BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER JOBS AT PUNE

COMPANY NAME

Apollo Lavasa Health Corporation Ltd.

Experience: 3 – 8 Years Location: Pune Compensation: According to the qualification and experience. Education: UG – B.Tech/B.E. – Biomedical PG – Other Industry Type: Medical/ Healthcare/Hospital

[Via http://kushtripathi.wordpress.com]

Humans Can Grow New Teeth - Thanks To Stem Cells

The Guardian reports -

The procedure is fairly simple. Doctors take stem cells from the patient. These are unique in their ability to form any of the tissues that make up the body. By carefully nurturing the stem cells in a laboratory, scientists can nudge the cells down a path that will make them grow into a tooth. After a couple of weeks, the ball of cells, known as a bud, is ready to be implanted. Tests reveal what type of tooth – for example, a molar or an incisor – the bud will form. Using a local anaesthetic, the tooth bud is inserted through a small incision into the gum. Within months, the cells will have matured into a fully-formed tooth, fused to the jawbone. His team has set up a company, Odontis, to exploit the technique, and has won £400,000 from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts and the Wellcome Trust.

Read MORE.

[Via http://dummr.wordpress.com]

Last-minute Christmas present idea

I’m sure a lot of us are sitting on edge, waiting for those last minute gifts to arrive in the mail. Or, you haven’t even bought those last-minute presents yet.

Well, here’s one idea: organ donor dolls!

From Underwire: Seeking to inject a little whimsy into the deadly serious business of organ transplants, David Foox has created a line of Organ Donor Dolls garbed in hospital gowns and crowned with bulbous heads shaped like kidneys, hearts, livers and other internal organs.

The New York lawyer-turned-artist took his cue from Kidrobot Munnies and other hypercute dolls in designing the platoon of vinyl figures.

Foox became inspired to put a friendly face on the organ-donor process when he learned a family member needed a double lung transplant.

“Each of these pieces carries with it the notions of good fortune, good luck and opportunity,” he said.

These dolls designed by David Foox represent red and white blood cells. Images courtesy 323 East

The art dolls, measuring about 3.25 inches high, were featured through Dec. 18 in Foox’s solo exhibition at 323 East gallery in Royal Oak, Michigan. Qualifying as Christmas gift potential for the medical obsessive who has everything, limited Chinese Edition dolls are being sold individually for $30 or as a complete set priced at $450.

[Via http://artofscience.wordpress.com]

PeRSSonalized Pediatrics: Selected News, Blogs, Journals, Twitter and Youtube

PeRSSonalized Medicine is an easy-to-use, free aggregator of quality medical information that lets you select your favourite resources and read the latest news and articles about a medical specialty or a medical condition in one personalized place.

Now here is the newest category, PeRSSonalized Pediatrics with all the quality news sites, blogs, peer-reviewed journals and web 2.0 tools focusing on pediatrics.

Some reasons why it is unique:

• You can search in the database. It means you will find medical information only from a quality selected portion of the world wide web.

• You can personalize any of the sections.

• You can also receive the newest Pubmed articles focusing on your search term. Just insert your field of interest, a therapy, a condition, etc. and click Search. Then you can add the newly created box to your personalized medical “journal”.

• It is a community-based project. Please let us know which quality resources should be added to the database.

[Via http://scienceroll.com]

How do we know if Complimentary and Alternative 'medical' practices and products are worth healthcare money?

David Colquhoun published an excellent editorial this week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in which he looks back at the last 100 years of “secret remedies.” He points out that a century ago the medical establishment and government regulators tried to protect the public from unscientific patent remedies, but those efforts were anemic, and eventually faded away. Now we are in the midst of a resurgence of unscientific remedies, and those who should be protecting the public health are not even mounting a half-hearted defense.

Unless a practice or profession is based upon transparent evidence, how can meaningful regulation take place? If proponents can simply make up their own standards based upon ideology and philosophy, without being held to any external standard, the regulation is a farce.

