Maggot Therapy In Unhealing Wounds

Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT) is the medical use of live maggots (fly larvae) for treating non-healing wounds.

In maggot debridement therapy (also known as maggot therapy, larva therapy, larval therapy, biodebridement or biosurgery), disinfected fly larvae are applied to the wound for 2 or 3 days within special dressings to keep them from migrating. The literature identifies three primary actions of medical grade maggots on wounds:

1. They clean the wounds by dissolving dead and infected tissue ("debridement");
2. They disinfect the wound (kill bacteria);
3. They speed the rate of healing
   
   !! The video might be disturbing for some of you
   
   
   
   
   History of Maggot Therapy

      Maggots have been known for centuries to help heal wounds. Military surgeons noted that soldiers whose wounds became infested with maggots had better outcomes than those not infested. William Baer, while at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, may have been the first in the Northern Hemisphere to have intentionally applied larvae to wounds in order to induce wound healing. During the late 1920's, he identified specific species, raised them in the laboratory, and used their larvae to treat several children with osteomyelitis and soft tissue infections. He presented his findings at a surgical conference in 1929. Two years later, after treating 98 children, his findings were published posthumously.

The first modern clinical studies of maggot therapy were initiated in 1989, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, CA, and at the University of California, Irvine, to answer the following questions:

1. "Is maggot therapy still useful today?"
2. "Should maggot therapy be used as an adjunct to other treatments, not merely as a last resort?"
3. "How does maggot therapy compare to other treatments at our disposal?" 
   
   

Daltonism/ Color blindness Tests

               Color blindness or color vision deficiency is the decreased ability to perceive differences between some of the colors that others can distinguish. It is most often of genetic nature, but may also occur because of some eye, nerve, or brain damage, or exposure to certain chemicals.

Click HERE  to take the Test 

Colorblindness Test for Children

     The image below can be used as a simple, non-medical test for red-green colorblindness in children. Originally published in Field and Stream magazine, the test was intended for potential hunters. However, the animal shapes can usually be identified by young children who may not yet be able to read numbers, which are used in standard colorblindness tests.

A larger version of the image, which can be printed on plain white paper (or photo paper), can be found here.

The image should be presented to a child in private. The child can be asked if they see any animals. There should be no prompting. The key for what can be seen with differing color vision can be seen below:

A larger image of the key can be found here.

This and any such test should be done individually without comment by the “tester.” Any color vision issues detected should first be discussed with the child’s parent(s) and not with the child. Further testing by a qualified ophthalmologist might be indicated.

Past use of this test indicates the following:
    Children with normal vision can see the bear, deer, rabbit, and squirrel. They cannot see the fox.
    Children with a red-green color vision deficiency see a cow (instead of the deer), a fox (in the lower left), and usually the rabbit and squirrel. They cannot see the bear. Red-green colorblindness apparently occurs in varying degrees--mild to severe. Children with severe red-green color vision deficiency may have difficulty seeing the rabbit and/or squirrel. Generally, anyone with a red-green color deficiency cannot see the bear, but can see the fox.

Children (and adults) with a red-green color deficiency have difficulty differentiating shades of the following colors from each other:
    red from green
    green from brown (especially beige)
    blue from purple
    pink from gray
Note that most color deficient children can identify pure primary colors.

In each of these cases, the color red (found in red, brown, purple, and pink) cannot be discerned, making the distinction difficult. Thus children see purple azalea or crepe myrtle blossoms as blue. They have difficulty seeing the browned pine needles among the green ones. A flashing traffic light could be red or amber. Green traffic lights look white.

Because of the shift in the color vision of those with red-green colorblindness, those with the deficiency can more readily differentiate yellow and blue from green. Yellow and/or blue are frequently the “favorite colors” of those with a red-green color deficiency.

Obviously once identified, tact must be used when informing a child of this vision issue. Care must also be shown when dealing with such children in a group setting, so as not to call undue attention or create a reason for discrimination or ridicule.

The most common form of color vision deficiency (usually referred to as red-green colorblindness) occurs in about 7% of males in the United States. It is an inherited trait, carried by females but occurring in males. Colorblindness can be a complicated topic. Basic information can be found online, including this Wikipedia article. Suggestions for teachers can be found here.

