CasesBlog - Medical and Health Blog: January 2009

Dave Winer's Virtual Hug Delivered Daily on Twitter

Dave Winer pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), and and is called "the protoblogger" by the NY Times.

A week or so ago, Mr. Winer started spreading a little bit of happiness on Twitter by delivering a daily "virtual hug":

davewiner Almost got through the whole day without a virtual hug. So today's virtual hug goes to 19 minutes ago from web

davewiner Steve Jobs. Thanks for the Macintosh, after all these years, there's no doubt who got it together and who kept it together. 18 minutes ago from web

davewiner It's a great computer, and it's stood the test of time. 25 years. Man that's something! And so you're health is not so great, me too, but 18 minutes ago from web

davewiner We keep on truckin, one day at a time, make the best of it. Thanks Steve, and here's your {**hug**} 17 minutes ago from web

Steve Jobs Speech at the 2005 Stanford Graduation Ceremony: “This is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.”

Steve Jobs tells 3 stories from his life:
- Connecting the dots
- Love and loss
- About death

His final advice to the graduating students: "Stay hungry, stay foolish."

References:
Steve Jobs Speech at Stanford Graduation Ceremony
Video: Highlights of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Interview
“And one more thing” about Steve Jobs’ battle with cancer - Science-Based Medicine, 2011.

If you are included in this post but would like to have your tweet removed for any reason, please email me and will comply with your request the same day.

Health News of the Day

Health News of the Day is a daily summary made from the selected links I post on Twitter. It is in a bullet points format with links to the original sources which include 350 RSS feeds that produce about 2,500 items per day.

75 percent of inpatients were unable to name a single doctor assigned to their care http://is.gd/hIPA
Low-fat, vegetarian diet slows PSA doubling time in prostate cancer http://is.gd/hL9M
U.S. researchers reversed multiple sclerosis symptoms in early stage patients by using bone marrow stem cell transplants http://is.gd/hLar
Intranasal steroids (INS) downregulate increased epithelial expression of COX-1 in nasal polyps http://is.gd/hJjk
Children born by caesarean section have a higher risk of asthma than those born by vaginal delivery http://is.gd/hJib

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Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

Presidential sleeping habits (CNN video)

Presidential sleeping habits, 2:35 min.

CNN's Jason Carroll looks at the hours worked by past presidents and the lessons President Obama could learn.

Related reading:

Do U.S. presidents age faster in office? Possibly, but 70% actually lived longer than expected. LA Times, 2011.
The Presidents Club | Photos: Oval Office Secrets from Truman to Obama | TIME, 2012.

Androgen exposure: Stock traders with the longest ring fingers made more money, linked to aggression, quick reactions

Reuters reports on a University of Cambridge study:

- Stock traders with the longest ring fingers made more than 3 times money as did their colleagues with the shortest fingers

- Length of ring finger relative to the index finger may be a measure of prenatal exposure to androgens

- Previous research linked ring finger length to aggression, sporting ability, increased confidence and quick reaction times

References:
Size matters for financial trading success: study. Reuters.
Image source: An x-ray showing the bones of the human hand, Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

Do you like this post? Subscribe and have articles delivered to your RSS reader or email (see the right sidebar) immediately after they are published. The subscription is powered by Google and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Health News of the Day

Health News of the Day is a daily summary made from the selected links I post on Twitter. It is in a bullet points format with links to the original sources which include 350 RSS feeds (not all of them medical) that produce about 2,500 items per day.

Thunderstorm asthma? Association of thunderstorms with increased asthmatic attacks http://www.erj.ersjournals....
Zoloft and Lexapro are the most effective and well-tolerated antidepressants among a group of 12 new drugs" http://is.gd/hCXy
St. Louis displaced Knoxville as nation's 'asthma capital' http://is.gd/hBmc
Kidney donation appears safe in long term http://is.gd/hCXZ
Kidney donors can expect to live just as long as non-donors do and to experience no significant decline in kidney function http://is.gd/hCXZ
Adolescents whose parents smoke are more likely to pick up the habit themselves http://is.gd/hCYi
Influenza may trigger Guillain-Barre syndrome http://is.gd/hCYy

