If you’ve been on an airplane recently, and if your trip lasted for more than seven hours, you may remember that the flight attendants warned you at the beginning of the trip about the risk of getting deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and told you to do exercises with your calf muscles to keep this from….
Continue ReadingOveruse of Some Painkillers May Increase Headaches
If you’re accustomed to taking many pain-killers for your headaches, and if your headaches have been increasing in frequency and intensity, then over-medication might be the cause. At any given time, more than three million Americans are suffering from headaches they are inflicting on themselves, according to Dr. Stephen D. Silberstein, a professor of neurology….
Continue ReadingFighting Superbugs in Hospitals
Going to a hospital and getting even sicker is an all-too-common occurrence for many in the U.S.A., thanks to the high hospital infection rates. Indiana University School of Medicine researcher Dr. Bradley Doebbeling is using a $400,000 grant to study this problem and come up with solutions. The study will take eighteen months and will….
Continue ReadingHelen Haskell Interview
Imagine having to go to the hospital tomorrow for a procedure that the doctors tell you is simple and practically risk-free. You’re not worried. Your loved ones are not worried. The trouble is, the procedure ends up killing you. Through some mistake or miscommunication or broken link in the healthcare system, you die while receiving….
Continue ReadingPopcorn Supplier ConAgra Will Drop Diacetyl
ConAgra, the world’s largest popcorn supplier, has announced on Tuesday September 4th that it will stop using diacetyl–a synthetic butter flavoring. Diacetyl has been linked to lung disease in workers, who developed severe symptoms (extreme wheezing, for example) after inhaling the vapors of this synthetic butter while on the job. The disease is known as….
Continue ReadingDoctors With Poor Communication Skills More Like To Get Complaints
This may fall into the category of stating the obvious, but a study published on Tuesday September 4th founds that doctors who graduate medical school with poor communication skills are more likely to get complaints from patients down the road in their careers. The researchers tested and scored medical school graduates, who knew that they….
Continue ReadingMight Full Disclosure of Medical Error be the Best Policy?
The overwhelming majority of hospitals will not admit mistakes to patients if there is little chance of patients finding out, and may not even discuss the mistakes after the patients do find out. Of course, hospitals do this to fend off the threat of lawsuits. Yet Dr. Steven Kramm, former chief of staff at the….
Continue ReadingCancer Panel Critiques U.S. Government for Lack of Illness-Prevention
The President’s Cancer Panel–consisting of Lance Armstrong, Dr. Margaret Kripke and Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall–says, in its new report, that the U.S. government should be doing more to promote environments and lifestyles that prevent cancer and other diseases. Part of the report’s argument is that most federal funding for cancer research goes towards genetic and….
Continue ReadingProtecting Yourself from Medical Errors
Patients often want to know what they can do for themselves to prevent medical errors. Often they feel helpless, ignorant and confused when they are seeking health care. Thanks in part to the Internet, there are now sources that remedy this situation by providing information and helpful suggestions. Many of these various suggestions boil down….
Continue ReadingHospital Infection Rates a Matter of Concern
Infections contracted in hospitals can be a serious threat to patients’ health. The CDC estimates that roughly two million patients per year develop infections in hospitals, out of which approximately 90,000 per year die. The Consumers’ Union discusses how many states have adopted laws requiring hospitals to disclose rates of patient infection, and how more….
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