Given the frequency of this condition, it is surprising that testing is not done on all children prior to entering pre-school or school. This condition should be identified early, so that parents, caregivers, and teachers can address it with understanding, patience, and respect. (via @http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hellmers/test/)

Sleeping Apart May Be Benefic to Health and Relationship

If you think that sharing a bed with your partner boosts your relationship, you may be wrong. It may actually be doing harm to your health and your sex life studies show. 

Dr. Neil Stanley, a sleep specialist says that a good night's rest is more important than getting close to your significant other. He said that the idea of sleeping together is a relatively new idea. Before the industrial revolution it was not uncommon for couples to sleep in separate bedrooms but as people moved into the cities and were cramped for space it became a necessity.

Recent research has shown that 20 % of British couple already sleep in separate beds and that as much as 40 % of couples in their 70's sleep separately reports the Mirror. A couple interviewed by the Mirror said of sleeping separately, "Sex isn’t a problem at all. We simply enjoy it in whoever’s bedroom we end up in before happily retreating to our own double beds to sleep." Simon Rutherford, 35 who also sleeps separately from his wife says, "A couple who sleep separately are seen as a failure, because people assume the intimacy between them has died. So it was great to hear scientists saying that a good sleep alone in your own bed is what keeps a marriage fresh," reported the Telegraph. As it turns out, a lot of couples are sleeping apart.

Is Organic Always Better than Conventional?

     These days, it seems more difficult to know what to shop for at the grocery store.

• Is organic always better than conventional? 
• What if it's an "organic" product that's been flown half-way around the world, burning up fossil fuels that contribute to global warming? How do you decide what's better: A conventional apple grown locally with chemical pesticides, or an organic apple from another continent?

How do you decide which grocery products are best for not just your own personal health, but also the health of the planet? 

Now here's the real kicker in all this: When you eat an apple, you absorb and assimilate the story that went into creating that apple! 

• So eating an organic, locally-grown, consciously-harvested apple gives you not only nourishment and biochemical nutrition, it also gives you the positive energy of abundance, humility, harmony and happiness. 
• A conventionally-grown apple, on the other hand, is more likely to give you the story of greed, desperation, depletion, fear and disease. Hmm.....
• ! "I strongly recommend you grow it yourself or work with local farmers who you know are passionate about cooperating with nature to maximize abundance for themselves and those around them."
  
  

Source:
www.NaturalNews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/022040.html#ixzz1C3kskHNV

#Medical Case: 7-year old with Limbs Growing Out of his Chest

           A 7-year-old boy Deepak Kumar Paswaan, who lives in Buxar, Bihar, India, was born with extra arms, legs and buttocks of a parasitic twin protruding from his chest, which looks similar to the Indian man’s extra body.

• This case is similar to how conjoined twins are formed, except there is a malformation of one of those twins.As a result, the twin never fully develops and has caused the boy to live with extra arms and legs.The worst part is, the legs are growing at the same rate as the boy, adding to the weight the boy must carry.
  

• As “usual,” he was worshipped as an incarnation of Lakshmi, the multi-limbed Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity but there are also people who cast stones to him to driveout the “demon” in his body. 

When Deepak was born with the parasitic twin growing out of his abdomen the doctors in the village warned he wouldn’t have lived for more than a few days. However little Deepak fought through all the odds and survived as a healthy child though he was much behind his peers and led a socially restricted life. The contrasting ways in which he led is life is best exemplified by the fact that Deepak was treated as a religious icon and was worshipped by a set of villagers as God,

Digital Drugs- Latest drug trend

Forget about bongs, mirrors and crack pipes. Kids are getting high using headphones. Certain MP3 music downloads available online supposedly induce a state of ecstasy.

• This new practice is called i-Dosing and requires a pair of headphones and something to play music. Proponents of i-Dosing say the ecstatic feeling listeners supposedly feel is caused by the binaural beat effect.

• This effect is the result of two slightly different audio waves being heard separately by the left and right ear. The two tones played at slightly different frequencies makes the listener think they are hearing a quick beat.

• YouTube is littered with videos that include these audio files, and even more reaction videos of teenagers freaking out after getting an i-Dose. 

The video I watched is called  the Leviticus Green, named not only for everyone's favorite Old Testament book but also for a sound drug developed in 1993 as a pain killer for wounded soldiers, or so says the intro to the video. It also claims that the project was abandoned a year later after soldiers who were listening to the music reported having Biblical hallucinations.

• There is some research in the area of binaural beats for scientific and therapeutic uses, including research for hearing and sleep cycles and reducing stress and anxiety. But using it as a drug is new.

