"The Parallax Effect of Long Hair" - Ian Gillan's talk

"The Parallax Effect of Long Hair" is a talk by Ian Gillian, Singer & Song writer with Deep Purple, given at The ICD Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy 2012 (Berlin, December 13th - 16th, 2012), The Power of the Arts and Culture to Promote Democracy and Global Peace:



Here is the back story, explained by Gillan: The Magic Bus http://www.gillan.com/anecdotage-45.html

Here, Gillan briefly reflects on the talk:

"When the director asked for the title and a copy of the speech I told him it would be entitled 'The Parallax Effect on Long Hair' and that it would be off the cuff, so to speak.

Basically it's about perception or how things are viewed differently, depending on where you're standing.

I was a little nervous to start with as it was unscripted and I'd never spoken publicly before, apart from the usual gibberish delivered on stage each night with DP before being gloriously interrupted by a drumist not known for his patience. But I did enjoy it and may do another, one day."

References:

ICD Mediacenter | Selection http://bit.ly/USLnf9
Gillan.com http://bit.ly/16diIEH

Why would a person have pink sweat (chromhidrosis)?

Pink sweat is typically due to chromhidrosis (colored sweat).

What is chromhidrosis?

Chromhidrosis is a rare condition characterized by the secretion of colored sweat. Approximately 10% of normal people have colored sweat (without chromhidrosis).

Two glands produce sweat:

- Eccrine glands secrete a clear, odorless fluid that regulates body temperature.

- Apocrine glands secrete a thick, milky sweat that, once broken down by bacteria, is the main cause of body odor (smell).

Which glands are responsible for chromhidrosis?

- Chromhidrosis is caused mainly by the apocrine glands. They are located in the genital, axillary, areolar, and facial skin. Chromhidrosis is reported only on the face, axillae, and breast areola.

- Eccrine chromhidrosis is rare and occurs with ingestion of certain dyes or drugs.

- Pseudochromhidrosis occurs when clear eccrine sweat becomes colored on the surface of the skin as a result of extrinsic dyes, paints, or chromogenic bacteria.

What is the pigment in chromhidrosis?

Lipofuscin is a yellowish brown pigment that is responsible for the colored sweat. Lipofuscin is produced in the apocrine glands, and its various oxidative states account for the characteristic yellow, green, blue, or black secretions in chromhidrosis.

Are any lab tests indicated?

No laboratory abnormalities are typically found in apocrine chromhidrosis. The following test may help to rule out other causes:

- complete blood cell count (CBC) to exclude bleeding diathesis
- urinary homogentisic acid levels to exclude alkaptonuria
- fungal and bacterial cultures to exclude infectious causes of pseudochromhidrosis

How to treat chromhidrosis?

Apocrine chromhidrosis has no cure. Patients can manually or pharmacologically empty the glands to remove the color for 48-72 hours (until the glands replenish the pigment).

Botox® injections have been attempted in chromhidrosis, with mixed results. Botox is predominantly used to decrease eccrine sweat in persons with hyperhidrosis.

Capsaicin cream (alkaloid found in chilly peppers) also can help.

References:

Chromhidrosis - Medscape http://bit.ly/UmhTXU
Facial and axillary apocrine chromhidrosis http://bit.ly/UmhV1Q
Treating Chromhidrosis - Discovery Health http://bit.ly/UmhVPE
Image source: Sweat, Shaylor's photostream, Creative Commons license. The image is not related and does not show a patient.

Comments from Twitter:

Laura VR Bertotto @LauraAtVMV: Botox has worked well for hyperhydrosis. This is interesting.

Dr. Claudia Aguirre @doctorclaudia: Interesting.

"Six hours sleep for a man, seven for a woman and eight for a fool". Was Napoleon right?

New ideas in chronobiology - Dr. Dieter Kunz of the Charité Hospital in Berlin talks about some of the latest ideas in chronobiology, and to what extent they do - and don't - affect our daily lives:



From the TV program Tomorrow Today | DW.DE http://bit.ly/USMQlx

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

What is seasonal affective disorder?

