Grand Rounds: 2:39

When I was in graduate school, my most enjoyable times were on Thursdays, when "Grand Rounds" was scheduled in the hospital where I had an internship. Some 20 years later, here I am still learning and sharing in the Grand Rounds tradition.



Fade-in...


Scene 1: The Mental Health Clinic

~ Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments submits a post on the epidemic status of Methamphetamine abuse.

~ HealthPsych highlights a UK study which points out that physical health problems often go undetected in the mental health population.

~ Mind Hacks has a great neuropsychological post on shy children and their sensitivities to life's subtleties.

~ Over at Panic is a post on how ABC television in the United States recently followed a teen from Maine with panic disorder.

~ UK based Psychology and Crime posts about Intermittent Explosive Disorder. This little studied disorder is often seen in road rage.

~ Psych Central has a great article about Disturbing Reality Television .

~ Shrinkette posts about the political veering off that can sometimes happen when administering the Mental Status Exam

~ Mediblogopathy highlights the often funny and inappropriate ongoings in a psychiatric hospital.

~ Read about Adaptation Theory and "setpoint of well-being" over at StaffPsychologist



Scene 2: The Medical Center

~ Kevin, M.D. dovetails a post with the latest obvious new of the day that Emergency Rooms are in crisis. Dr. Flea's Blog persuses this same subject as well in his post "Growing Pains, Indeed".

~ Charity Doc has a post about a real-life emergency medicine drama. It's filled with action, conflict, tragedy and the emotional fallout of it all.

~Over at Pediatricsinfo.com is a must read piece on Merck's Human Papilloma Virus vaccine for girls and women. The Nurse Practitioner's Place echoes similar sentiments, but the worry hits home even more as a family member receives a positive diagnosis for HPV.

~ Find out how helium and MRI's are better detecting smoking-related lung damage at straightfromthedoc.com

~ Head on over to Diseaseproof.com where Dr. Joel Furhman blogs about how to lower one's cholesterol naturally. Medical needs and health benefits of water and whole_foods are discussed at Wellness Tips. Dr. Emer over at Parallel Universe has a post on lawsuits and Trans Fatty Acids. And who'd a thunk that cannabinoid-lowers-blood-pressure ?!?

~ New blogger OncRN has a moving post on when the Code Team has to Call It . And Home- School-Med-Student blogs about this subject as well, writing about her first experience in a Level 1 Trauma Center .

~ Interested-Participant has a post about the British Medical Association backing non-voluntary euthanasia for patients who are too ill to ask for death.

~ Over at allergizer.com is an important post on how certain groups of mold increases the likelihood of developing multiple allergies later in life.

~ Pixel RN accounts the down and dirty aspects of an ICU room.

~ Good Ol' Grunt Doc offers up a rant on cultural differences and language acquisition.

~ Over at http://www.njurology.com/RoboticSurgeryBlog/ is an informative post on sexual life after prostate removal.

~ And Stork Doc takes us through the stages of diagnosis and surgery of a patient who initally presented with anemia but was, in actuality, bleeding to death.



Scene 3: The Patient Waiting Room

~ Nakedmedicine.com has a great post by Dr. Jane Chin, who writes from her own patient perspective "Why We Like The Doctors We Like".

~ Dr. Charles writes here about the fear patients still have about genetic discrimination.

~ Emergiblog has an interesting story about a patient and decides, herself, that "Eccentricity is NOT a Crime."

~ Cancer Commentary reports that only one in ten cancer patients are aware of clinical trial opportunities. An alarming statistic, if you ask me.

~Over at Pearls and dreams , the do's and don't with Myasthenia Gravis are considered in the post "Can You Do That?" By the way, I would like to add that June is MG awareness month.


Scene 4: The Insurance and Healthcare Facility

~ InsureBlog asks if HIPAA really protects personal medical records. Some folks don't think so, and they blame the government for lackadaisical enforcement. Are they right?

~ The Specialty Insurance Blog has an interesting post on a recent Medical Malpractice Study

~ Blogcharm posts about the concerns the AMA has with NP's taking charge of clinics in store locations.

~ And Clinical Cases and Images Blog wonders if physicians can benefit from "Google Office" and updates us on how the Cleveland Clinic is offering podcast and videocasts.

~ A great post can be found at Fixing Healthcare which suggests that "health" rather than "sickness" should be the focus in heathcare.

~ Msspnexus.blogs has a rather sad tale of an escalating war between a large group physician practice and a fairly small hospital in rural New York.

~ The Medical Blog Network has a post on how it's been helpful in hosting blog carnivals and talks about where the healthcare blogosphere is heading.

Scene 5: The Pharmacy

~ The Pharm Voice blogs about the approval Schering AG Germany has to continue making Betaferon® - the only high-dose high-frequency therapy approved for the treatment of the earliest stages of MS.

~ Diabetesmine.com blogs on the buzz on a new insulin pill, Intesulin - - which is showing that it is 60-70% as effective as injected insulin.

~ Pycnogenol® may reduce the symptoms of ADHD as noted in the post at Biotechweblog

~ Over at the Health Business Blog is a post about the tragedies and business opportunities of "Pharm Parties".


Scene 6: The Coffee House

~ Navelgazing Midwife writes about her first time learning how to do a vaginal exam.

~ Over at Urostream is a fun post on how one's professional training can pay off.

~ Read a beautiful poem written for a pediatric cancer patient from Dr. Sidharth Sethi's blog.

~ Cathy writes about her mother's Alzheimer's and the cruel reality of the disease's progression.