Messing with perception
Dr Brian Fligor, director of diagnostic audiology at the Boston Children's Hospital, thinks the idea of digital drugs is as far-fetched as the plot of a horror film."I found it to be a somewhat amusing story”

"To my knowledge there is no science that backs it up," Dr Fligor told the BBC. "They are experiencing an auditory perception."

"It's just kind of messing with your perception of the sound," Dr Fligor says.
"It's neat and interesting, but it has absolutely no effect on your perception of pleasure or anything else that was claimed."
The teens, he says, may have been faking or may have been experiencing a placebo effect, unconsciously convincing themselves that they were indeed high.
But doctors would find no real physical effects of this supposed intoxication, he says.
I-dosing, Dr Fligor says, is "neither good nor bad. It's completely neutral. It's not the least bit harmful and so I found it to be a somewhat amusing story."








Read more:
WBFF FOX45

http://news.discovery.com/tech/teens-get-high-off-digital-drugs.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10668480
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/digital-drugs/

Risks Associated with Body Piercing

        Body piercing, a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewellery may be worn.

       The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act or practice.


Before you have your body pierced
If you choose to have a body piercing, get advice from people who have used a reputable, licensed body-piercing shop or piercer before. Ask them how much information they were given about looking after their piercing and taking jewelery out safely. Check that the staff were helpful and professional, the premises were clean and the equipment was properly sterilized.

Body Piercings and Surgery

Caffeine Content of Food & Drugs

•  Caffeine is the only drug that is present naturally or added to widely consumed foods (quinine is the other drug used in foods). It is mildly addictive, one possible reason that makers of soft drinks add it to their products. Many coffee drinkers experience withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, irritability, sleepiness, and lethargy, when they stop drinking coffee. 

the "Berlin Patient " - German Doctors believe the man have been cured of HIV Infection as a Result of the Treatment with Stem Cell Transplant

The 'Berlin patient' is an HIV-positive man who developed acute myeloid leukaemia, received successful treatment and subsequently experienced a relapse in 2007 that required a transplant of stem cells.

• While the highly lethal technique used on the man known as the "Berlin Patient" would not work for most of the 33 million people with HIV worldwide, scientists say the research shows important progress toward a universal cure.

"Our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been achieved in this patient," said the study in the peer-reviewed journal Blood, a publication of the American Society of Hematology.

Before the stem cell transplant the patient received chemotherapy treatment that destroyed most immune cells and total body irradiation, and also received immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection of the stem cells.
Antiretroviral therapy was halted on the day of the transplant, and the patient had to receive a second stem cell transplant 13 days after the first one, due to a further relapse of leukaemia.

The patient continued to receive immunosuppressive treatment to prevent rejection for 38 months, and at 5, 24 and 29 months post-transplant colon biopsies were taken to investigate possible graft-versus-host disease in the intestine. At each investigation additional samples were taken to check for signs of HIV infection in the abundant immune cells of the gut wall.

One of the challenges for any approach to curing HIV infection is long-lived immune system cells, which need to be cleared before a patient can be cured. In the case of the Berlin patient CCR5-bearing macrophages could not be detected after 38 months, suggesting that chemotherapy had destroyed these longer-lived cells, and that they had also been replaced by donor cells.

The German researchers and San Francisco-based immunologist Professor Jay Levy believe that the findings point to the importance of suppressing the production of CCR5-bearing cells, either through transplants or gene therapy.

ABA Therapy Helps Children with Autism

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is based on the idea that by influencing a response associated with a behavior may cause that behavior to be shaped and controlled. 

• ABA is a mixture of psychological and educational techniques that  are utilized based upon the needs of each individual child. Applied Behavior Analysis is the use of behavioral methods to measure behavior, teach functional skills, and evaluate progress.

• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) techniques have been proven in many studies as the leading proven treatment and method of choice on treating individuals with autism spectrum disorder at any level. 

• ABA approaches such as discrete trial training (DTT), Pivotal Response Training (PRT), Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Self-Management, and a range of social skills training techniques are all critical in teaching children with autism.Ultimately, the goal is to find a way of motivating the child and using a number of different strategies and positive reinforcement techniques to ensure that the sessions are enjoyable and productive.
  
  

• In all ABA programs, the intent is to increase skills in language, play and socialization, while decreasing behaviors that interfere with learning. The results can be profound. Many children with autism who have ritualistic or self-injurious behaviors reduce or eliminate these behaviors.

