Shingles: What triggers this painful, burning rash?
If you’re like 95% of American adults, you had chickenpox as a kid. Before the United States started its widespread vaccination program in 1995, there were roughly four million cases of chickenpox every year. So, most people suffered through an infection with this highly contagious virus and its itchy, whole-body rash.
But unlike many childhood viruses, the varicella-zoster virus that causes chickenpox doesn’t clear from the body when the illness ends. Instead it hangs around, taking up residence and lying dormant in the nerves, sometimes for decades, with the immune system holding it in check. In some people, it lives...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - December 14, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Kelly Bilodeau Tags: Health Healthy Aging Skin and Hair Care Vaccines 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
The Smokey View from the Northwest
Randal O'TooleThere are no clouds in the central Oregon sky today, but we are nonetheless living in dim times. With active wildfires on all sides of my home, we have some of the worst air pollution in the world.It ’s hard not to feel apocalyptic right now. In just four days, around 3 percent of western Oregon has burned, destroying hundreds of homes and other structures and forcing 80,000 people to evacuate. The good news is that it was not 500,000 people as reported in the media, but still, 80,000 is a lot, and many no longer have homes to return to.I ’ve been monitoring wildland fire pol...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 12, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Randal O ' Toole Source Type: blogs
I Cured My Patient, But What Was His Diagnosis?
By HANS DUVEFELT
He cancelled his followup appointment because he was feeling fine. He didn’t see the point in wasting a Saturday to come to my clinic when he had lawns to mow and chores to do.
Less than two weeks before that he was sitting on the exam table in my office, again and again nodding off, waking up surprised every time his wife prodded him. The stack of printouts from the emergency room illustrated all the normal testing they had done.
He had experienced a brief episode of numbness in the left side of his face and felt tired with just a slight headache. When I saw him the headache was a bit more ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 14, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Medical Practice Physicians Primary Care Hans Duvefelt Source Type: blogs
Some healthcare can safely wait (and some can ’t)
Among the many remarkable things that have happened since the COVID-19 pandemic began is that a lot of our usual medical care has simply stopped.
According to a recent study, routine testing for cervical cancer, cholesterol, and blood sugar is down nearly 70% across the country. Elective surgeries, routine physical examinations, and other screening tests have been canceled or rescheduled so that people can stay at home, avoid being around others who might be sick, and avoid unknowingly spreading the virus. Many clinics, hospitals, and doctors’ offices have been closed for weeks except for emergencies. Even if these facil...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 20, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Health care Healthy Aging Men's Health Women's Health Source Type: blogs
A Deeper Dive: How Vulnerable Can a Therapist Be?
For as long as I can remember, “Peeling off the layers to reveal the real” has been my credo. In a dream, the words “Bare Boldly,” echoed through my sleeping but ever so active brain.” When messages come through that insistently, they can’t be ignored. My inner and outer work as a hybrid therapist-journalist prepare me to take this on every day. When that happens, I question if I am too self-revealing.
Last year, I penned an article for Psych Central called When A Therapist and Journalist Comes Clean About Her Self Doubt. It takes a confessional tone as I admit that the way I present isn’t always an accurate ...
Source: World of Psychology - January 17, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW Tags: Aging Personal Authenticity Shame Vulnerability Source Type: blogs
A Disruptive Treatment Promises New Hope to PTSD Patients: Will Physicians Be Willing to Use It?
Millions of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — from veterans to rape survivors — have new hope because of a watershed study showing that the injection of an anesthetic to a bundle of nerves in the neck can relieve their symptoms in a clinically significant way. The treatment is known as the stellate ganglion block, or SGB. Used since 1925 for problems such as pain in the arm and shingles, it is safe and effective.
In the newly released, eight-week, U.S. Army-funded clinical trial of 108 active-duty service members with PTSD, the nonprofit research institute RTI International found that patients...
Source: World of Psychology - December 8, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Eugene Lipov, MD Tags: Personal PTSD Research Treatment Hyper Vigilance Neuroscience Neurotransmitter Norepinephrine Posttraumatic Stress Disorder pruning Source Type: blogs
FOMO or JOMO? Turn the Fear of Missing Out into the Joy of Missing Out
The struggle is real.
A bit more than a year ago, I wrote an article for Psych Central called Do You Have FOMO? In a study called “Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out,” it is defined as: “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent, FOMO is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing.”
The manner in which it arrived in my life had little to do with being envious with what I saw on social media, and all the way-cool things others were doing, like traveling to exotic locat...
