Respiratory Motion Releases New Data on ExSpiron Pulmonary Monitor
Last year we told you about ExSpiron, a continuous minute ventilation monitor developed by Respiratory Motion Inc., a company out of Waltham, MA. The ExSpiron respiratory monitoring system is the first to provide continuous, non-invasive minute ventilation data in non-ventilated patients. The technology continuously and noninvasively measures lung volume against time, generating quantitative metrics for minute ventilation (the amount of air that enters/leaves the lungs every minute), respiratory rate (breaths per minute), and tidal volume (the volume of air in a single breath). This is important because unlike othe...
Source: Medgadget - July 15, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Ravi Parikh Tags: Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine Source Type: blogs
The most important verb in our health crisis
There was great commentary on my last post. Thank you all. I learned a lot from your words. This is how it’s supposed to work here.
One comment in particular has stuck with me. It concerned the formation of a how-to be-healthy booklet. An information manual, if you will.
I’ve thought about this many times before. Bookstores have entire sections of self-help books. There are manuals on healthy cooking, healthy living, healthy this and healthy that.
What I was thinking about is something simpler, more to the core of the current crisis in health.
I looked up the verb, “to choose.” (I do this a lot more than I used to....
Source: Dr John M - July 15, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
The Physical Side of Stress
We tend to think of stress as something that affects us psychologically or mentally, but stress also has a physical side?
How you feel physically will affect how stress gets it’s grips on you. Consider this, when you get a good nights sleep and you feel rested, you can deal with the hectic demands of work and your life. Stress doesn’t bother you as easily, but if you’ve been working fifty, sixty, or eighty hours a week it’s a different story. When you’re exhausted even little things can put you over the edge. That&#...
Source: Dr Laman - July 12, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: DrKirkLaman Tags: Health stress Stress Management Stress Relief Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
The state of US health: The truth stings
It’s going to be hard to anesthetize this one with compassion. I’m sorry, but the report card on US health is not good. We aren’t heading in the right direction, and everyone involved knows that it’s because of a failure to accept the truth.
You have probably already heard the news concerning the state of US health. This week, a mega-group of health researchers (who call themselves the US Burden of Disease Collaborators) published an exhaustive report detailing the health of this nation. (The actual study is available (free) at JAMA. Ron Winslow from the WSJ has this excellent summary.)
On the upside, and I...
Source: Dr John M - July 12, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
Hijinks On The Mountain, Holiday Style
"Ambulance 1, stage at Summit and Back Mountain Road. Lost hikers."
Should this be a surprise? Perhaps. But it isn't. This comes after two previous calls, the first being an individual who filleted their forearm after multiple rounds of alcohol and the second being a minor motorcycle accident.
So we stage. In the meantime, an engine company assignment and the covering officer were dispatched to the area where the hikers were supposed to be near, at least according to the coordinates the cell phone of the hiker who called for help. When the other responding units arrived they prepared to go into the area where the hikers ...
Source: Life in Manch Vegas - July 10, 2013 Category: Ambulance Crew Source Type: blogs
New Wisp One Size Fits All Nasal PAP Mask from Philips Respironics
People with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who are prescribed positive airway pressure (PAP) machines often stop using them because the masks that are strapped to the face can be quite uncomfortable. Moreover, if the right size is not picked and the mask fit on the individual patient just right, the therapy may be less than fully effective.
Philips Respironics has been thinking about these problems and has designed a nasal PAP mask that should fit most adults and that keeps most of the face exposed. Unlike many other masks the Wisp doesn’t have a forehead pad, only using the two reversible soft straps on the side to ...
Source: Medgadget - June 28, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: Cardiology Medicine Source Type: blogs
Boston Scientific’s New Pacemakers Monitor Breathing to Adjust Pacing
Boston Scientific is releasing in Europe three new cardiac pacemakers featuring RightRate technology that monitors the patient’s breathing to help adjust the pulses delivered to the heart. The lineup comprises an INLIVEN cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker (CRT-P) and VITALIO and FORMIO pacemakers.
Each one also includes Boston Sci’s AP Scan technology that helps clinicians monitor and manage patients with sleep apnea, a common comorbidity in those with pacemakers, and wireless data sharing so that readings can be gathered from the implants at home and sent to a cardiologist for review. Some of the new ...
