Now *this* is power shopping

This month the Chicago Abortion Fund is the proud and honored Organization of the Month at Women & Children First.

What does this mean?

You print out the coupon to the left, bring it into the store, buy yourself a gift for surviving the holidays, and CAF gets 10% of your purchase.

BAM! Easy schmeezy way to support reproductive justice in Chicago.

If you're going to order books online, please put Chicago Abortion Fund in the memo part of the order form.
Now don't forget your coupon because you can't get these in the store.

Althou, I think I'll have some on hand for the upcoming program with Dr. Susan Wicklund!

Time: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 7:30 PM
Location: Women & Children First
Title of Event: Dr. Susan Wicklund - This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor

This Common Secret chronicles Dr. Susan Wicklund’s emotional, dramatic twenty-year career on the front lines of the abortion war. Since its legalization 35 years ago, many young Americans have never known a time when abortion wasn’t safe and accessible. Today, women’s advocates are concerned that we could lose that right over the next few years, through a stacked Supreme Court and eleventh-hour wrangling by the anti-choice Bush administration. This Common Secret reveals that for many women throughout America, the right to safe, legal abortion is already an impossibility. As we enter another era with a fevered political fight over abortion, this raw and powerful memoir shows us what is at stake. A representative from the Chicago Abortion Fund (our Organization of the Month) will also be on hand to talk about their work making safe abortion accessible to low-income women.

Read an essay by Dr. Wicklund at Powells.com (but hey, don't buy it there just cause it's on sale! You want to give to CAF remember? And hey, get an autographed copy at W&CF.) to build up to the event!

I am keeping this post at the top so y'all remember to shop at WCF this month! :)
Technorati tags: abortion, feminist, books, Chicago Abortion Fund, Susan Wicklund

New Gig @ WIMN

First forgive the lame post...I'm home sick with some sinus thing. ack.

But I wanted to let my dear readers know that I've been promoted from guest blogger to regular house blogger at the WIMN blog, WIMN's Voices. My first post is all about the identity politics war and touches on the generational war that is brewing in the feminist community over Obama & Clinton.

So hop on over there and read a real post.

Podcasts from Conferences of University of Tennessee IM Residency Program

Online medical education has changed significantly during the last 2-3 years. When I first started lecturing about using Web 2.0 in Medicine in 2005, few members of the audience had ever heard of podcasts and even fewer shared my enthusiasm for them as a medium for continuous medical education. Fast forward 3 years later, and now some doctors wonder if they should even go to a conference if they can just download the podcasts... More and more institutions make their grand rounds and conferences available for free via downloadable audio and video files.

A few examples of useful podcasts for medical education are listed below:

University of Tennessee Internal Medicine Residency Program

Three years of grand rounds and noon conferences of the internal medicine residency program of the University of Tennessee have been recorded and posted as podcasts on this website. You can listen to the podcasts directly or subscribe vai iTunes. The podcasts are searchable by topic. This is probably the most useful and comprehensive podcast resource for residents and medical students. Highly recommended.

The are 268 audio lectures published on the UTHSC website as of January 2008 which cover most of the curriculum in internal medicine. The podcasts are available for free compared to the audio review courses by major institutions such as Johns Hopkins which cost $200-1,200.

The authors of the project use Libsyn (Liberated Syndication) as a host which is a good place to start if you want to produce your own podcast. Libsyn plans start from $5 per month with unlimited downloads and an upload limit of 100 MB per month. The UTHSC podcasts are encoded at 16 kbs, mono, 22 kHz which does not provide the best sound quality but produces very small files (3-5 MB for a 30-60-minute talk). The total size of all 268 podcasts is 1.3 GB. Libsyn supports RSS and the extended Apple iTunes podcasting tags.

Other Medical Podcasts

Texas Tech Medcast

The Texas Tech Medcast is a podcast for medical residents, medical students and practicing physicians. It has several series:
- SOAP Note 101 Series: designed for first-year medical students who are learning how to write an effective patient note for a medical record (SOAP)
- Geriatrics Series
- Continuity Clinic Series
- Diabetes Mellitus Series
- PreMed Forum Series

Boston University General Internal Medicine Rounds

Weekly selection of the General Internal Medicine Grand Rounds from Boston University Medical Center. The project is still in early stages of development and only a few podcasts are available.

Yale Medicine Podcast

Visit itunes.yale.edu or launch iTunes, then select Yale from the offerings under iTunes U. The podcast is included under “Yale Health & Medicine.”

EMS Lecture Series by Albany Medical Center

Online continuing education courses for EMTs and emergency medicine residents.

PeerView Podcasts

Podcasts in different specialties by the supplier of continuing medical education activities PeerView Press.

MedPod101

Podcasts in different specialties by 3 doctors. The project is still in early stages of development.

References:
Medical podcasts: the future of continuing professional development? BMJ Career Focus 2008;336:29-30.
How to Use Web 2.0 in Medicine? Clinical Cases and Images - Blog, 05/2006.
Top 5 Medical Podcasts I Listen To. Clinical Cases and Images - Blog, 08/2006.

Related:
How to Embed MP3 Audio Files In Web Pages With Google or Yahoo! Flash Player. Digital Inspiration, 02/2008.
The iCritical Care Podcast: a novel medium for critical care communication and education. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 2007;14(1):94-99.
Joining the Podcast Revolution. J Dent Educ. 72(3): 278-281 2008.

Updated: 03/07/2008

"Poster Child" for Hospitalist Movement Changes Career Track: Confessions of an X-Hospitalist

The author of the blog In My Humble Opinion shares his rational behind a career change:

"I was once a hospitalist. In fact I was even featured in an article about hospitalists. Yep…that's me. Horrendous picture though… isn’t it? The patient I was taking care of was 97. She died about a year later in a nursing home. How do I know that? Because at the time I was transitioning to outpatient medicine. I became her primary care physician. So why did I make the change? And how much of a change was it for me? Recently I saw two patients discharged from hospitalist services. I think these cases illustrate the problems with this type of system."

The hospitalist system as a whole appears to be both viable and beneficial though. At least according to a recent NEJM study and the news about the planned IPO of one of the largest private hospitalist companies -- IPC The Hospitalist Co. ups deal size for IPO. According to MarketWatch: "The North Hollywood, Calif. provider of inpatient care raised $83 million by offering 5.2 million shares in the middle of its $15-$17 price range. In a sign of health, the company increased the size of the offering from 4.7 million shares."


