Ack!

Man Sues Doctors After Penis Amputated

Yikes!

On fire in the OR: Hundreds are hurt every year

Ick.

Henna hazard: Chemical causes ornate allergies

This is totally me.

The disorder, not the picture.

'Often, people with the disorder report that they cannot sleep until early morning, but they fall asleep at about the same time every "night", no matter what time they go to bed.

Unless they have another sleep disorder such as sleep apnea in addition to DSPS, patients can sleep well and have a normal need for sleep.

Therefore, they find it very difficult to wake up in time for a typical school or work day.

If, however, they are allowed to follow their own schedule, e.g. sleeping from 4 a.m. to noon, they sleep soundly, awaken spontaneously, and do not feel sleepy again until their next "night".

The syndrome usually develops in early childhood or adolescence,[1] and sometimes disappears in adolescence or early adulthood.

It can be to a greater or lesser degree treatable depending on the severity, but has not yet been found to be fully curable. Prevalence among adults, equally distributed as to gender, is approximately 0.15% or three in 2000.'

If it wasn't for work, left to my own devices, I would fall asleep naturally around 2 AM and wake up at 10.

That's what usually happens on the weekends.

But if I do that, it throws off my sleep schedule for the week, and I end up being late to work, groggy, cranky, and plain just feel like shite until my cycle gets reset.

Maybe I should go back to bartending.

That's the only job that would fit my schedule.

Naked Juice

This week, for unknown reasons, I have been craving the Almond Smoothie from Naked Juice.

Tastes great and not too many calories.

But I have noticed that over the course of the week, I have had close to no appetite.

Wednesday, all I had was half a salad, and the smoothie.

Yesterday I only had a sun-dried tomato bagel and the smoothie.

Today, I finally broke down and ate a small bag of Smartfood Popcorn because my stomach was feeling queasy after this morning's smoothie.

[I'm not even hungry but just had to get something in to help sop up the smoothie.]

So in contemplating my queasy stommage, I realized that all week I have felt mildly ill with a funky taste in my mouth.

And really, really tired.

Like the first thought when I wake up is how I can't wait to get back home and go to bed.

Oh yeah, and I have belching A LOT.

Like to the point where occasionally I felt like I would vom.

So I am wondering if one of the ingredients in their concoction doesn't agree with me.

It's mostly just fruit juice but it has soy and whey protein in it.

Maybe I OD'd on whey.

What is whey anyway?

Anybody else get have the same experience?

Update: Looking at the Naked site, I don't even see the Almond smoothie as listed as one of their products anymore. Yikes.

I'm tweaking.

I didn't realize that my smoothie had guarana in it and now I totally have the jitters.

Damn.

Hmmm....

'Militaries of several countries are known to have expressed interest in Modafinil as an alternative for amphetamine—the drug traditionally employed in sleep deprivation situations.

The French government indicated that the Foreign Legion used modafinil during certain covert operations. The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence has admitted conducting ongoing research into Modafinil and spent £300,000 on one investigation.

In the United States military, Modafinil has been approved for use on certain Air Force missions, and it is being investigated for other uses.

One study on helicopter pilots suggested that 600 mg of modafinil given in three doses can be used to keep pilots alert and maintain their accuracy at pre-deprivation levels for 40 hours without sleep.

However, significant levels of nausea and vertigo were observed.

Another study of fighter pilots showed that Modafinil given in three divided 100 mg doses sustained the flight control accuracy of sleep-deprived F-117 pilots to within about 27 percent of baseline levels for 37 hours, without any considerable side effects.

In an 88-hour sleep loss study of simulated military grounds operations, 400 mg/day doses were mildly helpful at maintaining alertness and performance of subjects compared to placebo, but the researchers concluded that this dose was not high enough to compensate for most of the effects of complete sleep loss.

Pharmacology

The exact mechanism of action of Modafinil is unclear, although numerous in vitro studies have shown it to increase the levels of various monoamines, namely; dopamine in the striatum and nucleus accumbens, noradrenalin in the hypothalamus and ventrolateral preoptic nucleus, and serotonin in the amygdala and frontal cortex.'

OMG.

Keep an ear out for all of the side effects.

I'd rather deal with the restless legs.

Drank: 'Slow Your Roll'

It's the opposite of an energy drink.

It has Valerian root and melatonin in it.

Wish they sold it here, it would be perfect for my insomnia.

Weird.

'In people, hormonal changes have been observed after changes in behavior. A 1998 study found that loyal male fans of sports teams experienced a 20 percent rise in testosterone when their teams won.'

Marker makes birds sexier

Ack!

That's just wrong.

From The Web Pen!

Respect The Colo-Rectal Surgeon

Rectum? Darn near killed 'em.

YouTube surgery video spells trouble for docs

Philippine surgeons cheer after removing object from patient's rectum

'MANILA, Philippines - A video posted on YouTube showing Philippine doctors laughing while removing an object from a patient may lead to charges against the surgeons and cost them their medical licenses, officials said Wednesday.

The unauthorized nearly 3-minute video of a noisy operating room shows doctors and nurses laughing, giggling and cheering.

At one point, a hand appears with a cell phone camera taking a close-up picture of the surgery.

As a doctor gingerly pulls out the 6-inch long canister from the male patient's rectum, someone shouts, "Baby out!" amid loud cheers.

The doctor then removes the canister cap and sprays the contents toward the crowd of nurses and doctors viewing the procedure.

It remains unclear who shot the video and who posted it on YouTube, but the person who posted it removed it from the Web site Wednesday.

The video has angered the unidentified patient who plans to press charges, his lawyer Guiller Ceniza said Wednesday.

The government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in the central city of Cebu, where the surgery took place, is conducting an investigation, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Dr. Emmanuel Gines said more than 10 people were involved — including staff and medical and nursing students from a nearby operating room.

