Elephant Painting

If this doesn't lift your day and perspective on life, nothing will. Enjoy!

U.S. Healthcare - Overhaul it

I think Americans that are in a Union have pretty good health insurance overall because the unions use health coverage as one of their bargaining chits for employer based coverage. If you have AFL-CIO coverage, you are probably not one of the 47 MILLION uninsured! You also don't have Medicaid.So I was surprised to find a survey of more than 26,400 Americans, conducted by the AFL-CIO found that

Scary Technology- At Home Paternity Test

We should have expected that this day would come and here it is. Consumers can now purchase an at home test kit for men to solve that age old question "Hey, is that funny looking kid really mine?"A company called Identigene has developed a paternity test that is available over the counter at Rite Aid and Meijer drugstores. The test costs $29.99 and there is an additional $119 for lab fees. The

Gratitude

Reading medical blogs can be a real downer. We bloggers like to point out the problems with healthcare financing, training and economics. Insurance companies are a drag and being on call is like carrying around a 2 ton beeper. Talking about the pleasures and privilege of practicing medicine may not be blogworthy, but the note I carry in my handbag and read each day is my reminder of how

Genes and the Environment - Epigenetic

How genes interact with the environment to cause disease has been a mystery to scientists. But now, the field of Epigenetics is starting to give clues that will help with cancer and other diseases.Epigenetics can be thought of as chemical switches that can turn on and off the expression of genes in response to environmental factors. These chemical changes alter whether certain genes are

Easter and Spring

Happy Easter-Happy Spring Equinox. No matter what you call it or how you celebrate, this time of year has been celebrated by all cultures since antiquity.Of course Easter Sunday is a Christian celebration of Christ rising from the dead to take his place as the Son of God. But the Easter celebration has Pagan roots, long before Jesus Christ, with celebrations honoring the goddess of Spring.

Do You Need a Doctor? It better be for skin

Breaking News (that all of us in Medicine already knew)!!! Young doctors all want to be Dermatologists. Yes, there is a sudden overwhelming interest in skin, pores and hair after spending years in premed, medical school and residency. Taking care of the whole person? Doing a work up for abdominal pain and removing a sick appendix? Evaluating kidneys or hearts or thyroid glands? Arthritis,

Omega 3 FFA - More Good Heart Benefits

I've written before about Omega 3 FFA but I just learned some new facts that I want to share because it is so important to our longevity and health. I've always been a bit confused about the amount that is needed for proven benefit so here are some important facts:DHA and EPA are the two omega-3 fatty acids that have shown to prevent cardiovascular disease. Two major randomized clinical trials

Carnival of Human Resources Blog

Check out Wally Block's Three Star Leadership Blogwhich features some great links for the human resources world (including EverythingHealth, thank you very much!). This great collection includes "Steps for figuring out your next career move", "CEO excessive pay", "How to interview" and even "How to be a green leader". But it's HR so don't spend all of your work day surfing the web or you could

Paper or Plastic?

Thanks to my friend at Frankly Green for this great link at msnbc.com to help answer that age old question:"Paper or Plastic?"It is a little long to watch, but it's informative.If you don't want to watch it...I'll give you the punchline: Take reusable bags. (Keep them in the back of your car so you always have them with you) If you are caught without a reusable bag...make your decision on

Too Many Tests, Too Many Doctors

I've written often about the primary care doctor shortage and the crazy system of health care financing that we have in the United States. To get a clear example of this, check out the great op ed article in the New York Times, titled "Many Doctors, Many Tests, No Rhyme or Reason."The writer, a medical intern, had his eyes opened when he witnessed a 50 year old man who was admitted for shortness

Powerful Men and Sex

Even in the staid medical world, everyone was talking about Gov. Eliot Spitzer today and his fall from grace. What the hell was he thinking????The big question in my mind is why would a respected, well known, powerful man...a member of the lucky gene club, risk it all for dangerous liaisons? His crazy decision to spend a reported $80K on high priced prostitutes has brought down his marriage,

Grand Rounds

The best of the medical blogs are featured in this weeks Grand Rounds, hosted by our Canadian Medicine friends. Check it out for some good reads.