Seasonal affective disorder is a combination of biologic and mood disturbances with a seasonal pattern. It typically occurs in the autumn (fall) and winter, with remission in the spring or summer.

How common is seasonal affective disorder?

5% of the U.S. population experiences seasonal affective disorder. Because the symptoms are seasonal, they are present for 40% of the year. Although the condition is seasonally limited, patients may have associated depression which would last longer.

What is the treatment for seasonal affective disorder?

Light therapy is well tolerated. Most patients improve within 1-2 weeks. To avoid relapse, light therapy should continue through the end of the winter season until spontaneous remission of symptoms in the spring or summer.

Antidepressant medications and cognitive behavior therapy are as effective as light therapy.

How to prevent seasonal affective disorder?

Light treatment may be used as prophylaxis before the subsequent autumn and winter seasons.

There are many devices available on Amazon, for example:



References:

Seasonal affective disorder. Kurlansik SL, Ibay AD. Am Family Physician, Dec 2012.
Image sources: Record breaking snowfall March 2008 at Aubrey, Texas, Wikipedia, public domain

Producing one T-shirt takes 2,700 liters of water = enough for one man to drink for 900 days

How Your T-Shirt Can Make a Difference - National Geographic: Did you know that the t-shirt on your back has a major impact on the planet? Producing it took 2,700 liters of water, plus it takes a lot of energy to get it from the cotton fields to your closet. But some of your t-shirt's biggest impacts are in how you care for it. Here's how you can help reduce its effect on the environment.

Top medicine articles for December 2012-January 2013

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for December 2012-January 2013:

Among former Olympic athletes, engagement in disciplines with high intensity exercise did not bring a survival benefit http://buff.ly/UmY9Ur

Non-benzodiazepine hypnotics (Z drugs - eszopiclone, zaleplon, zolpidem) are effective for treatment of adult insomnia http://buff.ly/UZC1g9

Bringing surgical history to life | BMJ http://buff.ly/UZCeQC -- Things change fast in surgery. Within a single generation, ways of operating that had been stable for decades have been overturned. New drugs have revolutionized what were once “surgical” conditions, and minimally invasive procedures have driven many “open” operations to the verge of extinction.

Dabigatran Shouldn't Be Used in Patients with Mechanical Heart Valves http://buff.ly/UmXToo

Confront medical errors - The University of Michigan Health System pioneered the three principle approach of “disclose, apologize, offer” more than a decade ago. http://buff.ly/UZDeV0

One Question That Changed the Cleveland Clinic Organization:
"How do you teach empathy?" CEO explains: http://buff.ly/V1ntgi

Too Young to Have a Heart Attack, at 48 - NYTimes http://buff.ly/UvpYKd

The Perils of Yoga for Men - torn muscles, damaged ligaments, dislocated joints, broken bones http://buff.ly/UwxhBp

Doctor Sued for Following a 'Do Not Resuscitate Order (found not liable by the jury) http://buff.ly/UZzYZH

Consequence of prescription-pain-pill epidemic: babies born dependent on drugs such as oxycodone http://buff.ly/V80BvE

50% of new experimental treatments prove to be better than established treatments, but few are much better http://buff.ly/PLDqJt

Exercise Minutes Per Week as a Vital Sign? http://buff.ly/11aAHxp

Asleep at the Wheel: 'Drowsy Driving' affects 4% of survey responders http://buff.ly/11aAQRg

Some U.S. Few Medical Schools Now Offering 3-Year Degrees http://buff.ly/WrCSoC

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

Top Foods for Longevity (video)

This video from About.com will go over some of "the top foods to eat or longevity."