He said the hospital takes videos of surgeries of peculiar cases, but only with the consent of the patient.'

You know what sucks about getting older?

People you know start getting seriously sick.

Oh man, I'd be pissed if I was one of those people.

Hepatitis C fear for thousands in Nevada

Officials urge patients to be tested for that virus as well as HIV

'LAS VEGAS - A clinic may have infected a handful of patients with hepatitis C — but about 40,000 more should be tested for that virus, as well as for HIV, health officials said Wednesday.

Six people who underwent procedures at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada now have the blood-borne hepatitis C virus, the Southern Nevada Health District said in a statement.

Five of them were treated the same day in late September; the sixth is believed to have been infected in July, the district said.

An investigation determined that “unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients,” the statement said.

Officials said the unsafe practices had been in place for several years and may have put others at risk. About 40,000 patients who received injections of anesthesia at the clinic will be told of the potential exposure in letters arriving next week.

Anyone who received anesthesia at the clinic from March 2004 to Jan. 11 should be tested for the virus, along with hepatitis B and HIV, chief health officer Lawrence Sands said.

“We are recommending all patients during this time frame to get tested because we cannot determine which patients may have been exposed,” Sands said.

Hepatitis C is a chronic, potentially fatal virus that can cause liver ailments, including cancer and liver failure. The health district says it typically receives reports of two acute cases each year. Three of the six cases reported this year are acute, it said.

The virus may have been spread when clinic staff reused syringes and used a single dose of anesthesia medication on multiple patients, the district said.

Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada has ceased those practices, it said.

“All concerns noted by the health department were addressed immediately. We want to be sure that every patient who may have been exposed is informed and tested,” the center said in a statement.

To retain its state license and Medicare certification, the center faces increased on-site inspections and fines yet to be determined.'

Too much or too little Ritalin?

Audio NSFW

From J'adore Joey!

Celebrity Talking Dictionary

Hear Larry King explain 'central venous access catheter'.

Ick

Nodoro

And I love this pic from the site:

Yikes

Family sues in man's mistaken death case

Medical officials inadequately checked man's vital signs, family claims

'RALEIGH, N.C. - The family of a man who was hit by a car and mistakenly declared dead has sued over the mistake, claiming it led to injuries from which he might not recover.

Larry Green was walking across a highway in 2005 when he was hit by a car. He was put into a body bag and sent to the morgue, and the medical examiner did not notice Green was still alive until roughly 2 1/2 hours after the accident.

Green, who now lives in a nursing home in North Carolina, was hospitalized for two months with a severe head injury, broken leg and other injuries. He began some limited speaking five months after the accident.

In the lawsuit filed this month, the family claims medical officials inadequately checked his vital signs after the accident. It also alleges the medical examiner disregarded signs that Green was alive.

The examiner, J.B. Perdue, said it was not his job to determine whether Green was dead or alive.

"The medical examiner is called after death," Perdue said. "Someone else pronounced his death, and the medical examiner is called to investigate the cause and manner of that death. He does not pronounce people dead."

William Hill, an attorney representing Franklin County, did not return calls seeking comment.'

It's just like, honey.

Honey making a medical comeback

Potent type used as antibiotic amid fears of drug-resistant superbugs

'TRENTON, New Jersey - Amid growing concern over drug-resistant superbugs and nonhealing wounds that endanger diabetes patients, nature's original antibiotic — honey — is making a comeback.

More than 4,000 years after Egyptians began applying honey to wounds, Derma Sciences Inc., a New Jersey company that makes medicated and other advanced wound care products, began selling the first honey-based dressing this fall after it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Called Medihoney, it is made from a highly absorbent seaweed-based material, saturated with manuka honey, a particularly potent type that experts say kills germs and speeds healing. Also called Leptospermum honey, manuka honey comes from hives of bees that collect nectar from manuka and jelly bushes in Australia and New Zealand.

Derma Sciences now sells two Medihoney dressings to hospitals, clinics and doctors in North and South America under a deal with supplier Comvita LP of New Zealand. Derma Sciences hopes to have its dressings in U.S. drug stores in the next six months, followed by adhesive strips.

Comvita, which controls about 75 percent of the world's manuka honey supply, sells similar products under its own name in Australia, New Zealand and Europe, where such products have been popular for over a decade.

"The reason that Medihoney is so exciting is that antibiotics are becoming ineffective at fighting pathogens," said Derma Sciences CEO Ed Quilty.

Another big advantage, he said, is that the dressings' germ-fighting and fluid-absorbing effects last up to a week, making them convenient for patients being cared for at outpatient clinics or by visiting nurses. They also reduce inflammation and can eliminate the foul odors of infected wounds.

Since receiving FDA approval, Medihoney has brought in sales of $150,000 in 10 weeks and Quilty plans to nearly double his 15-person sales force in 2008 thanks to the two new Medihoney products.

Honey dressings and gels, as well as tubes of manuka honey, have been gaining in popularity overseas, fueled by scientific reports on their medical benefits and occasional news accounts of the dramatic recovery of a patient with a longtime wound that suddenly healed.

Regular honey can have mild medicinal benefits. A study published Dec. 3 showed it helps to calm children's coughs so they can sleep. But manuka honey is far more potent, research shows.

Dr. Robert Frykberg, chief of podiatry at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix, said the Medihoney product has worked on about half the patients with diabetic foot ulcers who have used it.

He said the Medihoney dressing can also prevent the dangerous drug-resistant staph infection known as MRSA from infecting open wounds.

"It's been used on wounds where nothing else will work," said biochemist Peter Molan, a professor at the University of Waikato in New Zealand who has researched honey and other natural antibiotics for 25 years.'