Chocolate... oh yeah...

Found the link via Instapundit

Chocolate Compound Epicatechin Boosts Exercise Benefit

Eat some dark chocolate (not the nearly worthless milk chocolate) and take a long walk.

Oddly enough my husband was given a Hershey bar in honor of the birthday of a coworker's little girl.  I haven't touched a Hershey bar in years, so decided to try one little square.  It was dreadful! Truly dreadful.   Sickly sweet and a metallic aftertaste.  My husband agreed.

We threw out the balance of the bar.  I think that's the first time I've ever thrown out chocolate... but honestly it didn't even taste like chocolate to me. Ick!

I need to stop and pick up an organic dark chocolate bar tomorrow!  Now I know it will make me live longer or exercise better... or something.  But at the very least it will taste really really good. heh.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 09:37 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Speaking of Cats - Updated

Update of good news:  aka make up your friggin' minds already!  Looks like Bailey hit his head very hard.  His eyes are swollen and he had to have a tooth extracted, but after further review, it was determined his jaw was fine.  Quite a relief, but man it took long enough to find out!  She'll be able to take him home tomorrow after work.  Woot!

In case you are wondering, my daughter insists she has 2 klutz cats.  They are very large (not fat - just tall, long and 15 pounds each) and she says neither of them has any balance nor do they ever land on their feet.  Bailey probably fell after jumping onto one of the high cabinets in the kitchen.  That would make the most sense out if this.  Wonder if it will keep him from climbing... only time will tell.

*****

My daughter's cat (Bailey) has managed to dislocate his jaw.  How?  She has no idea. 

She was away from home last night and when she returned this morning, she thought he had broken a tooth.  He was panting and drooling.  She called the emergency vet - their advice... well, he'll be okay.  If he isn't better tomorrow bring him in. 

She called them 2 more times, they kept telling her it would be okay... She finally told them that she obviously wasn't comfortable with the way the cat was holding his mouth and she was going to bring him in. 

She gets him to the office where the vet looks at the cat, orders x-rays, and says... "Well, it looks like his jaw is dislocated, why didn't you bring him in earlier?!!!" 

Good grief!

Since it was already after 9pm, her other cat won't leave this poor guy alone, and she would have to take him right back over there first thing in the morning, she decided to leave him at the vet's for the night.

The surgeon will see him in the morning.  She has a huge 12 hour day of presentations she is supposed to give at work all day tomorrow. 

Did I say Good Grief? 

Guess I'll find out what's up sometime tomorrow.  In the meantime send all good thoughts Bailey's way.  He's a sweet cat. I'll be worrying about him all night.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 10:17 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Two Months

How time flies. Today marked 2 months since I had my thyroid surgery.  Now I know you're all wondering... well?  how's it been?  (or maybe not,  I have no idea).  That means, of course, that I'm going to tell you.

I don't have the least interest in digging back into my archives to find out what I said when or if I even mentioned some of the issues.  Therefore, I'll recap and/or add extra stuff all in one post.

If you have no interest - pass on by.  If you want the rest, it's below the fold.


more...

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 11:11 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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On the Other Side

So I'm back from my partial thyroidectomy.  Still have a leetle too much happy juice to be typing well.

Everything went fine.  Looks like Dracula got ticked off and went after all portions of my neck... otherwise I'm good. 

Funny thing is - I woke up in recovery and the nurse asked if I was in pain.  Not being exactly coherent I said yes.

Problem is, the pain was a migraine!  So she gave me a dose of narcotic something or other.  This stuff does NOTHING for my migraines.   I'm still in pain, but I don't care - loopiness to an even greater degree than normal sets in. 

When I realized what she did, I told her it wasn't going to work.  Bless her heart (wonderful nurse) asked what I usually take for migraines.  I said ibuprofen.  She called the doc who ordered an IV dose of the stuff - which is called something else in IV form, but will stick with the name everyone knows for blog purposes (especially as I can NOT think of what it is called right this minute). 

Let's stop here and bow our heads with reverence to the pharmaceutical companies who make these meds.  They are wonderful!

After she gave me a dose of that, all I could think was..."I WANT THIS AT MY HOUSE!!!"  It is outstanding stuff!!!  15 minutes later - headache gone.  I'm feeling good good good. I don't care about narcotics one bit - give me some IV ibuprofen any day of the week. 

My throat is a bit scratchy, my mouth is dry as dust,  but I can move my head around without any pain.  I get to go see the doc tomorrow for my post op visit. 

So far excellent.  Far better than I would have thought. 

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 06:07 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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Expect Many Disgruntled Reporters

It seems Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple in case you didn't know) has pulled a fast one on every tech and financial reporter in the country. 

He had a liver transplant 2 months ago and only tonight the WSJ has the breaking story.

I don't know how he did it, but he managed the entire thing in complete secrecy.  I wonder if the hospital staff got  iPhones or something for not mentioning his name...

Congratulations Steve!  For not only pulling a fast one on every reporter out to drag up the drek (YAY!), but for coming through the surgery and recovering nicely! 

Way to go! 

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 03:15 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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By The Way

Just found out the thyroid biopsy was benign - exactly as I expected.

Next up - appointment with a surgeon at the end of the month to get the nodule removed. 

I still don't have time for this, but at least it may get rid of this annoying need to clear my throat all the time. 

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 11:37 AM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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How Not To Start the Week

Y'know, this getting old business sucks pond water.  Really.  I'm not even sick and this year's checkup and testing has been far more trouble than the end result of "oh, you're okay" seems to warrant.   Sheesh. 

The rest below the fold for those totally not interested or those who prefer to skip any mention of medical tests.

more...

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 03:33 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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And He's The Energizer Bunny

Talked to the nurse this morning.  She took care of my dad on Saturday and so she was able to evaluate any changes.  It seems he's much improved.  He's sitting in a chair and talking a little. 

She said he would probably be discharged in a couple of days.  Which means he'll have to go to a nursing home facility because I'm pretty sure he won't be able to get up and get around without a great deal of help - which my sister and mother aren't able to manage on their own. 

Oddly enough in my father's case, he'll probably enjoy being in a place with lots of other people to talk at.  When he's home, it's only my mother and sister. Not his favorite audience. 

In the meantime - I will be making plans to head out there this coming weekend.  There is much that needs fixing and isn't being fixed.  So I will be the one doing it... or it will never get done.  Part of this is my fault for letting things be when I was told "it's all taken care of".   Note to self: ask for proof. 

Let's just hope that all the messed up stuff is fixable.  I know some is - not sure about the rest. 

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 12:23 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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No News Is Good News?

Hard to say.  I called the hospital this morning.  They were going to start giving my dad fluids yesterday to see how he tolerated it.  Seems he did okay, but when I called at about noon, the nurse said he was still asleep today. (they leave the patients alone on this floor and don't wake them if they're sleeping)

My sister was going over later in the afternoon with my mom, but she never called to tell me how things were going.  *sigh* 

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 11:04 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Never Say It's Over Til It's Over

My sister was over at the hospital tonight.  My dad was awake and talking... heh.  He still has some get up and go apparently. 

He's very confused, but the words are understandable.  Although she did say he kept looking at some spot on the ceiling like there was something up there. (I've had that happen when working with old folks)

Earlier today when I called the day nurse, she said he was still not responding... guess things changed.  How much?  Who knows.   Once again only time will tell. 

He's certainly a stubborn Irishman - just not ready to go yet.  Good for him!

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 10:45 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Well That's What I Get for Speaking Too Soon

Talked to my sister tonight.  The neurologist was in to see my dad late today.  They did a CT scan, but even without results, the news wasn't good.  While he's not saying there's "no hope" he said it appears that there was quite a bit of damage by prolonged low oxygen levels (before he ever got to the hospital). 

