As we age, our brains don’t work as well as they did when we were younger. That’s a given fact. And while everyone won’t end up with dementia (in any of its’ forms), it’s always good to do everything one can to stave off the effects of aging. So just how can you help your brain regain some of its’ youthful edge (and maybe stop the decline)? Eat better! And CNN has an excellent article on just what foods to eat and why. The article lists ten foods that will help boost your brain power by the simple fact of what’s in them. Things like anti-oxidants, polyphenols, and Omega-3′s. Take a look and see what YOU can add to your diet to help your brain stay young and healthy!

Now here’s something every ED nurse will tell you they knew long before this study was commissioned. The use of CT scans and MRI’s in the emergency department has been on the rise for at least the last decade. But I’m guessing no one knew just exactly how much of an increase there has been.

According to the the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ Data Brief No. 43 for September 2010, use of CT scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) increased 367% in the 1999-2008 period.

Read more from this eye opening article from WebMD by clicking this link.

Episode 55: Sepsis Part 1

Emergency Nursing Today is a proud member of the ProMed Podcast Network. Get study guides and reference sheets for the podcast at PhoenixCE. And while you’re there, check out the courses we have available for continuing education credit! We are an approved provider of continuing education courses by the Florida Board of Nursing (Provider No. 50-11159). Nursing boards in all 50 states and the District of Columbia accept our courses. Join the revolution in continuing education!

In this weeks episode:

The Nursing at Sea cruise is GO! THIS LINK will take you to the cruise site so you can find out more! I’ll be providing the CEU’s for the cruise, which will be a great way to get CEU’s AND a vacation at the same time!

Four new courses will be up and available by Monday on PhoenixCE!! ABG recognition, STEMI/ACS, and two ECG recognition courses, all approved for continuing education, will be up. Look for them!

Don’t forget about the 24 hour ALS competition being run by the Flagler County ALS Team. As a sponsor of the team, I’ll be at the competition. Check it out at THIS LINK!

In the news this week:

A Medpage Today article on how employers are shifting the cost of health care coverage more to their employees.

A Medpage Today article on a study done on the impact of tort reform on health care. As it turns out, malpractice costs only add about 2.4% (although it’s still a large amount of money!).

A Medline Plus article on rapid response teams and their impact on in house survival.

An article out of The Medical News about increased traffic in US ED’s.

A new drug approved in the EU called Brinavess that is used for new onset A-fib. While it’s not available in the US yet, I suspect it will be coming soon. Get ahead of the curve!

And now, on to the podcast……….enjoy!

PS: I suggest you get the free download study guide for the podcast too. This is an in-depth discussion.

A study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has concluded that a diet high in animal based proteins and fats is associated with increased mortality rates, including increased cardiovascular mortality and increased cancer mortality. But the same study showed that a diet of low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets composed mostly of plant-based proteins and fats were associated with lower mortality rates overall and lower cardiovascular mortality rates.

Read more about the study here

My recent post on telehealth/telemedicne caused some interesting discussions and was picked up and reprinted (with permission) on another site.

First, the discussion. I had a very informative email discussion with a gentleman (who I won’t name) who works for a telehealth company (which I won’t divulge). It would appear that I left out some important reasons why telehealth/telemedicine aren’t catching on as quickly as many would like. Besides my reasoning about reimbursement, this gentleman brought up a few other issues such as physician licensing, and regulation of the industry. Physicians must be licensed in a state to practice in it, and to establish a physician – patient relationship, one must hold a license in that state. This would mean that a physician in say Arizona could not have an ongoing patient care relationship with a patient in New Mexico unless the patient came to Arizona to see the physician. Basically, it comes down to regulating the physician and ensuring the safety of patients/citizens of the state. Any problems or concerns are reported to the state licensing and regulatory boards of the state the physician is licensed in. To practice out of that state means there is no regulatory board to oversee the physician.

