Santa's Experiment with Prehospital Thermometers Shows They're Reliable
Santa convened a special Santa Summit at the North Pole two years ago, inviting his elves and reindeer handlers as well as the JEMS editorial staff and medical experts from several countries. The reason: His concern over insidious sepsis and deadly septic shock—conditions he felt EMS agencies should be aware of and, more importantly, do something about. After serving milk and cookies for breakfast, Santa started the summit by defining sepsis as "generalized body poisoning by the products of bacteria," and noted that it's affecting and killing more people than it should.1 He became emotional and said he was tire...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - December 1, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: A.J. Heightman, MPA, EMT-P Tags: Columns Patient Care Source Type: news

Gangrene
(Source: eMedicineHealth.com)
Source: eMedicineHealth.com - November 23, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Source Type: news

LimFlow wins CE Mark for PAD device
LimFlow said today it won CE Mark approval in the European Union for its percutaneous LimFlow system designed for venous arterialization of the lower limbs for peripheral artery disease patients. The company said the device is designed to promote chronic wound healing and avoid major amputation using proprietary ultrasound guided catheters and nitinol stents to bypass diseased arteries and divert blood flow into the tibial vein. “Utilizing the existing alternative pathway of the venous vasculature, the LimFlow System is designed to reestablish perfusion for patients that have chronic, non-healing wounds and are in im...
Source: Mass Device - November 15, 2016 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Fink Densford Tags: Regulatory/Compliance Vascular LimFlow Source Type: news

A Mercurial Toxin
Since ancient times, compounds containing mercury have been used in the treatment of skin diseases and other ailments. However, mercury toxicity was not fully appreciated until March 8, 1809 when two British ships, the HMS Triumph and HMS Phipps, came to the rescue of a Spanish ship that had been damaged in a hurricane. They rescued the crews and transferred the valuable cargo of mercury. Within weeks, the crews began to experience the effects of mercury poisoning, eventually many were hospitalized and some died. Mercury was known to ancient peoples and was even found adorning a 15th century BCE ceremonial cup in an Eg...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - June 21, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news

Electric fields weaker in slow-healing diabetic wounds
People with diabetes often suffer from wounds that are slow to heal and can lead to ulcers, gangrene and amputation. New research from an international group shows that, in mouse models of diabetes, slow healing is associated with weaker electrical currents in wounds. The results could ultimately open up new approaches for managing diabetic patients. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - June 16, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news

Electric fields weaker in slow-healing diabetic wounds
(University of California - Davis) People with diabetes often suffer from wounds that are slow to heal and can lead to ulcers, gangrene and amputation. New research from an international group led UC Davis shows that, in mouse models of diabetes, slow healing is associated with weaker electrical currents in wounds. The results could ultimately open up new approaches for managing diabetic patients. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - June 16, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Vasculitis after snorting cocaine contaminated with levamisole
Lawrence et al. Allergy Rhinol (Providence) 2014Copyright policy — open-access 3.5 out of 5 stars Cocaine-induced ecchymotic rash. Voore NK. Cleve Clin J Med 2016 Apr;3:252-253. Full Text Since at least 2010, a large percentage of cocaine samples seized in the United States has contained levamisole, a veterinary anti-worm medication. Levamisole had previously used in humans as an anti-helminthic and also in some chemotherapy regimens. It was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 1999 because of its association with agranulocytosis and vasculitis. It is apparently added to cocaine because it increases catecholamine release, ...
Source: The Poison Review - April 7, 2016 Category: Toxicology Authors: Leon Gussow Tags: Medical cocaine levamisole vasculitis Source Type: news

Diabetes campaign shows how too much sugar can cause gaping wounds and gangrene
The campaign, by the Diabetes Association of Thailand, aims to raise awareness to the little-known complications of type 2 diabetes, including poor wound healing, ulcers and gangrene. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - March 29, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Cuba Has Made At Least 3 Major Medical Innovations That We Need
By most measures, the United States' business-friendly environment has proven to be fertile for medical innovation. Compared to other countries, America has filed the most patents in the life sciences, is conducting most of the world's clinical trials and has published the most biomedical research. That's what makes the medical prominence of Cuba all the more surprising to those who view a free market as an essential driver of scientific discovery. Cuba is very poor, and yet the country has some of the healthiest, most long-lived residents in the world -- as well as a medical invention or two that could run circl...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - March 15, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news

Digital Ulcers Predict Systemic Sclerosis Complications (CME/CE)
(MedPage Today) -- Chronic ulcers associated with high rates of gangrene, amputation (Source: MedPage Today Primary Care)
Source: MedPage Today Primary Care - December 3, 2015 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news

Gizelda Walker loses 5 fingers to GANGRENE after botched gastric band surgery
Grizelda Walker, 68, from Hackney, had to have her fingers amputated above the knuckle after a series of 'catastrophic errors' by Whittingdon Hospital, Archway, north London. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - November 18, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Prosthetic Bypass Surgery Can Salvage Lower LimbsProsthetic Bypass Surgery Can Salvage Lower Limbs
Dr Frank Veith highlights the challenges, risks, and benefits associated with prosthetic bypass surgery for lower limbs threatened by gangrene and ulceration. Medscape General Surgery (Source: Medscape General Surgery Headlines)
Source: Medscape General Surgery Headlines - November 16, 2015 Category: Surgery Tags: General Surgery Commentary Source Type: news

Are Your Hands Almost Always Cold? You Might Have Raynaud's Syndrome
My hands are cold almost all of the time. I get cold easily and have a hard time staying warm. When I touch someone, I often have to apologize for having "zombie hands." It has nothing to do with metabolism or body fat. I noticed this issue when I was 14. It was the middle of winter and my bestie and I were totally nuts about the Ramones. We went to a club where they were playing and wanted to be first in line (like in the movie "Rock n Roll High School") so we showed up several hours before the doors opened to prove our loyalty. We were wearing dresses and thick tights. It was winter in NY. My friend, who was more petite ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - August 12, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Boy, 8, Is First Child Ever To Receive Double Hand Transplant
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Source: Science - The Huffington Post - July 29, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news

Zion Harvey who lost limbs to gangrene gets double-hand transplant
A 40-person team at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia labored for 11 hours earlier this month to give an 8-year-old Zion Harvey a new set of hands. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - July 29, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news