Selection of My Twitter Favorites, Edition 36

Twitter is a microblogging service where people answer the question "What are you doing?" via 140-character messages from their cellphone, laptop or desktop. You can select the messages you find useful, amusing, or both. Here is the 36th edition of My Twitter Favorites (the oldest post is at the bottom, the newest at the top):

	pyknosis I love when transcriptionists make up words: Immunoglycoside. Heh. 11:13 PM Jan 23rd from web
	txmed @goldenskye "I had absolutely no idea there were so many social media experts out there." It is a self declared area of 'expertise'. 11:01 PM Jan 23rd from web in reply to goldenskye
	fredwilson I'm back in NYC. Flight back was equally great. Wifi internet on planes makes 5 hours feel like 5 mins. Huge game changer for me 10:39 PM Jan 23rd from txt
	EdBennett Getting ready to prune my follow list - self-described social media "experts", gurus, visionaries, thought leaders get close look. 9:01 PM Jan 23rd from web
	EdBennett Old news, but worth repeating: EVERYTHING you tweet, can be found by ANYONE, FOREVER - http://tr.im/c594 4:18 PM Jan 23rd from web
	sunlogrobert Intel has recorded loss first time in 22 yrs of its history. Users need less power & more energy efficient processors. Network PC era is on. 4:06 PM Jan 23rd from Tweetie
	pkedrosky people who explain complex things using the word "basically" are usually lying or bluffing. 2:46 PM Jan 23rd from TweetDeck
	kevinrose my secret time saving email tip: change your desktop email signature to "Sent from iPhone" - then write 1 sentence replies! sshhh 8:50 PM Jan 22nd from twitterrific

	biz Oh boy, Twittering during surgery—I haven't seen that before http://twitpic.com/12u12 12:39 PM Jan 22nd from web
	fredwilson online for the cross country flight to SFO. this is going to cause me to switch loyalties from United to American. internet beats miles. 10:56 AM Jan 22nd from Power Twitter
	hjluks Had a twitter patient this morning. Went from twitter to my site to here. Interesting. 10:49 AM Jan 22nd from TwitterBerry
	biz Zillow keeps emailing to let me know the value of my house is decreasing—um, thanks for the updates... I guess 10:25 AM Jan 22nd from web
	sunlogrobert People in America are saying Good Morning. In Australia are going to bed. And here in Europe I call it a day at my work. Global village. :-) 9:39 AM Jan 22nd from web
	davewiner Someday you'll tell a child that news used to be printed once a day on paper, and they won't understand what you mean. http://bit.ly/15eFE 10:34 PM Jan 21st from web
	sandnsurf Enjoying http://keyboardr.com/ as a great visual interface for search 10:24 PM Jan 21st from web
	giustini Question from LIS student "Why is social media important?" cause managing info in times of overload is a huge challenge; cannot do it alone 5:09 PM Jan 21st from web
	laikas My boss wrote an interview w/me without interviewing me. 2:47 PM Jan 21st from TweetDeck
	zappos http://twitpic.com/15h52 - 3 birds are hopping & flying around inside JetBlue terminal! I think they want to be planes when they grow up 8:23 AM Jan 21st from TwitPic

Micro-blogging on Twitter is easy, fun and can be very useful and educational if you follow/subscribe to interesting people.

You can read more here: A Doctor's Opinion: Why I Started Microblogging on Twitter and
visit my account at Twitter/AllergyNotes.

If you are included in this post but would like to have your tweet removed for any reason, please email me and will comply with your request the same day.

Health News of the Day

A new risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in normal-weight men: too much sitting http://is.gd/htXK
Eat less to remember more, study suggests http://tinyurl.com/avwm32
Study: "Frequent masturbation is a sign of higher prostate CA risk in younger men, but a sign of lower risk in older men" http://is.gd/htY1
"Want to get healthy? Exercise 7 minutes a week" http://is.gd/htXr
Lord doctor admits 34 years later: BMJ case report of 'cello scrotum' was a hoax http://is.gd/htVo
See the original BMJ case report of 'cello scrotum' from 1974: http://is.gd/htVC
Is there a risk of mercury in fish oil supplements? The common brands tested appear to offer no mercury risk. Medscape: http://is.gd/htQd - Related: Find and Compare Mercury in Commercial Fish http://mercury-commercial-fish.findthebest.com

Distinguished British doctor admits 34 years later: BMJ case report of 'cello scrotum' was a hoax

A distinguished doctor, now a member of Britain's House of Lords, invented the fake disease "cello scrotum" 34 years ago and published a single paragraph case report in the BMJ.