There are some other useful videos from About.com YouTube channel neatly arranged in playlists: http://bit.ly/VU8nbZ

Here is a related playlist: Super Foods http://bit.ly/VILPLc

Interesting Correlation: Fast Food Founders and Longevity

By the way, Jay Parkinson noted an interesting correlation between Fast Food Founders and Longevity:

- Ray Kroc (McDonald’s) died at age 82
- Jimmy Dean died at age 81
- Taco Bell founder Glen Bell died at 86
- Sonic founder Troy Smith died at 87
- Hardee’s founder Wilber Hardee died at 89
- Baskin-Robbins founder Irvine Robbins died at 90
- Carl’s Jr. founder Carl Karcher died at 90
- Frozen french fry mogul J.R. Simplot died at 99
- Murray Handwerker, credited with making Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs into a well-known national chain, died at 89

Standard American Diet (Yes, it’s SAD)

The average American consumes 45 gallons of soft drinks annually. This does not include noncarbonated sweetened beverages, which add up 17 gallons a person per year. Chips and Coke are a common breakfast.

Cheap fast food is "enticing people to eat more because they think they're saving money when they're really buying heart disease", says Jillian Michaels.

We can do better

One step is to grow your own vegetables, even on a small scale. Chicago is already doing that. See for yourself: How Google Earth Revealed Chicago's Hidden Farms - NPR http://n.pr/VU8NyO

There are some helpful Tools for Your Food Revolution - Wolfram|Alpha Lets You Compare Nutritional Value of Foods.

See the passion of an urban gardener here, at 3:33 min: http://bit.ly/RZfWSD

The whole video is here:



The Grow video series by Whole Foods has at least 7 episodes - you can search for them on YouTube: http://bit.ly/RZgaJu

NYT weekly column: Life, Interrupted: Facing Cancer in Your 20s

Suleika Jaouad, a writer and recent college graduate, is chronicling her experiences as a young adult with cancer in a weekly column for the NYTimes: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/author/suleika-jaouad

Best of Medical Blogs - weekly review and blog carnival

The “Best of Medical Blogs - weekly review and blog carnival” is a weekly summary of the best posts from medical blogs. Please email your suggestions for inclusion to clinicalcases@gmail.com. Best of Medical Blogs (BMB) is published every Tuesday, just like the old Grand Rounds.

The #FOAMed revolution (Free Open Access Medical education)

From Mike Cadogan: "The net effect of #FOAM has taken me quite by surprise. Despite a complete lack of evidence, peer review, mission statements OR Big Pharma backing – the FOAMed revolution continues to infiltrate the psyche of the everyday healthcare professional. The ability to intelligently review, discuss and develop hypotheses, guidelines and issues; the sense of community; the sense of rebellious augmented learning and the joy of independence is rife…and contagious.

There are now an amazing 180 emergency medicine and critical care blogs. Bloggers write from 21 different countries. GMEP – ‘the Facebook of Medicine’ has just welcomed it’s 800th new member, 2 weeks after launch." http://buff.ly/12lzWzs

To become a great diagnostician – unleash your inner Columbo

"Lt. Columbo: You have to forgive me, it's not me, it's my mind, it's very slow, and I have to pin everything down" -- "Obsess over the details. Make the correct diagnosis as correct diagnoses make treatment success more likely." http://buff.ly/UwIoKH

Life as a Healthcare CIO: Naming the animals is one of the great pleasures of life on the farm. Every day when I'm moving hay, filling water, and shoveling manure, I can address everyone by name, wishing them good morning or offering words of encouragement. http://buff.ly/UYQcSE

Burnout is rampant among doctors: high rates of divorce, substance abuse, highest suicide rate of any profession. What to do? http://buff.ly/ZfpoTH

Why depression has made me a better doctor - by Dr. Ronan Kavanagh http://bit.ly/VPtlbZ

What does renal denervation mean for the future? The nephrologist Joel Topf from the blog Precious Bodily Fluids summarizes the findings: http://bit.ly/Vhciz5

10 Tips For Med Students Going Into Emergency Medicine - Adventures in Emergency Medicine http://buff.ly/12khQxK

Dr. Wes: My Grand, Sweeping Cardiovascular Predictions for 2013 http://bit.ly/VCfi8x

Mindfulness Meditation: Helping Doctors in Training Find Calm http://buff.ly/12qQfv1

Age-related macular degeneration - 2012 Lancet review

From the The Lancet:

Age-related macular degeneration is a major cause of blindness worldwide. With ageing populations in many countries, more than 20% might have the disorder.

