Category Archives: Health & Medicine

Internet helps doctor get back to basics

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A week ago I posted about doing an iChat consultation with my new doc. Tonight I found this story about a doctor in Washington who has taken his entire practice online:

Dr. Howard Stark’s office is quiet. Very quiet. No patients sit in his waiting room. No receptionist answers the telephone. Stark does not have a receptionist. Instead, he and his assistant Michele Norris-Bell check e-mail alerts on handheld devices and — between seeing patients in person — on a desktop computer.

Stark has moved most of his practice, based in Washington, onto the Internet and he couldn’t be happier. Since he started his Web-based service two years ago, he has received 14,000 e-mails. And yet, he feels more like an old-fashioned family doctor in a small town than a modern, harried physician.

‘ "That’s 14,000 phone calls that we did not have to answer and that patients did not have to make," ‘ Stark said.

He does not charge for answering an e-mail. "You have to come in one time a year for an annual exam," Stark said.

The idea –which makes more sense if you read the full story–  came to him while booking a flight.

"I was sitting here and making a seat assignment to go to Miami. And I said, ‘why is it I can make a seat assignment four months in advance and my patients can’t book a half-hour appointment? I started thinking of other things that could be done online."

For instance, written instructions on how to prepare for a colonoscopy, general health tips, or information on Lyme disease.

Which reminded me of the Living Healthy Podcast.

I really think we’ll be seeing more of this.

The doctor will iChat you now

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My former family physician was/is a very wired guy. Very web/tech savvy. That was handy because I could shoot him an email when I had a question and he’d respond. When he hung up his stethoscope, I gave up any notion of finding another doc similarly disposed.

I’m pleased to report that my new doc (who must remain nameless) is equally geeked out. So when he suggested we might try a “virtual office visit,” I was surprised and delighted.

We did a little trial run this morning (not him or me in the photo). I had a few questions and he answered them. It was like sitting in his examining room. Of course, there will be times when he’ll need to lay on hands but for  a lot of doctor-patient communication, video chat works fine.

Is this the future of medicine? Who knows. Certainly not for everyone. But for the right physician and the right patient… it’s a pretty efficient use of resources and time.

Statins slow onset of Alzheimer’s

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From a story at The Guardian: "The cholesterol-lowering drugs statins may also slow the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, according to US researchers who examined the brains of 110 elderly people after they died. They found the brains of patients who had not taken the drugs were more likely to show signs of the disease."

My pop died of Alzheimer’s, as did Barb’s. Not pretty. This study is comforting to those of us who have been taking statins for years.

Henry Domke hanging up his stethoscope

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I have posted frequently about my friend (and personal physician) Henry Domke. I learned this morning (by email and blog post) that he has decided to leave medicine and do art full time.

He cut back his medical practice some years ago to devote more time to his art but this announcement will be a shocker (I suspect) to his patients and the local medical community.

Just as Dodge City wasn’t the same without Doc Adams, Jeff City will miss Old Doc Domke.

iPods help doctors recognize heart problems

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Doctors can greatly improve their stethoscope skills and therefore their ability to diagnose heart problems by listening repeatedly to heartbeats on their iPods. Previous research has shown that the average rate of correct heart sound identification by physicians is 40 percent.

In a new study, 149 general internists listened 400 times to five common heart murmurs during a 90-minute session with iPods. After the session, the average score improved to 80 percent.

NASA procedure for nuts in space

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“If you’re a NASA astronaut and you totally flip out in space, your crewmates are instructed to restrain you with duct tape, tie you down with bungee cords, and inject you with the anti-psychotic drug Haldol or a tranquilizer like Valium. The plan is outlined in 1,000+ page document that the Associated Press obtained this week outlining how to deal with medical emergencies.” [Boing Boing]

Pod Fade

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I hesitate to call it that since it was always our intention to do the Living Healthy Podcast for a year. On Tuesday, Dr. Domke and I will record our 50th show and we’re making it our final regular podcast. Let’s just call it the end of our first season. We might produce a few “specials” or bring the podcast back with a different format. But, for now, it’s time to take a break. Our last two topics were Shingles and Irritable Bowel Syndrome so, yeah, it’s hiatus time. I think LHP #50 will be pretty interesting so watch this space for a link.