DocTalk

From the ACEP emergency medicine conference in Denver. How coaches and doctors run their team. New ways of making a diagnosis.

http://mddirect.org/blog/index.php?/archives/301-diagnosis-by-the-seat-of-the-pants.html

 

I always thought 24 hours after starting antibiotics you're no longer contagious, but you could still be sneezing or coughing up a lung a few weeks later (I speak of the lingering symptoms from experience)

 

The concept of contagious is always interesting. People wonder if they can spread illness after they've seen me, but I remind tham that they were infectious before the visit and likely afterward as well. One presumes that in a bacterial infection, the antibiotic chosen is the right one, and the infection will be under control...nice presumption...probably true but not necessarily. If teh infection is viral, antibiotics don,t work and the infection will continue to be spread. Remember that many upper respiratory infections, like bronchitis and sinusitis for which doctors prescribe antibiotics, are caused by viruses and should not have been given antibiotics in the first place.

 

Sadness when Derek Jeter broke his ankle in the ALCS playoffs. He is seek another opinion on treatment from a foot and ankle guru in North Carolina. There are lessons to be learned.

http://mddirect.org/blog/index.php?/archives/302-unknown.html

 

The latest DocTalk column has been posted, only a day late...it seems the author got hurt in a running accident.

Usually the topic is sports related, but the conviction of Italian seismologists for failing to predict earthquake risk with certainty makes me wonder if doctors are expected to predict the future when it comes to making a diagnosis or offering treatment. That is a tough standard to meet.

http://mddirect.org/blog/index.php?/archives/303-predicting-the-future.html

 

A day early, only because I’m scheduled for evening shift in the ER tomorrow.

This week’s column focuses on Marcus Lattimore and his dislocated knee. The news headlines will talk about the ligament damage but for this injury, it’s all about the complications to the artery.

http://mddirect.org/blog/index.php?/archives/304-knee-dislocation...its-about-the-complication.html

 

The memo was short and sweet. IV nitroglycerin was in short supply and my practice style was going to have to change. It seems that nationwide medication shortages are hitting hospital pharmacies hard. This week's DocTalk column on MDdirect.

http://mddirect.org/2012/11/05/medication-shortages/

 

Depressed skull fractures and concussions. A pretty sad weekend for 3 NFL QBs and NHLer Blake Geoffrion. More in this week's column:

http://mddirect.org/2012/11/12/skull-fractures/

 

It's not all sports. Latest article for WebMD updates and review ulcerative colitis, one of the inflammatory bowel diseases
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ulcerative_colitis/article_em.htm

Of course there is always the medical diatribe about sports at MDdirect.org/blog

 

Taking the Thanksgiving week off but still had time for a WebMD op-ed talking about using over the counter cold medications for kids.

http://www.medicinenet.com/cold_and_cough_medicine_for_infants_and_children/views.htm

Happy holidays to all

 

A sad holiday column talks about brain death and Hector Camacho
http://mddirect.org/2012/11/22/when-the-brain-dies/