Riding the Hospitalist Boom to an IPO. WSJ.

References:
Confessions of an X-Hospitalist. In My Humble Opinion.
What the Heck is a Hospitalist? North Shore Magazine.
Today’s New England Journal Hospitalist Study. Wachter's World.
Outcomes of Care by Hospitalists, General Internists, and Family Physicians. NEJM.
Image source: sxc.hu

Related:
Being a good hospitalist includes talking with the patient and the outpatient physician. DB’s Medical Rants, 01/2008.
A List of Hospitalist Blogs
Another Study Questions the Value of Hospitalists
Definition of "Hospitalist" Added to Merriam-Webster Dictionary
What I Learned from Making the Website of the Cleveland Clinic Hospitalists
SHM Annual Meeting and Cleveland Clinic Hospitalist Section
Audio: Hospitalist Medicine. One of the executives of IPC, Glen Applebaum, discusses hospitalist medicine as a career. Podcasting Project for the UT Internal Medicine Residency Program.

Updated: 03/31/2008

Interesting Medical Websites

I you are interested in using the web for medical education, you can always rely on DavidRothman.net and ScienceRoll to find something useful.

A few examples are listed below:

- GoldMiner is a radiology search engine. I added it to the list of resources on ClinicalCases.org: Imaging: Electrocardiograms, X-rays, CT scans. Link via DavidRothman.net.

- FreeMD is "an electronic doctor that conducts an interview, analyzes symptoms, and provides expert advice — for free.” The website may not be an "electronic doctor" but is simple and easy to use. In my tests, the online diagnostic tool FreeMD worked well, and due to its extensive use of pre-recorded videos, it felt more interactive. Link via DavidRothman.net.

Related:
Performance of a Web-Based Clinical Diagnosis Support System for Internists. Mark L. Graber and Ashlei Mathew. J Gen Intern Med. 2008 January; 23(Suppl 1): 37–40.
Image source: Wikipedia

A Person Who Loves His Job

Steve Rubel is a public relations executive at Edelman and a well-known blogger. These are excerpts from his life stream:

steverubel: Work is my big hobby. I am truly lucky to have found a nexus between my passions and profession. (via Twitter / steverubel)

steverubel: I love days when I get into the office before the sun comes up. You feel like you're ahead of the game. (via Twitter / steverubel)

steverubel: You know you're getting old when you get up before 6 am (even on weekends) and get very sleepy by 9:30 or 10. (via Twitter / steverubel)

steverubel: The downside of getting up at 4 is being wiped out by 8.

Update 01/31/2008:

You have to love Steve's reply:

"A blogger notices from my lifestream that I love my job, which I do! Downside? It’s the Clinical Cases blog!"


A CommonCraft video explains what a microblogging platform is by using Twitter as an example.

Related:
Aggregated Lifestream Combines All Content Created by You Into One Site/Feed
Are you obsessed with your job? CNN.
Chronic stress at work can make you sick. Clinical Cases and Images - Blog, 03/2006.

Updated: 03/10/2008

Maya Angelou's poem for Hillary

State Package for Hillary Clinton

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

This is not the first time you have seen Hillary Clinton seemingly at her wits' end, but she has always risen, always risen, don't forget she has always risen, much to the dismay of her adversaries and the delight of her friends.

Hillary Clinton will not give up on you and all she asks of you is that you do not give up on her.

There is a world of difference between being a woman and being an old female. If you're born a girl, grow up, and live long enough, you can become an old female. But to become a woman is a serious matter. A woman takes responsibility for the time she takes up and the space she occupies. Hillary Clinton is a woman. She has been there and done that and has still risen. She is in this race for the long haul. She intends to make a difference in our country. Hillary Clinton intends to help our country to be what it can become.

She declares she wants to see more smiles in the family, more courtesies between men and women, more honesty in the marketplace. She is the prayer of every woman and man who longs for fair play, healthy families, good schools, and a balanced economy.

She means to rise.

Don't give up on Hillary. In fact, if you help her to rise, you will rise with her and help her make this country the wonderful, wonderful place where every man and every woman can live freely without sanctimonious piety and without crippling fear.

Rise, Hillary.

Rise.

from the Guardian

Technorati tags: Hillary Clinton, poetry, Maya Angelou

Medical News: Exercise and Alcohol Effect on Health

Prticipation in sport is associated with a with a 20—40% reduction in all-cause mortality compared with non-participation. Exercise might also be considered as a fifth vital sign, according to the Lancet: http://goo.gl/gyxYf

Exercise or have a drink? It may be better to exercise AND have a drink

A study of 12,000 people over a 20-year period in Denmark found that exercise and drinking alcohol each had an independent beneficial effect on the heart. The effect was even greater when the two were practiced together. According to TIME magazine:

"People who don't drink at all and don't exercise had the highest risk of heart disease. People who drink moderately and exercise had a 50% lower risk. Teetotaling exercisers had a 30% decreased risk, as did moderately drinking couch potatoes. "There's an additional protective effect to doing both," says Gronbaek. "That's the new finding."

Weekly alcohol intake was inversely associated with fatal ischemic heart disease and had a U-shaped association with all-cause mortality.

References:
The combined influence of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol intake on fatal ischaemic heart disease and all-cause mortality. European Heart Journal 2008 29(2):204-212.
Work Out and Drink Up. TIME.
CNN Video: Alcohol and the heart.
A glass of wine daily may prolong life. How you can you predict which patient will have a bottle daily though?
Drinking Alcohol Daily Seems to Cut the Risk for Coronary Artery Disease the Most
Image source: Wikipedia.

Exercise slows telomere shortening (and aging)

Telomeres are the chromosome tips which shorten each time a cell divides, making them a possible marker of aging. A study of 2400 twins showed that physically active people had longer telomeres than sedentary people. According to the authors, this provides a powerful message that could be used by clinicians to promote the potentially antiaging effect of regular exercise.


Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white). Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

You need little more than your own body weight to exercise. This is a mnemonic and a mind map for exercises that can be done with just body weight: PLSS

P ushups
S itups
L unges
S quats



References:
The Association Between Physical Activity in Leisure Time and Leukocyte Telomere Length. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(2):154-158.
Physically Active People May Be a Decade Younger, Biologically, Than Sedentary People, WebMD.
How to stay healthy while traveling
Staying a Step Ahead of Aging. NYTimes, 01/31/2008.
Rethinking Drinking - NIH interactive website

What is the ultimate betrayal?

The feminist blogosphere is on fire with reaction to the press release from NYS-NOW:

Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

And of course, CNN picked it up.

Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy is under heavy fire from a state chapter of the National Organization for Women for his decision to back Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

In a sharply critical statement, the New York state chapter of NOW took aim at Kennedy Monday for what it called an "ultimate betrayal," and suggested the Massachusetts Democrat "can't or won't" handle the idea of Clinton becoming President of the United States.

I'm only blogging about this because I want to be as honest as possible with my readers and I am very vocal with my support of NOW. I've already had to discuss this with friends. I have one friend who is not renewing over this statement and I suspect that others will have the same thought.

The national office put out their own statement. I have no idea if this statement was in response to the NY one or not, I don't know. What I do know is that each chapter and state is free to send out their own press release without running it past National. I was involved with the Chicago chapter when we sent out a few, um, controversial statements. Thus, don't judge the entire organization over one press release from a state chapter.

While I have not worked closely with the president of NYS NOW, I have seen her in action many times and during meetings. She is just as passionate about feminist issues are you or I, perhaps more so. This is not an apology for the statement, OK. I am just pointing out that she is a staunch feminist.

I agree that the media is covering Hillary in an awful light. I agree that our society is sexist. I agree that there are men out there who would vote for anyone before they vote for a woman much less HRC. There are also people who wouldn't vote for a black man too. I can't recall who said it, but someone blogged that someone else's hate will not affect their vote. Here, here.

But the ultimate betrayal? I don't think so.

At the end of the day, whomever is the candidate, I'll be out working for.

That's all I have to say on this topic.

Technorati tags: feminism, NOW, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy

Topolog: Videoblog by Prominent Cardiologist Eric Topol

Eric Topol is the former chief of cardiology at Cleveland Clinic and current Chief Academic Officer of Scripps Clinic. He publishes an interesting video blog on Heart.org called Topolog which includes:

- Topol's Selections -- a series of articles Eric Topol finds interesting

- Video posts. There have been only 6 posts since November 2007 (as of 01/28/2008) with the most recent one on ENHANCE trial with ezetimibe.

The embedding of the videos is disabled.

This is the RSS feed:

http://blogs.theheart.org/posts/rss.xml

Firm Belief

GruntDoc reports from ER:

"Patient presents with CC ‘all my organs have been removed’. When queried as to how they’d be alive with no organs, answers ‘they put someone else’s’ in’. After exam showing no signs of drug or alcohol abuse, and notable for none but trivial scars of living, I pointed out that I’ve seen lots of patients with organ transplants, and they have rather remarkable scars, but you don’t. ‘They replaced my skin after’ was the response. There’s always an answer that refutes rationality."

References:
Delusional Behavior. GruntDoc.com.

Related:
Cocaine FOR Chest Pain. CasesBlog, 2006.

Thought Exercise on Race & Gender

I've been pretty pissed off the past few days over Bill Clinton's Jesse Jackson remarks and all the other racist remarks that are coming out of the Clinton camp, but not from HRC herself. I know that the media is being super sexist & misogynistic when it comes to HRC. So I kept trying to recall if Obama's supporters have said anything about HRC that would be sexist. First, his comment at the debate about her being likeable enough? That doesn't set off my sexist alarm. My jerk alarm yes, but not the sexist alarm. JJ Jr's questioning if HRC cried over Katrina? Again, more assholery, but not quite sexist. Bordering.

So…do we say that Obama has been leading a sexist-free campaign?

OR do we consider that Obama doesn't have to do anything because the media is doing it all for him?

Hmmm….

Why would Obama or any of his supporters need to stoop to that level when Matthews & the rest of the MSM are doing a fine job at the sexism game?

It's a question that can't be answered, but one to ponder. Well, if you're a big political dork/wannabe pundit like me anyway.

MS Word Test

I'm still getting use to our new Dell. I can't believe that in the almost 4 months we've had this machine that today was the first time I selected "New Document." And what did MS Word 2007 ask me? If I wanted to open a new blank document or a new blog post. A new blog post? WHA?? So of course, I had to test it out. I says that it works on Typepad too. So let's see how this posts and if you can see all the document info like what I call our account.

Video: Tips on managing cellulitis by Dr. Enoch Choi

Dr. Enoch Choi is a family medicine physician in the Urgent Care Department of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. He has recorded this helpful patient education video with tips on managing cellulitis as part of a series he publishes on YouTube and his blog Doctor Geek, M.D.

Holy Thorn Birds!

Ann at La Bloga received a Priestcake Calendar!

“I got something for you Ann, I won it at a Yankee gift exchange and I just know you’re the only one who’ll appreciate it” my friend Tom told me earlier this month. “My brother got it at the Vatican.” He set it down in front of me, a 2008 calendar featuring black and white photographs of thirteen handsome young priests, one for each month and the best looking for the cover. And it is “con cenni storico artistici sul Vaticano.” With historic notes about the Vatican! Yeah! As I flipped through the pages, each month boasting another dark-haired, dark-eyed young man in vestmental garb, my jaw was on my chest. “It’s a priestcake calendar!” I exclaimed. “This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen!” Tom’s smile couldn’t have been wider: he had found the calendar the perfect home. As I left his office—did I mention he’s our college president?—I decided I just had to know more about the calendar’s history.

I guess if they can't let women become priests, they can let the men become pin-ups. It gives a whole new meaning to "Forgive me Father for I have sinned." And yes, I know I'm going to hell. I'll save ya a seat.