The doctor's feeling is that everything is slowly shutting down.  Of course there's no time line for this and it's possible he'll rally for a while. 

Right now he seems to be in either a heavy sleep or light coma and while he's getting IV fluids, he's not eating.  Although his color was better today, he wouldn't open his eyes at all.

There won't be any resuscitation or extraordinary measures taken.  This could linger on or be very sudden we just don't know.  They're keeping him comfortable and he's now on hospice type care.  

And so we wait.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 07:51 PM | Comments (21) | Add Comment
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Quick Update

I'm totally swamped with stuff to do.  Just got off the phone with my sister.  She told me that dad is looking better today. Better color and better breathing.  So all the good wishes and prayers seem to be working.  He's not out of the woods by any means, but it's far more promising than yesterday! 

Comment of the week by Dogette:

...there's a reason they mark a limb to be amputated "NOT THIS LEG!" in thick black marker before the patient goes into pre-op.

You are sooooo right!

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 01:03 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Long Distance Information

My sister called today.  My father is in the hospital.  Apparently he needs a pacemaker and they will be doing surgery in the morning.

Information via my sister is sketchy at best, not having a medical background, she thinks everything will be dandy and that he's happy as a clam resting in ICU.  I am more skeptical on all fronts.

So we await word tomorrow morning.  I have no idea what time surgery is scheduled. 

UPDATE: Nothing new. They didn't do the surgery, I don't know when they'll do the surgery.  They moved him to a new CCU (cardiac unit).  At the moment I'm not on the information release list so they won't tell me anything if I call (this would be the downside to having all these rules about data privacy).   So, it looks like he'll hang out tonight with the nurses.  According to my sister he's pretty happy because he's getting happy drugs.  Well... why not. If it makes ICU bearable that's what counts.

More as info becomes available.  But probably not until tomorrow. So we'll see.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 07:45 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

I was listening to Leo LaPorte's podcast the other day and he brought up Google Health on his show. I hadn't heard of it before and after listening to his description all I could think was...

"No! Bad idea!" (Leo agrees with that sentiment btw)

Then today I saw this article in the USA Today and once again I thought... REALLY BAD IDEA!  Of course this means I had to blog about it.  (UPDATE: no I won't link something I don't want you to use - it's easy enough to find it if you really want to)

So, what does Google Health do?

• Organize your health information all in one place
• Gather your medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies
• Keep your doctors up-to-date about your health
• Be more informed about important health issues

Oh goodie yet more of this "put it all in one place" push. What is it with people?

It's time to go through this point by point:

First of all, if you have a doctor - they have your records and they should be somewhat organized. Maybe they aren't, but there's nothing at all to keep you from putting something together on paper that you can carry with you to the doctor(s) if you need to (or finding a better doctor). And personally I don't want to carry a laptop to a doctor appointment.  Oh yes, they have pc's in all offices now, but do you want to log in to a private web page on a computer you know nothing about??? If so, you deserve to lose all your information. 

Secondly, your data will be on a web server, not hosted by you but hosted by a large company. You know nothing about the people who work there, nothing about the manner in which they handle the information entrusted to them, nothing about what they will do with it in the future.  Why would you trust that what they say today will apply if the going gets tough.  If Google ever has it's feet to the fire - information protection will be the first thing over the side.  It happened in China - it's happened with other large Web hosts too.  It can and will happen again.

Third if you need google to keep your doctors up to date, you are not paying attention to what type of care you are getting. You also are not communicating with your doctor - so stop right there... don't hit up google, hit up the local Community College for a course in communications - you obviously need it.

Last of all, how will they keep you informed about health care issues? From the Google Health Privacy Policy:

1. Google's servers automatically record log information about your use of Google Health (such as number of sign-ins and number of times a link was clicked). This information is temporarily stored in association with your Google Account for two weeks, at which point it is aggregated with other data and is no longer associated with your account. The log information will be used to operate and improve the service and will not be correlated with your use of other Google services.
2. Google will use aggregate data to publish trend statistics and associations. For example, Google might publish trend data similar to what is published in Google Trends. None of this data can be used to personally identify an individual.
3. Certain features of Google Health can be used in conjunction with other Google products, and those features may share information to provide a better user experience and to improve the quality of our services. For example, Google Health can help you save your doctors’ contact information into your Google Contact List.