Source: Medgadget - June 26, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: Cardiology Radiology Source Type: blogs
Profiting From Pain - NYTimes.com
NEWS ANALYSISProfiting From PainBy BARRY MEIERThe use of narcotic painkillers, or opioids, has boomed over the past decade as drug makers and doctors have promoted them for a new use: treating long-term pain from back injuries, headaches, arthritisand conditions like fibromyalgia. Insurers have also grown to see pills as a cheaper way to treat chronic pain than other methods.MultimediaSome patients are greatly helped by opioids, a large family of medications. Among the more widely used opioids are oxycodone, which is found in Percocet and OxyContin, and hydrocodone, which is used in Vicodin. Other poten...
Source: Psychology of Pain - June 23, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
People With Sleep Apnea At Increased Risk For Sudden Cardiac Death
Although people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have an increased risk for death and cardiovascular disease, the relationship between OSA and sudden cardiac death (SCD) has not been clear. Now a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology provides evidence that OSA is in fact associated with an increase in the risk for SCD. Click here to read the full post in Forbes. (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - June 11, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Heart Rhythms Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes obstructive sleep apnea Sleep disorder sudden cardiac death Source Type: blogs
The First Step to Take for Managing Blood Sugar
The usual ways we have to bring our blood sugar levels down to normal work well. But they may not be the best means for about half of us who have diabetes and pre-diabetes.
The usual ways are diet, exercise, and reducing stress. These are the cornerstones of diabetes management, but anyone who has sleep apnea has to do more.
A great many of us who have diabetes also have sleep apnea, and a new study indicates that when we start to... (Source: David Mendosa's SharePosts)
Source: David Mendosa's SharePosts - June 5, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: David Mendosa Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, May 22, 2013
Brought to you by MedPage Today.
1. Asthma Tied to Sleep Apnea. Patients with asthma were also more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea.
2. 5-Day Steroid Tx Works in COPD. A short-term course of systemic glucocorticoid therapy in patients with acute chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was as effective as treatment of longer duration.
3. Cyberbullying, Risky Sex Hike Teen Suicide Risk. Adolescents who reported being victims of “cyberbullying” or engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors were more likely to have considered or attempted suicide.
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Mana...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 22, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: News Pulmonology Source Type: blogs
The Testosterone Trap
Should the Modern Man Be Taking Testosterone?
Is It Low T? .com
By now you've likely seen the commercials. Fit-looking middle-age men telling you how they put on weight, had less energy, and were no longer the sexual tigers they were in their twenties -- until, that is, they started rubbing testosterone gel on their shoulder, upper arm, or abdomen.
Now they feel more like the men they used to be.
The commercials don't mention a 2009 study in the New England Journal of Medicine wherein a group of men on testosterone replacement therapy had more than four times the number of cardiovascular problems -- so many that the s...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Childhood Obesity
I am becoming more and more interested in understanding childhood obesity. I have been learning about the its complex cause and about some strategies to help prevent and treat this growing problem in America.Last week, I attended a symposium on the topic and came away more determined then ever to help fight this problem.If kids continue to gain weight and get less exercise, there is the possibility that given obesity's co-existing cardiovascular conditions (atheroslcerosis, HTN, high cholesterol, DM, stroke and sleep apnea) --our children's generation may be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parent'...
Source: Dr Portnay - April 29, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr Portnay Source Type: blogs
Six ways Big Pharma manipulates consumers - Salon
This article originally appeared on AlterNet.
The blockbuster pill profit party is over for Big Pharma. Bestselling pills like Lipitor, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Singular and Concerta have gone off patent and sites which their ads sustained are withering on the vine. WebMD, for example, the voice of Pharma on the Web, with a former Pfizer exec serving as CEO, announced it would cut 250 positions in December.
But don’t worry, Wall Street. Pharma isn’t going to deliver disappointing earnings just because it has little or no new drugs coming online and has failed at the very reason for its existence. Here are six new Pharma ma...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 28, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Sleep Apnea and Hazards in the Workplace
An informative piece on the importance of treating suspected sleep apnea to reduce risk of workplace hazards. Included are signs, health consequences, and treatment options.Contributor: Christol WeberPublished: Apr 21, 2013 (Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content)
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - April 22, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs
