Who reads your blog?
This is a real question. I started writing my blog to keep my family and friends up on my cancer adventures in 2007-2008. Very few of them every read it. I know my mother reads my blog. An old family friend who lives in France reads my blog. The rest of my family to the best of my knkowledge does not read my blog.My husband does not read my blog unless I prod him but his point is that he is living it so I give him a lot of slack on that.He usually knows more about me than my blog does.Of my closest friends, one who lives far away, reads my blog regularly. I have one good friend who lives locally who reads my blog regularly...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 10, 2014 Category: Cancer Tags: blogging friends writing Source Type: blogs
Are You Really That Gullible? Take The Test Now!
Really? REALLY? Are you REALLY that gullible? I spent hundreds of hours searching the internet trying to find the perfect link for people wondering whether that shocking story they read on Facebook or Twitter was really true. You know those people. They believe anything. They are the ones who respond with emotional lability when everyone else understands the humor and satire. Yes stranger, if you're reading this, I'm probably talking about you. You probably landed here because of some link suggesting an incredible story that nobody believes is true, except you and your gullib...
Source: The Happy Hospitalist - February 9, 2014 Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Authors: Tamer Mahrous Source Type: blogs
Sugar-coated nerves: the pseudo-science of neural prolotherapy
Conclusion
The question as to the efficacy of Neural Prolotherapy, as practiced and taught around the world by Dr Lyftogt, is outside the scope of this article. There are no published trials upon which to base any firm conclusions.
Anecdotally, there may be face validity for this treatment but to date there has been no discussion of placebo effect, observer bias, expectation bias, reversion to the mean of the conditions being treated etc.
But what is abundantly clear is that published animal experimental research by leading neurobiologists Professor Douglas Zochodne and Associate-Professor Geoffrey Bove does ...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - January 26, 2014 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Education/CME Professional topics Chronic pain medical procedures musculoskeletal prolotherapy Source Type: blogs
Pain Medicine News - Neuropathic Pain Trial Results Often Not Publicly Available, Survey Shows
Toronto—One-third of results from registered clinical trials of neuropathic pain treatments are not readily available, according to an extensive survey of neuropathic pain literature.According to Michael Rowbotham, MD, scientific director of the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco, the unavailability of such a swath of trial results, compounded with selective publication bias, carry significant ethical, research and clinical implications."One problem is that the aggregating of these data tends to inflate treatment effect sizes," said Dr. Rowbotham. "If you overestimate the effect size, y...
Source: Psychology of Pain - January 26, 2014 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
Chronic widespread pain, including fibromyalgia: a pathway for care developed by the British Pain Society
Chronic widespread pain (CWP), including fibromyalgia, is a highly prevalent condition with a range of disabling symptoms, both physical and psychological. The British Pain Society (BPS) is supporting the treatment of this group of patients through a care pathway and this article describes the rationale and discussion points relevant to the CWP and fibromyalgia pathway. There are several aims in producing this pathway: to reduce variation in the standards of care, to reduce delays at all stages of care, and in particular, to enable clinicians to help patients accept a diagnosis of CWP. This diagnosis should be based on the...
Source: Psychology of Pain - January 6, 2014 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
A day off from blogging
I missed blogging yesterday. I meant to blog but time got away from me. My brother and his four children (ages 8, 11, 14, and 16) are visiting. This means chaos. The poor cat had to recover from over affection from children.They are a lot of fun but some how take a lot of time. Breakfast seemed to last for a few hours as people wandered through and ate and left, came back for seconds, etc. Very different from the quiet mornings with just the two of us.After my nephew learned how to make lasagna yesterday morning, my sister came over and the volume increased. Then all of us went for a walk in the woods on very i...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - December 30, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: blogging fun tired Source Type: blogs
You may have freedom of speech, but I’d STFU for now if I were you…
Here's what I know. You can say whatever the hell you want. You have the right to say all this bullshit without risk of prosecution by the US government. You won't go to prison. You won't be killed. Your family will not be hunted down. On the obverse, I have the right to disagree with you, despise you, hate you, and even publically ridicule you in any manner I see fit for the bullshit you have said in a public forum. This response can be compounded and accentuated by the fact that you are a public figure.
I had the following conversation on Twitter with one of Hannity's disciples -- a really crazy, coo-coo for Cocoa Puf...