The numbers above should be 2, 3, and 4 but the ordered list function changed them when I didn't import number 1 as it was irrelevant.

Basically what they are telling you is that they are going to scan your medical records and keep track of what links you click within Google Health. This is (of course) for advertising purposes, just think of all the lovely ads you'll have popping up at you. But it could also be misused by someone unscrupulous - just as the email scan they currently have in place could be misused.

Now, what assurance does Google give you that your information is safe? Is their site HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant? No - of course it's not. If they claimed HIPAA compliance they could be in deep legal doo-doo with the first account break in.

No, they use the US Safe Harbor privacy principles. Now doesn't a department of commerce directive make you feel all warm and fuzzy about how your data is protected? I suppose I shouldn't point out that this leaves them plenty of wiggle room for whatever they want to disclose when they want to disclose it. (and it won't be to the US Government, Google has stood up to them staunchly - knowing all the time there would be no penalty for this... but watch out if it's Al Qaeda, or China, or some other not so nice bully)  You will note that they say they "follow" this directive.  Not that they MUST FOLLOW this directive.  Huge huge difference - it's in those little technicalities folks.  Really.

But the one hugely enormous elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge... all this private data is protected only by a username and password. Period. And that my dears should scare the crap out of you. Username and password are the least secure of any method of storing data. They don't even claim to encrypt the data!!! (encryption would mean they couldn't scan it to bring you all those lovely ads and to keep up on your current health status)

So those 2 little pieces of information are all that stand between your information and all the people on the internet who would just love to grab your life and wring it out.  That's on the outside.

What stands in the way of an insider at Google grabbing the data?  We don't know, we do know that if it's not encrypted - the ability is always there for the data to be taken or doctored.  That's just the way computers work.

Considering the relative ease with which people have had their email accounts hacked, their ad accounts hacked, and whatever else google provides that's supposed to be private.  I foresee many people losing their medical information to unscrupulous people - either in their own families (can you say divorce court), via something like a public wireless access point, a trojan horse keystroke logger embedded in that email you shouldn't have opened, etc, etc, etc.

In the end, it's all about convenience.  I know there will be thousands, maybe millions, of people will think this is the best thing since sliced bread.  They'll jump all over it and fill up their files.  Then they'll get hacked and have their data stolen.

Wow how convenient. 

No thanks, I'll take old fashioned, slow and tortuous paper and pen.  I might have to wait a while longer for medical test results, but I'll rest easier.  If you want to go for it and make your life conveniently hi-tech... don't say you weren't warned. 

BTW - I could be like this about many things but choose not to - this however is scary enough to make me write a dissertation.  My apologies on the length and if you read to the bottom - you earn a gold medal.  Heh.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 09:56 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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A Little Extrapolation Goes A Long Way

So I'm reading headlines and I see this:

Sex Infections Found in Quarter of Teenage Girls

I saw it often enough to actually take a few minutes and read it. After all, that's a HUGE number of teenage girls. And every news source is carrying the story.  Funny how sex sells...but I digress.

From the cursory perusing of the article I see this:

The centers conducts the annual study, which asks a representative sample of the household population a wide range of health questions. The analysis was based on information collected in the 2003-4 survey.

Extrapolating from the findings, Dr. Forhan said 3.2 million teenage women were infected with at least one of the four diseases.

The 838 participants in the study were chosen at random with standard statistical techniques. Of the women asked, 96 percent agreed to submit vaginal swabs for testing.