It is a sad state of affairs when not only tabloids, but comedians, are doing a much better job of informing the public about the reality of homeopathy and other fantasy-based treatment than governments, medical organizations, and universities.

Read Steve’s entire article here at Neurologica.

[Via http://questionablemotives.wordpress.com]

"Intermittent Explosive Disorder"

It’s that time of the year again!  Happy Holidays, lots of cheer and tension and stress.  And in such conditions, the possibility that someone will explode goes up.  And with it the chances of misery and even injury, perhaps a permanent break in a family group.

This blog has been very concerned about domestic abuse, and the fact that women are so often the target.  So I was  interested to see today in a list of recent papers that crossed my desk a reference to intermittent explosive disorder.   (I  didn’t know it had such an official name!)

According to the Mayo Clinic, this is a disorder characterized by:

Intermittent explosive disorder is characterized by repeated episodes of aggressive, violent behavior in which you react grossly out of proportion to the situation …  Later, people with intermittent explosive disorder may feel remorse, regret or embarrassment.

Explosive eruptions, usually lasting 10 to 20 minutes, often result in injuries and the deliberate destruction of property. These episodes may occur in clusters or be separated by weeks or months of nonaggression.

Road rage. Domestic abuse. Angry outbursts or temper tantrums that involve throwing or breaking objects.

Like many other clinical diagnoses, the behavior described may be exhibited without the full disorder, so there can be a number of different conditions that produce the frightening 10 to 20 minutes of rage that may be accompanied by behavior designed to hurt, either physically or emotionally.   

These anger fits can be dangerous; they should less bad that the systematic bullying and brutalizing that can go on.   But as always, anyone feeling in danger needs to try to get out of the situation. 

If it seems not that bad – maybe all that will happen is that a day is ruined for the rest of the family – then simply heading the tantrum off might be possible.  It completely sucks  to be stuck with such a problem, and the last thing you should think is that  you are responsible; think of taking action as instead like a way to protect oneself against the elements.

The Mayo Clinic suggests part  of the solution lies with anger management.  If you know someone you are concerned may throw one of these frightening tantrums, you might consider whether you can use any of the information on self-management.  Some of these translate into ways to head off the behavior in others.  For example, you can arrange some time out by suggesting a walk or another sort of break.  Other  things you might talk over with people who seem likely to explode. 

1. Take a ‘timeout.’ Although it may seem cliche, counting to 10 before reacting really can defuse your temper.
2. Get some space. Take a break from the person you’re angry with until your frustrations subside a bit.
3. Once you’re calm, express your anger. It’s healthy to express your frustration in a nonconfrontational way. Stewing about it can make the situation worse.
4. Get some exercise. Physical activity can provide an outlet for your emotions, especially if you’re about to erupt. Go for a brisk walk or a run, swim, lift weights or shoot baskets.
5. Think carefully before you say anything. Otherwise, you’re likely to say something you’ll regret. It can be helpful to write down what you want to say so that you can stick to the issues. When you’re angry, it’s easy to get sidetracked.
6. Identify solutions to the situation. Instead of focusing on what made you mad, work with the person who angered you to resolve the issue at hand.
7. Use ‘I’ statements when describing the problem. This will help you to avoid criticizing or placing blame, which can make the other person angry or resentful — and increase tension. For instance, say, “I’m upset you didn’t help with the housework this evening,” instead of, “You should have helped with the housework.”
8. Don’t hold a grudge. If you can forgive the other person, it will help you both. It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to behave exactly as you want.
9. Use humor to release tensions. Lightening up can help diffuse tension. Don’t use sarcasm, though — it’s can hurt feelings and make things worse.
10. Practice relaxation skills. Learning skills to relax and de-stress can also help control your temper when it may flare up. Practice deep-breathing exercises, visualize a relaxing scene, or repeat a calming word or phrase to yourself, such as “Take it easy.” Other proven ways to ease anger include listening to music, writing in a journal and doing yoga.

Any other suggestions?  Comments?  Thoughts?

