The Medic's Blog

Best Way to Quickly Quit Smoking without Going Cold Turkey

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:16:30 +0000

E-cigars are at their prime today more than ever. Electronic cigarettes or e-cigars are especially made as smoking cessation. This means that a smoker who is very much convinced of quitting the bad habit can resort to e-cigarettes to prevent feeling anxious and stressful about quitting. A lot of success stories roam the internet. There are special forums online that proves to be useful for e-cigarette users. Like a recovering alcoholic, a person who just recently quit cigarette is in need of a therapy and these forums proves its usefulness because it help encourage these smoke quitters to continue reaching for their goal. Read more…

Run! Save Up to 40% at Nordstrom’s Shoe Clearance

Liam Bamford — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:46:51 +0000

Yes, those are Lelli Kelly shoes, and yes, theyre marked down 40% along with 200 other pairs of shoes for kids including Crocs, Stride Rite and Keen. The sale applies to womens and mens shoes as well, so you might as well stock up for the entire family. Besides, shipping and returns are free, so you really cant go wrong.

Top Reasons Why People Don’t Lose Weight From Loyola Expert

Oliver Palmerston — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:52:43 +0000

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Its been more than one month since the new year and swimsuit season is lurking on the horizon how are those weight-loss resolutions working out?

Losing weight is one of the top resolutions made every year, yet only 20 percent of people achieve successful weight-loss and maintenance, says Jessica Bartfield,MD, internal medicine who specializes in nutrition and weight management at Loyola University Health Systems Gottlieb Memorial Hospital

Despite that fact that two-thirds of Americans say they are on a diet to improve their health, very few are actually decreasing in size Dieting is a skill, much like playing a musical instrument, and requires practice and good instruction, says Dr Bartfield Youre going to hit some wrong notes and feel frustrated, but eventually you will succeed and it will get easier

Top Four Reasons Why Dieters Dont Lose Weight

According to Dr Bartfield, here are the top four reasons why many dieters fail to lose weight

1 Underestimating Calories Consumed Most people even experts!

Scarred Hearts Healed After Heart Attack

Joel Schaaf — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:31:52 +0000

Feb. 13, 2012 — A new stem cell treatment resurrects dead, scarred heart muscle damaged by a recent heart attack.

The finding, just in time for Valentine’s Day, is the clearest evidence yet that literally broken hearts can heal. All that’s needed is a little help from one’s own heart stem cells.

“We have been trying as doctors for centuries to find a treatment that actually reverses heart injury,” Eduardo Marban, MD, PhD, tells WebMD. “That is what we seem to have been able to achieve in this small number of patients. If so, this could change the nature of medicine. We could go to the root of disease and cure it instead of just work around it.”

Marban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, led the study.

Revealed: silent killer claims rising number of victims

Joel Schaaf — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:27:19 +0000

HUNDREDS of Scots are being treated in hospital casualty departments every year after being poisoned by the “silent killer” carbon monoxide, according to new figures.

Until now the toll of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in Scotland had been thought to run to only an average of two deaths a year, often as a result of faulty boilers, heaters or fires. However, new data has revealed around 115 people are also being admitted to hospital annually for treatment. A s

Feds Find Wide Variation In Serious Infections Linked To Catheters

Liam Bamford — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:51:43 +0000

Across the country, 1 in 6 hospitals has high rates of one of the most serious kinds of preventable infections — those caused by catheters inserted into large veins, according to new data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Patients at hospitals in Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana, Maine and New Hampshire were most likely to get blood infections caused by central lines, which are narrow tubes inserted in a major vein to inject medicine or fluids or to perform tests.

Hawaii, Alaska, South Dakota, Kansas and Indiana had the lowest rates, according to the data, which cover the first three months of 2011.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the source of the data CMS is publishing on its Hospital Compare website, says there were about 41,000 infections throughout hospitals linked to central lines in 2009. A

Unnecessary prescriptions are costing NHS more than £8MILLION a year

Oliver Palmerston — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:41:53 +0000

Scientists from Cardiff University found GPs were over-prescribing antibiotics, which could be tackled with training

Unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics could be costing GP practices as much as £8.4million a year, according to a new study.

