Shout Outs

 Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links removed as many no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Kim, Emergiblog, is this week's host of Grand Rounds. Read this edition here.

When I was contemplating hosting Grand Rounds, did I realize that I was hosting a compilation of serious interdisciplinary dialogue relating to the practice of health care?
Did I understand the enormity of the task I had chosen to undertake?
Heck yes I did!
I chose to use a “Napoleon Dynamite” theme anyway as that is pretty much the coolest movie ever made.
If you’ve seen it, you’ll get it. If you haven’t, you’ll think I’m nuts (but I have great nunchuk skills….)!
So grab your coffee, and get ready for a good read!
Or, as Napoleon’s Grandma says, “just make yourself a dang quesa-dilluh!”
Welcome to Grand Rounds…

Our fellow medical Aussie bloggers have their own award. Voting is now open.  The finalists are:

• AEQUANIMITAS
• Degranulated
• Life in the Fast Lane
• Prn Penguin
• Vagus Surgicalis

Congratulations to all the nominees. Go vote for your favorite here. Voting is open until February 20th.

As you know, Australia has had horrible bushfires recently with loss of entire communities, businesses, homes, and lives. Knowing I quilt, Dr Cris sent this tweet out. I’ve made a few blocks already. Hope some of you will do the same.

DrCris Just found this: People piecing quilts to send to Victorians in wake of bushfires http://flickr.com/groups/bu...

The first edition of “A Source of Inspiration” is up. Trauma Junkie, Surviving RT School, who began this new carnival is off to a great start. You can read the first edition here.

Check out this story of Dr Eugene Alford in the March 2009 issue of Reader’s Digest, “His Own Medicine”. He is a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX. He was paralyzed in an accident, but with a lot of physical therapy and community/family support has made it back to the OR as the surgeon.

Medgadet has a nice “farewell” to a medical giant, Dr. Willem Johan (Pim) Kolff, who died recently.

Dr. Willem Johan (Pim) Kolff, one of the most prolific inventors of new medical devices, has passed away at age 97 in Philadelphia. Dr Kolff led a long and productive life, and through his genius he saved and greatly improved the lives of thousands of others. From external dialysis machines to the CardioWest artificial heart, Dr Kolff was one of the revolutionaries that successfully introduced practical devices to the medical world.

A Repository for Bottled Monsters has this announcement:

On Saturday, February 28, from 2-5 p.m. the NMHM will host a Knitting for Marines charity event to make and distribute helmet liners to Marines stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The liners help to protect our Marines and keep them warm during the harsh winters in these countries.
If you don't know how to knit in the round, this is a great time to learn. Instructors will be on site to help you through the project. If you are an experienced knitter and wish to get an early start on the project, you may download the knitting pattern.

This week Dr Anonymous will be talking with From Medskool. The show begins at 9 pm EST.

You can check out the archives of his Blog Talk Radio show. Here is the upcoming schedule:

2/26: Co-host Dr. Gwenn
3/5: Podcamp Ohio
3/12: Mudphudder
3/19: Trauma Junkie

Benefits of Quitting

 Updated 3/2017-- photo and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one.

This post is for Trauma Junkie, Surviving RT School,  who has recently quit smoking (applauding you) and is starting a new carnival, A Source of Inspiration.   The first edition is planned for Friday, February 13th.  You have to love this logo (photo credit)!

Yes, it may be difficult to quit smoking, but the health benefits are many.  So I would encourage you to halt your habit/kick your addiction to cigarettes. 

Mark Twain said, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times."

It often takes more than one try (maybe more than a thousand) to actually quit smoking, but it will be worth the effort. 

No matter how old you are or how long you've smoked, quitting can help you live longer and be healthier.  You will heal quicker.  Your skin will age slower.  If you stop smoking before age 50, you can  cut your risk of dying in the next 15 years in half compared with those who keep smoking.

If you are a young woman who wants to have children, you can reduce the risk of having a low birth-weight baby by quitting smoking before or during the first 3-4 months of pregnancy.  The act of quitting smoking will improve not just your health, but that of your child.

Immediate Health Benefits of Quitting

Here are some of the benefits that you will notice right away if you stop smoking. 

• your breath will smell better
• your stained teeth get whiter
• your clothes and hair will smell better
• the yellow stains on your fingers and fingernails will disappear
• food will begin to taste better
• your sense of smell will return to normal

Benefits to Your Health Over Time
These are improvements you will notice to your health over time if you remain smoke free.

20 minutes after quitting:

Your heart rate and blood pressure drops.

12 hours after quitting:

The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

2 weeks to 3 months after quitting:

Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

1 to 9 months after quitting:

Coughing and shortness of breath decrease.

