GRAND ROUNDS, Vol. 3, No. 50

Welcome to the latest edition of Grand Rounds! I am happy to host this great weekly gathering of the best medical/health posts for the fourth time. I think I'm the third to do this (after GruntDoc and Code Blog), and it is always an honor every time! Let's get the ball rolling.....

EDITOR'S CHOICES

• Death and Dying in a US hospital - the Wandering Visitor talks on the sweetness of an "uneventful day."



• End a life and gain four more - from DO Sean Donahue at Healthline.

PATIENT ENCOUNTERS

• "You trusted me to tell you about your life, and I couldn't bear to seem less than trustworthy, so I lied..." - last week's host, Susan Palwick, discusses an uncomfortable moment when she realized that she had been dishonest with a patient she was trying to reassure.



• Musings of a Distractable Mind expounds on the meaning of resilience.



• "Initial BP was 69 systolic, HR was 167. Lines were started and fluid boluses given. The patient was quickly intubated and put on the ventilator to protect his airway. BP remained low so powerful vasopressors were started and the shock team was called. Two doctors and three nurses were running non-stop hanging drips, inserting lines, monitoring vitals in an intense effort to save his life." -ERnursey's experience with a patient with meningococcemia



• Panniculus is the case of the week at Counting Sheep. Very interesting.



• Six Until Me has an eye-opening confession. It's about knowing how to have a good life in spite of the burden of diabetes.



• How do you treat a 20-year old male student with unexplained high blood pressure? Medicine and Man shows us how.



• Tundra PA continues a story about a relatively young patient whose PSA was over 38.



• The other way around: a patient's amusing experience while looking for an endocrinologist.

HEALTH STAFF CONCERNS

• Inappropriate behavior? Shoe Money Tonight would like to know your opinion.



• Mother Jones RN talks about Viagra pens and nurses' love-hate relationship with drug reps.



• Be grateful to nurses. I always am. Emergiblog explains how and why.

INTERVIEWS and REVIEWS

• Linda Bacon is one of the leading weight experts among those who look at the real facts without being biased by popular beliefs about body weight and health. Read her answers as Med Journal Watch asked her some tough questions.



• Jerome Groopman's How Doctors Think is reviewed by Tech Medicine.



• MedTripInfo interviews an organizer of a medical tourism conference in the Philippines.



• A review of HBO's forthcoming special documentary about American combatants who suffered life threatening injuries in Iraq.



• Dr. Val Jones of Revolution Health took a deeper look at what might be driving rising trend of Alternative Medicine in an era of unparalleled medical technology and scientific enlightenment.



• Who belongs to the top 100 english-written medblogs? With my irregular blog postings, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not here.

HEALTH NEWS, POLICIES, ADVICE, & PRODUCTS

• How should we eat? Until we're full or until we're satisfied? Tara Gidus of Healthline tells us which one.



• On parents feel guilty on passing bad genes to their children - Eye on DNA gives good insights.



• How do you feel about shrinks treating themselves for depression? Shrink Rap shared her opinion on this.
  
  
• Abusing the Orphan Drug Law from the Health Business Blog.
  
  
• Do you want to know what do health care and mortality rates have in common? 'Turns out, not much, according to InsureBlog's Henry Stern.



• Nancy Brown at Teen Health 411 provides some reminders for teens to get enough sleep, exercise and quality time with family and friends.



• Diversity in health care - more of a solution than a problem from my friend, Dr. Descartin.



• "While we vowed to serve humanity, we are not humanity’s slaves." - a young Filipino doctor laments the government's inefficiency to prevent hospital holidays from happening.



• Multiple uses for tissue glue by Dr. Paul S. Auerbach of Medicine for the Outdoors. 'Very creative, I must say.



• Relax! Relax! Relax! But how will I do it? Let us count the ways, from How To Cope With Pain.



• Impressed with PSA tests? Disease Proof wants us to think again.



• Poor pregnancy outcomes are related to low levels of a plasma protein. Find out more from Fruit of the Womb.



• Healthy fastfood? Isn't that an oxymoron? It might very well be.



• Clinical Cases and Images defines what prolonged immobilization means and its significance to DVT.



• How to stop sciatica, even if severe - from Dr. Bookspan of Exercise Fitness.



• Tip on how to read a chest x-ray from Med-Source. He says its a fool-proof and almost error-free method.



• For Sale: Funky products for diabetics - Diabetes Mine explains the never-ending variety of offerings.



• Train your brain - from Sharp Brains. And I thought sleeping was enough.

FINALLY...
Next week's Grand Rounds will be hosted by the Efficient MD. The theme will be "Healthcare Innovations and New Technologies." Submissions may be sent to efficientmd@gmail.com.

I wish to thank all those who participated, even those who submitted late (I have managed to include some of you) and of course, the almighty leader and founder of the weekly GR, Dr. Nick Genes, who continues to inspire me with his creativity and time-management skills.

Until next time. Enjoy reading!