Monthly Archive for May, 2007

Naps are the key to all wisdom

Published
by
Gogga
on May 2, 2007
in General blabber
. 0 Comments

ScienceDaily publishes a story on sleep but my attention was drawn to it by this blog.

The moral of the story, as you might have guessed, is that naps are very good. Well, that was well-known before. Anytime I take a nap in the middle of the day I feel a million times better. You know, those f’ing hungover days? Take a nap for a minute… Feel better? There!

But now we have some scientific evidence. See, this is true science for you — take something that’s a well-known fact, test it, confirm it to p<0.05 statistical significance, and vuala, you have your R03 NIH grant for 5 years :-) Life is good!

Sleeping beauty

More on ScienceDaily.com

Unpealable Graphics

Published
by
Gogga
on May 2, 2007
in Engineering
. 0 Comments
DigiPrint is a state-of-the-art system that utilizes breakthroughs in printing mechanics and digital technology for precise, extremely durable graphical design on a wide array of surgical cases and trays. DigiPrint’s non- toxic, biocompatible graphics print below the aluminum metal surface, making them impervious to scratching, peeling and fading. The graphics withstand repeated medical steam sterilization and cleaning for optimal appearance. The permanent process also eliminates the need to replace silk screens when graphics are updated and is compatible with any digital source, from simple, one-color drawings to complex photography.

leftimage.gif

Got this when I was looking for “medical instruments”. Well, I suppose everything is a medical instrument these days, even a toy that print on a medical instrument :)

This toy’s pretty cool though. Ink that survives autoclaves and is non-toxic has got to be worth something… At least so this press release posted on Sys-con.com makes me believe.

More: http://www.symmetrymedical.com/

Medtronic Wins Medical Design Excellence Awards

Published
by
Gogga
on May 2, 2007
in Engineering
. 0 Comments

Something to lookup to. A great company, making good products, winning awards, raising its market value. Overall, I think, if I was investing in a stock market I would think about these guys.

Take a look at this press release from Medtronic on Medical Design Online.

Minneapolis, MN - Medtronic, Inc. has been awarded three Medical Design Excellence Awards — two for products related to Activa Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Therapy, a treatment for common movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease, and one for an ear, nose and throat (ENT) image guidance system used in sinus surgery.

The winning DBS products are the Nexframe stereotactic technology system in the “surgical equipment, instruments, and supplies” category and the Stimloc lead anchoring device in the “implant and tissue-replacement products” category. The winning ENT surgery product is the LandmarX Element endoscopic image guidance system in the “radiological and electromechanical devices” category.

Official Medtronic’s website: http://www.medtronic.com/

grab that martini, light up that cuban, and read these stories

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in Engineering, General blabber and Stories and rant
. 1 Comment

Rhoda, a person from Omaha who posted a reply on my post about webmd and mrsa has a blog.

Read it. http://www.rhoda.mrsastory.com/.

If this is real [and I am a known skeptic], this is some crazy stuff.

This post here talks about crazily insane shit I never consider a possibility:

 I took my daughter to the ER last night or a broken finger and a UTI. While we were checking her in I asked if they needed to be notified if she has MRSA.
“Has what?”
“MRSA. M-R-S-A.”
M-R-S-E? I can check her records.”
“No, Mam. M-R-S-A.”
She checks her computer and finds there is no previous note of it although we have been there before so she scribbles it on a piece of paper for us to give the admitting nurse which we dutifully did. She glanced at it and went on with getting us registered and proceeded to put us in a double room with another patient. Then when they came in to examine and work on my daughter not one of them thought or bothered to even put on gloves or wash their hands before leaving the room. I wonder if they ever did before going on to other patients.
Why didn’t I make a fuss at the time instead of calling to file a complaint today? I suppose it is because my daughter was in their hands and I hate to piss off the people who are going to make her feel better and it definitely seems to piss off medical professionals to correct them. It was 3 a.m. and I wanted to get out of there some time before day light. Whatever, I see it as unconscionable in that daylight. I should have yelled loudly to save the lady in the next bed and the patients seen after my doctor and nursed left with MRSA on their hands. Of course, I have found their attitude here in Omaha to be pretty much, Oh, we are all carriers any how!!! Which is another reason I didn’t speak up. Still wrong. I still should have. I have to be stronger than the opposition in this war even if it means staying up all night and going from hospital to hospital. I should use every opportunity to spread the word instead of the disease no matter how late at night or how mean everyone might be about being corrected. I will do better!!!! See you!