• They establish eye contact. 
• They learn to stay on task. 
•  Finally the children acquire the ability and the desire to learn and to do well. 
• Even if the child does not achieve a “best outcome” result of normal functioning levels in all areas, nearly all autistic children benefit from intensive ABA programs.

 
Sources:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
http://www.brighttots.com/aba_therapy
http://autismlab.ucsd.edu/
http://www.autism.org.uk/
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer
http://www.autisminternationalfoundation.org/

Paradise Syndrome

Paradise Syndrome, while not officially recognized by psychologists as a mental condition, is a term used by some to refer to a condition in which a person suffers a feeling of dissatisfaction despite having achieved all their dreams.

• The term may have been coined by Dave Steward. It is often applied to individuals of such great wealth and success that they feel they no longer have anything left in life to accomplish. It is common with people who assign great value to their career and, although they have achieved much, do not feel satisfied.

• "paradise syndrome" is a fictional creation, referring to an episode of Star Trek: "The Paradise Syndrome" is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast October 4, 1968. It is episode #58, production #58, written by Margaret Armen and directed by Jud Taylor.Since its inception it has been used to mean many different things, but in that episode it had more to do with being overworked and needing a break, rather than a feeling of dissatisfaction related to achieving one's dreams.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Syndrome

Tools to help close the gender pay gap

 

In its ‘Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015’, the European Commission commits to supporting initiatives in the workplace which aim to encourage equal pay, such as the development of tools for employers to close unjustified gender pay gaps.

These tools include instruments designed to help employers, managers and human resources personnel identify if a company has a pay gap between its male and female employees. Such tools have been developed in countries including Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
The software calculates whether there is a gender pay gap and if this gender pay gap is due to objective factors (such as a person’s level of education or years of service) or factors that cannot be explained and which, for the most part, it can be assumed are caused by pay discrimination.
If inequalities are found, advice and support is available to companies to help them develop solutions to close the gap.
Both the German and Luxembourgish calculators build on a Swiss calculator which was developed in 2009 by the country’s Federal Office for Equality between Women and Men.


Note: In Germany, the Logib-D (Lohngleichheit im Betrieb – Deutschland) management tool helps employers identify if there is a pay gap between their male and female employees. Through analyzing payment structures, this online tool enables employers to explore if a gender pay gap exists and the reasons for the gap. It also helps employers to develop solutions to ensure equal pay for all employees. The instrument was developed by the German Federal Government in cooperation with partners.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation.

Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans.


Maslow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy." Maslow studied the healthiest 1% of the college student population.
Maslow's theory was fully expressed in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality.

Stendhal Syndrome

Stendhal syndrome  
(Stendhal's syndrome, hyperkulturemia, or Florence syndrome) - is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place.

The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.

Italian scientists are to try to establish whether there really is such a phenomenon as 'Stendhal Syndrome' – the giddiness and confusion supposedly caused when one looks at great works of art.

Heterochromic Iris

Heterochromia= is the presence of different colored eyes in the same person. 

Heterochromia is uncommon in humans, but quite common in dogs (such as Dalmatians and Australian sheep dogs), cats, and horses.

Causes:Most cases of heterochromia are hereditary, caused by a disease or syndrome, or due to an injury. Sometimes one eye may change color following certain diseases or injuries.
Specific causes of eye color changes include:

• Bleeding (hemorrhage)
• Familial heterochromia
• Foreign object in the eye
• Glaucoma, or some medications used to treat it
• Injury
• Mild inflammation affecting only one eye
• Neurofibromatosis
• Waardenberg syndrome

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Consult your health care provider if you notice new changes in the color of one eye, or two differently colored eyes in your infant. A thorough eye examination is needed to be sure this isn't a symptom of a medical problem.
Some conditions and syndromes associated with heterochromia, such as pigmentary glaucoma, can only be detected by a thorough eye exam.

What to Expect at Your Office Visit

Your health care provider may ask the following questions to help evaluate the cause:

• Did you notice the two different eye colors when the child was born, shortly after the birth, or recently?
• Are any other symptoms present?

An infant with heterochromia should be examined by both a pediatrician and an ophthalmologist for other possible problems.
A complete eye examination can rule out most causes of heterochromia. If there doesn't seem to be an underlying disorder, no further testing may be necessary. If another disorder is suspected, diagnostic tests, such as blood tests or chromosome studies, may be done to confirm the diagnosis.