Baroness Elaine Murphy, a former Professor of Psychiatry at Guy's Hospital, has confessed to manufacturing a medical condition which only existed in her imagination.

In 1974, the young Dr Murphy claimed to have discovered "cello scrotum", a painful affliction which only affected male players of the instrument.

The spoof letter was written in response to an earlier one about "guitar nipple" from a Dr P Curtis, which the young Dr Murphy thought likely also to be a spoof.

See the original BMJ case report of 'cello scrotum' from 1974: a scanned PDF file.

The Murphy family sent a card to Dr Curtis addressed to "The inventor of guitar nipple from the discoverers of cello scrotum."

Medscape listed both "cello scrotum" and "guitar nipple" in the review of Maladies in Musicians.

References:
Letter: Cello scrotum. J M Murphy. Br Med J. 1974 May 11; 2(5914): 335.
Exposed: the myth of cello scrotum. The Independent.
Cello scrotum? It’s a load of . . . nonsense, admits Baroness Murphy. The Times.
Exposed: The medical myth of 'cello scrotum' The Daily Mail.
Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

Medical Geek Humor on Twitter

Twitter is a microblogging service where people answer the question "What are you doing?" via 140-character messages from their cellphone, laptop or desktop. You can select the messages (called "tweets") that you find useful, amusing, or both.

The tweets below are part of the series Medical Geek Humor on Twitter:

EdBennett Between being offsite all morning and then the emergency dentist visit, I was offline for 6 hours. It felt like 60 about 2 hours ago from web

EdBennett My day so far: up at 5am, do off-site presentation, eat lunch, break molar in half, spend 90 minutes with dentist. How's your day so far? about 2 hours ago from web

laikas @EdBennett My day: photo session, search, 2 great meetings, opening exhibition, biking home & get wet, dinner, help kid w/homework, computer about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to EdBennett

EdBennett @laikas Do you want to trade days :) 13 minutes ago from web in reply to laikas

What happened next?

Read here: Small Mammals and My Dentist.

If you are included in this post but would like to have your tweet removed for any reason, please email me and will comply with your request the same day.

Updated: 02/08/2009

Health News of the Day

MRI Scan That Didn’t Scan -- not all MRIs and radiologists are the same http://tinyurl.com/bkoevk?_r=1
At MGH, “musculoskeletal M.R.I.’s are read by someone who does musculoskeletal imaging every day” http://is.gd/h9Ub
Before you recommend wine for CV risk reduction: One in five men at risk of drinking problem during their lifetimes http://is.gd/hdzc
BBC video series of "real life" medical procedures: angioplasty http://is.gd/helS
ADHD drugs can cause hallucinations in some children http://is.gd/hgED
U.S. school children need less work, more play: study http://is.gd/hgKZ
Today many children get less free time and fewer physical outlets at school http://is.gd/hgKZ
Rates of SIDS from suffocation or strangulation quadrupled in past 20 years, due to parents sleeping with their babies http://is.gd/hhtv
SIDS: Most of the deaths caused by "overlay" -- the parent rolling over onto the child http://is.gd/hhtv
NYT on the hygiene hypothesis: "Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You" http://is.gd/hk2C
Cutting calories by 30% for 3 months boosted memory and reduced insulin concentrations in healthy elderly people http://is.gd/hk8m
"Less-draconian measures also effective - it doesn't take very much weight loss to get significantly healthier" http://is.gd/hk8m
Surrounded by friends? Your genes (and the evolution) determine your behavior. http://is.gd/hka2

Good to know: Medical items required by the FAA to be stocked on commercial flights

Sanjay Gupta in TIME: "As a physician who travels quite a bit, I spend a lot of time on planes listening for that dreaded "Is there a doctor onboard?" announcement. I wondered what I would do if confronted with a real midair medical emergency--without access to a hospital staff and the usual emergency equipment."

