Andrew Griffith's Blog, page 23

Resilience

Reblogged from Rehabilitate Your Heart: Stress is everywhere today especially following a heart problem. It is possible for people to find ways to be resilient and thrive and even grow from the stress that you experience following a heart problem.  The  stress of heart disease can impact both mental and physical health. It is possible [...]

Year 1, Week 12: Quarterly Clinic

1:12 Had my quarterly clinic visit (a key marker of progress is when clinic visits become less and less frequent). The short-form result: all good and boring, no major follow-up needed. The detailed version: Medication phase-out: I am now down to 1/2 tablets (2.5 mg) of Prednisone every second day for the next month or [...]

Reinventing Ethics – NYTimes.com

An interesting review of some of the ethical issues of today, and how our original morals and ethics, conceived in small communities, later expanded to a more impersonal world, along with comparable challenges in professional ethics, make the case for a broader discussion of some of the more thorny issues of our time. How to [...]

Stricter smoking bans tied to more health benefits – Health – CBC News

Pretty convincing evidence that good regulations work (expect that the impact was strengthened by other smoking measures as well): Smoking bans in workplaces were associated with fewer deaths and hospitalizations due to heart attacks, strokes and respiratory diseases, a new review finds. The introduction of smoke-free laws were followed by a 15 per cent decrease [...]

Effective Healthcare Can Reduce Toll From Major Diseases Like Stroke, Heart Disease And Cancer

A reminder that the main determinants of health are socio-economic ones; healthcare, while alleviating these somewhat, is not by itself sufficient. Quote: “This study reminds us all of persisting health inequalities, and challenges for the future of healthcare. Health inequalities are mainly predicted by variations in the characteristics of local populations; healthcare can only partly [...]

Cancer docs often delay referrals to hospice care | Reuters

This Canadian study shows that far too many oncologists delay referral to palliative care, continuing on with chemo even when the cancer is incurable. Quote: “All palliative specialists believe that palliative care should be involved early,” said Dr. Camilla Zimmermann of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, who led the study with funding from the Canadian [...]

Reward doctors for evidence based problem solving, not test ordering

Some good points about the need and costs of tests, versus the more fundamental question of what value such tests bring, and how they affect or not treatment decisions. Quote: It will, I believe, be necessary to dramatically change the nature of this conversation. The kind of medicine about which we are speaking has much [...]

Brain Can’t Empathize And Analyze At Same Time, New Study

Although the article and study does not go there, the findings suggest the challenges for doctors to be both empathetic and analytical, and perhaps the need to be more conscious of which mode of thinking they are using when. Another illustration, at a higher level, of the limits of multi-tasking. Quote: Scientists have discovered that [...]

The risks and limitations of personal genomic tests

One of the better summaries on personal genomics tests, from CDC researchers. Key points: First, we encourage consumers to have a healthy dose of skepticism about the interpretation of the findings, their probabilistic nature, and their utility for improving their health.  Second, we encourage consumers to discuss and share the results of tests with their [...]

The only religion that my patients see me practice is medicine

Another reflection and story on personal beliefs and medical practice. While I suspect that no doctor, no matter their background, can be completely neutral and objective, human nature being what it is, the aim has to be as neutral and professional as possible, serving the needs of the patient. Lots of debate in the comment [...]