List of Educational Drug Films

         


Drug films are films that depict drug usage, either as a major theme or as a few memorable scenes. Drug cinema ranges from the ultra-realistic to the utterly surreal; some movies are unabashedly pro- or anti-drug, while others are less judgmental.

The drugs most commonly shown in films are cocaine, heroin, LSD, cannabis (see Stoner film) and methamphetamine.


There is extensive overlap with crime movies, which are more likely to treat drugs as plot devices to keep the action moving. Some movies are mistakenly labeled as "drug films" due to their surreal nature, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Waking Life and Yellow Submarine.

The following is a partial list of drug films and the substance involved:

Panic with/without Agoraphobia

Panic disorder with agoraphobia

Panic disorder is a condition in which a person has :

• episodes of intense fear or anxiety that occur suddenly, often without warning. 
• These episodes—called panic attacks—can last from minutes to hours. 
• They may occur only once in a while, or they may occur quite frequently. 
• The cause, or "trigger," for these attacks may not be obvious. 
• A diagnosis of panic disorder is usually made after a person experiences at least 2 panic attacks that occur without reason and are followed by a period of at least 1 month of fear that another attack will happen.

What happens during a panic attack?

Panic attacks are associated with physical symptoms that include the following:

• Shaking or trembling
• Feeling that your heart is pounding or racing
• Sweating
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling that you are choking
• Nausea
• Cramping
• Dizziness or weakness
• An out-of-body feeling
• Tingling or numbness in your hands, arms, feet or legs
• Chills or hot flashes

Ebola - haemorrhagic fever

Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a viral haemorrhagic fever and one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind.

The virus interferes with the endothelial cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels and with coagulation. As the blood vessel walls become damaged and destroyed, the platelets are unable to coagulate, patients succumb to hypovolemic shock. Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids, while conjunctiva exposure may also lead to transmission.

There are five distinct species of the Ebola virus: 

• Bundibugyo, 
• Côte d’Ivoire, 
• Reston, 
• Sudan and 
• Zaïre.  

Bundibugyo, Sudan and Zaïre species have been associated with large outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) in Africa causing death in 25-90% of all clinically ill cases, while Côte d’Ivoire and Reston have not. 

The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons. Transmission of the Ebola virus has also occurred by handling sick or dead infected wild animals (chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope, fruit bats). 

The predominant treatment is general supportive therapy.

More:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/Fact_Sheets/Ebola_Fact_Booklet.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/ebolatable.htm

Next-Generation Bandages

In the halls of Capitol Hill, a rancorous battle rages over how to deliver better health care to the public. But in the nation's biotechnology labs scientists and engineers are staging a quieter revolution in basic patient care.In recent years, interdisciplinary teams of nanoscientists, engineers and surgeons have revolutionized the way we treat some of our most basic injuries (cuts, scrapes and wounds). Their work has lead to wound dressings that dramatically speed clotting, prevent scar formation or encourage healing, as well as new interventions that don't look anything like your childhood Band-Aids.In many cases, the new bandages look deceptively low-tech. Some of them are already in use, but the incredible new technologies may not even be visible to the patients who wear them.

ChitoGauzea

          HemCon Medical Technologies manufactures bandages and wound dressings that harness the power of the sea. The company's products use chitosan, a biopolymer made from a component in the exoskeletons of crab, shrimp and other crustacean exoskeletons. The positively charged chitosan attracts the negatively charged outer membranes of red blood cells; when the two come into contact, localized clotting occurs. HemCon's chitosan-coated bandages are already in use in Iraq; its latest product is ChitoGauze.

Romanian National Health Insurance House - the List of Compensated and Free Drugs Approved for 2011.

National Health Insurance House (CNAS) from Romania made public the list of compensated and free drugs approved for 2011.

 

The document includes, specifically, five lists, namely

    * A sub-list - the list of drugs with 90% aclearing;
    * Sub-list B - 50% of compensated medicines list;
    * Sections C1, C2 and C3 to offset 100% drugs.
       
The lists are valid as of 1 January 2011.
In section C1 were included drugs used in outpatient treatment of certain groups of diseases for which settlement is based on treatment protocols for monitoring prescribing and consumption through joint committees. Drugs in this sub-list issued by apharmacies are open circuit, the prescription retained in the pharmacy.
"For this section the appropriate medication therapy is initiated by physician specialty other than family doctor, except medicines in G1-chronic heart failure (NYHA class III or IV) positions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 for the initiation of treatment can be carried out by your family, "announced representatives of CNAS.
C2 sub lists includes drugs that benefit the insured included in national health programs. They are issued both by closed circuit drugstores and pharmacies open circuit, all the prescription retained in the pharmacy.

Section C3 includes medicines offset 100%, according to the CDI Canamed sites other than those of sublistele A, B, C1, C2, suitable for young children up to 18 years from 18 to 26 years and pregnant and nursing women.

January, 2011 Holidays & Observances

January Observances

Each Day:

1 New Year's Day

2 Run up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes Day

3 Festival of Sleep Day

3 Fruitcake Toss Day

3 Humiliation Day

4 Trivia Day

5 National Bird Day

6 Bean Day

6 Cuddle Up Day

The world's population will hit 7 Billion in 2011

The rate at which the human population is increasing is phenomenal.

• In just 199 years we have gone from a world population of 1 billion to 6 billion. This year, just 12 years after hitting 6 billion, we are going to pass the 7 billion mark.

• 7 billion is a big number, and this National Geographic video does a good job of making you realize just how big it is. The standout facts for me are that 5 people are born every second, but only 2 people die. That’s a population increase of 180 people every minute of the day.

• On the flip side to the amount of people there are, we apparently don’t take up very much space. Crowd us shoulder to shoulder and 7 billion people only fill an area the size of Los Angeles. In reality we all have our own space, be it a large house or a small shack somewhere in the world.Still, the world has to cope somehow, and the population is set to increase to 9 billion by 2045. 
• More of us are moving to cities, and overcrowding will become an increasing problem. I don’t envy the job of future local governments figuring out how to house us all and clean up after us every day.

What is Parataxic Distortion

Parataxic distortion is a psychiatric term first used by Harry S. Sullivan to explain the inclination to skew perceptions of others based on fantasy. The "distortion" is in the perception of others, based not on actual experience with the individual but from a projected fantasy personality.

• For example: when one falls in love they can create an image of the person as the “perfect match” or “soul mate” only to find out later the person did not match the original perception. The fantasy personality is created in part from experience and from emotional stress. The stress of forming a new relationship or finding a life mate, where one contemplates reproduction, can be seen as stress, although it is perceived as pleasurable.  

The Spectrum of Apple Flavors

Commonly Abused Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drugs

Dextromethorphan (DXM)

Dextromethorphan (DXM) is the active ingredient in nonprescription cough and cold medicines. Those products are safe when taken as recommended, but very large doses can produce euphoria and impaired judgment -- as well as nausea and vomiting, loss of coordination, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and brain damage due to a combination of DXM and decongestants often found in the medication, NIDA says.

DXM's street names include "Orange Crush," "Triple Cs," "Dex," and "Robo."

2010 Overview in Medical System (IV)

• Updated Pneumococcical Vaccine Guidelines
• National Lung Screening Trial  Halted
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduces first draft
• Oil Spill In the Gulf 
• First Synthetic Cell 
• New Superbug :NDM-1 
• Genetic Link to ADHD

Updated Pneumococcical Vaccine Guidelines

        The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September updated guidelines for use of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in adults. Changes include the recommendation that all persons aged 19 to 64 years with chronic or immunosuppressive medical conditions, including asthma, should receive the vaccine.

2010 Overview in Medical System (IV)

• CHOCHOLATE Reduces Stroke Risk
• SIBUTRAMINE withdrawn from Market
• HIV Prevention with TRUVADA
• First Oral Drug for Multiple Sclerosis

 

CHOCHOLATE Reduces Stroke Risk

A systematic review from Canadian researchers suggests higher chocolate consumption may be associated with a lower risk for incident stroke and stroke-related mortality. The results were released in February in advance of their presentation at the American Academy of Neurology 62nd Annual Meeting in April.

2010 Overview in Medical System (III)

• Fda withdrawn Proxyphene from US market  
• The Whistleblower Case
• Medical Crisis in Haiti  
• Drug warnings in the news

 
Fda withdrawn Proxyphene from US market 
 In November, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pulled propoxyphene, sold under the brand names Darvon and Darvocet by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, from the US market. The decision also affected generic manufacturers and the makers of propoxyphene-containing products. New clinical data showed that the drug puts patients at risk for potentially serious or even fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. An estimated 10 million patients have used these products.