~ Dr. Hsien Hsien Lei brings us a post about a man passed over by passersby while having a heart attack at A Hearty Life . A rather sad commentary on the state of human compassion.

~ You'll be sure to laugh when Milliner's Dream offers a student nurse diagnosis of her husband's strange skin discoloration.

~ Mexico Med Student blogs about the things he's learned in his first year of medical school.

~ But have some tissues ready before you read Today We Say Goodbye from Digital Doorway, a nursing blog -- and the personal story entitled Love Shouldn't Ever Leave Bruises at All Blogged Up: A Moof's Tale.


~ Cutaway to ~

Next Grand Rounds Production is slated for: June 27, 2006
Directed by: Dr. Stuart Henochowicz at Medviews


And fade-out ...

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Ringxiety: The Next New Disorder

Do you have the sensation that your cell phone is ringing or vibrating when it's not?

If so, you may have RINGXIETY.

Dr. David Laramie, from California's School of Professional Psychology, is the originator of the term and experiences "Ringxiety" as well. According to Dr. Laramie, people have grown emotionally dependent on cell phones for feelings of self-worth or for needing to be connected. Some more snarky experts think that "Ringxiety" is a need to feel popular, while sound experts believe hearing sounds that seem like a telephone's ring send an expectant brain into action, a checking-the-phone-reflex, so to speak. Whatever the origin, it appears that these needs cause people to be so desperate not to miss a call that they hear phones ringing or feel phones vibrating even when they are not.

I have the opposite of "Ringxiety". My phone is never on. I rarely use it. I spend money just to have it. I think the name of that disorder is "Sqaunderitis".


References
New York Times
Wordspy

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More Fun With Psychology

Look at this picture.
Does it move?

Perception and the mind's eye are at work here again. This is a stationary picture. It is NOT moving, but when we look at it, it MOVES.

Try this one. It's called "Slow Gears" - based on the work by A. Kitaoka.

Afterimages from our peripheral vision create "perceived movement" . Our mind then tells us that the image IS moving.

Okay, fun time is over.


References

Brain Basher Illusions

Illusionworks

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Depression and Smoking

(HealthDay News) -- Adding to the growing evidence that mental illness in childhood can lead to problems later in life, a new Finnish study suggests that depressed kids are more likely to grow up to become smokers.

Researchers who tracked 2,300 boys over a 10-year period reported that those who had symptoms of depression at age 8 were 20 percent more likely than others to smoke at age 18. The depressed boys were also 40 percent more likely to become heavy smokers. The study is apparently the first to find a link between childhood depression and adult smoking in a large sample of people, the researchers said. The findings were presented on May 25, 2006, at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting, in Toronto. For more on this story go here

Hmmmm, I wish they studied girls too.

I was a depressed child and am an adult who takes medication for depression. But I never smoked. Tried it once, hated it. Now, chocolate on the other hand....

Does this research generalize to any of you reading this?

Resources
APA Toronto 2006 Conference
Healthday

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Benefits of Power Napping

I am the Queen of napping. I can nap anywhere, anytime. It's one of my many talents. Even my cat is in awe of my skills.

Around 2:30 everyday, I am at rest. I'm in a semi-conscious state - not sound asleep but not fully awake. I can ease out of this wonderful place without a jarring effect. And when I emerge from my catnap, some 20 minutes later, I feel so good.

The benefits of napping have been well documented. Research has shown that a nap can promote physical well-being, improve mood and memory, sharpen senses and revitalize a person. The neurons in brain functioning get to rest and recuperate from the day's stress. Intellectual performance improves from the boost a midday nap provides and accuracy in performance increases too. MRI's of nappers show that brain activity stays high throughout the day with a nap. Without one, it declines as the day wears on.

Research also says that taking a nap of 30 minutes a day is better than sleeping 30 minutes later in the morning. And from another psychological perspective, falling into a light sleep can feel meditative (like my semi-conscious experience). As you nap, the dreams and streams of thoughts you experience may offer insights you may not be able to grasp at night when you are in a deep sleep.

When you sleep under normal circumstances, your brain cycles through several different stages of Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma sleep waves. You drift from one stage of sleep to another - from light sleep to deeper sleep to REM sleep to wakefulness and so on. Delta and Theta sleep, also known as Sleep I and Sleep II stages, are light stages of sleep. So, the key to napping is to not fall into the deeper stages of sleep. That's why a 15 to 30 minute nap is recommended. Napping more than that, and you'll find yourself waking up cranky or groggy.

The good old catnap has new names, like "The Power Nap", "Powernapping" and "Metronapping". In fact, there is an emerging trend where science fiction-like pods and snoozing suites are popping up in workplaces, universities, and malls. Take a look here and here

Some famous self-proclaimed nappers include Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci , Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Johannes Brahms, John D. Rockefeller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gene Autry, Nikola Tesla, Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Napoleon Bonaparte, Salvador Dali and Sylvester Stallone.

So, science and psychology say we should embrace the siesta - and not view the snoozing in the middle of the day as being lazy. Napping is not just for the young and the old. It can be a good thing for us all.


References

Hayahsi, M.; Motoyoshi, N.; Hori, T. (2005). Recuperative power of a short daytime nap with or without stage 2 sleep. Sleep, 128:829-36.

Mednick, S.l Nakayam, K.; Stockgold, R. (2003). Sleep-dependent learning: A nap is as good as a night. Neuroscience, 6(7): 697-698.

Mednick, S. & Stickgold,R. (2002). The restorative effect of naps on perceptual deterioration. Nature Neuroscience. 5(7): 677-681.

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