While this is an interesting scenario, it only means that the states haven’t caught up with technology. Physician disciplinary actions are reported to a nationwide database for all states to access, thus making it easier to track problems. The only piece of the puzzle that is not in place as yet, is a national licensure of physicians……….maybe along the lines of what the National Registry of EMTs does for pre-hospital personnel. This would allow physicians to practice in ANY state within the country under one license. Of course, some details like fees to each state the physician practices in would need to be worked out. But it COULD be done. This is done now with the compact states for nurses and it seems to work very well. Unfortunately, politics and territorial rights continue to hinder the progress of the health care system and overburden it with red tape, paperwork (even in a digital format), and bureaucracy. Time will tell how this all gets sorted out.

And second, the same post got picked up and reprinted on the site “AIP at Home“. It’s a site dedicated to helping people stay at home and live more independently as they age and/or have disabilities. Thanks to Lysa McCarroll for reprinting my thoughts! I appreciate it! Check out her site too. It’s got some great information on it!

In his blog on CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports that the CDC has recently released data that shows the prescription drug use in the US…….by people of ALL age groups……has risen over the last decade. While this in itself is NOT a revelation (anyone who has ANY clue would know this by the simple fact that drug manufacturers’ profits have continued to rise and new drugs are coming out and being advertised on television all the time), the interesting information is in the data released. The report shows which classes of drugs are being used most by which age groups. Not surprisingly, medications to treat ADHD are the largest type of drug used by adolescents, and antidepressants are the largest group used by middle aged adults.

Another not so surprising finding in the report is that people without health insurance use LESS medications than those with insurance. Hmmmm……..maybe we should severely curtail the types of medications insurance would pay for? Wouldn’t THAT open a can of worms!!

Maybe it’s time we, as a society, truly realize and embrace the notion that life is NOT a bowl of cherries and that problems will arise in everyone’s life (and they MUST be dealt with by means other than pharmacopoeia!), and maybe teach proper coping mechanisms? There are a host of other items on this list too, but you get my drift. It’s time to stop the “Prozac Nation” from expanding even further.

An article published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the weight loss drug Meridia is associated with an increased risk of heart attack or stroke for people with a history of heart disease.

Read more from this CNN article

Almost totally wiped out in the 1950′s bedbugs, those little creatures that live to feed off the blood of warm blooded animals, are staging a comeback. Since 1995, the incidence of bedbugs infestations has been rising in developed countries worldwide. Pest-control companies reported bedbug calls have nearly tripled from a decade ago, according to a survey by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky. The Northeast has been hit the hardest experts say.

Learn more about these little pests at the following links:

Wikipedia article on bedbugs

Medicine Net page on bedbugs

Bedbugs Guide

I finished uploading the new study guides for the last 2 podcasts. They’re available FREE from PhoenixCE! Both contain all the images from the podcasts, as well as some content not in the podcast! Enjoy!

Like it or not, electronic administration of health care is here……..and it’s here to stay. The only real question is when will it gain widespread use? What’s holding back the explosion of Internet based health care along the lines of what has happened in the rest of the business world? We routinely hold meetings in the virtual world, we teach in the virtual world, and we most assuredly play in the virtual world. But what of health care? Why hasn’t the behemoth that is supposedly our economy’s downfall gone virtual for more of what it can do?

The answer is quite simple………..payment for services. That’s right. It’s not security. It’s not a lack of desire on the part of physicians or nurses or even administrators to adopt the technology. It’s the reimbursement for such adoption that seems to be holding back the floodgates (imagine that!).

Take, for instance, the health care system in Western Pa, UPMC. They utilize telehealth in 15 different hospitals and in 13 different specialties. Yet, many other hospitals in the area don’t even use HALF of that! Why? The insurance companies don’t feel telehealth has been proven as a cost saving method yet. And they base this on what? Their opinion. Multiple studies have been done on the effectiveness of telemedicine and how it can indeed save money and benefit patient care. Even the Veteran’s Administration uses it for 35,000 of its patients. And now, California has moved ahead with an initiative to connect 800 facilities statewide for the purpose of saving money and sharing resources to provide health care services. I wonder when the holders of the pursestrings will open their eyes and shell out the needed funds to make this happen nationwide? I also wonder what it will take to make that happen?

