Category Archives: Allopathic medicine

It “Mite” Cause Problems

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Google image search for scabies. Do not want.

It appears that members of the University of Minnesota Ballroom Dance Club have been dancing with scabies, and therefore ballroom classes were canceled at Bierman Field Athletic Building this week after one member received the disturbing diagnosis.

Jessica Lussenhop’s post tells us, “Scabies are a kind of mite that tunnel into the skin, and cause itching and some pretty grody-looking rashes.”

This tiny parasite wreaked itself into the lives of a family over the summer 2010 as well, as I learned when I read about Taylor Rios and her little girl, age 1.  There were several medical staff members to thank by the time this ordeal was diagnosed and treated, because scabies is not what is necessarily expected when a quick spreading rash shows up during the summer season:

Ms. Rios made her acknowledgements in her 7/29/10 post: “I would also like to thank Dr. Coldwell at Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg, Texas for not giving up on finding the cause of this rash. Many doctors would have shrugged and sent her him with benadryl.  Dr. Coldwell kept at it for 2-3 hours searching for the answer. Thank you so much, Dr. Coldwell and Hill Country Memorial Hospital for your hard work, persistence, and dedication.”

For our grandmas and grandpas among us, an explanation from the Dermatology Times was published online on 11/1/2010 to support caregivers who should be on the look out for pests as a cause of itching, which could signal the beginning of a serious health issue if ignored or misdiagnosed:

“Geriatric patients, especially those in nursing homes, may be susceptible to a higher incidence of scabies than the general population,” Dr. Bikowski [Joseph Bikowski, M.D., a dermatologist in Sewickley, Pa.] says. “(Physicians) always have to look for scabies, which may present as minute burrows in the palms of the hand, the wrists and the other usual locations. In the nursing home population, scabies may also present with lesions on the trunk as well as the scalp. The lesions are usually from 4 to 6 centimeter papules.”

Heart Warming – Heart Healthy

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Welcome! That’s what we all love to say to our family and friends as they enter our doors this holiday season. We also love to hear it when we reach our destination and finally get together after who knows how long. I haven’t seen my brother and his wife since last December, so I know it will be totally cool to catch up on where we’ve been all of 2009. But we have a heritage of heart disease in the family, and this could be a cloud over the festivities unless we de-stress, and stay smart as the years rush by. I know I don’t want 2010- or any year- to bring sudden bad news, when simply paying attention to a few good habits could tip the scales the healthy way.

Mary Benton says her Emergency Department Prepares to See Higher Number of Heart Attacks on Christmas, New Year’s

In a national study published in Circulation, researchers at the University of California at San Diego and Tufts University School of Medicine found that there are 5 percent more heart-related deaths during the holiday season. The biggest days of the year for heart attacks are Christmas Day, Dec. 26 and New Year’s Day.

Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman Ph.D. blogged last week that reduced budgets can mean stressing more this year over how much to spend on gifts and what to get.  I’ll implement this tool as they suggested in the post:

Tool: Notice and Ease

Step 1: Notice and admit what you’re feeling.
Step 2: Try and name the feeling.
Step 3: Tell yourself to e-a-s-e- as you gently focus your attention in the area of the heart, relax as you breathe, and e-a-s-e- the stress out.

When you are sick and FIRED

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dna day

Allopathic medicine spilled over into the economic sphere when employers and insurance companies realized how predictive genetic testing is for the probability of serious disease. However, recently, the politicals got involved into economics by legislating an ignore button on the matter. [Not to be confused with the easy button.]

A conference is scheduled on the topic next week at the The Society for Genomics Policy and Population Health (SGPPH) Spring Conference will take place on Thursday 8 May 2008 at the Birmingham Women’s Health Care NHS Trust, Edgbaston, Birmingham (UK). Continue reading →

Get Over It Already: Cures for the Common Cold Part 2 of 2

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Blowing nose

Natural treatments for the common cold

  • Zinc: Research has shown that by giving zinc lozenges the duration of the cold can be reduced and severity can also be decreased.
  • Echinacea: Commonly called Purple coneflower, echinacea can also reduce the duration of illness and decrease the severity of cough, headache, and nasal congestion.
  • Garlic: A study found that a daily garlic supplement containing allicin, a purified component of garlic considered to be the major biologically active agent produced by the plant, reduced the risk of catching a cold by more than half.
  • Vitamins: Different studies have found that large doses of vitamin C may reduce the duration of a cold.
  • Chicken soup and fluids: It has been used for treating common colds at least since the 12th century. It may really help. The heat, fluid, and salt may help you fight the infection.
  • Get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids.
Related articles

Get Over It Already: Cures for the Common Cold Part 1 of 2

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comon cold symptoms

I’m a smoker, I don’t always wash my hands before or after handling food or other sources of bacteria, and I take care of my friends when they’re sick without gloves or a mask – I do just about everything “wrong” in terms of not getting sick…

And yet, I can’t remember the last time I had a cold or the flu. It was probably something like 5 years ago, but I can’t be sure.