NEJM is a Journal (Only) No More

It is official. The venerable New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a paper journal no more. Just visit the NEJM website to see what you have been missing if you have limited yourself only to the paper version of the journal. There is a slew of Web 2.0 and interactive features. I have been interested in the way medical journals use RSS (Really Simple Syndication), podcasts, videos, etc. for a while and was recently consulted by The Lancet to comment on their plain to introduce new tools to their website. Looking at the NEJM site, I have to say that there is a reason why they are still the leading authority in the medical publishing world. This is a list of some of the features a visitor encounters when landing on the NEJM homepage (see the screenshot below):

- Audio summary -- streaming audio and podcasts
- Interactive decision making tool using the "wisdom of crowds" concept
- Video of a roundtable discussion
- RSS Feeds
- Image challenge which also uses the "wisdom of crowds"
- Procedure videos
- Lists of Most Viewed, Most E-Mailed, Most Blogged, etc. articles
- "Listen to the full text of this article" feature


The homepage of NEJM is full of Web 2.0 features -- circled in red in the screenshot above. There are even more tools on the beta page of the journal at: http://beta.nejm.org/

In conclusion, the NEJM is using so many interactive features that it is putting even the most advanced blogs to shame. Comments are not available yet but this addition must surely be planned for not too distant future.

In recent years, the leading medical journals have become much more than a print medium for articles. The NEJM has gone beyond the RSS feeds and has created features which compel the reader to visit the website -- the ultimate goal of a portal site. RSS is so useful that if one can read it all in a RSS reader, there is little reason to click through the website. The NEJM seems to have found an elegant solution to this problem.

Try Web 2.0 in Medicine

I have collected RSS feeds and podcasts from the major journals in one-click subscription for iGoogle. Give it a try to see if it works for you:

RSS feeds of the major medical journals -- NEJM, JAMA, BMJ, Lancet and Annals and more

Podcasts of the 4 major journals

References:
Make Your Own "Medical Journal" with iGoogle Personalized Page
Share iGoogle Tabs with Medical Journals, Podcasts and Gadgets
Annals of Internal Medicine Launches Podcast and Audio Summaries

The Pressure is on

We're just over one week away from super duper Tuesday...that's when we vote in Illinois. But that's not the reason I'm feeling pressure. It's coming from my husband.

He's in Hillary's camp.

Yup, after a year of complaining that he didn't want to read Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton in our history books, he decided (as I told him!) that Clinton's politics matched his best out of the bunch. But wait, it's not just that he decided to vote for Clinton, but he's gotten himself on one of those leadership boards where you really work to get out the vote and of course, the money.

We're a funny couple. There are elections where I'm out knocking on doors, calling people, and writing checks. Then the next election he might find a candidate and do the same. Yet we have yet to really get behind one candidate as a couple. That's what he wants to happen now. And I mean NOW!

I have, admittedly, been leaning towards Hillary. But I honestly can't get past Obama's idealism. I want to believe that we can get past all our differences!

I made a semi-frantic call to a long-time friend who is in South Carolina working for Hillary. My main concern with HRC is her moderate stance on so many issues and Bill's signing of the welfare reform bill and Hillary's stumping in favor for it at the time. Also, if you recall after Bill was elected feminist activism went down. The Illinois Pro-Choice Alliance broke up. Memberships at NOW and other orgs went down. We thought we had won and let down our guard. What would happen if we elected a feminist woman to President?

Thankfully I know that my friend, Pat, is far more left than I am. She worked on VAWA legislation when it was a joke. She works hard on welfare reform reform. She wrote me back (I followed up my voicemail with an email) and assured me that in her lefty heart, with all her political knowledge, that Hillary will listen to feminists, that we would have a feminist in the White House.

I think I'm almost there.


Technorati tags: Hillary Clinton, Election 2008, politics, vote

If you ever wondered how to get from "Here" to "There," Google Maps is happy to help

If you ever wondered how to get from Here to There in France, this is the way:


Link and image source: Google Blogoscoped.

Also, and don't forget to make 200 U-turns if you want to get from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

This is nothing compared to what you have to be prepared for if you want to go from Stanford to Stockholm -- Google recommends to "swim across the Atlantic Ocean" (only 3,462 miles).

Most of these technical glitches were fixed by the Google Maps team soon after they were reported by bloggers.

Related:
Google Maps Cartoon from Xkcd.com.

Updated: 08/14/2008

Update on Who Owns Jane?

Way back in August I blogged about a lawsuit between Geena Davis and Dads & Daughters about the ownership of See Jane. Well they have settled the lawsuit and on my birthday! woot! Here is a snippet of the press release:

OSCAR®-winning actress and producer Geena Davis and the charitable organization Dads & Daughters (DADs) today formally announced the transition of the SEE JANE™ program from the Minnesota-based DADs to a new life as an independent, Los Angeles-based nonprofit. In order to have more direct influence in Hollywood, See Jane will now be part of Community Partners, the Los Angeles incubator for growing nonprofit organizations and social entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for building communities.

Ms. Davis and DADs have previously been engaged in litigation over See Jane. However, Ms. Davis has recently withdrawn that litigation and retracted all claims against DADs as well as its President Joe Kelly and former Executive Director Nancy Gruver. Davis said, “I am very grateful for what DADs, Nancy and Joe have done for the See Jane program in bringing it to life, and I have great respect for the integrity and skill of their work.” Davis continued, “This is an exciting and strategic development for See Jane, and I will do everything I can to make See Jane reach its full potential as an independent nonprofit organization.”

Glad that this is settled and both parties can get back to being their kick ass selves.

Technorati tags: feminist, Dads and Daughters, Geena Davis, See Jane, movies

Interesting Journal Articles

Etanercept Treatment for Children and Adolescents with Plaque Psoriasis. NEJM, 01/2008.

Etanercept is a recombinant human soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) receptor fusion protein. Etanercept (Enbrel) reduced disease severity in children and adolescents with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Biomarkers of Inflammation and Thrombosis as Predictors of Near-Term Mortality in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD): A Cohort Study. Annals of Int Med, 01/2008.

Levels of D-dimer and inflammatory markers (serum amyloid A and CRP) are higher 1-2 years before death in patients with PAD. Increasing levels of those biomarkers are independently associated with higher mortality in PAD. This is a mnemonic for the 3 biomarkers included in the study -- CAD: CRP, Amyloid, D-dimer.

A Risk Score for Predicting Near-Term Incidence of Hypertension (HTN): The Framingham Heart Study. Annals of Int Med, 01/2008.

A HTN risk prediction score can be used to estimate an individual's absolute risk for HTN. The risk score can be used as a simple, office-based tool to help management of high-risk individuals with prehypertension.

Review: Update on Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus Infection in Humans. NEJM, 01/2008.

Daily Assessment of Pain in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease. Annals of Int Med, 01/2008.