It turns out quite a few items are available at a physician's disposal in case of emergency. See the list of medical items required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be stocked on commercial flights:

aspirin
diphenhydramine tablets
IV diphenhydramine
atropine
IV dextrose
IV normal saline
AED
oropharyngeal airways
IM epinephrine (1:1000)
IV epinephrine (1:10000)
inhaled bronchodilator
lidocaine
nitroglycerine tablets
nonnarcotic analgesic
instructions for medication administration
sphygmomanometer
stethoscope
latex gloves
syringes
needles
IV catheters with tubing and connectors
AMBU bag
CPR masks

References:
Of the following items, which are not mandated by the FAA to be stocked in the medical kits on US commerical flights? My Emergency Medicine Blog.
Prout, M. MD and Pine, J. MD. "Management of inflight medical emergencies on commercial airlines." Up to Date. Oct 2008.
Federal Aviation Administration, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.
Is There a Doctor Onboard? TIME, 2002.
Despite doctors' help, airlines are often unappreciative. The National Review of Medicine, 2007.

Selection of My Twitter Favorites, Edition 35

Twitter is a microblogging service where people answer the question "What are you doing?" via 140-character messages from their cellphone, laptop or desktop. You can select the messages you find useful, amusing, or both. Here is the 35th edition of My Twitter Favorites (the oldest post is at the bottom, the newest at the top):

	BiteTheDust living out bush has advantages. Where else, in taking a mouthful of coffee would you get a complimentary grasshopper. And I am inside! 6:56 AM Jan 21st from TweetDeck
	DrGourmet I love how it's a "severe weather alert" here in New Orleans when the temperature is below 32 F. 6:14 AM Jan 21st from web
	loic @om it is a friendly fight, it is good practice and entertaining my friend. In France arguing is a discipline you know. 11:42 PM Jan 20th from twhirl in reply to om
	pyknosis After a day caring for ppl who can't eat b/c they're getting highly emetogenic chemo or have gut GVHD, I felt privileged to savor my supper. 11:03 PM Jan 20th from web
	azrael @chrisseper I've found the power of twitter lies right there. unlocking and finding people you've never met. it's why it's better than fbook 8:59 PM Jan 20th from web in reply to chrisseper
	scanman To all new real followers: I apologize for not following back. I'll see all @replies & I will reply. I don't want to drown in twitter noise. 8:45 PM Jan 20th from iTweet
	Stammy i bet there would be an industry for paid tweets. ie, pay @kevinrose @garyvee or other twitter celebs to tweet ur link.. $ dep # followers 6:48 PM Jan 20th from TweetDeck
	Berci Head-mounted camera with eye-tracking system lets us see and record what the dentist sees. Guess which country developes it! #mmvr17 5:03 PM Jan 20th from TweetDeck
	Berci I'm the only one twitting from a conference focusing on medical innovation. Funny, right? I'm not laughing... I feel lonely. #mmvr17 1:41 PM Jan 20th from TweetDeck
	hjluks @AllergyNotes We will need to excel in quality since we can not excel in price 8:01 PM Jan 19th from web in reply to AllergyNotes
	AllergyNotes "Will medical tourism drive domestic doctors out of business?" http://tinyurl.com/9t5b8q 7:59 PM Jan 19th from TweetDeck
	sunlogrobert My dentist as usuall has anesthetized 1/4 of my face. I don't even know which teeth she was fixing. I'll have to deduct it from my bill. 1:29 PM Jan 19th from twitterrific
	AllergyNotes "Twitter will replace blogs when movie previews replace movies as the preferred form of entertainment" http://tinyurl.com/7z6aeh 1:11 PM Jan 19th from TweetDeck
	Scobleizer I've analyzed the 600 people who unfollowed yesterday and the IQ of my followers just went up 217%! Now we can get back to being smart. :-) 12:47 PM Jan 19th from web
	loic the word "conversation" was "live together", "live with one another" when it was first used until the 17th century when its meaning changed 10:14 AM Jan 19th from twhirl
	loic learning from a Seesmic video (in french) that the roots of the word "conversation" is not to discuss/argue but "to live together" 10:07 AM Jan 19th from twhirl

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