The Health Based Tutorials

Fifty years ago, Eugene Garfield published the Science Citation Index (SCI), the first systematic effort to track citations in the scientific literature. Nature’s news team wondered which were the most highly-cited papers of all time, so asked Thomson Reuters and Google for their top 100. They are not what you might think. Watson and Crick on DNA structure misses out, along with many other historic discoveries. Instead, methods and software papers dominate the lists. Find out more at nature.com/top100 The discovery of high-temperature superconductors, the determination of DNA’s double-helix structure, the first observations that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating — all of these breakthroughs won Nobel prizes and international acclaim. Yet none of the papers that announced them comes anywhere close to ranking among the 100 most highly cited papers of all time. It takes a staggering 12,119 citations to rank in the top 100 — and that many of the world’s most famous papers do no...

A collection of some interesting medical articles published recently: Once-weekly insulin shot - Novo Nordisk's next idea http://buff.ly/1tiUC6v How Lufthansa Cares for Passengers' Medical Needs http://buff.ly/1pK4ILC How scammers trick your mind - they repeatedly use one or more of the same 7 persuasion principles. Scammers have used these principles for centuries. For instance, the Nigerian email scam might seem the product of the digital age, but a version of it existed in 16th Century Europe. http://buff.ly/1rIf4jo -- Understanding scam victims: 7 principles for systems security (University of Cambridge report) - PDF http://buff.ly/1uH14df The prevalence of celiac disease in screening studies is 0.5 to 1% . The serologic test of choice for celiac is IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase - specific (94%), and sensitive (97%) http://buff.ly/1CIEr9x Why Are Americans So Fascinated With Extreme Fitness ? - NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/1EVWdZ5 History of rheumatology http://bit.ly/...

Would mathematics exist if people didn't? Did we create mathematical concepts to help us understand the world around us, or is math the native language of the universe itself? Jeff Dekofsky traces some famous arguments in this ancient and hotly debated question.

A collection of some interesting medical articles published recently: Hand-grip strength is an amazingly good predictor of future rates of mortality and morbidity, or sickness http://buff.ly/1BK759H -- Hand grip strength should be considered as a vital sign useful for screening middle-aged and older adults http://buff.ly/1DglFaI -- Measuring hand-grip strength is very simple and cheap. Every primary care doctor should have a dynamometer in their office. At every visit, the doctor could check grip strength for older patients. If someone was in the 45th percentile for their age and the measurements were stable, great. But if that person suddenly dropped to the 25th percentile, then that’s a sign that the doctor should look seriously at what might be going on. Full fat milk (3%) cut the risk of getting diabetes type 2 by 20% http://buff.ly/1m9ghRL Urine Test for Diagnosis of HPV Works Well (not yet available in practice) http://bit.ly/1pnswES Weekly Injectable Drug for DM2 Approved...

Multi-dose flu shot has only 25 mcg of mercury - most commercial fish contain 23 mcg of mercury per 8 ounces of fish http://buff.ly/11CTRPw Are multi-dose vials less expensive? Economics are a bit complicated due to wastage with multiple vials: Single versus multi-dose vaccine vials: an economic computational model http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20566395 Most of the Western world, apart from the US, has moved on to single vials: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/733986 Whenever possible, CDC recommends that single-use vials be used and that multi-dose vials of medication be assigned to a single patient to reduce the risk of disease transmission ( http://www.cdc.gov/injectionsafety/patients/syringeReuse_faqs.html ). Where to get a thimerosal/mercury-free flu shot? Many local Costco stores carry only single vials and the cost is $14.99 if no insurance is used. The availability of additional options may improve immunization rates. Search for a Costco pharmacy near you here, and cal...