Pain in adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) seems to be far more prevalent and severe than previous large-scale studies have portrayed.

Review: Update in Palliative Medicine. Annals of Int Med, 01/2008.

A Bridge to Nowhere — The Troubled Trek of Foreign Medical Graduates in Australia. NEJM, 01/2008.

Interactive feature: Management of Type 2 Diabetes. NEJM, 01/2008.

This interactive feature allows readers to decide on the diagnosis or management of a clinical case.

A time efficient way to stay up-to-date with medical literature

"How do you eat in elephant? In small bites." The same rule probably applies to staying current with the ever expanding avalanche of medical literature. One can try the following approach:

1. Subscribe the to the RSS feeds of the 5 major medical journals (NEJM, JAMA, BMJ, Lancet and Annals) plus 2-3 subpecialty journals in your field of interest.


Medical Journals tab: A screenshot of iGoogle with RSS feeds from the major medical journals.

2. Read the journal on the day it is published online, for example, NEJM on Wednesdays.

3. Use text-to-speech to listen to articles you do not have time to read.

4. Listen to journal podcasts. Click here to subscribe the podcasts of the 4 major journals in iGoogle.

Related:
Make Your Own "Medical Journal" with iGoogle Personalized Page
Share iGoogle Tabs with Medical Journals, Podcasts and Gadgets
Annals of Internal Medicine Launches Podcast and Audio Summaries
Text-to-Speech Programs and Continuous Medical Education
Image source: OpenClipArt, public domain.

Abortion isn't men's business or is it?

And that my dear readers comes from the headline for a most wonderful column in today's Sun-Times. Connie Schultz states:

Not long after I started writing this column in the fall of 2002, I lost a friend over abortion.

We had discussed countless issues, professional and personal, over the years. We often did not agree, but that just fed a spirited banter.

Then I wrote a few columns that made clear my support for women's reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion.

First, he sent me an e-mail expressing his "disappointment."

Then he sent another insisting that whenever I wrote about abortion, I sounded "angry," a trait he never had associated with me. I assured him that he was mistaking conviction for rage, and maybe we should agree to disagree.

That's when he started forwarding circulated e-mails that included "testimonials" from women who said they deeply regretted their abortions and had emotional scars that would never heal.

When I assured him that studies consistently show that most women who choose abortion do not suffer long-term psychological distress, he accused me of supporting murder. Before long, he was barely speaking to me.

I was sad to lose a friend, sadder still that he felt so compelled -- and entitled -- to lobby against women's reproductive rights.

I can't say that I've ever lost a friend over the abortion debate. I know that I have dear friends who are anti's, heck I even have one that voted for Alan "I'll run for that!" Keyes against Barak Obama. Despite that fact, I still love the big lug. I guess that with my anti friends, we have an unspoken rule to not talk about abortion. I also am admittedly shy to bring it up to new friends.

Even thou I do want a litmus test for my elected officials and the Supremes (as one grad school professor called the Supreme Court), I don't litmus test my friends. Thankfully after awhile I figure out that most of them are my side of the issue. Unfortunately for them, I end up inviting them to the million events I attend and put them on my donation list.

The other part of Schultz's column is about where men fit into the debate. The LA Times covered the idea that men have abortions too. But those men don't want women to have abortions. Last year Courtney E. Martin opened up a huge can of worms when she said that men too have a place in the abortion debate:

The pro-choice movement, and feminists in general, seem to have historically shied away from the difficult but imperative task of involving men in conversations about abortion. It is understandable that the movement has been weary; no hot-button issue brings out more manipulation than this one. But it is time that feminists' commitment to equality, as well as the quality of both women and men's lives, trumps their fear that acknowledging men's hardships will only serve as fodder for pro-life spin doctors. There must be a way to talk about men's perspectives and experiences without compromising women's bodies.

Yet considering how it is often men who are at the front of opposing our freedom to choose (except when it is media friendly to have the Uncle Tom woman opposing reproductive justice), how are we really to include men? Should we include men so that they have a seat at the table? Welcome in the community? Lead our organizations? The Chicago Planned Parenthood's CEO is a man. I love Steve...he's done some awesome things for Chicago women. I know he's a great guy, but the idea that a man is in charge does make me pause. Same thing for Personal PAC, a pro-choice political action committee.

Here we are in Chicago with two awesome, feminist men in charge of women's reproductive justice issues. Admittedly they are far outnumbered by the women who run or lead other groups. But just as NOW is often looked to for feminist issues, Planned Parenthood is the place to go for reproductive justice issues. On one hand, having the men at the table is nice. It's a diversity thing and reassuring that yes, there are kick ass men in the movement. On the other, well, you know.

So here in Chicago, abortion is men's business - Trombley & Cosgrove for abortion rights and the Sche1dler men on the other side. Good, bad...yes and no. But if I'm going to be in this fight for my rights, my daughter's rights, and mi hermanas derechos, I want all the back up possible. If that includes pro-choice men all the better. The anti-men, well they can jump off the new North Avenue bridge.

Technorati tags: abortion, men

Why Use Web 2.0: An Open Letter to Physicians

Bertalan Meskó explains how academic and private practice physicians can benefit from using Web 2.0 in Open Letter to the Physicians of the World.

He covers what I call the the 6 axes of medical education in Web 2.0 style:

1. Web feeds (RSS)
2. Podcasts
3. Blogs
4. Wikis
5. Custom search engines
6. Second Life virtual world

Bertalan's letter is worth-reading and the University of Debrecen is lucky to have him as a student.

My presentation on Web 2.0 in Medicine from December 2006 is below:



References:
Open Letter to the Physicians of the World. ScienceRoll.com.
Image source: ScienceRoll.com, a Creative Commons license.

Photos from Davos 2008 by Scobleizer

Bono makes Al Gore Laugh. Originally uploaded by Robert Scoble (Creative Commons license).

Robert Scoble has uploaded a lot of interesting photos from the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos to his Flickr account. Check them out when you have a minute or two to spare.

Related:
Putting photos into public domain. Scobleizer, 01/2008.

Updated: 01/31/2008

But wait, there's more Roe!

