RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

Here is our Top Medical Video for today, brought to you by ScrubTV:

Video

Clearing Up Blood Clots

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers will lead a multicenter clinical trial to gauge the effectiveness of a promising new treatment for deep vein thrombosis, a serious medical condition consisting of dangerous blood clots in the legs.

Here is our Top Blog Post for today, brought to you by MedReader:

• “Consumer Choice” and Complexity

One of the conservative mantras in recent years has been “consumer choice.” When Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage Plans were designed, the availability of a variety of not-strictly-comparable plans was held to be a benefit to “consumers.” The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program of health insurance plans available to federal employees and retirees was held up as an example of how “empowering the consumer” made for good insurance coverage – with federal employees having flexibility to change plans annually during enrollment “open season.”

Here is our Top News Post for today, brought to you by MedReader:

• Antioxidants Offer Pain Relief in Patients With Chronic Pancreatitis

Antioxidant supplementation was found to be effective in relieving pain and reducing levels of oxidative stress in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP), reports a new study in Gastroenterology. CP is a progressive inflammatory disease of the pancreas in which patients experience abdominal pain (in early stage) and diabetes and maldigestion (in late stage).

Here is our Top Medical Video for today, brought to you by ScrubTV:

Video

Internal Medicine Report: Screening For Osteoporosis In Men

Osteoporosis is often viewed as a woman’s health issue, but one in 16 men over 65 suffers from the disease, and few men are currently tested or diagnosed. Because of the aging population, a dramatic increase in osteoporosis among men is expected in the near future. New recommendations from the American College of Physicians call for physicians to screen for osteoporosis in older men, especially those over the age of 65. Osteoporosis is significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated in men, and studies show that osteoporotic fractures result in substantial disease, death and health costs in men. Risk factors for osteoporosis in men are older age, low body weight, weight loss, physical inactivity, previous fractures not caused by substantial trauma, ongoing use of certain drugs and low-calcium diets. Physicians should obtain a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan for men who are at increased risk for osteoporosis and are candidates for drug therapy.

Here is our Top Blog Post for today, brought to you by MedReader:

• Work and Mental Health

“John” was referred to me for counseling services by his primary physician. John’s primary complaint: Panic attacks one to two times per day. I conducted a standard intake interview, asking him about all areas of his life. He had never experienced any panic attacks until one night a few months prior to his appointment with me. Like many people who experience their first panic attack, he spent an evening in the local emergency room being checked for a possible heart attack. This blog reviews the all too common problem of work-related panic attacks and of their confusion with heart attacks.

Here is our Top News Post for today, brought to you by MedReader:

• Anti-Fungal Medication Could Provide Asthma Relief For 150,000 UK Sufferers

Up to 150,000 people suffering from severe asthma in the UK could benefit from taking antifungal medication already available from pharmacists, new research has found. University of Manchester scientists found that pills used to treat everyday fungal infections greatly improved symptoms of asthma in those patients that had an allergic reaction to one or more fungi.

Here is our Top Blog Post for today, brought to you by MedReader:

• Why New Year’s Resolutions Are Hard To Keep

For risk-takers and impulsive people, New Year’s resolutions often include being more careful, spending more frugally and cutting back on dangerous behavior, such as drug use. But new research from Vanderbilt University finds that these individuals–labeled as novelty-seekers by psychologists–face an uphill battle in keeping their New Year’s resolutions due to the way their brains process dopamine.

Here is our Top Medical Video for today, brought to you by ScrubTV:

Video

AAP & AHA Clarify Statement on Cardiovascular Screening in Adolescents Being Treated for ADHD

A clarification on the cardiovascular monitoring of children and adolescents receiving treatment for ADHD is discussed in this video. A careful assessment should include a cardiac history and cardiac examination for all children being considered for pharmacological therapy for ADHD. Subsequent clarification noted that in children with no known cardiac history in themselves or their family and who had an unremarkable cardiac examination there was no recommendation for an EKG or additional testing. It has been demonstrated that in children with no identifiable risk factors that screening EKGs do not seem to have a cost-benefit ratio in this population.