Advanced age-related macular degeneration is associated with progressive visual impairment. It includes two subtypes:

- neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet)
- geographic atrophy (late dry) macular degeneration

What are the risk factors for macular degeneration?

Major risk factors include:

- cigarette smoking
- nutritional factors
- cardiovascular diseases
- genetic markers, including genes regulating complement, lipid, angiogenic, and extracellular matrix pathways

How to diagnose macular degeneration?

Accurate diagnosis combines clinical examination and investigations including:

- retinal photography
- angiography
- optical coherence tomography

What is the treatment for macular degeneration?

Dietary anti-oxidant supplementation slows progression of the disease.

Treatment for neovascular age-related (wet) macular degeneration includes intraocular injections of anti-VEGF agents. The two commonly used anti-VEGF therapies, ranibizumab and bevacizumab, have similar efficacy.

Future treatments include inhibition of other angiogenic factors, and regenerative and topical therapies.

References:

Age-related macular degeneration. The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9827, Pages 1728 - 1738, 5 May 2012.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Vaccination: A Key Piece of the Puzzle (CDC videos)

Vaccination: A Key Piece of the Puzzle. Nothing protects babies better from more than 14 serious diseases by age 2.



Babies are on the move-- visiting grocery stores, playgrounds and other places with their parents and caregivers. As they come into contact with others, babies can be exposed to serious diseases, like measles and whooping cough:



The Immunization Baby Book: Flipping through this baby book, you can learn what vaccines babies need, when they're needed, and why it's so important to follow CDC's recommended immunization schedule.



For more information about vaccines, visit http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents

Healthcare social media #HCSM - top articles

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles related to healthcare social media (#HCSM) for the past 2-3 weeks:

Blogging about chronic pain and illness may decrease a sense of isolation http://buff.ly/QWMA0D

UK official sparks anger by advising users to give fake details to social media websites to protect their security http://buff.ly/R1hfdp

Social Media for Scientists: A lecture http://buff.ly/RMGFNt

Older patients join crowd consulting "Dr. Internet" http://buff.ly/PNeD7Y

Social media is a great way to connect with others at scientific meeting and share your personal experiences http://buff.ly/Sb2h8S

How doctors on social media are changing the face of medicine - Twitter takes the debate worldwide http://buff.ly/PSRmBv

Social Media in Healthcare: 5 Best Practice Examples http://buff.ly/RMJzSe

Crowdsourcing Gout (with tweets) - RonanTKavanagh: This is why I love learning on Twitter. New drug, limited experience and 4 rheumatologists chipping in: http://buff.ly/RMK7HS

The very idea of blogs as a separate-and-distinct entity has pretty much gone away. But that’s a good thing. http://buff.ly/RMLTZE

The Best Learning Management Systems http://bit.ly/Rq5PBS

The 7 Best Places For Online Education http://bit.ly/SPsV4y

Social media topics during the 2013 AAAAI Annual Meeting (February 22 - 26): http://buff.ly/PQBEqz

Online Tools for Academics at Conferences http://buff.ly/SPVods

Medicine, morality and health care social media - by the director of Mayo Clinic #HCSM center http://buff.ly/SRQqdE

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 an acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.

This year, pick just ONE resolution that will make you happier

From Christine Carter, Ph.D. who blogs at Raising Happiness:

"This year, pick just one resolution that research shows will make you happier:

1. Spend more time with friends

2. Everyday, find a way to give something to somebody. My favorite happiness booster is to give thanks

3. Get more sleep and exercise"

Here is a simple book on the topic that I like:



References:

3 New Year’s Resolutions that Will Make You Happier | Greater Good