Canadian Medical Blogs and the Medical Blogosphere
The history of diabetes at Doctor’s Review – Diabetes then & now – 2009, March.
The year 1922, when Canadians Banting and Best injected pancreatic extract into a diabetic boy, is only the middle of the story. Luckily, we have gone beyond the urine tasting era!
The accompanying video is a rapid read-along.
Related Links:
Sweet Urine Test – MedicalJoke.com,
Changing behavior in diabetics -Diabetes and Exercise.
A Survey of Health-Related Activities on Second Life – Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Second Life is an online virtual reality 3-D world which is populated by avatars. Researchers from Ottawa and Toronto identified health-related sites on Second Life.
“The most common type of health-related site in our sample (n = 68) were those whose principle aim was patient education or to increase awareness about health issues.”
For example, the Ann Myers Medical Center has information on breast self examination and mammography.
Second Life mammogram
Related Links:
Second Life Medicine
Breast exam videos
Beard L, Wilson K, Morra D, Keelan J
A Survey of Health-Related Activities on Second Life
J Med Internet Res 2009;11(2):e17
URL: http://www.jmir.org/2009/2/e17/
doi: 10.2196/jmir.1192
Tags: computer, mammogram, Second Life, video games
Medical Journal Club article for May 2009:
Cutaneous larva migrans | Canadian Family Physician Journal -
“Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) is a serpiginous eruption usually occurring on the skin of the feet, abdomen, buttocks, hands, and genitals.”
Can you identify this condition?
Tags: CFP, Cutaneous larva migrans
Medical residents in Quebec believe 24-hour call violates Charter rights -CMAJ April 28, 2009.
Related Link:
Extended work shifts and the risk of motor vehicle crashes among interns.
N Engl J Med. 2005 Jan 13;352(2):125-34.
These findings reveal that the schedule of present-day resident physicians in the United States is far different from that of resident physicians 60 years ago who lived, worked, and slept in the hospital in order to follow the evolution of the illnesses of patients who were hospitalized for extended periods.
Driving home is not required if you live in the hospital!
Tags: 24-hour call, Medical residents
As a Canadian, I would not place my private medical information in a site based in the United States such as Google Health. On this site you can input information such as your age, your medication list and your personal medical history.
TechCrunch – Google Health: A Quick Hands-On Look
The big competition here is between Google Health and Microsoft’s HealthVault.
Among its provisions, the Act increases the ability of law enforcement agencies to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial and other records
Patriot Act haunts Google service
For instance, a Lakehead researcher with a Middle Eastern name, researching anthrax or nuclear energy, might find himself denied entry to the United States without ever knowing why.
Patriot Act seen as threat to Canadians’ privacy
Considerably more could be done to prevent foreign governments, Washington in particular, from collecting personal information about Canadians, Canada’s privacy commissioner said in her annual report.
Tags: Google Health, PATRIOT Act, privacy
Medical Journal Club article for June 17, 2008:
Industry handouts: enough is enough | Canadian Medical Association Journal -
“In an effort to combat the perception that medical education has become largely tainted by the influence of the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries, an Association of American Medical Colleges task force argues that medical schools and teaching hospitals should adopt a similar zero-tolerance approach to industry handouts and simply forbear junkets to exotic resorts, financial payments, sumptuous meals, golf club memberships and even such innocuous goodies as the proverbial donut and coffee.”
Show me the money?
Tags: Industry handouts
Medical Journal Club article for February 12, 2008:
Cigarette ads return to Canadian magazines | Canadian Medical Association Journal -
“For the past 10 years, however, one product has been absent from Canadian magazine ads: cigarettes. Now, much to the chagrin of anti-smoking advocates, they’re back.”
Can a ban on tobacco advertising reduce smoking rates?
Tags: cigarette ads
Medical Journal Club article for January 2009:
Complications of nonphysician-supervised laser hair removal | Canadian Family Physician Journal -
“Characteristic lesions typically appear on the neck, face, forearm, and groin as hyperpigmented macules; other side effects include skin pigmentation, scarring, reticulate erythema, and ocular complications. These side effects are more common when procedures are carried out by untrained personnel.”
Are there any long-side effects?
Tags: CFP, Laser hair removal
Medical Journal Club article for July 15, 2008:
The missing link in tobacco control | Canadian Medical Association Journal -
“The World Health Organization estimates that, around the globe, 1.3 billion smokers purchase 10 million cigarettes every minute, and that every 8 seconds somebody dies from a tobacco-related disease. If current trends continue, smoking will kill 1 in 6 people worldwide.”
Why is tobacco still legal?
Tags: tobacco, tobacco-related disease
Medical Journal Club article for March 11, 2008:
Ending the sexist blame game | Canadian Medical Association Journal -
“More often than not, questions of access to health care rest on the availability of health care professionals. In recent weeks, our colleagues and medical students have expressed deep concern about media reports that suggest the physician shortage in Canada is rooted, at least partially, in the fact that women are now more equitably represented within the profession.”
Women live longer… will female physicians work more hours over all in their career?
Medical Journal Club article for July 29, 2008:
Frying up hospital cafeteria food | Canadian Medical Association Journal -
“Remarkably, despite nutrition’s indisputable role as one of our most important determinants of health, grassroots calls for hospital cafeteria reform often face resistance from hospital administrators and even some allied health professionals.”
Should nutritional information be posted on menu boards?
Tags: cafeteria food
Medical Journal Club article for May 6, 2008:
Bringing a research base to psychiatry | Canadian Medical Association Journal -
“In this era of evidence-based medicine, the scarcity of high-quality evidence for mental health care is striking. Mental health practitioners often cannot obtain useful information to guide their clinical decisions, a situation that the director of the US National Institutes of Mental Health described as “the unfortunate current state” in psychiatry, “where too many research studies have little immediate relevance to practice, and too little practice is based on research evidence.” “
Chemical lobotomy?
Irritable bowel syndrome ; Medical Journal Club article for February 2009:
Irritable bowel syndrome | Canadian Family Physician Journal -
“Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a complex multi-factorial disorder resulting from brain-gut dysregulation.”
Are complementary and alternative medicine treatments useful?
Tags: CFP, Irritable bowel syndrome
Medical Journal Club article for June 3, 2008:
Canada’s pathology | June 3, 2008 -
“Canada’s population has grown, our understanding of disease has evolved, and screening programs and novel targeted therapies requiring confirmation of appropriate targets in tissues have been developed. With these advances, the pathologist’s volume of work has increased and the complexity of each case has multiplied.”
Will crime scene investigation make pathology more popular?
Tags: pathology