HealthyConcerns.com

Let's not get too up on our high horse, folks, OK

Big news out of the UK this weekend, as a poll of British doctors indicated that they have some somewhat controversial opinions on how far their treatment efforts should go. [Source: The Telegraph]

Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.

Amusing to see some U.S. medbloggers jumping on the "See, this proves that nationalized health care is evil and untenable" bandwagon.

As I commented over on InsureBlog, it's very convenient to forget that the same discussions happen here in the US (although it's true that it may be insurance companies, not doctors, driving them.) Think about transplant waiting lists...and who gets kicked to the curb. Perfect example of the same perspective. And it's those same kind of "some operations" that are cited in the article.

Further, I really think we are not entitled to be on our high horses here. Here, people go without medically necessary treatment simply because they can't pay or don't have good enough coverage. Is that really a better reason to deny treatment and hand out, in some cases, death sentences, than the ones cited in the article?

Now, here's the one part I did find a little creepy. The surveyed doctors thought:

One in three said that elderly patients should not be given free treatment if it were unlikely to do them good for long.

Can you say Logan's Run?

I'd feel a lot better if I had a better sense of what these doctors mean by "do them good" and "for long."

Right?

What do you think?

BlogHer's exclusive interview with Valerie Plame re: PPD

I'm sorry I didn't link to this interview with Valerie Plame sooner, because it is really quite cool.

See, you may know Valerie Plame as the woman at the center of a swirling political controversy. And she is. But she is also a woman who suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her twins (her first children.)

When it came time to write a book...and you know there were publishers beating down her door...Plame insisted that a chapter had to deal with her PPD. Don't think that was expected from a woman in her position, no I'm sure they were eager for another political polemic. Plame held firm to this requirement, though, and she is now eager to make sure that part of her story is told often and loudly.

BlogHer's guest editor for our BlogHers Act initiative, Katherine Stone from the premier blog on the subject, Postpartum Progress, conducts the interview, and it's really interesting. And I'm not even a mother! Or a CIA operative.

Check it out.

My bud Amy takes a turn at Newsweek's My Turn

Which I think is uber-cool.

You can check out her story of blogging and diabetes and online community here.

Congrats Amy...and keep on spreading the word about how patients and laypeople are using the Internet to improve our health care experience, not just annoy doctors with questions we got off of Google!

The difference between substance abuses

Dr. Neubaurer's latest post to catch my eye is Is All Substance Abuse the Same?.

He reports on a lecture he attended that compared various types of substance abuse to smoking.

A really interesting data point was that nicotine itself is not the dangerous substance involved with smoking, and in fact may have benefits. The other interesting different between smoking and other common substance abuse habits is that one doesn't become "intoxicated" from smoking, as one does via alcohol or drugs. So, it's only with the knowledge about the link between smoking and physical health problems that smoking was seen to have a downside at all.

What's worse about smoking?

-A much higher incidence of dependence arising from trying smoking vs. other drugs.
-Its status as a legal substance makes it much more widely available (as is alcohol suppose.)

Now, I wonder what would happen if someone came up with a nicotine delivery system that didn't bring the health problems associated with tar and carbon monoxide. Would we discover there were, in fact, other problems that nicotine causes?

Vote for my buddy...and patient blogger extraordinaire...Amy from Diabetes Mine

You know, in this wide wonderful world of MedBlogging, patient or layperson blogging is certainly more common than it was when I started this blog, but it hasn't taken over and taken the MedBlogging world by storm. I've always found it a bit odd, since a lot of MedBlogger spend a lot of time blogging about their customers, clients, patients, or perhaps the uninsured vs. the insured, so you'd think they'd love a little insight from the horse's mouth.

Well I doubt there's another patient-blogger out there who has led the charge like Amy from Diabetes Mine. She took what many would have seen as an unfortunate event, the onset of Type 1 diabetes in adulthood, and turned herself into a tireless resource and advocate for other people with diabetes.

Amy is the gal i use as an example and an inspiration when people talk to me about blogging about their health.

Just last week I had dinner with a guy who was contemplating starting a blog as a resource for other folks with his particular condition, because he hadn't found any, and I pointed him to Amy and Diabetes Mine to see how it should be done.

Anyway, all this to tell you that Amy is nominated for Best Medical Weblog as part of the 2007 Medical Weblog Awards...the first time, I believe, that a patient blog has been nominated for the top award. She's competing against bloggers who have practices, staff, even entire hospitals to support them, so I thought I'd do my part to get we, the regular people, to support Amy.

Carry on...and vote!

7 Pains you shouldn't ignore? Try basically EVERYWHERE

OK, perhaps I have a dark sense of humor, but WebMD's list of 7 Pains You Shouldn't Ignore actually made me crack up.

Why?

Because here's where such un-ignorable pains are:
Head
Throat
Jaw
Chest
Shoulder
Arm
Abdomen
Lower Back
Between Shoulder Blades
Leg
Calf
Feet

And "Vague, Combined, or Medically Unexplained Pains"

I'm sorry, but didn't they just ay you shouldn't ignore pain anywhere???!!!

I find it amusing. I'm dark like that.