Sickle cell anemia - NHS Choices video

From NHS Choices YouTube channel:

Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic (inherited) blood disorder where red blood cells develop abnormally. In this video a specialist nurse explains what it is, and Junior describes living with the condition:



The estimated survival at 18 years is now 94 percent for those with HbSS sickle cell disease or HbS/beta(0) thalassemia and 98 percent for those with HbSC or HbS/beta(+) thalassemia.

Related reading:

What's new in hematology from UpToDate http://bit.ly/Tm97Ee

Best of Medical Blogs - weekly review and blog carnival

The “Best of Medical Blogs - weekly review and blog carnival” is a weekly summary of the best posts from medical blogs. Feel free to send your suggestions to my email at clinicalcases@gmail.com. Best of Medical Blogs (BMB) is published every Tuesday, just like the old Grand Rounds.

Here are this week's top blog posts arranged in 4 broad categories:

Twitter as a new educational medium for doctors

ENT doctor: "Twitter is the best and most efficient way to get started learning from and sharing information" http://buff.ly/QVwjwS

Social media is a great way to connect with others at scientific meeting and share your personal experiences. The Chest 2012 meeting jumps in the social media pool with both feet and you must join them: http://buff.ly/Sb2h8S

Crowdsourcing Gout (with tweets). Here is how it works according to @RonanTKavanagh: This is why I love learning on Twitter. New drug, limited experience and 4 rheumatologists chipping in: http://buff.ly/RMK7HS

Health policy: what's on doctors' minds

Dr. Wes is worried about The Growing Culture of Hostile Dependency Toward Caregivers: http://bit.ly/SqnWti

The Joys Of Health Insurance Bureaucracy - Dr. Val from the blog Better Health shares her personal experience: http://bit.ly/T5Ncav

Dr. Wes: The Growing Residency Squeeze: While medical schools have increased their medical school positions by 30%, residency slots have only increased at a much slower rate of 8% http://buff.ly/Sb1HrB

Medical librarian provides a much needed critical look

Online Education Sites: and the Spam Goes on - Laika's MedLibLog from the Netherlands comments on her excellent and always well-referenced blog: http://bit.ly/WmTBwV

Why Publishing in the NEJM is not the Best Guarantee that Something is True - Laika's MedLibLog http://bit.ly/URfwgN

Inner well-being: The glass is half full

Patient-Centerness in Healthcare: Chief Experience Officer at Cleveland Clinic and e-Patient Dave: http://buff.ly/RMHupn

Healthcare CIO: After I started farming, my gray hair has disappeared. My optimism and equanimity are peaking... http://buff.ly/Sb10ie

Social media: how can doctors contribute?

"Social media: how doctors can contribute" is a brief but valuable opinion piece in The Lancet, one of the "big five" journals in the medical publishing world. I have suggested some practical examples before (http://goo.gl/eG7M1) and my comments are in the text below.

Most social media guides for doctors emphasize the need to:

- maintain patient confidentiality
- provide accurate information
- treat colleagues with respect
- avoid anonymity online if writing in a professional capacity
- be aware of how content is shared
- review privacy settings and online presence
- declare conflicts of interest
- maintain separate personal and professional profiles

Here are some quotes from The Lancet article:

"Accepting Facebook friend requests from patients is, in general, not advised. But what of situations where doctors and patients are genuine friends? (then it's OK in many cases).

What, too, of the benefits of doctors providing medical information via blogs, Twitter, or Facebook? Current guidance focuses more on the risks than the benefits of doctors' use of social media."

Providing only negative examples of social media use by doctors is like teaching medical students only with "Morbidity and Mortality" conferences. Providing examples of positive outcomes and best practices is essential.

Patients use social networks to research their symptoms, their doctors, their treatments, and to set up support and information groups.

Doctors can use social media to drive awareness, to provide accurate information, and as a portal to communicate with other physicians.

"Much is said about the dangers of social media. Care about posting in a public space is, of course, needed. Doctors, though, should seize the opportunities provided by social networks to improve the health of their patients, and do their utmost to ensure that the highest quality of health information and access to treatment is there for all."

Finally, some common sense thinking about social media use by doctors has made it into a top 5 medical journal.