So, we have no idea where this "random" sample occurred. Or any other data about these girls who were tested. Privacy must be protected you know and really we're supposed to trust the data.   Funny how that works - makes all those pesky questions go away.  After all one can't be too intrusive about the sex lives of teens can one?

Yet from these 838 participants we are going to extrapolate this to 1/4 of ALL teen girls having some sort of sexually transmitted disease.  And this was back in 2003-2004... over 4 years ago!

Oooookay.

Of course we know what this means.

The president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Cecile Richards, said the new findings “emphasize the need for real comprehensive sex education.”

“The national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure,” Ms. Richards said, “and teenage girls are paying the real price."

Funny - I hadn't noticed that "abstinence" was the current policy.  Isn't it amazing how it's suddenly pulled out of a hat and presented as the culprit in spreading disease among teen girls.  Last I checked there are sex education classes in high school.  Some of them graphic enough to cause parents and children to protest.  Looks like they aren't doing too much good now are they?

But all you really have to do is follow the money.  What else is new.

The "need for comprehensive sex education" really means - SEND US MONEY! Do it now!  Before your teenage girl... what?  According to the "study" it's already too late to stop them... oh sorry, got off track.  SEND MONEY!  Yeah, that's it.  More money will stop all these problems.  Lots and lots more money...

Sure thing. 

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 12:11 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I'm Not A Fan

I find George Clooney to be such a moonbat that I can't overcome this when he is acting. So, no, I am not a fan.  OTOH, the man does deserve the privacy of his medical records, just as everyone else does.

NEWARK, N.J. —  More than two dozen hospital staffers have been suspended for four weeks after allegedly peeking at George Clooney's confidential medical information after he was hurt in a motorcycle accident last month.

This might sound trivial, but it is actually a very big deal. The problem is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).  Basically what they did was illegal.  You can all thank computers and your legislators for creating this situation. 

I don't know if each of these people quite understands how serious this could be if law enforcement steps into the picture, but here are the individual penalties:

42USC1320d-6 Wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information

(a) Offense

A person who knowingly and in violation of this part-

(1) uses or causes to be used a unique health identifier; (2) obtains individually identifiable health information relating to an individual; or (3) discloses individually identifiable health information to another person,

shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).

(b) Penalties

A person described in subsection (a) shall-

(1) be fined not more than $50,000, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both; (2) if the offense is committed under false pretenses, be fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both; and (3) if the offense is committed with intent to sell, transfer, or use individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage, personal gain, or malicious harm, be fined not more than $250,000, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

Just for looking at his records and maybe talking to a few people about it.  Doesn't look like such a trivial incident now does it?

"This is the first I've heard of it," Clooney said in a statement Tuesday. "And while I very much believe in a patient's right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers."

That's nice of him. 

I'm betting the hospital has a policy in place in this case that spells out the consequences to workers who go poking about for information.  I'm betting they all had classes on it and they all signed off on it.  The hospital has to treat them according to policy or the next infraction, if it ends up in court, will cause them to lose big time when the opposing lawyer asks, "why does my client have to be punished, when all these other infractions occurred and there was not punishment of consequence."

That's what happens when you set down laws to govern behavior.  What you lose is the ability to have any flexibility in the punishment of those involved.

Of course there is a union mixed up in this - automatically claiming that the hospital is the culprit.

"While we believe that individuals need to be held accountable if they violated patient privacy, we also believe that the hospital had a responsibility to establish proper systems to protect patient privacy," Jeanne Otersen, a spokeswoman for the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, said in a statement.

"The hospital instead rushed to judgment and imposed harsh economic penalties, instead of working to prevent future breaches of security," Otersen said.

Riiiight.   It's never the fault of the nosey employees, getting into files they had no business looking at... no, it's the hospital's fault for not putting the records in a vault or something.  Geeze!

As I said, if they have an audit in place to look for this kind of thing, they also have penalties in place and the employees had to be informed of the policies and penalties.  To try and cry about it now and claim that the hospital is at fault is just ridiculous. 

