What does the ECG show in this patient with chest pain, hypotension, dyspnea, and hypoxemia?
Written by Pendell Meyers, with some edits by SmithA man in his 40s with many comorbidities presented to the ED with chest pain, hypotension, dyspnea, and hypoxemia.The bedside echo showed a large RV (Does this mean there is a pulmonary embolism as the etiology?)Here is his triage ECG:What do you think? Lots of info here.The rhythm is 2:1 atrial flutter.  The flutter waves can conceal or mimic ischemic repolarization findings, but here I don ' t see any obvious findings of OMI or subendocardial ischemia.The QRS is around 100 msec wide (narrow), but with very abnormal morphology including a large R-wave in V1, dee...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - August 14, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs

Population Health Management: SDOH Challenges and Solutions
Conclusion SDOH data collection has its challenges. The first step is to convince organizations and policymakers of its utility and promise to offer whole-person care. Without SDOH, providers are only taking in a fraction of their patient’s health. Therefore, the dismissal of SDOH only widens health disparity gaps and fuels a cycle of reduced patient engagement.  However, the use of focused SDOH benchmarking, routine screening assessments, and robust analytics tools can help organizations take steps toward greater health equity. This gives each patient the potential to achieve and maintain optimal physical hea...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 7, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy Arcadia Population Health Management SDoH Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 7th 2023
In conclusion, here, we demonstrate a novel mechanism for ESC-EVs to protect cells from senescence. However, whether ESC-EVs rejuvenate aged mice via miR-15b-5p and miR-290a-5p remains unknown. Next, we plan to use miR-15b-5p and miR-290a-5p antagonists while treating aged mice with ESC-EVs to further investigate the mechanism by which ESC-EVs resist aging in vivo. « Back to Top Fatty Acid Metabolism as a Commonality in Different Approaches to Slowing Aging https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/08/fatty-acid-metabolism-as-a-commonality-in-different-approaches-to-slowing-aging/ It seem...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 6, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Why Do Some Viruses Have a Seasonal Cycle?
by Gertrud U. Rey Have you ever wondered why some viruses circulate primarily in the winter and others are more prevalent in the summer? Although we don’t have a clear answer to this question, a combination of factors is likely responsible.   Work done in the field of respiratory viruses suggests that these viruses can … Why Do Some Viruses Have a Seasonal Cycle? Read More » (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - August 3, 2023 Category: Virology Authors: Gertrud U. Rey Tags: Basic virology Gertrud Rey absolute humidity airborne transmission direct contact enterovirus indirect contact relative humidity respiratory droplets respiratory viruses seasonality temperature Source Type: blogs

University of Maryland Doctor Tells Public He's Not Sure Smoking is Any More Hazardous than Vaping
In anarticle published today byABC News, a physician from the University of Maryland is quoted as telling the public that he isn ' t sure that smoking is any more hazardous than vaping.According to the article: "' We just cannot make a conclusion that it [vaping] is safer than cigarettes, ' said Dr. Jason Rose, a Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician who is also the Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Innovation& Physician Science at The University of Maryland. "  Of course, stating that you ' re not sure if vaping is safer than cigarettes is equivalent to saying that you ' re not sure smo...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - July 31, 2023 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Examining the Details of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Aging Mouse Heart
Every cell contains hundreds of mitochondria, hard at work to produce the chemical energy store molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), used to power cellular activities. Mitochondria are complex structures, the evolved descendants of ancient symbiotic bacteria that are now integrated into the cell. At their center is the electron transport chain, a collection of protein complexes that conducts the energetic chemical reactions needed to make ATP. Mitochondria bear copies of a remnant circular genome, DNA distinct from that in the cell nucleus, which encodes some of the mitochondrial proteins necessary for mitochondrial func...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 31, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Beta-Blockers For High Blood Pressure: Types, Side Effects, Drug Interactions
Conclusion In conclusion, beta-blockers serve as an indispensable tool in the realm of modern medical treatment, particularly in managing a broad range of cardiovascular conditions. Their unique mechanism of action, which includes decreasing heart rate and blood pressure, confers a significant cardio-protective effect. This, combined with their versatility and the extensive clinical experience with their use, has cemented beta-blockers as a first-line treatment for various conditions, from hypertension and heart failure to anxiety and migraines. Although beta-blockers present unique benefits, it’s crucial...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 24, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 26th 2023
This study explored the association between different cooking fuel types and the risk of cancer and all-cause mortality among seniors constructing Cox regression models. Data were obtained by linking waves of 6, 7, and 8 of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, which included a total of 7,269 participants who were 65 years old and over. Cooking fuels were categorized as either biomass, fossil, or clean fuels. And the effects of switching cooking fuels on death risk were also investigated using Cox regression models. The results indicate that, compared with the users of clean fuels, individuals using bio...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 25, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

