apparently I ’ ve Been Breathing All Wrong
This week I’ve been enthusiastically digesting the book The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You. It’s eye-opening and counter-intuitive in many ways. I thought I knew how to breathe, but it turns out I didn’t.
Someone recommended this book to me earlier this year, so I added it to my audiobook queue. I wondered what I’d learn about breathing from nine hours of audio that I didn’t already know. I figured it would just be reinforcement of some relaxation techniques and meditative practices that I was already...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - October 7, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Source Type: blogs
Sick child this school year? Planning for the inevitable during a pandemic
Children get sick; it’s part of life. They catch colds, they get fevers, they throw up and get diarrhea. Most of the time, it’s nothing at all. But this year, as we struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, every sniffle will be complicated.
The problem is, the symptoms of COVID-19 can be not just mild, but similar to the symptoms of all the common illnesses kids get all the time. Symptoms can include
fever, even a mild one
cough (that you don’t have another clear reason for)
breathing difficulty
sore throat or runny nose (that you don’t have another clear reason for)
loss of taste or smell
headache (if with other s...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - September 29, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Claire McCarthy, MD Tags: Adolescent health Children's Health Cold and Flu Coronavirus and COVID-19 Parenting Source Type: blogs
Smartphone Video Otoscope To The Rescue: The HearScope Review
Did you know the smallest bones in your body have a super important function? One which you use constantly? The ossicles are just a few millimetres in size, but they help you hear in every second of the day – even when you’re sleeping!
Your hearing outer-, middle- and inner ear is a delicate, special system. Examining it requires special skills and a lengthy training. Creating the opportunity to safely observe some parts of this system by non-medical personnel is empowering. This offers a possibility for long distance consultation and telemedicine as well.
Source: pinterest.com
Is the future of ENT here?
...
Source: The Medical Futurist - September 22, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: szandra Tags: Portable Diagnostics Telemedicine & Smartphones device medical device medical technology medical imaging A.I. otoscope hearscope otorhinolaryngology ENT hearables Source Type: blogs
Imposter Syndrome: Why You Have It & How to Stop It
“I have written eleven books, but each time I think, ‘Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody and they’re going to find me out.” – Maya Angelou
Any minute now they would find out.
I scanned the large conference room. The twenty-six project team members around the table discussed data analysis. Their voices were muffled by the thick fog of my anxiety.
My own throat tried to choke me, and my chest refused to expand. Sweat trickled down my side.
Breathe, just breathe. It’s going to be okay.
My eyes met my boss’s and he smiled at me across the room. I quickly looked down...
Source: World of Psychology - August 31, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Psych Central Guest Author Tags: Publishers Tiny Buddha Fraud imposter syndrome self-worth Source Type: blogs
I can ’t tolerate CPAP, what can I do?
Continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, is the most common treatment prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). CPAP involves wearing a mask that fits into the nostrils, underneath or over the nose, or over the nose and mouth, through which pressurized air is delivered via tubing from a machine to keep the upper airway open during sleep. CPAP is recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) as the initial treatment for moderate or severe OSA, and in mild cases of OSA when associated with insomnia, disrupted sleep, or excessive daytime sleepiness. When used consistently, and when treatment is effecti...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - July 29, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Melanie Pogach, MD Tags: Ear, nose, and throat Sleep Source Type: blogs
Nasal and throat swab test
Our younger son was chosen at random to take part in a trial, to try and see who has COVID-19 now but without symptoms. People were chosen at random from GP registers.Once enrolled, he was sent a nose and throat swab testing kit, with a link tothis subtitled video to explain to him and us what to do. Because he is under 13, we had to administer the test, which he was not pleased about, arguing he could do it himself. But protocols are protocols. We ran the risk of invalidating our part in the experiment by not doing the test properly, but would letting him do it himself do the same?S...
Source: Browsing - July 18, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Tags: COVID-19 NCOV Source Type: blogs
Allergies, Colds and COVID: How to Tell the Difference
What follows is a breakdown of the symptoms of allergies, cold and flu, along with what we know so far about COVID. My hope is that this will provide parents with a quick checklist that can help assess what their child may be experiencing so they can then pursue the appropriate treatment.
Allergies
Allergies occur when the body perceives certain particles, like dust or pollen, as foreign invaders. Allergies often arise if a child did not experience much exposure (say, to pets or pollen) growing up, or the predisposition can be passed down genetically. While these tiny particles are not necessarily a threat to health, the b...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - June 17, 2020 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Allergies Colds Colds & Flu COVID-19 Source Type: blogs
Treating mild sleep apnea: Should you consider a CPAP device?
This study supports a comprehensive approach to evaluation and treatment of mild OSA. While all people with mild OSA may not need to be treated with CPAP, there are patients who can greatly benefit from it.
Treatments may be trial and error until you and your doctor get it right
When sleep apnea is mild, treatment recommendations are less clear-cut, and should be determined based on the severity of your symptoms, your preferences, and other co-occurring health problems. Working in conjunction with your doctor, you can try a stepwise approach — if one treatment doesn’t work, you can stop that and try an alternative. Man...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - June 15, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Melanie Pogach, MD Tags: Ear, nose, and throat Sleep Tests and procedures Source Type: blogs
Helping people with autism spectrum disorder manage masks and COVID-19 tests
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many new challenges for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Features of ASD, including impaired social and communication skills, repetitive behaviors, insistence on sameness, and especially sensory intolerances, make adapting to wearing face masks and the experience of a COVID-19 test particularly challenging.
Challenges of wearing face masks with ASD
Many people with ASD are highly sensitive to touch, and the face can be especially so. Wearing a face mask involves many unpleasant sensations. On the surface, there’s the scratchy texture of fabric, tight contact where the top of...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - June 10, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robyn Thom, MD Tags: Adolescent health Anxiety and Depression Behavioral Health Caregiving Children's Health Health care Tests and procedures Source Type: blogs
Dr. Berger On Face Shields: Are They Functional or Just Fashionable?
Plastic face shields, or now “COVID visors,” are one piece of PPE still questionable as to how effective and necessary they are at protecting against the virus.
Unlike fabric face masks which are recommended by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in many situations and settings, there are no official guidelines or suggestions for wearing face shields.
This begs the question: are face shields merely just in fashion at the moment – with many style influencers on social media sporting them — or are they actually functional?
GIDEON Founder, Dr. Stephen Berger, answers questions about face ...
Source: GIDEON blog - June 8, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: News Press Source Type: blogs
COVID-19: Physicians in Shackles
By ANISH KOKA, MD
A number of politically tinged narratives have
divided physicians during the pandemic. It would be unfortunate if politics
obscured the major problem brought into stark relief by the pandemic: a system
that marginalizes physicians and strips them of agency.
In practices big and small, hospital-employed
or private practice, nursing homes or hospitals, there are serious issues
raising their heads for doctors and their patients.
No masks for you
When I walked into my office Thursday, March 12th, I assembled the office staff for the first time to talk about COVID. The prior weekend had been awa...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 2, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Medical Practice Physicians Anish Koka medical autonomy Pandemic Source Type: blogs