And while George Clooney doesn't seem to care that everyone and their brother peeked at his file, there are people who care very much. They are the reason we have the laws in the first place.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 01:57 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I Agree 100%

Even though I don't work in an office...

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 01:47 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Who Should Be Worried?

By now I think most everyone has heard about the man with the drug resistant TB traveling around the world and panicking airline passengers everywhere.

The news people have been all over this story breathlessly talking about passengers who traveled with him who might have been exposed.

Health officials in North America and Europe are now trying to track down about 80 passengers who sat near him on the two trans-Atlantic flights, and they want passenger lists from four shorter flights he took while in Europe.

While I realize that airplanes are a special case, in that air is recirculated, and many people pick up all kinds of colds, flus, even other infectious diseases, this is not what's bugging me most about this story.

No one seems to think about all the places he's been that are outside of the airplane. Let's start with the airline terminals - how many people have you spent time sitting close to in terminals waiting (sometimes hours) for your plane to load?

What about places he regularly visits in his home town? His office and the people he works with? What about the restaurants where he's had dinner? The stores he's entered and shopped at? Does he attend church? How about the hotels he used during his stay? The staff he had interactions with? The person who officiated at his wedding and the guests? (when is the last wedding you attended where half the women didn't hug and kiss the groom...) Did he rent a car while he was in Europe? Did he take public transport while over there?

Just think about all the interactions you have in daily life... each of those is a vector for this man to spread the disease. Much of it before he was diagnosed! After the diagnosis, the doctors should have quarantined him until the test results were complete. Right then and there. I know it would have been hard on him, but wouldn't that have been so much better than trying to track down people and have them tested? Or worse yet, having him pass it on to someone who isn't in good enough health to fight it off effectively... thereby leading to their death?

How much did he really know? How much did he think was bogus?

Speaker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wasn't coughing and that doctors initially did not order him not to fly and only suggested he put off his long-planned wedding. "We headed off to Greece thinking everything's fine," he told the newspaper.

As it's obvious he was not immediately quarantined, I have to wonder how "strongly" he was urged not to travel. Although I must say, if you're told you have TB (no matter the strain) you are certainly NOT "fine".

There are so many unanswered questions here, I am simply astounded. Yet the press seems to be completely focused on the airline flights, as if this is the only thing we need to worry about. Perhaps it is, but they really need to explain to me why we shouldn't be worried about where else he's been and all the other people he's had close contact with.

You may wonder why I'm so worried about TB... my grandmother lost half a lung to TB at the age of 45 (of course she lived to be 99 - so they were able to help her). I had an uncle who also had TB as a young man and had many breathing issues later in life. It's not a disease that should be treated lightly.

This, however, is extremely amusing...

...New York Senator Charles E. Schumer asked why border agents didn't prevent Speaker from crossing into the U.S. from Canada.

``While the failure to detain the individual so he could be quarantined exposed a gaping hole in the country's system to protect the public from disease, it also underscored the nation's vulnerability to stopping terrorists from slipping past border guards and gaining entrance,'' Schumer said in a statement.

So what's Schumer's stance on illegal immigration from Mexico? How about the wall that has been proposed between the US and Mexico? Or does he think that terrorists and disease can only come from Canada?

Just wondering...

(BTW - If I was Canadian, I think I'd be insulted by that...)

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 11:39 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Maybe That's Why...

Today I stumbled across this story which will make blogless friend Chuck very happy.

FRIDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- T'ai chi, an exercise that features slow martial arts-like movements and meditation, significantly improves the ability of older adults' immune systems to fight the virus -- varicella zoster -- that causes shingles, a new study says.

Chuck is my tai chi instructor. Of course I seldom go to class anymore because it's a bit of a commute from Boston to Chicago, although I make it a point to go to class whenever I'm out there. (and no, I'm not looking for a class out here - I left a terrific group of people and a new class wouldn't be the same). Now I do the form at home.

