Rethink Breast Cancer: Your Man Reminder

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A very interesting video was posted to YoutTube last week to help raise awareness for breast cancer. Several shirtless young men appear to show how to check for lumps in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness for younger women. This is a Canadian campaign by a charity called Rethink Breast Cancer. http://rethinkbreastcancer.com/ Source: The Sydney Morning Herald. Sacha Molitorisz. Steamy spin sells health message. October 14, 2011. http://www.smh.com.au/business/marketing/steamy-spin-sells-health-message-20111013-1ln0z.html

Tips to Prevent Medical Errors – AHRQ

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The largely ineffective Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has a list of 20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors  http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tips.htm Number 20 on the list is  “Learn about your condition and treatments by asking your doctor and nurse and by using other reliable sources.” It then suggests to ask your doctor if the treatment is based on the latest evidence. The way this is presented it seems to say that doctors and nurses often do not always present treatment options based on the latest evidence. As argued by Shannon Brownlee, http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0710.brownlee.html the U.S. is clearly in need of an “… independant agency that would fund systematic reviews of the medical literature, as well as clinical trials to test the comparative effectiveness of everything from drugs to treatments” Unfortunately the current AHRQ is not performing this service as it … Read more

The truthiness of extracting wisdom teeth: James R. Carey

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An excellent article was written yesterday October 3, 2011, titled “The truthiness of extracting wisdom teeth” by James R. Carey who is a Professor of Entomology at UC Davis  http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/facpage.cfm?id=carey The article is located at http://www.davisenterprise.com/opinion/opinion-columns/the-truthiness-of-extracting-wisdom-teeth/ and I think it is well worth a read for anyone considering wisdom teeth removal. He opens the article with “In this age of evidence-based health care, I was astonished to discover that the oral surgeon’s recommendation for removal of my 21-year-old daughter’s impacted wisdom teeth was not based on evidence, theory, logic or facts but rather on truthiness — the quality of being considered to be true because of what he wished.“ He goes on to say “Yet it is considered by dentists, oral surgeons and the majority of the public as “standard of care.” Neither I nor any family members or friends … Read more

Long Term Effects of Trigeminal Nerve Injuries from Dental Care

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A study was published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titled “Long-Term Outcome of Trigeminal Nerve Injuries Related to Dental Treatment” by M. Anthony Pogrel, Ryan Jergensen, Eric Burgon, and Daniel Hulme. (vol. 69, pages 2284-2288, 2011) that looked at long-term effects of those who suffer from permanent nerve injury from dental treatment particularly involving the third molars or wisdom teeth. A total of 145 patients with 95 female and 50 male patients were involved in the study who had suffered a trigeminal nerve injury affecting either the inferior alveolar nerve or lingual nerve and in 8 cases both nerves. Nineteen patients (13.1 %) reported that their employment was affected, while 21  patients (14.5%)  reported problems with their relationship, 53  patients (36. 6%) reported depression, 55  patients (38%) reported problems speaking and pronouncing words correctly, 63  patients (43.5%) reported … Read more

Periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the time it takes to become pregnant

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Research presented at the the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology earlier this year showed that periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the length of time it takes for a woman to become pregnant. Periodontal disease has been linked to many different types of systemic disease. Periodontal disease can lead to inflammation and bleeding around the gums which can lead to spaces called periodontal pockets. The research was led by Roger Hart who is a Professor of Reproductive Medicine and is also Medical Director of Fertility Specialists of the University of Western Australia. A total of 3737 pregnant women in the study were followed and outcomes of pregnancy were looked at for 3416 of the 3737 pregnant women. It was found that women who had periodontal disease (gum disease) took around 7 months to become pregnant while those women who … Read more