Yesterday I took a big chance and posted on the Chicago Moms Blog about the Roe anniversary. I say big chance not because I think our readers are all anti's, but just because I felt my post was about moms who have abortions. Somehow I felt it might hit a few bad chords. Of course, I only got positive feedback:

Speaking as someone who currently has a single child (born when I was 35), and had an abortion (at 18), all I can say is that I, personally, found the abortion emotionally difficult, but I suspect nothing like as difficult as knowing a mixed-race (and thus hard to adopt) child of mine was out there in the world somewhere, blood of my blood, sibling to my daughter, growing up under who knows what kind of care. Reading birthmother blogs has made me aware of how incredibly traumatic it can be to give a child up for adoption, how much regret some women feel. Until you make that choice, you don't know how it will affect you. ~ Mary Anne Mohanraj

There seems to be less and less wrong with Kansas. The Wichita Eagle Editorial Department Blog says flatly, " Stop taking pictures of Tiller patients."

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice wants to know how you learned about sex. If you haven't heard of them, believe me, they're cool. So take a second, fill out their survey, and then ask your friends to do the same.

See what other bloggers said on Blog for Choice day. Maybe some of them actually did the assignment and blogged about voting.

You should also, ok, you must check our Alternet's Reproductive Justice & Gender section including Jill Filipovic's 10 Reasons to Support Reproductive Justice Today piece.


Technorati tags: Blog for Choice, abortion, Chicago Moms Blog, RCRC, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, sex, Kansas, Alternet

Orthopedic center calls patients "guests" and offers facials, massages and a filet mignon goodbye-dinner

According to the blog of the major newspaper in Cleveland:

"St. John West Shore Hospital opens a new spine- and orthopedic center Tuesday that offers guests -- they're not calling them patients -- facials, massages and a goodbye-dinner menu that includes filet mignon.

They'll hear about the butler who turns down beds and lays mints on the pillows and the concierge who provides wake-up calls and helps visitors find local restaurants. "This new unit has a hotel-, spa-like atmosphere," Noday-Krager said. "It's a totally different standard of care. It's just really five-star."

Because the amenities are included in the cost of the stay, they're covered by insurance."

Clinical Case: Noncompaction of the Left Ventricle

A 56 yo male came to the ER with progressive dyspnea, epigastric pain and diaphoresis for one week.

What was the cause of his symptoms?


Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy secondary to non-compaction of the left ventricle.

Read more in Noncompaction of the Left Ventricle – A Rare Cause Of Non-ischemic Cardiomyopathy on ClinicalCases.org.

Roe vs. Wade made abortion legal - CAF makes choice happen

In case you didn't pick up yesterday's Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Abortion Fund was on the front page!

Roe vs. Wade made abortion legal; Chicago Abortion Fund helps poor pay for services
35 years after Roe, group uses old spirit to get service for all

In Cook County, Stroger Hospital performs first-trimester abortions on a sliding-fee scale, but many women say they can't get through the red tape to obtain a timely appointment.

"Abortion is legal," said Gaylon Alcaraz, director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, "but low-income women still can't access it."

So, like the women of an earlier generation who ran underground networks to connect women with illegal abortion services, people like Ortiz and Alcaraz are doing what they can to help out.

Their fund provides vouchers that are accepted by local abortion providers. The woman whose daughter was in trouble got a $320 voucher to help pay for a second-trimester abortion that cost $770.

"We issued nine vouchers that day totaling $1,650," Ortiz said.

The Chicago Abortion Fund, founded in 1985 by a coalition of women's organizations, is one of 104 similar groups affiliated with the National Network of Abortion Funds.

Read the entire article online. And if you missed the hard copy, you missed some awesome photos. Hopefully I can scan them later this week.

And to support the Chicago Abortion Fund, shop at Women and Children First this month or head over to our website and donate.

Technorati tags: Blog for Choice, pro-choice, Roe v. Wade, abortion, reproductive justice

Blog for Choice Day 2008

Is it any different a day at Viva La Feminista? Nope. Just as the other 365 days of this year, we'll talk about freedom, justice, and abortion. But in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Roe decision, I finally saw "Juno" and in time to celebrate Ellen Page's Oscar nod and the picture's nomination for movie of the year.

A lot has been blogged about, op-ed'd about, and talked about this movie and whether or not is is pro-choice, anti-choice, or a very flawed fairy tale. Now that I finally saw the most talked about movie this season, I can weight in.

I think most of you are wrong. Spoilers ahead!

1. Yes, Juno chose to carry her pregnancy to term. This does not mean that she (or Diablo) made some pro-life statement. She was a scared kid in a clinic alone and the only information she seemed to listen to was a fellow classmate's note about finger nails. Which show up around 16 weeks not the 10-12 weeks Juno was at the time of her abortion appointment. I think that scene showed a scared kid, plain and simple. Her friend, Leah, talked nonchalantly about another friend's abortion during their phone call. But at the bottom of this scene is the idea, myth, that if you are pro-choice, you show an abortion. I know, I know, I wish more movies showed then as often as a miscarriage, but let's not get all pro-abortion just to be pro-choice.
   
2. The abortion clinic's receptionist wasn't any more rude than I've seen at the local ER or my doctor's office. Sure, I don't see pierced women at those places nor do they tell me about their blueberry pie boyfriend parts, but to compare the office to a tattoo parlor? Come on now. I've been in a few (no tats, yet) and they are far more friendly & clean than the office shown. Think brighter lights folks.
   
3. As someone who volunteered in a Planned Parenthood clinic, I know if any of the receptionists or myself welcomed a patient in that manner, we'd be out on our butts. Diablo Cody might had been going for quirky, instead she did women's health clinics a huge disservice.
   
4. The idea that this movie is pro-life is such an indictment on the conservative movement. Again, they close their eyes & ears to the rest of the movie and focus ONLY on the fact that Juno carried the pregnancy to term. They ignored Juno's step-moms' ripping of the ultrasound tech (score point for teenage moms), the teacher-lust exhibited by Leah, and the fact that Vanessa ends up a single mom when Mark leaves her and their expected baby. This movie would not be in my list of pro-life movies if I were running the other side.
   

As to the idea that this is a fairy tale. It think in some ways it is. But it also minimizes the bounce back of teenagers. Did we want a movie where Juno is depressed for years because she gave up her baby for adoption? Do we want her to suffer in some way? Why can't she be happy with her closed adoption and move on with her life? I've said it many times, I could never give up a baby for adoption, but if I did, it would be so closed, I might change my name. I'm just not strong enough to handle my child walking back into my life 15-30 years later. Selfish? Sure. I've seen teenage moms hand off their kids to their moms to raise and hit the club a few weeks later, checking in only to play mom for a few moments. Is this how we wanted Juno to end? I've also seen teenage moms who turn out to be some awesome moms.