The interesting thing about this article is here:

The 25-week study, conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, involved 112 people, ages 59 to 86. The researchers found that T'ai chi, by itself, increased immunity against varicella zoster to a level that was comparable to having received the standard vaccine against the virus.

When a person did T'ai chi and received the vaccine, the immunity against the virus reached a level normally seen in middle age, said the study, which was published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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"These are exciting findings, because the positive results of this study also have implications for other infectious diseases, like influenza and pneumonia.

I've been doing tai chi for 8 years. While I have migraines and allergies, I seldom get the flu. I can't remember the last time I took antibiotics for an infection, it's been years. Maybe that's why. Or maybe not.

In any case, I'll keep doing my tai chi because I like it. Now if only I could get to class more often than twice a year... and, yes Chuck, I did practice today.

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 11:56 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Have Things Changed That Much?

Yesterday when I walked into my "local" (I use the term loosely since it's nowhere near my house... but is the closest one to me) Starbucks, I came into the middle of a discussion between one of the women customers and one of the young men who works there.

I've never seen her before - but since I am only ever in the place for all of 10 minutes tops on a busy day... that's not unusual. I like the people who work there, they're all terrific. This guy is very funny and always in "hyperdrive" he does everything at a million miles per hour. It's pretty funny - especially when there's no one else in the store waiting for a drink.

Yesterday he was not working the bar, he was doing background stuff - cleaning, etc. The conversation was in progress when I walked in. Apparently he had a sore throat that was pretty bad. A few days before he had called his doctor. The "nurse" diagnosed" him with strep - over the phone, by asking his symptoms. They didn't have him come in, simply called in a script to the pharmacy. (ARG!!! Wrong Wrong - Danger Will Robinson -Do Not pursue this action!)

Anyway, this being a young man - he was very happy to go pick up the meds and that was that. For some reason (maybe he knew the woman I dont' know) they were discussing this. She claimed to be an RN and then stated the following... 1) strep spreads like colds - through the air... 2) you are contagious for 72 hours after starting antibiotics...

Holy Crap - when did these things come about!!! Last I heard, strep was spread by direct contact, either with the person or with their saliva. And when did the time change on how long a person is contagious? I thought it was 24-48 hours... could they have upped that to 72 because of super infections and I didn't know it? I'm now feeling way out of the loop and it's rather disconcerting.

I didn't say anything to her about her "medical knowledge" because I hadn't dealt with strep in years (since my son was 3 years old - that's like 20 years ago) so maybe there have been changes I was unaware of. Or I was losing my mind and am to the point I can't even remember simple things like how bacterial infection is spread...

Last night I looked up Streptococcus which led to the Strep Throat entry:

The illness is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes and is spread by direct, close contact with patients via respiratory droplets (cough or sneezing). Casual contact rarely results in transmission.

In other words - he's not going to spread it by talking to you (which was her implication) or being in the same room. Although if she drank out of his glass, or he coughed or sneezed in her drink, or he wiped his mouth with his hand and then mixed a drink for her... now that could certainly spread it.

Oh yeah - and why do you NEED to see the doctor before using antibiotics?

Penicillins should be avoided for treatment of a sore throat if bacterial (swab) confirmation has not been obtained since it causes a distinctive rash if the true illness proves to be viral. This rash is harmless but alarming.

In other words - you shouldn't take meds if you don't need them.

Now for the time needed for the antibiotics to kick in and do their thing:

Most people with strep are contagious until they have been on antibiotics 24-48 hours. Thus, they should stay home from school, daycare, or work until they have been on antibiotics for at least a day.

Yeah, 24 hours is the minimum, 48 is better, 72 certainly is okay because it's important to rest when you're sick. But she was spreading some inaccurate information and scaring all of them needlessly. Next time I see him, I'll have to let him know.

I'm very glad that I hadn't quite lost everything I learned way back in the mists of time... but for a short while I was beginning to wonder if I should check out places that care for those with senile dementia. Whew!

Posted by: Teresa in Medical at 06:41 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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