Alcohol Powder

Photo by Edwin Land

The web has been abuzz the last few days over news of the FDA approving alcohol powder.  Apparently the approval was in error, but the product is not.  Alcohol powder is a novel new way to consume alcohol without having to haul your handle of vodka across town with you on the subway or bus.  Or if you prefer the outdoors, up to the top of a mountain to enjoy a drink after a long hike.

Healthcare and Baby Sitting

Today an odd occurrence happened at the hospital.  I overheard a couple of my fellow residents discussing a fire that had occurred in front of the hospital. 


It turns out that the fire was from a car that had exploded and was being taken care of by the fire department. 


It is not a normal occurrence for us to have flaming cars in our parking lot, and I had to ask what happened.


Curious as I was little did I expect that the cause of the fire would be Baby Sitting.


That is right BABY SITTING.


So, who or what caused the fire?


Turns out that after careful review the security team identified a woman who poured gasoline on her own car and set the car ablaze.  Why would anyone set their own care on fire? 


Once again, the answer is Baby Sitting.


You see apparently the woman that essentially blew up her car was the mother of a patient that most, if not all of us had dealt with at some point in the last year.  This mother was infamous for doing everything in her power to delay the discharge of her daughter from the hospital.  This was yet another one of her clever plans to delay discharge by stating she didn't have any means of transportation to take her daughter home.


Why would anyone want their child to stay at the hospital.  Well this wonderful use of health care dollars is essential a very expensive baby sitting service.


The patient has a chronic condition that warrants admission to the hospital at the drop of a hat for good reason, but every time the patient is admitted her mom leaves her there in the care of the nurses and residents and heads out on the town for a good time.


The last encounter I had with this patient, she delayed discharge by stating her power had been turned off.   After confirming with the power company that her power had never been disconnected, we promptly discharge the patient home.  Little did we know mom had a date later that night and would fight tooth and nail to keep us from sending her home.


I cannot blame her for wanting a little reprieve from the difficult life that she has been dealt in caring for a chronically ill child, but I would appreciate a little responsibly and concern for her daughter's health and well being. 


I continue to keep that little girl in my prayers and hope each day that her mother may find her sense and take responsibility for her daughter's health.


As the health care community continues to battle the rising cost of health care, I am constantly reminded that there will always be those few that raise the bill for the rest of us. 

Weight Loss Fact or Fiction

With most of the United States falling in the category of being obese it is unsettling to know that there are several misconceptions that the general public have about weight loss. 

So can you guess Fact or Fiction?

The Ides of March

What day is it???

MATCH DAY!!!

Match Day?  What is Match Day?

Daylight Savings or Spendings?

I don't know about most people, but springing forward is one of the worst times of the year.  I am a fairly habitual person.  On days when I don't have to wake up at an early hour, my biological clock still springs its alarm and refuses to let me rest.  My sleep is one thing that no one should ever mess with; yet each year we have to tweak with our biological clocks and switch the clocks forwards and backwards.  How is messing with our biological clocks effecting our health?

The switch is no big deal for most.  We just change our clocks and live out our Sunday with an hour less of sleep.  For some people, however, there is some research that proposes that changes in the sleep-wake cycle can cause people with predisposed conditions to greater risks.  People with depression are at greater risk of committing suicide, and those with heart problems are more likely to suffer from a heart attack.  So, is saving daylight worth risking lives.  Shouldn't we be saving lives and risking a little bit of daylight? 

Why do we "save daylight" in the modern age?  The concept of daylight savings was originally proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 in an essay titled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” that proposed making better use of the morning sunlight to ease the economical impact of candles.  It wasn't until 1908 that an attempt to introduce daylight savings as a law was attempted and failed mainly due to opposition of farmers.  During WWI at 11:00 P.M. on April 30, 1916, daylight savings time was introduced to reduce the amount of time, energy, and fuel resources of artificial light and save vital resources for the war.  Time was reverted back to normal at the end of WWI and was reintroduced during WW2 for similar measures and was reverted back to "Peace Time" at the end of the war.  Daylight savings time caused a ton of confusion between 1945 and 1966 due to states, cities, and towns being able to choose when they would observe daylight savings time.  Trains, planes, and automobiles had a difficulty of being on time as they traveled from place to place.  In 1966 Congress established the Uniform Time Act of 1966 which put us essentially where we are today. 

Is Daylight Savings Time still relevant?  We aren't in war time.  We aren't using oil lamps to light our houses or trying to conserve resources.  Why are we putting people at risk for a seemingly outdated practice?  According to an Australian study published in 2008, men are more likely to commit suicide during the first few weeks of Daylight Savings Time than at any other time during the year.  Another 2008 study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that serious heart attacks jumps from 6% to 10% on the first three workdays after Daylight Savings Time begins.  In 2010, a paper was published that found that women who did late-night shift work had a 50% increase in breast cancer risk.  Another study showed that for each hour of sleep lost per night caused a 5% increase in psychological distress of the study volunteers.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are approximately 50 to 70 million Americans aren't getting enough sleep.  Chronic loss of sleep has been proven time and time again to be detrimental to your health.  So, what do we do about it?

Here are some healthy sleep tips:

1.  Maintain a regular bed and wake schedule including weekends. 

There have been many times that I have been ridiculed for having a bed time alarm.  As silly as it sounds, it does help to keep a regular schedule as it helps to fall asleep and wake up in the mornings.  Try it for a week and you will notice a difference in your day.

2.  Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as reading a book or listening to soothing music.

A relaxing routine can help ease you to sleep and reduce any stress or anxiety that may make it more difficult for one to fall asleep.

3. Create a sleep-conducive environment that is quiet, dark, cool, and comfortable.

4.  Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex.

5.  Exercise regularly.

6.  Avoid alcohol before bedtime.

7.  Avoid nicotine close to bedtime.

8.  Don't eat 2-3 hours before bedtime.

9.  Avoid caffeine close to bedtime.

#'s 6-9 can all keep you awake and make you less comfortable.  Cutting these out can lead to a better night's sleep.

In conclusion, make sure that you continue to get plenty of "healthy" sleep this Daylight Savings Time night and every night into the future.

Sleep Well!

For more info:

Tips for a healthy night's sleep

Is Daylight Savings Time bad for your health?

Against the odds

No matter how slim the chance there is always a chance of anything happening in life and in medicine.  For one family in Texas they beat the odds and won the biological lottery by having two sets of identical twins without any help from fertility drugs.  I don't know about you, but I wouldn't know what to do if a physician told me that you aren't only having one baby but four to add to your family.  This article made me think about the biological lottery that many play everyday.  When it comes to pregnancy, what are the odds?

Ask yourself, what are the odds of getting pregnant after having sex only once?

Choco-what?!?

Valentine's Day has come and gone, but I am sure there are still remnants of flowers, cute cards, and pieces of chocolate left over from the indulgent holiday.  Hopefully no one suffered from Broken Heart Syndrome and was able to enjoy some of that wonderful chocolate.  Now that the chocolate is nearly gone let's discuss the health benefits you may have gotten from that tasty dark stuff.