ZiyadMD - The Blog

The Tampa Bay Times has recently come up with a list of America’s worst charities. It was compiled using tax records to determine how much was spent on fundraising in comparison to percentage of revenue spent on direct cash aid. The results are incredibly shocking: while watchdog groups say that NO MORE THAN 35% should be doled out to fundraisers, some have paid as much as 98%. Or more.

And most of them list themselves as aids to children, cancer, or AIDS victims.

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We know that music helps a lot of us through a workout, but the the psychology behind when music works and when it doesn’t is still being investigated. The BBC Future has a few ideas about what’s going on in your brain.

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When naming serious diseases, or medical conditions, people try to give them a sense of gravitas. Even neutral names acquire a serious ring to them. But every now and again, otherwise sober medical professionals get cute. Here are a list of serious medical conditions that have freakishly silly names.

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Crowdsoucing has become more popular than ever. The wisdom of crowds was also incredibly prominent during the aftermath of the Boston bombing, with people from around the world looking over photos from the event in an attempt to track down the bombers.

Wonderful though these things are, would you really want to trust the crowd with your health? A new start up CrowdMed aims to find out.

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Residency should be set to a maximum of 40 hours per week.  The idea that a person can be productive, efficient, and offer their “best” selves for 80-100 hours per week is false.  By allowing a normal schedule for doctors in training, this will allow for balance in their lives and ultimately better care for patients. 

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Can you turn over a new leaf, go on a diet, learn a new language, and get up every morning at dawn to meditate and clean your house? The idea of ego depletion says, “no.” And it has physical evidence to back that up.

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The newest addition to human anatomy is just 15 microns thick, but its discovery will make eye surgery safer and simpler. Harminder Dua, a professor at the University of Nottingham, recently found a new layer in the human cornea, and he’s calling it (can you guess?) Dua’s layer.

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528 left in the cold. 528 is the number of U.S. Medical Graduates who did not match into a residency this year — more than double the number from last year. Why is this important? Workforce experts predict the United States will face a physician shortage of 130,000 by the year 2025.

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About two years ago, we had a lady come in with vague complaints who began to be hypotensive and tachycardic. Despite all interventions, her pressure continued to deteriorate until she actually went into PEA.

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Yes, yes you can! Think you have it tough? At least when you’re feeling miserable you can cry. Some people break out in hives when they cry, because they’re allergic to the water in their own tears.

Sometimes when it rains, I enjoy going for walks outside. I can tuck away my umbrella and pretend I’m Eponine in Les Miserables, and that cheers me up. Not even that basic comfort is denied people who suffer from aquageic urticaria. Also known asaquagenic pruritis — water itch — it’s an allergy to water. Some comparatively lucky souls only run into trouble when the water is cold, but for many it’s any type of water at all.

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1. 2 Pradaxa Doses Beat Warfarin in Afib. Considering both efficacy and safety, both the 110-mg and 150-mg doses of dabigatran (Pradaxa) had a net clinical benefit compared with warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation.

2. Overweight Women Risk Delivering Baby Early. The risk of preterm delivery increased significantly in women who were overweight or obese at conception.

3. Broken Bones a Signal to Screen Women for Abuse. One in six women treated at fracture clinics reported being victims of domestic violence over the preceding 12 months, and one in 50 said their current injuries were caused by a partner.

Brought to you by MedPage Today.

At a social gathering not long ago, a colleague and I exchanged stories about residency training, fondly remembering the patients who had helped us grow both as doctors and as people.

A doctor-in-training we both knew listened intently to our conversation, but when we asked him about his experiences with patients, he looked lost and struggled for a response.

“My generation is different from yours,” he finally said, and then told us about getting “caught” sneaking back to the hospital earlier that year to talk with a couple of patients. He had already officially signed out for the night, but even going back just to say hello would count toward and push him over his 80-hour weekly work limit. Such a violation could cause his residency program to lose its accreditation.

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Back in 1991, Warren Buffett met Bill Gates, through the career community website Levo League. Neither of them were excited to see one another. But it turned out they had a great time talking —- and during the course of the conversation, Buffett pulled out the little black date book that he carries in his pocket. He flipped through it: The pages were practically empty.

“You’ve gotta keep control of your time,” Buffett says, “and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.”

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Dr. Michael Ciampi is taking a radical step to change the healthcare system for the betterment of the physicians and the patients at the same time. It was in early 2013 when Ciampi had sent letters to his patients about the move. He had mentioned in his letter that from April 1st, 2013 he would not be accepting any insurance payments for the medical services. Patients will have to pay him in cash and the price of the treatments has been posted online in his website. Ciampi believes that this is a very important step towards healthcare reform.

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Free Film Screenings in Chicago, June 8 and 10

Directed by Peter Casaer and narrated by Daniel Day-Lewis, this new documentary provides a harrowing look at the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid in armed conflicts. Over 70 minutes, Access to the Danger Zone explores the strategies that Doctors Without Borders uses to save lives in the world’s worst war zones, including Afghanistan, Somalia and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Interviews with key experts from Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations are accompanied by dramatic footage shot in these countries in 2011 and 2012.

A Q&A with local MSF aid workers will follow each screening.

Visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org/chicago to learn more and register.

The world is a frightening place. 

But you already knew that; you read it in the paper, hear about it from friends, see it with your own eyes every time you turn on the TV to watch bad singers or dancers subject themselves to abuse from judges with no more talent than the contestants, or see a YouTube video of a teenager shooting a bottle rocket from his ass for amusement, or get plowed from behind in your car by another driver who was texting “LMAO” to his friends instead of noticing that the light had turned red and you had stopped. If random violence doesn’t get you, cancer will. If cancer doesn’t, global warming will. If global warming doesn’t, bullet ants will. Or botflies. Or lightning. Or tsunamis. Or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Or Fijian headhunters. Or just normal everyday activities like drinking water, eating an orange, breathing the air, or chasing after a goat. Yes, we are in deep doo-doo. You should be scared to death, right? Wrong. Okay, sure, this is a blog post of scary facts, and the more you read, the more afraid you are likely to be. But if forewarned is forearmed, then the more you know, the safer you’ll feel, even if it’s a false sense of security since you can’t do a thing about most of what you read here. 

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The world’s first face transplant took place eight years ago, and while it remains a highly experimental operation, the procedure has been advancing in leaps and bounds ever since.

In February of this year, Carmen Tarleton underwent one of the most successful face transplants yet. Today at The Verge, Katie Drummond has penned a must-read feature on the story behind Tarleton’s facial transformation, complete with photo, video, infographics and diagrams.

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Millions of Americans will soon become eligible for a new tax credit, the so-called health care subsidy, but many of them are not aware they may qualify for it.

Nearly 26 million Americans will qualify for the federal subsidy under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to Families USA, a nonprofit and nonpartisan consumer advocacy group. Its number crunching showed that a family of four with an income as high as $94,200 will be eligible for the government subsidy.

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The desks of physicians are often cluttered with paperwork and plastered with post-it notes. But with more than half of physicians using mobile devices for work, many find themselves ditching paper notes in favor of digital ones.

The use of tablets and smartphones extends well-beyond clinical areas, and many physicians are increasingly relying on these devices to enhance organization and productivity both on and off the clock – and for good reason.

By using a tablet, health care professionals gain 1.2 hours in productivity every day, according to a study earlier this year by CDW.

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