Read more about UPMC’s use of telehealth here

Read more about telehealth in California here

Read more about the VA’s telehealth initiative here

Learn more about telehealth here

Researchers at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center say they’ve discovered that black rice may have more healther promoting antioxidants than brown rice and even blue berries. According to Zhimin Xu, one of the lead researchers, “Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful or blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants.”

Read more about this researcher at this link to the Medicine Net article I found.

Hey all! I just put up a news poll on the site! I’m considering offering an iPhone/iPad app for the show and would like to get your thoughts on it. Please take a minute and let me know what you think. It will help me make the decision. Thanks!

The latest twist to antibiotic resistant bacteria is coming. This time, it’s from India. Common (the kind that can normally be destroyed by common antibiotics) are getting a DNA upgrade that includes a gene that lices on the DNA. The gene is NDM, which stands for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase and it’s making regular bacteria like E. coli. and Klebsiella pneumoniae, a common cause of pneumonia, more dangerous than they already are. What’s worse is that they are multi drug resistant — meaning harder to kill!

Read more about this new genetic twist (no pun intended) in this article from WebMD.

Episode 54: Pancreatitis

Emergency Nursing Today is a proud member of the ProMed Podcast Network. Get study guides and reference sheets for the podcast at PhoenixCE. And while you’re there, check out the courses we have available for continuing education credit! We are an approved provider of continuing education courses by the Florida Board of Nursing (Provider No. 50-11159). Nursing boards in all 50 states and the District of Columbia accept our courses. Join the revolution in continuing education!

In this weeks episode:

The Nursing at Sea cruise is GO! THIS LINK will take you to the cruise site so you can find out more! I’ll be providing the CEU’s for the cruise, which will be a great way to get CEU’s AND a vacation at the same time!

I’ve had a little programming glitch with the new courses and updating the podcast extras. I should have both of these things fixed and working properly before the next podcast. I’ll make a blog post about it when things are running smoothly.

The Volusia-Flagler Chapter of the Emergency Nurses Association (Chapter 340) has a new website! I’ve been tasked to be the webmaster and would like your input on it. CLICK HERE to go to the site and check it out! Then let me know what you think!

The Flagler County EMS ACLS competition team is hosting the first EVER 24 hour competition! CLICK HERE to find out more! It should be a blast!

In the news this week:

An article from Emergency Physicians Monthly about the dangers of shift work. While the article s written toward physicians, the contect fits ANY shift worker, including nurses. It’s a good read!

Out of JEMS.com, an article on how to get ready for, and manage change. This article is written toward administrators/managers, but it’s good for anyone in health care to understand how to prepare for and deal with change.

An article from EMS Responder about a program being run by the DEA. You’ve all heard or read about the gun buy back programs that have occurred around the nation. Well, the DEA is going to offer a drug take back program starting September 25th. Great idea!!

A Medpage Today article on chronic fatigue syndrome and a possible link to a viral component of it. Many things we used to think we either genetic or hereditary are now being found to have a viral component to. Very interesting read!

A Medical News article on how berries are being found to be helpful in protecting the brain as we age.

And finally, an article from Medical News Today about how the Federal Government is revamping its’ bioterrorism and immunization program. This brings up an interesting topic for discussion about mandatory immunizations/vaccinations. I’m adding a discussion topic on it on my Facebook page because I would like to know what everyone thinks about this. Let’s keep this civil, because I know this can be a heated topic. But I’d like to get some discussion going on it. Get involved!

And now, on to the podcast! Enjoy!

Now, if a nationwide egg recall wasn’t bad enough, the USDA has put a recall out for beef that has been shipped nationwide through Wal Mart. This time, the bacteria is Listeria monocytogenes.

Read more about the recall here.

Read more about Listeria monocytogenes here.