RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

“While scientists are busy conducting research and not talking to one another, ethnobotanists are collecting real-world data that can help your brain survive the onslaught of aging and the 21st century.”

Read the whole blog to find out what the nine neuroprotective agents are, suggested dosages and perceived mechanisms of action of each agent.

“Grandpa had been gradually declining from Alzheimer’s dementia for years (he was confined to bed and he could no longer communicate with his family), but on this visit, after he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia for the second time in a few months, it was clear he was now also having difficulty swallowing (dysphagia in medical terms). Grandpa was choking on the simplest of foods, including liquids and pureed foods, when he was tested by the speech therapist. Even when slowly fed small spoonfuls he wasn’t safe to eat.”
Continue reading. . . this blog discusses real end-of-life issues in a realistic, yet compassionate manner. Living with a percutaneous endoscopic g-tube (PEG) brings on its own issues on quality of life vs. length of life. Every family is different and each family has their own issues and priorities in life. This was an insightful blog into one family’s struggle with Alzheimers, swallowing problems (dysphagia) and feeding tubes.

“The latest event sponsored by “integrative medicine” proponents on my medical school campus featured the naturopath Peter Bongiorno, a 2003 graduate and valedictorian from Bastyr University. Advertisements all over campus billed the lecture as “Stress, nutrition, and the GI tract,” which seemed innocuous enough. However, the lecture title as written on Bongiorno’s slide show was “Naturopathic apologetics for treating the gut.” He explained “treating the gut” to mean that for a wide variety of symptoms the naturopath’s diagnosis inevitably focuses on the intestine and interventions nearly always involve dietary changes or supplements.”

This rather lengthy discussion on naturopathy brings head-on some of the controversies between conventional medicine and clinical nutrition with complementary alternative medicine (CAM) approaches used in naturopathy. Part of the problem is lack of an evidence based approach that CAM is struggling with. Also brought to light by this blogger was the efficacy of allowing naturopaths to prescribe in certain states with the point being made that they (the naturopaths) do not have the training to practice medicine, but in many cases your local physician wouldn’t mind chatting about CAM therapies such as de-stressing techniques.

“Just earlier this week, we reported that a new study showed promise for ovarian cancer screening. A combo of transvaginal ultrasound and a CA125 blood test found early, treatable cancers, according to the research published in The Lancet Oncology. Study authors admitted that they weren’t sure how the findings would translate into mortality or balance against the risks of screening.”

Read the complete blog to find out results of a second study. Is screening really reducing mortality?

Regular Screening for Colorectal Cancer Remains Effective in Preventing and Detecting Disease Early

As the nation marks National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month this March, the American Cancer Society is encouraging Americans to get lifesaving screening tests that have been proven to reduce the risk of the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.

“This may not come as news to cardiologists, but the rest of us (ok, me) were impressed that statins appear to reduce the severity of strokes.”

I guess I would say to this blogger to give it a break. The news was only released on Feb. 26th , 2009 in a press release stating that Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that patients who were taking statins before a stroke experienced better outcomes and recovery than patients who weren’t on the drug — even when their cholesterol levels were ideal.

“In India, many doctors are forced to practice low-cost or poverty medicine, because the vast majority of patients are poor and have very limited budgets. Most doctors are quite good at this, and hone their clinical skills, so that they don’t have to rely too much on lab tests or imaging studies to make a diagnosis or formulate a treatment plan.

The key is to develop clinical protocols which can be documented and justified, so we can practice cost effective medicine without hurting our patients, just because they are poor.”

I can see how this idea could translate into more efficient care for our nation’s uninsured.

“In a paper from January 2009, doctors out of Canada proposed a new theory about treating a suppressed HPA axis (which may be an issue for CFS patients), by suppressing it further.

This is just a theory and hasn’t yet been used in humans or even animals. But is a new an interesting way that the HPA axis could be restored after being stuck in a hypocortisol state.”

Read the entire blog to find out more about this current theory on chronic fatigue treatment.

When you think about how many bits of personal information hospitals and other healthcare providers gather on every patient or client who comes through their doors, it’s amazing most are able to keep those bits private. A thoughtless moment is all it can take to cross that HIPAA line into uncharted and unintended territory.
So what do you do when you’re on the other side of that line?
This blog discusses an incidence where HIPPA lines are crossed and what one employee did to rectify it.