High-Frequency Low-Tidal-Volume Ventilation During Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Improves Long Term Outcome
Catheter ablation for pulmonary vein isolation is an important modality of treatment for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. It is also useful for persistent atrial fibrillation, though a little less. Importance of maintaining a stable contact force of the catheter during radiofrequency ablation cannot overstressed as it contributes to lesion size and achieving transmural lesion. Both these are important in reducing re-connection of pulmonary veins, an important cause for recurrent atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation. General anaesthesia during procedure reduces the rate of pulmonary vein reconnection and hence recurr...
Source: Cardiophile MD - June 24, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs

The Concept of Immune Resilience and Its Relevance to Degenerative Aging
The aging of the immune system is widely considered a progressive loss of functional capacity, such as the ability to effectively destroy pathogens and errant cells (known as immunosenescence), coupled to rising levels of unresolved, chronic inflammation (known as inflammaging). In today's open access paper, the authors are more interested in how well the immune system brings itself back to an equilibrium state following the disruptions of an inflammatory response. They call this capacity for restoration "immune resilience". In this framework, aging brings a loss of the ability to restore normality to the immune system fol...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 23, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

6 Dangers And Risks Of Low Blood Pressure
Conclusion Low blood pressure (hypotension) may not be as prominent or noticeable as hypertension, but it can still have significant impacts on various organs over time. Unlike hypertension, hypotension is often only clinically considered and treated when it reaches a life-threatening condition called shock, requiring emergency care. Low blood pressure can result in adverse effects such as insufficient blood flow to the brain, compromising cognitive function, and leading to dizziness. The heart may struggle to pump blood effectively, resulting in chest pain and irregular heart rhythms. Kidney function can be im...
Source: The EMT Spot - June 22, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

Current resources about COVID-19
(Last updated 19th June 2023)IntroductionDuring lockdown I maintained a set of blogposts linking to resources about COVID.   I have not updated those for some time, and have now decided that they are no longer needed.  I have added the word " Archived " to the start of each page title, and tried to make it clear that they are no longer updated.  Of course, COVID-19 has not gone away, and has become one of the infectious diseases that is with us always.  So, I think although those older posts are no longer useful, a current list of resources might be.   So, here is a shorter...
Source: Browsing - June 19, 2023 Category: Databases & Libraries Tags: COVID-19 Source Type: blogs

Lab-Created Mini Lungs to Study Respiratory Infections
Researchers at Rockefeller University have developed a cell culture platform in which to grow ‘lung buds’ from human embryonic stem cells. The tiny structures are similar to the lung buds that form during fetal development, and they contain tiny airways and alveoli. The researchers create the structures in a bio-reactor style device that is furnished with microfluidic chips in which the lung buds grow. The team developed a cocktail of growth factors that can stimulate the embryonic cells to differentiate into the lung buds, and they hope to use the system to test how respiratory infections behave and to discover new tr...
Source: Medgadget - June 19, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Medicine Pathology Public Health RockefellerUniv Source Type: blogs

Better Health Care Tests, Faster
This article looks at some specific problems and solutions. Speeding up Test Development We’ve seen with COVID-19 how quickly a virus can evolve and how hard it is to design both tests and vaccinations that accommodate different variants. Virax Biolabs uses data from the World Health Organization and others to develop tests quickly. For instance, new viral variants tend to spread in the southern hemisphere before hitting the northern hemisphere in our Winter, so Virax can check existing data to prepare better tests for the North. The company is developing a T-cell diagnostics and profiling platform called Virax Immu...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - June 13, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andy Oram Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System Interoperability CLIA COVID-19 Hydreight Immunexpress ixlayer Laboratories Labs Rolland Carlson Sepsis Sepsis Lab Tests Septicyte Shane Madden testing Tomasz George Source Type: blogs

Surviving the chaos: an inspiring journey of health care heroes
Calling all health care personnel: EMTs, paramedics, nurses, CNAs, respiratory therapists, police, firefighters. All of you. You’ve been cursed at, spat upon, hit, and scratched by fingernails. You never got that 30-minute break during those 12 long hours. You had to beg to use the restroom. Your staffing was minimal, and your 24/7 manager was Read more… Surviving the chaos: an inspiring journey of health care heroes originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - June 13, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Conditions COVID Critical Care Nursing Source Type: blogs