Although, last week my boyfriend had a massive case of food poisoning for 6 days. The day after he came down with it, I prayed at the porcelain god once (as compared to his hourly “confessions”), slept most of the day, and felt fine after that.

Here’s my secret: I don’t take medicine.

Continue reading →

Troubled Water

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You might have seen the article in your local paper last week: AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water or Drugs in Your Drinking Water. The Associated Press National Investigative Team found pain killers, hormones, psychotropics, bronchial dilators, antibiotics, and even veterinary medications in 24 major metropolitan areas out of only 28 water providers tested (although 62 were contacted). Some of the more common drugs were ibuprofen, aspirin, caffeine, nicotine and Salinomycin (a growth hormone for farm animals), with 56 pharmaceutical chemicals found in Philadelphia’s water supply. More than 41 million Americans from Louisville to Detroit to Northern New Jersey are effected by the waters tested.

“Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists.” AP

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How to Naturally Repel Mosquitoes

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mosquito natural organic repellant

I was born and raised in Florida – the lightning, and (may as well be) mosquito capital of the world – but rarely has a mosquito dared come close to me. My brother and sister however, fresh and sweet from Illinois, are apparently irresistible.

Am I lucky? …nah. I just have bad breath.

Making an effort to repel mosquitoes the natural way is far better than the alternative – such as mosquito borne disease and chemical repellent side effects.

Unfortunately: most of the stuff they sell in stores is made to fail. Fortunately: you’re about thirty seconds from knowing what does work, but doesn’t harm you.

Continue reading →

Riders…for health

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It’s that time of year– when New Year’s Resolutions unfortunately start to tarnish in their appeal. But I have an inspiring report on a serious way to get moving while helping yourself get/stay healthy like you may have resolved to do a few weeks ago at the beginning of January AND helping others at the same time.

If we all lived like this, maybe we could even eliminate entropy!

This humanitarian project is like the original Iditarod Trail race to deliver essential medicine to a remote locale. But instead of being cold, this new project races in the heat of the continent of Africa. Barry Coleman and Andrea Coleman, a British husband-and-wife team, “saddled up” motorbikes, which are perfectly suited for travel in the harsh African landscape, where roads are often practically impassable or nonexistent. In a few years, the Riders for Health project took on larger tasks to meet the medical needs of rural Africa.

What does the project say about itself? “We are working to make sure all health workers in Africa have access to reliable transportation so they can reach the most isolated and vulnerable people with regular and predictable health care.”

What did the Times (UK) say about Riders for Health? YouTube features this story showing some of the workers, riders and clients. Riders for Health trains doctors, nurses and health workers to ride motorbikes safely and has developed a system for self-sufficiency within each locally-run program module. The ‘preventative maintenance’ system maintains the bikes in Africa’s harsh environment.

Fast facts about Riders for Health
Continue reading →

Remember to call 'heads'

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The Last Lecture

Sure, we make decisions large and small day by day, even moment by moment. A coin toss? If it is, the best advice is to remember to call heads, according to Dr. Randy Pausch. For Dr. Pausch of The Alice Project/Carnegie Mellon fame, the decision was made for him when he was diagnosed more than a year ago with pancreatic cancer (adenocarcinoma).

Summary: Late in the summer of 2006, I started having some unusual symptoms, culminating with jaudice. Scans revealed it was pancreatic cancer. At this time, my wife Jai and I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a three month old baby.

The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the team there, together with Dr. Pausch himself, has put this devastating diagnosis on notice: the news according to the blog is that for now, palliative chemo is WORKING!!!! [Emphasis Dr. Pausch's] Obviously, guarded optimism is what the Pausch family is facing during the next weeks and months as he battles this terminal medical condition.

If you wish to learn more about the value of time — and the point is that we may be good at valuing money, but not as skilled at valuing our time — from a person who has something to say about the topic, please consider viewing Dr. Pausch’s Time Management lecture at Google video.

Be well.