Cycle of Patient Education (click here to enlarge the image). An editable copy for your presentation is available at Google Drive:



Cycle of Online Information and Physician Education (click here to enlarge the image). An editable copy for your presentation is available at Google Drive:



The two cycles work together as two interlocking cogwheels (TIC). Here is how to facilitate the Rise of the ePhysican who works hand in hand with the ePatient:



Products of the Cycle of Patient Education: EQUALS

- Energy!
- Quality of life is improved
- Understanding of patient condition is improved
- "Affinity" - better physician-patient relationship leads to increased referrals to the practice, e.g. 2-5 new patients per week per physician, increased revenue
- Lower rate of ER visits, hospital admissions, phone calls
- Savings for patient and health system

References:

Social media: how doctors can contribute. The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9826, Page 1562, 28 April 2012.
Social media in medicine: How to be a Twitter rockstar and help your patients and your practice 

Related reading:

Howard Luks MD @hjluks: Many MDs and hospitalis are rushing into a So Me with a lack of proper offline preparation, and the lack of understanding buff.ly/LS5WHt

Comments from Twitter:

@mHIMSS: Nice breakdown! [GRAPHIC] How can #physicians contribute to #patient experience w/ #socialmedia? ow.ly/eQW0L via @DrVes

Laika (Jacqueline) @laikas: Social media: how can doctors contribute? j.mp/PD06fe #socialmedia by @DrVes (with nice Patient Education Cycles) HT @DrShock

Top medicine articles for October 2012

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for October 2012:

Worldwide, 31% of adults are physically inactive, ranging from 17% in southeast Asia to 43% in Americas and eastern Mediterranean. The proportion of 13-15-year-olds doing fewer than 60 min of moderate physical activity per day is 80% http://goo.gl/3W6os -- The pandemic of physical inactivity: Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide - The Lancet http://goo.gl/dL2uE -- Elimination of physical inactivity would increase the life expectancy of the world's population by 7 months http://goo.gl/mbUos -- Why are some people physically active and others not? Genetic factors contribute to propensity to be physically active http://goo.gl/jHuIk -- Evidence-based intervention in physical activity: lessons from around the world - The Lancet - http://goo.gl/eHniD

Snorkelling-related deaths in Australia: cardiac, surface drowning, drowning after prolonged breath-hold diving, trauma http://goo.gl/VT0Bs

Nearly half of U.S. doctors struggle with burnout: study http://goo.gl/T3fnx

Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are associated with increased risk for Clostridium difficile infection http://goo.gl/wLi5v

Interactive atlas by CDC shows data about HIV, AIDS, hepatitis, TB, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis http://goo.gl/aizZS and http://goo.gl/VYztM

Looking at human beings as ecosystems of collaborating/competing species could change practice of medicine http://goo.gl/3LX9R

Prevalence of Celiac Disease in U.S.: 0.7% (1 in 141), rare among minorities but affects 1% of non-Hispanic whites http://goo.gl/1qFwE

Future doctors will need to correct the postmodern tendency toward immune dysregulation http://nyti.ms/SG6nX7

The Search for a Baldness Cure: Vitamin D to Coax Dormant Follicles to Grow Hair http://goo.gl/82s4a

YouTube for information on rheumatoid arthritis - at least 30% of videos were misleading. A wakeup call? http://goo.gl/Rjzdv

From physician frustration to physician satisfaction. "Oh we’re not gonna take it anymore", sings AMA http://goo.gl/SSWdQ

6 tips for marketing a practice outside social media - amednews http://goo.gl/AwGZ8

Many hospitals recruiting doctors continually. Contact them even if there isn't a job listing, say experts http://goo.gl/v8Oy7

EHR Report 2012: Physicians Rank Top EHRs http://buff.ly/QHeMqU

The articles were selected from my Twitter and Google Reader streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases@gmail.com and you will receive acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.

Comments from Twitter:

Mike Cadogan @sandnsurf: More interesting, insightful and entertaining medical education links from @DrVes #FOAMed litfl.com/PBGoAv

Alopecia: Gita's story

NHSChoices: Hair loss, or alopecia, affects an estimated 8 million women in the UK. In this video Gita Mendis talks about her experience of alopecia areata, how she felt when she noticed her hair loss and the treatment she received.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5dp2t1JZXE