Munchausen's syndrome - NHS video

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From the NHS Choices YouTube channel: A psychiatrist explains the motivation behind Munchausen's syndrome, also known as factitious illness, where someone pretends to be ill or causes symptoms in themselves. This can include inflicting wounds or tampering with blood and urine samples. He also explains the importance of getting treatment and describes another form of the condition where a person fabricates an illness in someone in their care (Munchausen's syndrome by proxy):



Comments from Twitter:

Julie Meadows-Keefe @esq140: Fascinatingly & disturbingly real.

Munchausen's syndrome - NHS video

To contact us Click HERE
From the NHS Choices YouTube channel: A psychiatrist explains the motivation behind Munchausen's syndrome, also known as factitious illness, where someone pretends to be ill or causes symptoms in themselves. This can include inflicting wounds or tampering with blood and urine samples. He also explains the importance of getting treatment and describes another form of the condition where a person fabricates an illness in someone in their care (Munchausen's syndrome by proxy):



Comments from Twitter:

Julie Meadows-Keefe @esq140: Fascinatingly & disturbingly real.

How Do Pain Relievers Work? TED-Education video

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From TED Education series, Jun 26, 2012: Some people take aspirin or ibuprofen to treat everyday aches and pains, but how exactly do the different classes of pain relievers work? Learn about the basic physiology of how humans experience pain, and the mechanics of the medicines we've invented to block or circumvent that discomfort.



Lesson by George Zaidan, animated by Augenblick Studios.

Munchausen's syndrome - NHS video

To contact us Click HERE
From the NHS Choices YouTube channel: A psychiatrist explains the motivation behind Munchausen's syndrome, also known as factitious illness, where someone pretends to be ill or causes symptoms in themselves. This can include inflicting wounds or tampering with blood and urine samples. He also explains the importance of getting treatment and describes another form of the condition where a person fabricates an illness in someone in their care (Munchausen's syndrome by proxy):



Comments from Twitter:

Julie Meadows-Keefe @esq140: Fascinatingly & disturbingly real.

Munchausen's syndrome - NHS video

To contact us Click HERE
From the NHS Choices YouTube channel: A psychiatrist explains the motivation behind Munchausen's syndrome, also known as factitious illness, where someone pretends to be ill or causes symptoms in themselves. This can include inflicting wounds or tampering with blood and urine samples. He also explains the importance of getting treatment and describes another form of the condition where a person fabricates an illness in someone in their care (Munchausen's syndrome by proxy):



Comments from Twitter:

Julie Meadows-Keefe @esq140: Fascinatingly & disturbingly real.

Top medicine articles for July-August 2012

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Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for July-August 2012:

Where are you on the global fat scale? BBC calculator: http://goo.gl/ZnI6D

Drug cheating at the Olympics: who, what, and why? 7% of elite athletes admitted to doping ~ 1000 people at each Games http://bit.ly/Mcc1bz

Risk of pneumonia decreased with use of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors - BMJ meta-analysis http://goo.gl/dE9Ks

One Doctor’s Prescription to Avoid Social Media Overload http://goo.gl/bdtPU

Cents and Sensitivity - Teaching Physicians to Think about Costs - NEJM http://goo.gl/aUQE3

How fat is fat? The Lancet compares CTs with visceral fat vs. subcutaneous fat deposits http://goo.gl/iO9sa

Increasing contraceptive use in developing countries has cut the number of maternal deaths by 40% - The Lancet http://goo.gl/hHjIO

Qsymia is the second new drug for obesity approved by the FDA in the last month, after Belviq http://goo.gl/wCqi7

Mass General knocks Johns Hopkins out of the top hospital spot it's held for 21 years, while at the same time Cleveland Clinic is closing in on Mayo Clinic - U.S. News & World Report's 2012 list of the best U.S. hospitals http://goo.gl/URpei

Feedback of DNA based risk assessments does not motivate behaviour change - BMJ http://goo.gl/3HaRy

The articles were selected from my Twitter and Google Reader streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases@gmail.com and you will receive acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.

Only 60% of the eligible U.S. population gets screened for colon cancer

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Only 61% of the eligible population in the USA gets screened for this common cancer, according to The Lancet.

Here are some excerpts from the new guidance for colorectal cancer screening by the American College of Physicians (ACP):

- colorectal cancer screening should start at the age of 50 years for people at average risk, and at 40 years (or 10 years before the age of the youngest case of colorectal cancer in a family) for people at high risk

- stool-based tests, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and optical colonoscopy are all acceptable screening options for people at average risk

- the gold standard—optical colonoscopy—is recommended for people at high risk

- screening should be stopped for adults aged over 75 years or who have a life expectancy of less than 10 years

Colorectal cancer screening can lead to harmful outcomes such as perforation, bleeding, and false-negative results.

10 Questions You Need to Ask About Colonoscopy

From The NYTimes:

1. Why is effective bowel preparation important?
2. How can I maximize my chance of an effective bowel preparation?
3. Are there certain medications I should stop taking before colonoscopy?
4. Are all colonoscopists equally effective at finding polyps and cancers during colonoscopy?
5. How can I be sure that my colonoscopist will do a careful examination?
6. How can I reduce the risk of a complication during colonoscopy?
7. Should I try colonoscopy without sedation?
8. If I undergo sedation, should it be given by an anesthesiologist?
9. Do all colonoscopists follow the same rules to determine when my colonoscopy should be repeated?
10. Why aren’t the problems with the delivery of colonoscopy already solved?

Questions # 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 are very important, question # 10 probably not so much.

17% of U.S. hospitals now provide virtual colonoscopy


Medicare does not currently reimburse routine screening with virtual colonoscopy, but it does cover evaluations with "regular" colonoscopy.

References:

New guidance for colorectal cancer screening. The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9820, Page 978, 17 March 2012.
Virtual Colonoscopy Gains in Popularity. Is It Right for You? TIME.
Colonoscopy Developer Dies at 94 - NYTimes http://goo.gl/iBnOp - Dr. Wolff was unconventional and surely made headlines in his day.
When President Obama underwent his first-ever colon cancer screening last year, he chose virtual colonoscopy. USA Today.
Cleveland Clinic Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool. Get your score in 2 minutes (free).
Image source: Colon (anatomy), Wikipedia, public domain.