In the end, it was fairy tale-ish that she figures out that she was in love with her boyfriend. But remember that his mom hated her. I know how that feels, what the looks like, and it ain't a fairy tale.

As we go out and celebrate 35 years of Roe, remember that what she stands for is that ideally we should all be able to choose to be a mom, relinquish a child, or terminate a pregnancy. In my head, it's all pro-choice...as long as it is done with full knowledge, support, and the economics that backs it all up.

Technorati tags: Blog for Choice, pro-choice, Roe v. Wade, abortion, reproductive justice

Open Letter from American Feminists

This is why assuming that the women's movement or feminism in general is a monolith.

In response to on-going criticism by the right wing that feminists don't care about international women issues, Nation columnist Katha Pollitt wrote an open letter to the media & naysayers. I know what pushed her because I feel it too. Despite being an active member of NOW, I would never say that NOW speaks for all women and never for all feminists. I've met some really awesome feminists who say that NOW is too conservative for them. Again, I see their point. Yet, I stay working on some issues with them. For others, I go to other orgs as I feel that they just do a better job or need an infusion of feminism into their work. As a Latina, I am concerned about the zillion things wrong in this country that matter to me and fellow Latinas, the insanity that happens in Mexico and our motherlands, as well as with other women in far more oppressed nations than the USA. Thus to hear or read anyone claiming that American Feminists don't care about women in Afghanistan really pisses me off. As it does Katha.

That's why when she wrote me and asked me to sign on to her letter, I didn't hesitate. I could have picked it apart like La Chola did (and did quite well, BTW), but I was too pissed to honestly care that some of things are hypocritical. I am pissed that the media and conservatives want to paint all feminists with a broad stroke that we don't care what happens outside our borders.

And I come back to my original point. Feminists are not the same. Some of us are more conservative. Some of us are far more radical. Some of us really don't care about much of anything other than masking our terrible choices as just that - our choice.

Despite the fact that my name isn't shiny enough for the small list that the Nation lists, it's there. And it will stay there. I want naysayers to know that we do care about more than stupid Target ads or 'our choice' to be strippers.

With that, I will push my fellow feminists to rethink the way we, Western feminists, head out into the other part of the world to help our sisters in need. Do we offer then a hand or do we tell them what to do? Do we provide safety as they attend school or do we make deals with their oppressors to ensure a "larger peace?" And I hope that La Chola and others will continue to push other feminists and myself to think far outside any box. Because darling, feminism cannot be contained.

Technorati tags: feminist, Katha Pollitt, women of color, feminists of color

Feminista Notes

I'm cuddled on the couch watching the Packers - Giants, helping the daughter learn how to spell colors, and trying to catch up with email & blogs. Here are some quick stories for your reading pleasure:

• The NOW Foundation is launching an oral history project. I implore you, if you are a feminist who wouldn't be stopped at a convention with, "Hey, aren't you [fill in your name]?" but you have obviously done some kick ass feminist things, please submit your story. Super stars take too much of the limelight. So get your name or your friend's name in there. Cause we all know that sometimes our friends need a kick in the butt to accept the recognition they deserve. And believe me, I know that fact far too well.
  
• NOW Executive Vice-President Olga Vives "visited the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is holding about 140 women on illegal immigration charges. Most come from Latin America, although there are some from Viet Nam, Cambodia and the Caribbean Islands." The anti-feminist movement would like to paint NOW and the entire feminist movement as sitting on our hands when it comes to international women's issues and immigration reform. Well, we're not. So suck it.
  
• And for my Northern friends...the Canadian Feminist Blog Awards:
  

  Hosted by A Creative Revolution
  
  Nominations graciously accepted from January 25 to February 8
  First voting/elimination round: February 15 - 16
  Final Vote: February 22 - 23
  Winners announced February 24

  For more information, click here.

Oh yeah...it's also freaking cold here.

Technorati tags: NOW, National Organization for Women, feminism, ICE, immigration, Canada

What Do You Call a "Medical Library" in 2008? "Information Commons"

John D. Halamka of the blog Life as a Healthcare CIO shares some interesting ideas:

"In my CIO role at Beth Israel Deaconess, I oversee the medical libraries. In the past, Libraries were "clean, well lighted places for books". With the advent of Web 2.0 collaboration tools, blogging, content management portals, lulu.com on demand publishing, and digital journals, it is clear that libraries of paper books are becoming less relevant.

The end result is that the Medical Library has been renamed the Information Commons and the Department of Medical Libraries has been retitled the Department of Knowledge Services. Librarians are now called Information Specialists."

Way of the future.

Google is scanning books in such a fervor that you can see the fingers of the overworked human scanners in quite a lot of digital copies on Google Books. In the 21st century, paper is converted to digital medium via manual labor.


Hand Scanned in Google Book Search. Image source: Google Blogoscoped, a Creative Commons license.


My Interview With Google Discussing Google Book Search. The Efficient MD.

References:
Knowledge Navigators Combat Information Overload. Life as a Healthcare CIO.
Hand Scanned in Google Book Search. Google Blogoscoped.
Google Books Adds Hand Scans. Tech Crunch.

Related:
What Do You Call A Medical Library. The Krafty Librarian.
NPR: “Who Needs Libraries?” (aidio), 01/2008.

Updated: 02/28/2008

Why Do I Blog?

A few answers are below:

I'm a Finalist by Dr. Wes.

Why I blog by Kevin, M.D.

Why do I blog?

This blog is a type of educational portfolio. I also use it during my teaching months to make a list of the topics discussed during the rotation with the residents and get feedback. And last but not least, this is the "blog of ClinicalCases.org with medical, tech and other interesting stories."

Currently, there are more than 2,000 subscribers via RSS and more than 1,000 daily website visitors but even if nobody reads it, I will still keep the blog up. Why? Because I have found that writing a blog can be useful, educational, entertaining and time-efficient. It creates your own section of the web that you own and trust. It also creates a relationship with some of the smartest people around the world that you would probably have never had the chance to meet otherwise. If you do not have a blog yet, may be you should consider starting one. The 2 easiest and free options are Blogger.com by Google and WordPress.com.

