Santa Claus prepares all year long for Christmas. If he is anything like the rest of humanity, there’s a good chance he might have procrastinated on the toy-making and is now working day and night to make his gift-delivery deadline. And then he and his reindeer must fly around the world in a single night…a …
Palliative care is treatment intended not to heal, but to relieve symptoms so that the patient feels better. Despite the fact that it is an important part of treatment, especially for people with incurable disorders, palliative care is not well understood by most people, including those who need it. For people with a terminal illness, …
It won’t be in next year’s model cars, but there is a terrific new device that could become a built-in standard in the next few years. According to an article in ScienceDaily, German researchers have developed a system that tracks a driver’s eye movements. If the driver’s eyes close for too long, the device emits …
These are the kinds of mistakes that make you slap your head in disbelief: Surgeons who operate on the wrong patient or on the wrong part of the body (also known as “wrong site” mistakes). In 2004, hospitals nationwide adopted a Universal Protocol that was supposed to prevent wrong-patient and wrong-site surgeries. The protocol consisted …
Surgical Mistakes Persist Despite Prevention Measures Read More »
Someone once said that the difference between an optimistic resolution and a futile pipedream is two days. (Bah-DUM-bum) Resolutions are fueled by New Year’s Eve toasts, but dashed in the cold light of January reality. Despite estimates that about 97% of all resolutions fail, between 40 and 45% of Americans keep the faith and make New …
In Minnesota, where winter seems to last forever and icy walkways are everywhere, falls have become the number one cause of traumatic brain injury. Here in North Carolina, where winters are relatively warm and mercifully short, slippery surfaces can still be dangerous. The three main slip-and-fall problems in North Carolina are that: We don’t expect …
Oh, my…it is not a good year for McNeil Consumer Healthcare. The maker of popular Tylenol and Benadryl (which went through recalls earlier this year) is now recalling more than 13 million packages of Rolaids. The reason: The company has received consumer complaints of foreign materials, including metal and wood particles. The affected products are …
Do you live with your cell phone stuck to your ear? Have you noticed that the skin of your ear and cheek getting itchy, rashy, and rough? Welcome to the world of modern allergies! According to an article on ScienceDaily: Chatting endlessly on your cell phone can lead to an allergic reaction to the nickel …
The ravages of old age are well known: Bones become fragile, eyesight becomes cloudy, and hearing becomes muffled. Except…what if it didn’t have to be? It has long been known that calcium, vitamin D, and exercise can help keep bones strong. And now, new research suggests that at least some age-related hearing lost (ARHL) could …
Could Eating Right Prevent Age-Related Hearing Loss? Read More »
How’s this for unconventional: The Ecumen chain of 15 Minnesota nursing homes has launched Project Awakenings, which calls for treating residents’ behavioral problems without resorting to antipsychotic drugs. The problems are real. Residents have physical and mental disorders, and they are often in pain, frightened, alone, and confused. In the worst cases, they react with …