HealthyConcerns.com

Grand Rounds is up at Kidney Notes

This week KidneyNotes.com hosts Grand Rounds, and there are a couple of cool features:

KidneyNotes pulls out a list of editor's picks, and seems like there's quite a variety.

Also KidneyNotes created a del.icio.us group for this week's rounds, so you can go see all the posts tagged and described etc.

This week's rounds kindly includes my post featuring some of the best storytellers in the medblogosphere.

So check out the more than 40 posts included in the Grand Rounds!

MedBloggers tell the best stories

Sometimes I am astonished, delighted and even moved by the stories that MedBloggers tell. Today I'd like to point you to just a handful of my favorites from the last couple of weeks. I consider myself a storyteller, and usually I tell them from my own point of view, although I occasionally tell other patients' stories.

These are the stories we don't often get to hear, because they're coming from the other side of the exam room table:

Dr. Charles made me laugh out loud with his story about how laughter really can be the best medicine, or even, in this case, the best surgery. I agree with Dr' Charles' first commenter who says: "I honestly don't know how you can make us laugh and gross us out all at the same time!"

This of course reminds me of last week's House finale. Why did the S.O. and I feel the urge to laugh at what was really some of the grossest stuff I have ever seen on TV? Is it a "better you than me" kind of schadenfreude? (I did cover my eyes for some of it, I must admit, so gross won out over laughter for me.)

Shrinkette made me gulp at the twist in her story when a doctor colleague calls her for what she assumes is a patient consult. There are some decisions you can never take back, and doctors probably make more of them per capita than the rest of us. Shrinkette reminds us it's not just on TV that doctors agonize over the consequences of those decisions. (Sort of like Perry did on Scrubs this season over his three transplant patient/victims.)

And the Cheerful Oncologist breaks my heart when he sees a ghost in the mall.

This so reminds me of me, and how I pride myself on remembering both names and faces. For years I did theatre, and of course I had a lifetime of employment, and it only occurred to me lately that I really don't remember many of the people with whom I had close interaction anymore. I can't quite remember the full name of my leading man in a show I did in 1998. (I think I've got his first name, but have no idea about his last name.) I can't remember an engineer at a job I left 7 years ago who apparently remembers me quite well. I fell pretty guilty about letting these human beings slip from my memory, but I certainly wasn't their doctor, seeing them through the most difficult times in their life, so I feel for the Cheerful Oncologist...even if from a much more trivial perspective.

So, check out these and other stories in MedBlogs. This is where you'll find some of the best writing in the blogosphere. This week's Grand Rounds will be at Kidney Notes, and would be a very good place to start.

Multiple Medical Grand Rounds are up

As Grand Rounds has grown it has inspired some medbloggers to start additional, and even more focused blog carnivals for the medblogger community.

blog, md is hosting this week's Pediatric Grand Rounds. Check it out if for no other reason to support blog, md's ride in to raise $$ for pediatric oncology programs, and to check out his site about the kids to whom he's dedicating the ride.

Meanwhile Dr. Emer is hosting the original Grand Rounds this week and has done a bang-up job, organizing it like a medical journal. Or so he says...having never read one I certainly wouldn't know :)

Dr. Emer kindly links to my post about this horrendous allergy season, and the Allergizer.com site picked up on mine as one of two posts about allergies this week.

While you're at it, check out this post from Clinical Cases & Images about how blogging has helped raise the profile of the blog...for the purpose of encouraging other health workers to blog. Sounds like the kind of case I'd be using when presenting on why companies should blog.

Not my imagination: this allergy season sux

I've been miserable with the allergies for about a week now. And I definitely knew it was coming. Recent news reports only confirm why.

Here in the Bay Area we had an unusually long and consistent rainy season. It rained something like 25 days in March. It rained pretty consistently for the first 10 days in April. While actual rainy days are pretty good for allergy sufferers, the aftermath is not.

I always thought that was obviously because a lot of rain means a lot of growth. But there's a little more to it than that. This article in the Contra Costa Times explains another reason:

The bad news is that the grass is coming on. And the worse news yet is that the rains lingered so far into spring that they shortened the season, and while that sounds like good news, it really isn't. While the time frame is abbreviated, the overall pollen amount is the about same.