Expensive Placebo Pills Work Better

An amazing study published in JAMA has shown that expensive placebo (dummy) pills work better than cheaper dummy pills. Researchers from Mass. Institute of Technology (MIT) recruited 82 healthy people. They said they were taking a new opioid pain pill that had been approved by the FDA. Instead they gave half the subjects a placebo pill that they said cost $2.50. They gave the same placebo to

Reduce Stress - 3 Simple Ways

EverythingHealth is happy to present a guest blog today from educator and writer, Susan Jacobs.Keep Healthy By Reducing Stress - 3 Simple WaysLet’s face it; life can be very stressful at times for everyone. With worries about jobs, families, friends, and much more, the average person deals with a considerable amount of stress daily. New research has shown that stress can have extremely negative

Nutrition and Childhood Allergy

The incidence of allergies in children has increased over the past several decades. Asthma has increased 160% and atopic dermatitis (eczema, rashes) has increased 2-3 fold. Peanut allergy has also doubled in the last decade.A new report, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in Pediatrics shows that breastfeeding for at least 4 months may help prevent allergies in high risk infants.

Health Information Confusion

Thanks to J.S. for today's funny.

Physicians are Sleep Deprived

When patients complain about insomnia or difficulty staying asleep, I must admit I have no personal point of reference to what they are experiencing. I can fall asleep within minutes of my head hitting that nice soft pillow. I can doze off in a movie, sitting around with a group of friends or reading medical journals. The American College of Chest Physicians has now published results of a

Medicare Fraud - Or Just a Mistake?

I hate waste and fraud as much as the next guy but are "Medicare coding mistakes" really the most pressing activity for our government to go after? Private audit companies, hired by Medicare, will begin scouring mountains of medical records in doctors' offices and hospitals to see if health care providers made a mistake in coding and billing Medicare. Intent to fraudulently bill does not need

Antibiotics - Truths you may not like

Some blogs are so good I want to repeat it for my readers. Thanks to Distractible mind for this one. Patients don't like to hear it but here is the real truth about antibiotics and YOU:Common myths about infections and antibiotics Much attention has been given to the fact that antibiotics are given too often. The reason for this concern is that the overuse of antibiotics can create resistance

Women, Now You Can...PEE STANDING UP!

Thanks to Rich in Boston for alerting me to the fact that women can now pee ("urinate" for you purists) standing up. You might think it is gross to talk about, but for women who are tired of laying toilet paper on the seats or using their quads until they tremble with fatigue, this is a novel idea. I like the handy little cardboard. Hope it is biodegradable, just like pee.

You're the Doctor - Answer

The patient in the photo below has Poison Oak (Rhus dermatitis). Don't feel bad if you missed it. She had 4 medical visits before it was successfully diagnosed.Poison Oak is a form of a contact dermatitis (good work, "erp") and she actually contracted it while hiking in Point Reyes, California. Once the urushiol oil from the plant sets on the skin, an inflammatory and allergic response keeps

You're the Doctor- Whats the Diagnosis?

This young woman developed this skin condition on her leg after a trip to the Grand Canyon. She was treated with two different antibiotics but it worsened. The winner gets a years free subscription to EverythingHealth. Oh, yea...it's already free. OK the winner gets bragging rights.Answer will be posted tomorrow.

Ricin - what you should know

The poison Ricin was found in a Las Vegas Hotel room and one man is hospitalized and unconscious after exposure. Because it takes a deliberate act to poison with Ricin, this brings up concerns about National Security and many questions that are not yet answered.Ricin is the "waste" mash left after Castor beans are processed into castor oil. Except for cancer research, there are no medical uses