Source: The Angriest Pharmacist - December 24, 2013 Category: Pharmacists and Pharmacologists Authors: TheAngriestPharmacist Tags: Because Fuck You - That's why! Me being a dick Me hating others Politics Bullshit Debate Democrat Republican Tired of this stupid shit Tweet Source Type: blogs
Healthline - online help for medical issues
Healthline is an online resource for many health issues, blah, blah, blah. I discovered them when they discovered my blog a few years ago I think, or maybe I signed up with them before. I have no idea now (thanks to chemobrain, fibro fog, etc). Anyway, they have nominated me for one of their best breast cancer blogs (vote for me - and Ann at But Doctor I Hate Pink here - she's in first place but we want to make sure she wins. I just want votes for my ego. I have 11. She has 2900).Then they asked me to link to their best breast cancer videos of 2013 which you can see here. They emailed me this request a month or two a...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - December 14, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: medical information Source Type: blogs
Living with Fibromyalgia: 5 All-Natural Ways to Cope
All natural ways to combat pain, fatigue and other symptoms of Fibromyalgia.Contributor: Lisa ShereePublished: Dec 12, 2013 (Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content)
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - December 13, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs
You would think I had this under control
I never remember to take my pills. There I said it. Its a combination of being a space shot and well... being a space shot. I remember my morning thyroid pill 99.9% of the time. Its been 32 years so you think I had that one down pat. Then the rest of my day gets complicated.I have a whole pile of pills that I take at dinner time. 98% of the time that happens as well.But the rest of them, forget it.Here are the complicated ones:I am supposed to split up my calcium pills and take one in the morning and one in the evening in the 'pile'. That never happens. I have to take it four hours after my thyroid pill which puts it in th...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - November 27, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: medications memory Source Type: blogs
How to Live with Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a crippling disease that some doctors do not believe in. It is real, it is there and you have to learn to live with it until they find a cure.Contributor: Author Cheryl WhitsettPublished: Nov 23, 2013 (Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content)
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - November 23, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs
New Deep Brain Stimulation System Measures Neurotransmitter Release
In this study, the investigators will monitor extracellular neurotransmitter levels using a probe that is able to perform real time electrochemical detection during deep brain stimulation surgery. The overall question this study is designed to answer is: Are there neurotransmitters released during deep brain stimulation? Interestingly, the primary outcome measure is adenosine1 release recorded by WINCS, and the secondary outcome measure is dopamine release (pre-, during, and post-DBS, over a time frame of 30 min). Adenosine A2A antagonists may extend the duration of action of L-dopa, a primary treatment for PD. Preliminary...
Source: The Neurocritic - November 21, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Damn, more meds!
And an expensive one at that. My pain doctor put me back on Lyrica. We tried it about four years ago for the nerve pain issues I was having with my back. We decided it didn't really work for me after about 9 months so I went off it. But now that I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, my doctor is suggesting I try Lyrica again.I don't have a problem with it. My fibro pain has been pretty bad. Just sitting still, knitting, watching TV, driving, or whatever, all of a sudden I will get a bone deep pain in my arm that shoots up to about a 9 or so. Then it goes away. So its no like you can treat it specifically. Sometimes I ic...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - November 16, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: doctor appointments prescriptions Source Type: blogs
Weekly Roundup – November 13, 2013
Below are some of the past week’s interesting health care related news stories. Happy Hump Day!
In honor of November being National Caregivers Month AARP and the Advertising Council launched a new advertising and social media campaign. The campaign illustrates the many roles caregivers play and to thank them for this assistance. Check out the New York Times article for more details on the campaign.
NPR’s Shots Blog covered a story about doctors who are studying if gabapentin, a generic drug that’s commonly used to treat epilepsy and fibromyalgia can be used to fight alcoholism.
USAToday ran an article about a s...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - November 13, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Roundup health Human papillomavirus new york times NPR USA Today Washington Post Source Type: blogs
There is no magic pill! Sorry!
I admit I often ask my doctors for a magic wand to make bad things go away. They tell me they cannot provide it no matter how nicely I ask. There is not a magic pill, no matter what the pharmaceutical industry wants to make us think.In a perfect world, I would like to have a magic pill or magic wand for the following: breast cancer, thyroid cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerating disk disease, and fibromyalgia. None exist. So I am whing.The use of tamoxifen to help reduce breast cancer occurrence in high risk patients is a smart idea. It is a relatively small portion of the population and something that can't really b...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - November 13, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: exercise medication pharmaceutical manufacturers recommendations Source Type: blogs