So that explains why out of nowhere I started getting just sl-ammed with allergies.

Another explanation is that the Bay Area just isn't a great place to be for allergy sufferers:

The Bay Area is particularly rich in pollens that aggravate allergies. Both San Francisco and Sacramento were named as "Allergy Capitals" in a survey conducted by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

I've been taking daily (generic) Claritin for a few years now, and was becoming convinced that it wasn't too effective anymore. Until I ran out a few days ago and neglected to get to the store to buy more. So sure, the difference is between bad and worse, but I'll take the merely bad. After just a few days without my daily dose my nose is almost completely congested, and I find myself itching all over. (I've always found that one of my worst allergy symptoms...when I start to itch inside my throat, inside my ears, my eyes...drives me crazy.)

Trolling about the InterWebs I found this list of tips from the AAAAI (American Academy of Alelrgy, Asthma and Immunology, including some helpful tidbits. Fund out more int he extended entry...

Grand Rounds is up at Doc Around the Clock

Don't miss the special Mother's Day edition of Grand Rounds this week at Doc Around the Clock. Dr. ibear is your host (learn more about Dr. ibear here.) Dr. ibear kindly links to my post about Better Sleep Month. This is another one of those massive Grand Rounds with over 50 submissions, but Dr. ibear took the job seriously, including them all and obviously reading them all, including a little bit of commentary with every link.

There are also a number of illustrations included in this Grand Rounds that I do believe must be seen to be appreciated!

So, get your clicking finger ready and visit the Grand Rounds!

Did You Know May is Better Sleep Month and Mental Health Month?

I didn't either.

But I should. I am chronically sleep-deprived. Now I've always suffered from insomnia, since my teen years, but I honestly think I would sleep normally now if it weren't for two external factors: a night owl S.O. and a early morning cat.

I get squeezed at both ends. My S.O. is a night owl. This means he goes to work at an hour far later than average, gets home far later than average, pleads with me to stay up "just a little later" with him, which I end up doing so we can spend some time together. Then he wakes me up when he comes to bed a few hours later. Meanwhile my cat consistently wakes me up at 6AM, even when the  clocks are changed, she hits 6AM. I don't know how she does it, really. And she will not be denied.

So when I got an email from a representative for the Better Sleep Council I did read it with interest:

Americans seem to be willing to do almost anything to cope with sleep-deprivation and emotional stress, but when push comes to shove, they are turning to quick fixes in lieu of obvious solutions. According to the findings of the 2006 Better Sleep Month survey, Americans are ignoring the fundamental steps to improve quality sleep and mood.

It is well-known that sleep problems can be a key sign of depression. What people may not realize is that the reverse is also true — sleep disorders can actually trigger mood disorders and depression. As researchers learn more about the underlying cyclical connection between sleep and our mental health, the important balance is becoming even more apparent.

According to the 2006 Better Sleep Month survey, better sleep did result in better mood among respondents. When asked to rate their sleep quality, quantity, and overall mood over the course of one week, people who obtained seven or more hours per night were more likely to rate their general mood as excellent (57 percent), as opposed to those receiving an average of six hours of sleep or less (45 percent). Only 25 percent of respondents rated the quality and quantity of their sleep as excellent. That means that 75 percent need to take action to improve their sleep.

If experiencing trouble sleeping over a period of time, Americans report that they are most likely to change their sleeping schedule (51 percent) and build in time for more sleep (56 percent) to improve their sleep. However, this may not be a viable first-step solution, according to many experts.

More sleep doesn’t necessarily mean better, especially if underlying factors that contribute to poor sleep, such as an inadequate sleep environment or sleep-depriving behaviors, are not properly addressed. It may just mean that you end up tossing and turning in your bed for a longer time.

“The survey results show that people overlook some of the most obvious components of quality sleep,” said Nancy Shark, executive director of the Better Sleep Council. “Take for example the reluctance, even if needed, to replace an old mattress (66 percent say they are not likely). The mattress is literally the foundation of our sleep. Comfort and support aside, we spend an average of four entire months every year entirely on our bed. Given that kind of usage, your sleep surface cannot be an afterthought.”