Risk of lung infection goes down.

1 year after quitting:

The excess risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

5 years after quitting:

Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.

10 years after quitting:

The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's.

The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decrease, too.

15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is the same as a non-smoker's.

An additional benefit is cost savings.  Smoking is expensive and becoming more so as states continue to increase the sales taxes on cigarettes.

Source
American Cancer Society

Other articles of interest:
Memorial to Virginia Johnson
Smoking:  Become a Quitter
Arkansas Proposes 56 Cents Increase in Cigarette Tax

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- all links removed as many no longer active and it was easier than checking each one. 

Barbara, In Sickness and In Health, is this week's host of Grand Rounds. The theme began as “connections” and organized into sci-fi films.  You can read this excellent edition here.

The (optional) theme I suggested for this Grand Rounds was connections -- connections among people, groups, ideas, opinions, facts, devices, places, events, just about anything. ………..

One area of connection that has fascinated me for decades is the realm of science fiction films. Sci-fi films connect the past, the present, and the future; our darkest fears and loftiest hopes; the devastation humans cause and the healing we bring; the divine and the utterly outrageous.

Here's a confession. For the past twenty seven years I have attended the annual 24 hour science fiction film festival. I bring my pillow and my ray gun and sit in the dark with my crew watching the sublime( Blade Runner), the drek (Plan 9 from Outer Space), the naughty (Invasion of the Bee Girls) the forgotten ( A Boy and His Dog), the political (Aelita - Queen of Mars), and the Sean Connery (Zardoz)

So the organizing theme for this Grand Rounds is sci-fi films.

The first edition of Change of Shift (Vol 3, No 14) for 2009 is up over at  Crzegrl, Flight Nurse!  Emily did a great job and I hope you will check it out.  You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. 

As I sat down to lay out this edition of Change of Shift, I realized how many first timers took the plunge and decided to submit blog posts. That in itself is very exciting. A few I corresponded with, giving words of encouragement and even went out and got a video blog post from another blogger who didn’t originally intend on submitting.

Trauma Junkie, Surviving RT School, is a starting a new blog carnival.  I love the logo! (photo removed 3/2017) The first edition is planned for Friday, February 13th.  If you have any posts related to lung/respiratory care than I would encourage you to submit them.  You can find the instructions here.

I'm planning a blog carnival for Respiratory Bloggers: therapists, students, patients, and anyone who has anything pertaining to respiratory care, lung disease, breaking news for respiratory therapists and modern advances in equipment. Basically, anything that has do with respiratory therapy will be included in the carnival, regardless of who submits it

On January 8, 2009, NPR ran a wonderful story called Learning to See in Stereo by Joe Palca.  You can read and / or listen to it here.

Children who are born with a crossed eye can develop a peculiar condition affecting vision called amblyopia, or "lazy eye." The eyes register two different images of the world, and the brain can't handle it — so it ignores one of them.

Surgery is commonly done to correct the crossed eye, and a patch is worn over the strong eye to force the weak eye to work harder. Conventional wisdom holds that after age 7, a child's vision isn't likely to improve.

But researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, believe that adults with the condition can improve their vision. I decided to go and meet them because I'm hoping they can help me.

There are times when we need to give presentations.  I’m not always comfortable doing so.  Allergy Notes twittered

RT @Berci: The 10 Worst Presentation Habits http://tinyurl.com/ka3ur

The article, The 10 Worst Presentation Habits (Speakers can be their own worst enemies. Here are our expert's tips on how to make a presentation sing) By Carmine Gallo, comes from Business Week.  It is worth checking out.  For example

Bad Habit #2  Avoiding eye contact

Great communicators understand that eye contact is critical to building trust, credibility, and rapport. Far too many business professionals have a habit of looking at everything but the audience -- a wall, a desk, or a computer.

Do this instead:
Maintain eye contact with your listeners at least 90% of the time. It's appropriate to glance at your notes or slides from time to time, but only for a few seconds and only as a reminder of where to go next. You are speaking for the benefit of your listeners. Speak to them, not the slides.

This week on  Dr Anonymous BTR show, he will be discussing ProMed Network.  

The ProMed Network is a site for medical and health programming producers to share their shows with other medical professionals, students in the health care fields, and members of the public interested in health related programming.  Each of the shows listed on the site is either produced by a medical professional or has been reviewed and is determined to present peer reviewed or medically relavent information.

While no program here can be used to provide specific medical advice or diagnoses, it is hoped that the general information presented here will help to provide a high quality source for medical news and content.  The ProMed Network and its member podcasts and webcasts will provide a single resource for diverse, independently produced audio and video programs by and for medical and health care professionals.