Source: World of Psychology - November 3, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW Tags: Habits Happiness Personal Technology fear of missing out social media Source Type: blogs
How to rekindle your love of medicine
Recently, thousands of new residency and fellowship graduates have earned their wings and will be, mostly metaphorically, hanging out their shingles. Sadly, though, as the excitement of finally finishing training after decades of schooling wears off, even great work can become routine. There is a parable about three men laying bricks. When asked what they […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 18, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/christina-shenvi" rel="tag" > Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD < /a > < /span > Tags: Education Hospital-Based Medicine Residency Source Type: blogs
Millions Take Gabapentin for Pain. But There ’s Scant Evidence It Works. - The New York Times
One of the most widely prescribed prescription drugs, gabapentin, is being taken by millions of patients despite little or no evidence that it can relieve their pain.In 2006, I wrote about gabapentin after discovering accidentally that it could counter hot flashes.The drug was initially approved 25 years ago to treat seizure disorders, but it is now commonly prescribed off-label to treat all kinds of pain, acute and chronic, in addition to hot flashes, chronic cough and a host of other medical problems.The F.D.A. approves a drug for specific uses and doses if the company demonstrates it is safe and effective for its intend...
Source: Psychology of Pain - May 22, 2019 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
Herpes infection of the cornea
The clear tissue at the front of the eye is known as the cornea, and it must remain crystal clear in order for an individual to see clearly. The herpes viruses can infect the cornea, causing damage to tissue and possibly causing lasting visual impairment if not quickly identified and treated.
Herpes simplex: the cold sore virus
One of the most common infections of the cornea is caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV type I and HSV type II), or the cold sore virus. The most common question from patients with HSV infection of the cornea is “How did I get this?” The answer is fairly simple. The virus is everywhere, and e...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 20, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Emma Davies, MD Tags: Eye Health Infectious diseases Source Type: blogs
‘ At Least You Don ’ t Have … ’ How to Be Supportive of Someone with Chronic Illness
I was speaking with someone recently who has a series of chronic and painful conditions; some of which are noticeable and some ‘invisible’. What is particularly distressful is that people sometimes say to her, “At least you don’t have cancer.” How dismissive is that? I know they are trying to help her feel better about what she does have and perhaps even attempt to minimize the impact, but it is not compassionate or helpful.
There are diagnoses such as fibromyalgia, lupus, diabetes, arthritis or neuropathy which some people have to navigate. It might mean taking naps on an as-needed basis, en...
Source: World of Psychology - May 15, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW Tags: Chronic Pain Health-related Inspiration & Hope Personal Arthritis Chronic Illness Diabetes Fibromyalgia Lupus Lyme disease neuropathy peer support Source Type: blogs
Everyone Has a Part to Play in Ending Vaccine Hesitancy
Felicia D. Goodrum Sterling
Heidi L. Pottinger
By FELICIA D. GOODRUM STERLING, PhD and HEIDI L. POTTINGER, DrPH, MPH, MA
The measles outbreak in Washington state this week has brought new attention to the anti-vaccine movement. In fact, the World Health Organization recently identified “vaccine hesitancy” as one of top threats to global health. In the US, the number of unvaccinated children has quadrupled since 2001, enabling the resurgence of infectious diseases long-since controlled. In fact, the WHO claims a staggering 1.5 million deaths could be prevented worldwide by improved vaccination rates.
Amidst the medi...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 12, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Patients Felicia Goodrum Sterling Global Health Heidi L. Pottinger public health The OpEd Project vaccines Source Type: blogs
Weapons grade chilli dressing
UPDATE: I blitzed them in the food processor today and converted the jar of pickled chillis into a lethal cocktail for drizzling into curries and marinades etc. Thought I had better put a hazmat type sign on the bottle.
Turns out these are Scotch Bonnets, up to 400,000 Scoville units in terms of capsaicin concentration. I’ve now chopped, deseeded and blanched half a pound of them to freeze and pickle.
I wore rubber gloves, a facemask and goggles while I did so, but the house is now full of their volatiles and neither Mrs Sciencebase nor myself can stop coughing and sneezing. I just touched my face with a formerly g...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - September 25, 2018 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
Weapons grade chilli oil
UPDATE: Turns out these are Scotch Bonnets, up to 400,000 Scoville units in terms of capsaicin concentration. I’ve now chopped, deseeded and blanched half a pound of them to freeze and pickle.
I wore rubber gloves, a facemask and goggles while I did so, but the house is now full of their volatiles and neither Mrs Sciencebase nor myself can stop coughing and sneezing. I just touched my face with a formerly gloved finger that I thought I’d washed thoroughly and the skin there is sizzling gently…why do we use these weapons on mass destruction in food again, remind me?
UPDATE: I was talking chillis in the p...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - September 25, 2018 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