Accordingly, additional consumer data from 2005 indicates that nearly half of Americans (47 percent) keep mattresses longer than many experts recommend. “As a rule of thumb, after five-to seven years of use, it’s a good time to evaluate your sleep set,” adds Shark. “You can get used to a bed long after it stops providing you with the optimal comfort and support you need.”

They also provided me with a Q&A with sleep expert and 2006 Better Sleep Month Spokesperson, Dr. Amy Wolfson, which you will find in the extended entry.

I know I don't get enough sleep, and I feel quite frusrtated about it on a regular basis. Because one can't "explain" to a cat why one is ignoring what I'm sure she considers her desperate physical requirement to be fed right now, I have been trying to go to bed earlier, despite the S.O.'s whining about it. Come to think of it, he doesn't seem to comprehend either: no matter how many times I explain that I'm constantly exhausted, and therefore no, I can't watch any more of our built up TiVo Now Playing list!

But I digress.

For more information about the Better Sleep Council and Better Sleep Month, please visit: http://www.bettersleep.org. And don't forget to check the extended entry for the Q&A.

Grand Rounds is up at Aetiology

You should never miss a chance to check out Grand Rounds, aka the Carnival of the Caregivers. This week it's hosted by Aetiology, whose bailywick is epidemiology...disease and how it spreads, basically.

She has kindly linked to my post about Cover the Uninsured week, but as always there is so much more to peruse. Given Tara's focus on research and bio-medical issues, she starts out by pointing to quite a few sites along those lines. If you wanted to read up on bird flu without all the panic, here might be a good place to start.

Of course, she may ruffle a few feathers with this statement:

There is a connection between avian flu and homeopathy. Avian flu is transmitted by birds. Homeopathy is quackery.

But what's a blog if it doesn't ruffle some feathers?

Tara has done a great job editorializing about eveyr single post, so you'll really be able to pick out which ones appeal to you. Reward her meticulous job and go visit Grand Rounds.

Cover the Uninsured Week

I have been remiss in my duties this week, given the focus of this blog, because I haven't mentioned until now that this is Cover the Unisured Week.

Kate over at Healthy Policy, however, is much more on point and offers this post covering the latest report of stats on the unisured.

Kate reports these stats:

• 41% of the uninsured adults reported skipping medical care because of cost last year.  This number doesn't include the 20% of children who lack health insurance. 

• 23% of uninsured adults report their health as "fair" or "poor," compared with 12% of insured adults.

And she takes the words right out of my mouth when she prefaces those stats by saying:

So while others will persist with their false claims that the uninsured receive care, and therefore the problem is not immediate, remember this:

I don't so much get people commenting that the uninsured receive care, but rather that the vast majority of the uninsured are uninsured because they want to be so, and it's their own damn fault if something happens. Folks can maintain that bluster until you bring up children...at which point even these folks can't pretend children control their own health insurance destiny. That's when the argument that they can receive care comes up.

How could someone "let" their child go without insurance? Here's one story of how you end up with an uninsured child from BlogHer. Is the guy in this story a jerk of a unique and highest order? Well, a jerk of the highest order? Sure. Unique. Don't think so. I know more than one person personally who has had health insurance or contributions to health care for their children become a pawn in post-divorce conflicts. And I really don't know that many people!

This last weekend I was at the California Democratic Party state convention, and concerns about the health care crisis were a regular topic. The Platform Committee had lengthy arguments over whether to advocate single-payer or universal health care without requiring single-payer (more like Massachusetts.) They went for the former. I tend toward the latter.

But at least we agree it is a problem, and it does need to be addressed.

Check out Cover The Uninsured.org and all the stats, stories and activities and tell me you don't agree!

Grand Rounds is up at Polite Dissent

As always there is plenty to read and think about at the medblogosphere weekly Carnival, Grand Rounds. Host Polite Dissent has kindly linked to my post examining ShortWoman's ways to fix the health care system.

The organization this week is simple and clear, and there is a category about the "patient's perspective." It's also placed right up near the top, so that's good.

So, check out Grand Rounds and gain a new perspective...there are plenty to choose from.