Researchers from Cardiff University said doctors are dolling out 1.6million unnecessary prescriptions for common conditions such as acute coughs and sinusitis.

The team, led by Professor Chris Butler, carried out a two-year study in collaboration with 68 GP practices in Wales.

They offered GPs access to antibiotic prescribing and resistance data and advanced ‘consulting skills’ tools.

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt Debuts New Haircut

Oliver Palmerston — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:38:13 +0000

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt has gone short — again!

On Sunday, we spotted the 5-year-old with an updated pageboy cut while hanging at the Farmers Market in Studio City, Calif. with mom Angelina Jolie and brothers Knox, 3, and Pax, 8.

Considering she let her blonde locks grow to shoulder length recently, were not sure what brought on this sudden hair change. But we do think it looks adorable.

TELL US: Have you ever cut your daughters hair into a shorter hairstyle?

Reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s

Joel Schaaf — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:19:35 +0000

A new study from UC Berkeley has uncovered physical evidence that people who challenge themselves intellectually could be decreasing their risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease, and the clues are visible in their brains.

Just finishing a crossword puzzle can be difficult once Alzheimer’s Disease has set in. But researchers have long suspected that doing similar activities throughout your life-time could help keep the disease at bay. Now a team at UC Berkeley has taken that notion of use it or lose it a step further by studying deposits of amyloid plaque in the brain, which are believed to be linked with Alzheimer’s.

“What this study showed is that it’s not just a matter of this protecting you from the effects of the amyloid, for example,” said Dr.

Air Canada caught in a ‘cat-22′ over feline passengers

Liam Bamford — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:22:07 +0000

Last month, the agency said Air Canada could either ban cats from aircraft cabins or provide a cat-free buffer zone with upgraded air circulation if there is a passenger with a designated disability arising from their cat allergy on a flight. The agency, however, stipulated that the second option was not feasible for Jazz’s large fleet of Dash-8 planes because the aircraft could not provide fully non-recirculated fresh air.

There’s a new wrinkle, says Air Canada in its written response to last month’s ruling.

Plant found with built-in drought alarm

Oliver Palmerston — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:09:40 +0000

A signal found in plants could act as a drought alarm, allowing them to adapt to such extreme conditions.

Scientists stumbled on the signal while trying to understand how different parts of the cell chat with one another in the Arabidopsis thaliana, a kin of canola, under drought conditions.

A series of connected pathways, like the production lines of a factory, are inside every plant and animal cell. They are regulated by chemical signals and inputs, which can come from many sources.

Scientists have proposed for a while that chemical signals must be sent by a particular plant department, or organelle, to the nucleus, the cells control centre, for plants to become aware of and adapt to harsh conditions, according to an Australian National University (ANU) statement.

NHS: How to secure tablets for healthcare

Joel Schaaf — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:24:26 +0000

The UKs National Health Service (NHS) Connecting for Health division recently published a guidance document for how healthcare providers in that country should and shouldnt be using tablet devices. The document is chock-full of warnings about tablet use in healthcare settings, but it also includes some helpful hints for how how CIOs should secure the devices.

The NHS states that tablet devices are more likely to be stolen than traditional IT equipment because of their portability, desirability, and ability to be easily concealed.

Need Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food? Watch This…

Liam Bamford — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:44:07 +0000

Having a hard time sticking to your New Years resolution to eat healthier? Watch this clip of a live mouse caught running laps inside a bag of hamburger buns at a Philadelphia McDonalds. If it doesnt make you want to avoid fast food, I dont know what will. All together nowEewwww!

Licorice Root May Cut Cavities, Gum Disease

Joel Schaaf — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:00:41 +0000

Jan. 6, 2012 — A substance known as the main ingredient of a classic candy may actually be good for your teeth: licorice.

According to a new study in the Journal of Natural Products, licorice root may help keep teeth healthy.

The authors report that compounds found in the dried root of the licorice plant may help prevent and treat tooth decay and gum disease.

But don’t rush to the candy aisle. According to information accompanying the study, what’s sold as licorice candy in the U.S.