Is this possible?

Things like this exist? I mean most hospitals are Tenet-owned… I’ve seen what they do… But I never thought Rhoda’s story possible. Is it? Ooof…

oi! on high MRSA costs

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 0 Comments

I mean I knew this, but here are the numbers.

And the bottom line? In a study of 1.69 million admitted patients in 77 hospitals, the COST TO THE HOSPITALS was $286 million — meaning MORE THAN $5000 PER PATIENT.

That’s what it cost the hospital! That came out of the bottom line! That’s not what it cost the patient, and it’s not what it cost to treat the patient. That’s only what it cost the hospital — in dollars. There is also (what they call) an opportunity cost. I remember this one from Economics 101 in college — “opportunity cost = opportunity lost” — and the opportunity lost to hospitals is 7.5 million patient-days nation wide. That means that there would be room for that many more patients in hospitals if the others didn’t acquire infections and have to stay so long.

The original article lists a lot of valuable links, as well. This is a definite must-read and an interesting one at that, too. Well-written.

Also, read this report the article links to. Quite educational: “Dispelling the Myths: The True Cost of Heal thcare-Associated Infect ions” (PDF).

a cancer i never had

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 0 Comments

I was reading another post on this blog, but decided to click “about”. This is very interesting. Most interesting, really. This is a story of a 52-year-old woman who has beed misdiagnosed numerous times with a cancer when she had none.

Afterall, had I undergone chemo, and survived, they would have told me I had been cured of a disease I never had.

Funny and true. Had she opted for the treatment, she would have been fine after it and they would have charged her and told her that it was the treatment… Not really funny… No, not really funny at all!

Read the story and see for yourself. Out of everything I had posted today, I think this is the best one. Well, take that with a grain of salt… I *do* most prefer non-fiction.

be very afraid!

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 4 Comments

As always, WebMD’s articles are always scary. At least, they tend to scare me shitless. I remember a long time ago, I had a rash on my… let’s just say I had a rash… So I tried to describe as best as I can what I have to a trusty webmd.com’s search box……. 3 minutes later I was in my car on my way to the doc, shaking.  The doc just said something like “go wash it in salted water, take vitamin C, and go to bed”. Couldn’t sleep. Next day? Nothing! :)

Anyway, here is WebMD’s article on MRSA.

Community-Associated MRSA (CA-MRSA)

But MRSA is also showing up in healthy people who have not been living in the hospital. This type of MRSA is called community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA. The CDC reports that in 2003, 12% of people with MRSA infections had CA-MRSA.

Studies have shown that rates of CA-MRSA infection are growing fast. One study of children in south Texas found that cases of CA-MRSA had a 14-fold increase between 1999 and 2001.

CA-MRSA skin infections have been identified among certain populations that share close quarters or experience more skin-to-skin contact. Examples are team athletes, military recruits, and prisoners. However, more and more CA-MRSA infections are being seen in the general community as well, especially in certain geographic regions.

It’s also infecting much younger people. In a study of Minnesotans published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, the average age of people with MRSA in a hospital or healthcare facility was 68. But the average age of a person with CA-MRSA was only 23.

the question that never concerned me… UNTIL NOW

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 1 Comment

How do you clean / disinfect / sterilize headphones…

Found this question on a message board at Head-fi.org.