2010 Overview in Medical System (I)

Healthcare Reimbursement

Delayed several times in 2010, most recently on December 9 until January 2012, the Medicare pay cut would be triggered by the sustainable growth rate formula used for setting physicians' pay. It could force many physicians to stop seeing new Medicare patients or to drop out of the Medicare program entirely, which would send shockwaves throughout the system. For 70% of physicians, Medicare patients make up about a third of their practices.
For more information: Healthcare Reform Resource Center

Healthcare Reform

The most comprehensive overhaul of the nation's healthcare system at least since Medicare, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) seeks to dramatically expand the number of people who can afford healthcare. It does that by subsidizing the cost for those who can't afford it, penalizing those who refuse to buy it, and limiting the cases in which insurers can deny coverage. Among scores of other provisions, it boosts pay for primary care physicians, encourages compensation based on quality of care, and bars copayments for most preventive services. Ongoing lawsuits about the individual mandate to buy health insurance mean the ACA will likely end up before the Supreme Court.
For more information: Healthcare Reform Resource Center

2010 Overview in Medical System (II)

• Mammography in Women under 50
• Prostate Cancer Screening 
• American Diabetes Association Revises Diabetes Guidelines 
• Calcium Supplements May Increase Heart Risk

 Mammography in Women under 50
On January 6, 2010, the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging directly contradicted 2009 recommendations from the USPSTF calling for an end to routine mammography in women younger than 50 years.
For more information: Breast Cancer Resource Center

Cold and Flu Guide - Natural Remedies

                         Cold and Flu

    Follow this chart for information about how to treat the symptoms of a cold or the flu and how to know when to see a doctor. Other illnesses may also cause flu- or cold-like symptoms. Self-care is often all that is needed to treat common viral illnesses.

SYMPTOMS		DIAGNOSIS		SELF-CARE
1. Do you have a fever?		Go to Question 6.*
2. Do you have a sore throat and headache--without nasal drainage?		You may have STREP THROAT, a bacterial infection.		See your doctor if the sore throat or fever lasts longer than 48 hours. He or she can do a test to find out if you have strep throat. If you do, your doctor may give you an antibiotic to treat it. You should also get plenty of rest, and drink lots of water. Gargling with warm salt water may help relieve a sore throat.
3. Did your symptoms start suddenly, and do you have a combination of symptoms including muscle aches, chills, a sore throat, runny nose or cough?		You may have the FLU.		Get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluids. Over-the-counter medicines may relieve some of your symptoms. Your doctor may suggest a prescription medicine that may shorten the course of the flu. Prevent the flu by getting a flu shot each fall.
4. Do you have a persistent cough that brings up yellowish or greenish mucus, wheezing and shortness of breath.		You may be developing ACUTE BRONCHITIS, an infection of the airways.		Get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluids. If you smoke, cut down on the number of cigarettes you smoke, or stop smoking. Use an over-the-counter medicine for pain and fever, and an expectorant to ease the coughing. A humidifier may also relieve some symptoms. If symptoms persist or worsen, contact your doctor.
5. Do you have a headache or muscle aches, nausea or vomiting, and watery diarrhea?		You may have GASTROENTERITIS (also called the stomach flu).		Get plenty of rest. Children who have gastroenteritis should be given an oral rehydration solution to avoid dehydration. Ease back into eating with bland foods and clear liquids.
*6. Do you have a runny and/or itchy nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes?		You may have ALLERGIES.		Try an over-the-counter antihistamine medicine. If symptoms persist or worsen, contact your doctor.
7. Do you have sneezing, a sore throat, headache, congestion and a runny nose?		You probably have a COLD.		Try an over-the-counter cold medicine to treat the specific symptoms you are having. Get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluid.
8. Do you have swelling or pain around your eyes, cheeks, nose or forehead, a headache, a dry cough, and/or discharge from the nose?		You may be developing SINUSITIS.		See your doctor. Acetaminophen, ibuprofen and/or warm compresses may help reduce facial pain. A cool mist vaporizer may help your sinuses drain more easily. Drink plenty of fluids.
For more information, please talk to your doctor. If you think your problem is serious, call right away.				WARNING: Due to the risk of Reye's syndrome, don't give aspirin to children without your doctor's approval.

This tool has been reviewed by doctors and is for general educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice. The information in this tool should not be relied upon to make decisions about your health. Always consult your family doctor with questions about your individual condition(s) and/or circumstances. Source: American Academy of Family Physicians. Family Health & Medical Guide. Dallas: Word Publishing; 1996