I’ve been receiving updates from the these folks
for a couple of years and the info they send out is solid. It isn’t a
compilation of hearsay on alternative therapies but a critical look at
research and at alternative healthcare, bringing usable information to your
email box. You will get some advertising from them as they seem to have
alot of affiliates but the actual newsletters are worth reading.
Their premium paid membership is also a good
investment and sidesteps much of the “Learn more about “x” on page
90!”
This article recently came out showing that surgeon’s aren’t following guidelines in doing their part to minimize infections.
Alberta surgeons aren’t always following guidelines aimed at minimizing the risk patients will develop an infection as a result of their surgery, a new survey reveals.
And experts in infection control and health-care safety say the findings are probably reflective of surgical practice in other parts of the country as well.
“We have a long ways to go. It’s really hit or miss right now whether or noty ou’re going to get all these things done properly,”; said Marlies van Dijk, a nurse and leader of the Western Canada efforts of Safer Healthcare Now!, a campaign to promote practices that improve patient safety.
“We know that we ought to be doing better,” said Dr. Andrew Simor, head of microbiology at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
If you’re going in for surgery, print this page out and bring it to your doc and nurses.
From managing diabetes to quitting smoking to potty training to mental health, resources on the web can be utilized to monitor and ultimately improve your health.
The computerised nature of e-health lends itself well to research, which developers are using to refine their treatments. One discovery is that users don’t like overly complicated programs that bombard them with options. “There’s been a tendency to do things just because we can. The feedback we get is ‘Stop making me choose things. I want help, not choices’,” says David Austin, co-director of the eTherapy unit at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Tailoring the response of programs to individuals is also crucial. “When we extracted the most information from the assessment, and used it to create the most highly tailored program, we got quit rates of 38 per cent in patients who used nicotine patches,” says Strecher. “Not even group therapy can achieve that.”
When friends or family end up in the hospital, it’s often difficult to know what to do, what the problems are, who will visit whom when.
CareFlash is a great site that helps educate and coordinate the experience when a loved one ends up in a hospital.
CareFlash provides a common place on the Internet, to and from which people may submit, retrieve and share information and well-wishes surrounding a loved one’s health circumstances. In the respective context of each community, we serve-up hundreds of 3-D healthcare animations on disorders, procedures and anatomical function, all produced with world-class quality and accuracy, and narrated in plain language. The animations are also available in Spanish and Arabic with more languages to come in 2008.
If you’re on new medication keep a log/diary of how you’re doing on the meds. If you have high blood pressure, buy yourself a Blood Pressure System . Then using Excel or the really cool, FREE openoffice.org version you can keep track of your data. Using a spreadsheet is especially good because you can print out the data and manipulate it to learn other things.
You’d be surprised how often you think you have everything remembered only to be reminded by things once you look in your diary.
According to HealthNewsDigest, Prof. Yehuda Carmeli of Tel Aviv University, has developed a software system that help healthcare workers control and prevent infections in hospitals. Says Prof. Carmeli:
“We stopped 45 percent of the primary hospital-borne organisms that attack patients from spreading.”
The system uses such things as e-mail alert, text messaging and other methods of online communication to keep the hospital staff appraised of possible infection threats within the hospital.
Because of the success he’s had, Prof. Carmeli has been invited to demonstrate his system at various institutions around the US.
I was looking through some research and came across this site again. Bookmark it and download their information. Very worthwhile and excellent info for you and your loved ones.
You know, those permanent markers that cost a couple of bucks? Spend those couple of dollars for insurance purposes if you go into the hospital. This article shows that the because the ink in Sharpies is alcohol based it stays clean of infection. So here are some tips for using the Sharpie next time you go to a hospital:
If you’re having surgery on part of your body, mark it with the Sharpie as a reminder of where to cut. Statements like, “This is the bad foot,” while sounding funny, are actually a good way of reminding the docs where to cut.
Writing a little note like, “Swab my port,” if you have an IV line or, “Wash your hands,” somewhere on your arm will remind a nurse or doc to wash up before they touch you.
Posted by Michael 
of how you’re doing on the meds. If you have high blood pressure, buy yourself a 
. Then using Excel or the really cool, FREE 
Help Your Doc...Help Yourself! 