Some good answers there. This never concerned me, but I could see someone reading all the bacteria-related posts here being concerned about actually sterilizing everything they own that touches anyone around them.

You can’t sterilze headphones, but you can disinfect them. Several disinfectants on the market will do nicely. Heck, Lysol is pretty solid in that regard. Best to spray it on a clean cloth and wipe things down. You don’t want to get into the drivers with it. As for the pads, if you’re really worried about them, simply buy a new set. Be aware that long term/repeated use of alcohol will dry out most materials. It will also lead to cracking and peeling of the surface finish on most headphones. We’ve gotten away from alcohol based disinfectants in my business due to that very problem. As I said, it will get to rubber, plastics, vinyl, leather, etc….if you use it long enough, eventually it will happen.

Bottom line, Lysol wipe and buy new pads. Btw, for alcohol to “sterilize” it would have to be in direct contact with the surface for at least 30 minutes, but I just don’t recommend “headphone dipping/bath”.

Department of Health publishes new reports on VCJD

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 0 Comments
The first was commissioned by the Department of Health and produced by the specially convened vCJD Clinical Governance Advisory Group (CGAG). Chaired by Sir William Stewart, it proposes the creation of patient-focused clinical governance arrangements to standardise the care that patients at risk of vCJD receive across the country. It recommends that GPs should take the lead in commissioning care for them, supported by consultant neurologists and specialist centres such as the National CJD Surveillance Unit and the National Prion Clinic.

MediaNewswire.com noted the publication of “Two new reports on vCJD ( variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease)”.

Oi oi

5. The report refers to the following as “people at risk”:

- Recipients of blood components donated by people who later developed vCJD.

- Recipients of certain plasma products ( clotting factors ).

- Blood donors to patients who later developed vCJD.

Blood donors infected with this will give it to the respective recipients. Nice.

1. Both reports can be found on-line at http://www.dh.gov.uk

2. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ( CJD ) is one of a group of diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies. All of these diseases can have a very long incubation period, cause severe and irreversible damage to the central nervous system. There are so far no proven effective treatments.

Oh, great, tell me more. All that AND no cure? :) Reading all this scary stuff makes me reconsider sitting here in the park on a bench…. Probably not sterile…. :)

on… on washing hands

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 0 Comments

Firstly, I thought I am the only one who writes things On things. No, of course not! I know there are 6 billion people, don’t worry, I just think that, well, no, I don’t think :) I even have a category called “On…”.

Anyway, Indibay.org publishes an article “On Washing Hands: Surgeon’s Notes on How Infections Spread in the Hospital“. What caught my eye at first was the On part, but then I read it. Yes, that’s so true… At least I think it is, that most infections originate from doctor’s and nurse’s hands.

Each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, two million Americans acquire an infection while they are in the hospital. Ninety thousand die of that infection. The hardest part of the infection-control team’s job, Yokoe says, is not coping with the variety of contagions they encounter or the panic that sometimes occurs among patients and staff. Instead, their greatest difficulty is getting clinicians like me to do the one thing that consistently halts the spread of infections: wash our hands.

Bigger version of this article, the original is available from Counterpunch.com, by the way:
http://counterpunch.com/gawande03242007.html

I, too, as many students before and after me had to go through the training on how to use sterile surgical gloves. Those things are crazy! Double-packed and folded with special materials just to keep them completely sterile throughout the surgeon putting them on. Took me a while just to go through the practice of opening the container to get it to the point where the trainer agreed with me. Then, of course, I scratched my ass. No, just kidding, but I do remember doing something that she told “whoops, you’re no longer sterile”. With gloves, at least, you know or remember that you have to remain sterile, but when you’re walking around the hospital all day, touching things… You’re not sterile in 5 seconds and you’re covered in MRSA and other potentially deadly stuff in minutes. Just imagine how clean and how often docs and nurses have to wash their hands…

And still, 2,000,000 infection-related problem cases per year…Â need to wash better.