Interesting Theory About The Appendix
A new theory about the purpose of the appendix: keeper of good gut flora in times of endemic cholera and GI infections . Cool idea.
Archive for the 'Links' Category
Good Friday Laughs from Craigslist:
I love Best of Craigslist . Some recent goodies:
Happy Friday.
October 5th, 2007Strippers, Use IUD’s!
A psychologist in New Mexico has found variation in strippers’ incomes based on their menstrual cycle : lower average incomes while menstruating, and higher average incomes while ovulating. Women on birth control pills had no variation in their incomes.
This of course led my OB-Gyn resident to suggest an IUD–they’ll earn more money but won’t get pregnant!
He Took The Blue Pill Update
From this story : Update, the poster’s initial HIV test is negative. (Of course he will need to get follow-up testing.)
Dr. Sarah Langley, Master Diagnostician!
My former classmate, and now doctor,
Sarah Langley
was featured on last night’s TLC show, Diagnosis X
. Congrats, Sarah! Sadly, she’ll soon be mainly dealing with the unconscious patient, as she’s going into Anesthesia.
Shadowfax on HSAs
KevinMD (love to love his blog, love to hate his health policy!) has never really explained himself as to why he agrees with John Stossel that HSAs will make any type of dent in our health care costs, and Shadowfax takes them both to task for it .
The acutely ill do not make health care decisions and are not responsive to costs.
I repeat.
The acutely ill do not make health care decisions and are not responsive to costs.
Just like Shadowfax says–the guy possibly having a heart attack, or the incredibly sick patient with pneumonia who’s going to the ICU is not in any position (or state of mind) to determine if he should get the generic or the brand name antibiotic; if he should have a foley catheter placed; if he should have heart surgery or just stenting.
And one other point to add to Shadowfax: The Most Important Health Care Graph:
Us fairly healthy folk cost next to nothing for the health care system. Deciding whether we need a chest xray or not is like taking a grain of sand from the beach.
Body Mass Index, Illustrated
Great photoset on Flickr showing people, their height, weight, and BMI . I was surprised at how high some of the BMIs were from the photos–I must be underestimating on my patients. [thanks KevinMD !]
I’ve Arrived
The New York Times (okay fine, their health blog) linked to my piece about the dreaded pelvic . That’s kind of awesome.
Knot Tying On Youtube
A bunch of people beat me to it– a ton of knot tying workshops exist on YouTube if you need a refresher on the one-handed, two-handed, or instrument ties. (Clinical students, depending on your attending and rotation, they may not want you to do one-handed ties at first, wanting you to master the instrument and two-handed ties when you start out!)
He Took the Blue Pill
An incredibly sad question from Ask Metafilter , where strangers can ask other strangers questions, using their username or anonymously. A gay man and his new partner supposedly get tested for HIV (both supposedly negative) and start having unprotected anal intercourse. Only later does the man get curious about the blue pill his partner takes every day, for “joint pains,” run a drug imprint search , and find out it’s an HIV drug.
I can’t imagine who would do such a terrible, vile thing. Sickens me.
Just for the record–and this is for everyone, whatever type of sex you have and whoever you have it with–there is a “window period” where someone can have HIV but still have a negative HIV test. While it’s getting shorter with better and better tests, all the folks I talk to still say the window period can be up to 6 months (but it’s up to 3 months for 98% of people). Please, please, practice safer sex, talk about these things with your partner(s), and get tested. One negative HIV test does not put anyone in the clear if they’ve had sex recently. If you use it, test it.