There are many downsides of having a blog, of course. But just like with any useful treatment, the benefits outweigh the risks for most people. I am not sure what is the "number needed to treat (NNT)," though...


This Google video shows that it takes 2 minutes to start a blog on Blogger.com. Creating a web site has never been easier.

From Twitter:

	AllergyNotes "Blogging keeps your mind sharp, improves your writing, brings you closer to intellectual people" http://tinyurl.com/9tuban 2 minutes ago from web
	AllergyNotes Blogging: A book that you write slowly over time http://tinyurl.com/9tuban 3 minutes ago from web
	AllergyNotes Blogging Is Like Going To The Gym… For Your Brain http://tinyurl.com/9tuban 3 minutes ago from web

Related reading:

"One of the best decisions I’ve made in my career was to start a blog and a wiki, leaving a paper trail of ideas" http://bit.ly/GX7Z6C
How To Use Your Blog To Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever! LifeHack.org.
Using a Blog to Build an Educational Portfolio. Clinical Cases and Images - Blog.
Topics Discussed During the Internal Medicine Rotation at Cleveland Clinic in October/November 2007. Clinical Cases and Images - Blog.
Blogging Is Like Going To The Gym... For Your Brain. Adam Singer, The Future Buzz, 01/2009.
Why Blog? Smartzville, 2009.

Why I blog? Life in the fast lane, 2010.

As A Busy Physician, Why Do I Even Bother Blogging? http://goo.gl/fSF3 - Excellent summary.
Why blog? Notes from Dr. RW. A perfectly reasonable list. All doctors should consider blogging. It's do-it-yourself CME.
Beautiful example of how blogs can disseminate medical information much more efficiently than journals, NEJM included (http://goo.gl/rOvNq).

When I was your age...I was the slacker!

Wednesday I got a call from a student who had a huge favor to ask - Would I sit on a panel about new leadership and talk about leadership from a Latina perspective? She was super cute in that she went on for a few seconds about how much I rocked. Aw, shucks...I like the sound of my voice, I don't need flattery. ;-) So 45 minutes later (it wasn't her fault she called so late) I was at the panel.

One question really stood out for me. The moderator asked if today's youth was ready for leadership. The panel was made up of 2 Gen Xers and 5-6 Millennials. Guess who slammed the Millennials and current high school students for being slackers? The Millennials.

Which is why I laughed my ass off when I read the headline in the NYTimes about Millennials not being as narcissistic as the general population (aka MSM) portrays them. Courtney at Feministing did a great job defending her generation:

Is it really us, people, or might it just be a little bit about you? Are older folks projecting their own unmet needs on an entire generation? Now that's narcissism.

After 2- 3 students talked about seeing their fellow Millennials wrapped up in wanting to be rappers or too worried about Britney than the state of the world, I ahemed and spoke up. A few Gen Xers chuckled and smiled at me when I said, "I'm 33, I'm a Gen Xer. We redefined slacker and apathy. Your generation is redefining it again and every generation redefines it. Bottomline, everyone thinks the youth are slackers and I don't buy it." I went on to rant on about how high schoolers took on A&F, how it's not too late for political awareness to occur in college (yes, the students thought if someone isn't a leader or aware by college, forget it.), and how sometimes women don't get feminism until they are in the workplace and runs right into a glass wall/ceiling.
How in the world are today's youth turning on each other?

Simple. It was an excellent showcase of how today's youth aren't monolithic. Damn, I wish I had thought of that yesterday! We'll always have slackers, we'll always have apathetic citizens, but when we buy into those stereotypes on such a wide scale as an entire generation, we're doing a huge disservice to those who are leaders, who run effective GOTV campaigns for candidates (there was a 17yo doing this last year on a campaign I volunteered for), or are working part-time, going to college full-time, and still contributing to the family income. Which a lot of the students who roam the campus I work on are doing.

I did it too in high school & college. Turned my nose at "those kids" who didn't give a crap about recycling or mocked my animal rights mantra. Some of them seemed to have grown out of that pre-hipster stage. Some just grew into big hipsters who still mock, yet do care...when no one's watching.

Each generation will be vastly different and yet so similar. Heck, I'm only 33 and I'm already sitting back watching my generation pick apart the Millennials.

But seriously, can you get anymore slacker than wearing ripped up jeans & flannels each day? At least Millennials seem to shower each day. I couldn't say that for most of my graduating class.

Technorati tags: Feministing, slacker, generations, millenials

So, do you, like, eat rice & beans at each meal?

Laila Halaby at Beacon Broadside has a kick ass post about how to ask people about their cultural/ethnic backgrounds & practices. Read it. Pass it on. And maybe slip it onto the desk of that person who always asks you dumb questions about being [fill in the blank]. JFTR - I'm going to use this list too. We're all others.

Here's my favorite one:

Rule Two: Ask yourself a few questions: Do I want the answer to this question or am I looking for an opportunity to share my own agenda? Would I be prepared to offer equally candid information about my own cultural, ethnic, and religious practices? How would I feel if this person asked me the same question, except instead of Arab or Muslim, it was about Black or Caucasian or Latino or Baptist or Hindu or Jew or Asian?

Technorati tags: race, culture, ethnicity

Is Açaí the Next "Superfood"?

Açaí Palm (pronounced [asaˈi]) grows in tropical Central and South America. Its fruit is a small, round, black-purple drupe, similar in appearance and size to a grape and supposedly contains 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes and 10-30 times the anthocyanins of red wine.

Dr. Perricone's calls Açaí superfood No. 1 on Oprah Winfrey's website. There are few studies in the peer-reviewed literature which seem to confirm the high antioxidant content of the berries.

The anonymous author of the Happy Hospitalist blog have tried taking Acai-based juice for 4 weeks and seems very happy with the result (or may be he was happy to begin with it?).

A colleague of mine was intrigued and took "Standardized Açaí, 60 Vcaps" by Nature's Way for 2 weeks but he did not report any significant difference. For now, I will stick to my cup of green tea in the morning.

References:
Mona Vie Diary Week 4. The Happy Hospitalist.
Superfood No. 1: Açaí. Nature's Energy Fruit. Oprah.com.
Açaí Palm from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.