Given the importance of a good night's sleep, how do you pick the best possible bedtime? WSJ's Heidi Mitchell and Stanford University's Dr. Rafael Pelayo discuss with Tanya Rivero. Related: What Makes A Great Bedtime? | Craig Canapari, MD http://bit.ly/1vstZzJ Shift workers and people who get jet lag may gain weight because they dusturb their "inside garden" (gut microbes) buff.ly/1vzaXci

A 65-yo female patient received a standard-dose flu shot already this season. Should he get the high-dose shot too? Or try to get a second regular flu shot? The simple answer is no. The patients should consider herself immunized. Studies show that getting a delayed second dose doesn't necessarily increase antibody response, and there's some concern that it might actually have a negative effect on the immunity. If you've already had the regular seasonal dose, wait until next year for another dose. Image of the H1N1 Influenza Virus, CDC . From CDC's Immunize.org website: Sometimes patients age 65 years and older who have received the standard-dose influenza vaccine hear about the high-dose product (Fluzone High-Dose, sanofi) and want to receive that, too. Is this okay to administer? No. ACIP does not recommend that anyone receive more than one dose of influenza vaccine in a season except for certain children age 6 months through 8 years for whom two doses are recommended....

In this video, the BMJ's research team discuss what they look for in a paper submitted for publication. They discuss some of the pitfalls authors fall into when writing up their research, and how to present some of the information that all journals will require. More BMJ-specific info here: http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles related to healthcare social media (#HCSM) in the past 2-4 weeks: 15 Lessons from 15 Years of Blogging : Link to everything you create elsewhere on the web. And if possible, save a copy of it on your own blog. Things disappear so quickly, and even important work can slip your mind months or years later when you want to recall it. If it's in one, definitive place, you'll be glad for it. Always write with the idea that what you're sharing will live for months and years and decades. Having a long-term perspective in mind is an incredibly effective tool for figuring out whether a topic is meaningful or not, and for encouraging a kinder, more thoughtful perspective. Your blog can change your life in a month. If you want to understand an idea, or become a meaningful voice on a topic, or change your own thinking about a concept, write a little bit about it every day for a month. http://buff.ly/1pwjuWg Too many crying babies: a ...

When Prozac was introduced in 1988, the pill to treat depression launched a cultural revolution that continues to echo. Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/XMXik9

Halitosis is a generic term used to describe unpleasant odor emanating from the mouth air and breath, independent of the source where the odor substances originate. It affects between 50 and 65% of the population , but despite its frequency, this problem is often unaccepted and declared as taboo. 90% of patients suffering from halitosis have oral causes . A small, but important percentage, of oral malodor cases have an extra-oral etiology, very often falling into the category of "blood-borne halitosis". Several systemic diseases have been found to provoke malodor or to be a cofactor; bad breath may be an early sign of a serious local or systemic condition. A psychogenic halitosis also exists including the variant " pseudo-halitosis" , when the oral malodor does not exist, but the patient believes he or she is suffering severely from it, and the halitophobia , when, instead, there is an exaggerated fear of having halitosis. It is important to determine quickly wheth...

Diagnosing Ebola in an person who has been infected for only a few days is difficult, because the early symptoms, such as fever, are nonspecific to Ebola infection and are seen often in patients with more commonly occurring diseases. However, if a person has the early symptoms of Ebola and has had contact with the blood or body fluids of a person sick with Ebola, contact with objects that have been contaminated with the blood or body fluids of a person sick with Ebola, or contact with infected animals, or suggestive travel history, they should be isolated and public health professionals notified. Samples from the patient can then be collected and tested to confirm infection. Laboratory tests used in diagnosis include: Within a few days after symptoms begin Antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA ) testing IgM ELISA Polymerase chain reaction ( PCR ) Virus isolation Later in disease course or after recovery IgM and IgG antibodies Retrospectively in deceased patients Imm...

Professor Hubert Mönnikes talks about why people with IBS are often mislabeled as hypochondriacs, and how to best treat the symptoms. Are Dietary FODMAPs a Cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome? (Fermentable, Oligo-, Di-, Monosaccharides, And Polyols). IBS symptoms improved with a diet low in short-chain carbohydrates (FODMAPs - fructose, lactose, polyol sweeteners) http://buff.ly/1fdzBWJ  -- A Diet Low in FODMAPs Reduces Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome - the evidence supports its use as a first-line therapy http://buff.ly/1Ch3scU DOWNLOAD the Handout  Stanford University: Low FODMAP Diet Handout References: A Diet Low in FODMAPs Reduces Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome - supports its use as a first-line therapy http://buff.ly/1Ch3scU