In the past seven years since the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), members of the United States military serving in multinational coalition forces have sustained and survived far greater numbers of wounds than observed in previous wars. As of August 22, 2007, the United States military reports 27,506 service members wounded while in combat.1 The survivorship of wounded servicemen is close to 90%, largely due to improvements in protective body armor, rapid evacuation, and advances in combat medicine.1 In many cases the types of wounds sustained by those who survive are severe, requiring extensive, comprehensive long-term, and perhaps lifelong medical care. Limb injury requiring amputation, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are three categories of injury commonly reported to occur in veterans of the war in Iraq.» Full Article
Napping, a slothful habit or the curse of idleness? Our sleepdeprived culture strains under the illusion that naps are for the weak-minded. However, experts in the field of sleep, ranging from pioneers in sleep research to authors who popularize such research, such as Dr. James B. Maas, author of Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance, and Dr. Sara C. Mednick, author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, profess that napping is as important to health and well being as a balanced diet and regular exercise. They contend that all humans would profit from a 20–90 minute nap every day. » Full Article
If you live in Western Massachusetts and have been frustrated by long waiting times for appointments to see your new primary care physician (PCP), count yourself among the fortunate. Many patients in the area may soon have difficulty finding a PCP at all. The physician shortage that now looms over the nation is already being felt in Western Massachusetts.
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Hospital campuses often use centralized plants to generate heat. Boilers with relatively high heat input capacities and high horsepower ratings are used to generate steam, hot water, or both for distribution. Heat input capacities are often reported using units of British thermal units per hour (Btu/hr). Natural gas and heating oil are frequently the fuels of choice for use in these boilers. However, biomass in the form of woodchips represents a renewable resource that replaces the need for these fossil fuels. » Full Article
There was a time that few questioned the preeminence of American medical care, particularly at the tertiary care level. People traveled from all over the world to have heart and lung surgery, transplants, cancer treatment, and even recovery services. Some major institutions catered to this population with travel agencies within their facilities and relationships with travel providers and hotels. What was touted as “medical tourism” went in one direction—to the United States. » Full Article
Physician’s are famously poor patients. On the one hand, they are at least as prone to the denial and rationalization that often delay diagnosis in the rest of us, effects that are often magnified by their greater knowledge of disease and confidence in their own diagnostic skills. On the other, their standing as co-equal professionals with their own physicians can skew the dynamics of the physician patient relationship and complicate their care. » Full Article
I previously wrote about the current misguided policy of not covering persons with chronic conditions, specifically the near elderly (55–65 years of age), with health insurance, particularly Medicare. This not only creates hardship for the person who is denied coverage but potentially costs the health system a great deal more in the long run. Eventually, when coverage is extended to this group, a different model will be needed to insure that the care received is effective, efficient, and cost-effective. » Full Article
Skin Cancer Practicum , Advances in Stereotactic Radiosurgery, and Cancer Medicine and Hematology. » Full Article
View health care related press releases from Western and Central Massachusetts, and Connecticut. » Full Article
