MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'dinosaur'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:29:04 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4495205&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fa-pseudo-homeopathic-remedy%2F2011.02.18 Never in a million years would I have dreamed I would be able to say this, but I actually recommended a homeopathic remedy today. To briefly review, for anyone who may be under the mistaken impression that homeopathic remedies actually do anything – they don’t. Here’s why in a nutshell: Homeopathy is an unscientific and absurd pseudoscience, which persists today as an accepted form of complementary medicine, despite there never having been any reliable scientific evidence that it works. So what on earth possessed me to seriously recommend it? I’ll tell you. I saw a beautiful little four-month-old today whose mother thinks he might be teething. Everyone thinks their four-month-olds are teething because they start getting more drooly as their hand-mouth coordination improves, a... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4495205 Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:00:01 +0100 4495205 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4419140&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmessage-to-the-irs-leave-medicine-to-the-experts%2F2011.01.31 I saw this via a friend’s Facebook post: Really, IRS? Believe it or not, the folks at the IRS think they know more about breastfeeding than doctors and medical researchers. According to an article in the New York Times, the Internal Revenue Service has determined that breastfeeding “does not have enough health benefits to qualify as a form of medical care.”  Therefore, women cannot count expenses for breastfeeding supplies in their tax-sheltered healthcare spending accounts. In doing so, the IRS has ignored the guidance of experts at the Department of Health & Human Services and World Health Organization who are actively promoting breastfeeding because of its significant health benefits for mothers and children. Sign our petition reminding the IRS to leave medicine to the expert... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4419140 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:00:26 +0100 4419140 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4394445&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhat-is-a-%25e2%2580%259ccomplete%25e2%2580%259d-physical%2F2011.01.24 A reader requests: Can you do a post on what procedures constitute a thorough physical, in your opinion? I haven’t had one in several years and thinking of making an appointment now. The last doctor I went to didn’t even listen to my heart or go though the motions with feeling my belly and that stuff. And of the last three doctors I went to, I realized they didn’t bring up my immunization records. Is this usually left for the patients to bring up on their own? Good question. What exactly is a physical? Does it include blood work? What about an EKG? And a cardiac stress test? Is an “executive physical” an orgy of “more is better,” previously paid lavishly, really better than a “camp physical?” Here’s the thing: There is no such thing as a “complete physical exami... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4394445 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:00:47 +0100 4394445 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4352713&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-slippery-slope-of-anti-vaccine-complacency%2F2011.01.15 I got a package in the mail today: My very own (complimentary) copy of Paul Offit’s new book, “Deadly Choices; How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All.” Needless to say, I can’t wait to read it. Not coincidentally, Dr. Offit has been making the rounds of interviews in the wake of the book’s release. Although I haven’t heard any of them directly, I did see a reference to this NPR interview on the FaceBook page of an old friend, who quoted from it thusly: IRA FLATOW:  You write that some pediatricians will not see kids who are not vaccinated. Is that a good solution to the problem? DR. PAUL OFFIT: I don’t know what’s a good solution to that problem. And I feel tremendous sympathy for the clinician who’s in private practice. On the one hand, and my wife sort ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4352713 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:00:02 +0100 4352713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4121855&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhen-puberty-ends%2F2010.10.30 I heard a 23-year-old woman complain: “I must be getting old when 11:00 at night is late.” It got me thinking. It turns out that the explanation for why teens are natural night owls has recently been elucidated. They can’t help it — they just don’t get tired until way later in the evening. Then, of course, their bodies want to stay asleep well into the next morning in order to feel sufficiently rested. Since most of them are stuck with the artificial structure of school hours, they’re screwed — and condemned to suffer constant fatigue from cumulative sleep deprivation. Old news. Then I started wondering about the back end of this phenomenon. Even though our American “youth culture” attributes great coolness to late-night happenings, since this pubertal sleep s... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4121855 Sat, 30 Oct 2010 19:00:40 +0100 4121855 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018179&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhy-pain-cant-be-a-vital-sign%2F2010.09.29 There’s been a movement afoot for several years now to quantify pain as the so-called “Fifth Vital Sign.” It all started as a well-intentioned effort to raise the level of awareness of inadequate pain control in many patients, but has gotten way out of hand. The problem is that the word “sign” has a specific meaning in medicine that, by definition, cannot be applied to pain. When you hear us medicos talk about “signs and symptoms” of a disease, it turns out that they are not the same thing. “Symptoms” are things the patient experiences subjectively. “Signs” are things that can be observed objectively by another person. Headache is a symptom; cough is a sign. Itching is a symptom; scratch marks over a blistery linear rash are a sign. Vertigo, the hallucination of movem... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018179 Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:00:06 +0100 4018179 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348546&cid=t_112000_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F15%2Fwith-fda-change-ect-may-go-the-way-of-the-dinosaur%2F Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally decided to start taking action to close a loophole that’s been around nearly as long as the agency itself. Last Wednesday it said that it would require safety and efficacy data from manufacturers of medical devices in 25 different categories. This data is equivalent to the types of data the FDA currently requires for medical devices and drugs — data that shows the device is both safe and effective in use for a prescribed disorder. One of those 25 categories is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) machines. Yes, you heard right. For decades, the most notorious of all psychiatric treatments available has never met any type of rigorous FDA approval for their use. How can this be? In the case of electroconvulsive therapy ma... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348546 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:51:52 +0100 2348546 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458467&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fdinosaur-grand-rounds.html And now, from somewhere over there, Musings of a Dinosaur presents this week's pick of the best of medical writing. (Source: NHS Blog Doctor) NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458467 Tue, 20 May 2008 23:31:00 +0100 1458467 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1442755&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fsurgeon-as-rapist.html Abdominal rapeEntirely co-incidentally, an eerie juxtaposition from the recently discovered and wonderful Musings of a Dinosaur. Meanwhile, a few posts down, the argument about medical rape continues. But what would Amity and Debs make of Surgery and Rape? On their definition, this surgeon is a rapist. (Source: NHS Blog Doctor) NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1442755 Wed, 14 May 2008 22:10:00 +0100 1442755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1436798&cid=t_112000_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Ffor-lovers-of-dr-rant.html The Rant Foundation has been exploring the outer limits of Anglo-Saxon of late, and very entertainingly too. Over in the colonies, of course, our American cousins are of too delicate a disposition to understand the humour. Or I thought they were until I discovered that Dr Rant's brother is a family doctor in the USA:"I may be going the way of the dinosaur, but I'm not dead yet" He is as passionate as Dr Crippen about dumbing down health care. A local pharmacist told one of his patients to stop taking his statins. For Crippen strained through Rant, read:Attention, Pharmacists.I'm going to appoint him the NHS BLOG DOCTOR American correspondent and surely he deserves to be an honorary vice-president of the Rant Foundation. (Source: NHS Blog Doctor) NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1436798 Mon, 12 May 2008 17:26:00 +0100 1436798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1323179&cid=t_112000_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F257134830%2F I honestly was just not sure how else to refer to this about Lloyd Scott, a former professional footballer and firefighter who, after being diagnosed with leukemia and receiving a bone marrow transplant, has “raked in more than £5 million for a host of causes”: Next year will see the 20th anniversary of his life-saving bone marrow transplant and he says: “I thought it would be a good moment to do something really ambitious that would raise around £1million for the charity I am currently supporting, The Autism Trust. “I have started work on plans to build a giant tyrannosaurus rex which I could wheel along from the inside, standing in one of its legs. I like the idea that to spectators it would look like the dinosaur was creeping along of its own accord. “I would probabl... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1323179 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:02:09 +0100 1323179 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1047616&cid=t_112000_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F189514517%2F The CNN special on autism, Autism: Finding Amanda, will NOT be airing tonight due to liveprogramming on Larry King. Parts of the segment can be seen on  this site, and discussion about autism, adults with autism, and the show here. How did the turkey DNA get in the dinosaur bone? Eye on DNA has a (possible) answer by way of an interview with Dr. Jonathan Wells: Maybe someone dropped a turkey sandwich at a dig? All I can say is, that question of “how did this [turkey DNA] get here [on the dinosaur bone]?” recalls a question I frequently ask myself when I find a certain shirt of mine that has been missing tucked neatly in the space between the wall and Charlie’s mattress, or when I come upon a piece of well-crumbled paper shoved in the bottom of his “blue ca... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1047616 Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:22:15 +0100 1047616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=541637&cid=t_112000_107_f&fid=35009&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsciencesque.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F04%2F13%2Fsequencing-dinosaur-proteins%2F Alex at The Daily Transcript has an interesting post on how the Lewis Cantley lab at Harvard has sequenced proteins isolated from the fossilized bone of a Tyrannosaurus Rex that lived, loved and died 68 million years ago. They also did the same on mastodon bones that are thought to be be 160,000-600,000 years old. The NY Times story can be read here, while the original report in Science can be found here. Previously, it was felt that even under the most ideal conditions, reliable biological samples could not be retrieved from specimens older than 1 million years. This is because complex biological molecules such as proteins and DNA tend to degrade over time to the point that they are no longer detectable. What’s really amazing about this break through (if contamination has not been a... Sciencesque blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=541637 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:23:10 +0100 541637