[Via http://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com]

Report: Progress on Prevention Lags

According to the annual America’s Health Rankings report, the U.S. healthcare system does not put forth the effort in preventing illnesses caused by smoking and other unhealthy behaviors.

According to the findings, smoking, poor dietary habits and lack of exercise are costing the U.S. billions of dollars in health care costs.

Reed Tuckson, M.D., the executive vice president and chief of medical affairs at UnitedHealth Group, stated “Over the past 20 years, our national health care system has helped extend the length of life, but not the quality of life. Making progress against smoking and obesity is a critical step to successfully tackling the health reform our nation wants to achieve.”

[Via http://botvinlifeskillstraining.wordpress.com]

Monopoly, Homeopathy, and Adam Baldwin, oh my!

It might be old news, but I saw one of these in a shop for the first time today. A Boutique edition of Monopoly, coloured entirely in different shades of pink. The focus is shifted from ruthlessly trading in real estate, to having lots of girly fun going shopping. Chance and Community Chest are replaced with Instant Message and Text Message. And it’s very pink.

My gut reaction was to call it the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen, and maybe if I were in a grumpier mood I’d have stuck with that. But actually, I don’t think there’s anything objectionable here. There are dozens of Monopoly spin-offs, and I don’t really see a problem with tailoring the specifics of a game so that a particular demographic can more easily relate to it. I know I’d rather play a version with £’s on the money and bits of London I’ve been to, than with dollars and a bunch of American places I’ve never heard of. The uber-pink theme is just an extension of that.

I know it’s the obvious thing to say that anyone or anything attempting to update itself by mentioning text messaging is tragically unhip, like an embarrassing dad trying to be “down with the kids” and failing hopelessly to get any of it right. But here it just seems like good sense. If I’ve won second prize in a beauty contest, sure, text me about it. But what the hell is a community chest?

The old-fashioned form isn’t “better” just because you’re nostalgic for it, and if somebody else’s childhood didn’t heavily feature Old Kent Road and a little stainless steel models of a dog, you can’t blame them if their current tastes don’t match up with your own personal fond memories. Sure, I’d miss the battleship if it was replaced by a handbag, but this game really isn’t meant for me.

I gather some people are concerned about the unhealthy gender stereotypes it could be reinforcing. If it was called “Monopoly: Girls’ Edition”, I think you’d have a point, but I think it’s just a version for people who like this sort of thing. Which seems fine.

If you like this, Amazon recommends Pink Yahtzee. Now that’s just retarded.

Moving on.

Not that I necessarily needed to be reminded, but this is why Crispian Jago is one of the highlights of the skeptical movement. I never got around to actually finishing my own attempted Pythonesque parody, but I should probably just stand back and let the maestro show us all how it’s done. (“SUSCEPTIBILITY attracting MIASMS? What kind of talk is that?”)

The Perry in that sketch, incidentally, is Simon Perry off of the Leicester Skeptics in the Pub, who had an article about homeopathy in Boots published in the Leicester Mercury paper lately. Less funny, but more informative, and kinda important.

Also, I got to chat to Adam Baldwin earlier. Yes, that one. Okay, it wasn’t exactly a chat, if I’m honest. He posted a link on Twitter to a political cartoon, which depicts a pampered government representative sitting with his feet up on a barrel of money, while several (white) men representing taxpayers are literally picking cotton and singing Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen. The government guy is talking to them about healthcare, and the scene is said to describe “the big issue of freedom vs. socialism. Or, in other words, freedom vs. slavery.”

Yes, the political philosophy of public ownership of the means of production is being equated to the way black people used to be white people’s property.

I made a comment to the effect that this was pretty damn classy.

And whatever else you want to say about Adam Baldwin, you can’t say that he’s totally oblivious to overpowering sarcasm.

He sent me a message back, directing me to this video, in which some US politician I’ve barely heard of asserts that Republicans have historically not been especially progressive, and gets a few significant facts wrong according to the captions. This, I’m told, provides some much-needed “context”. To the cartoon in which, if you remember, white people whose tax dollars might have to cover a comprehensive healthcare plan for a few million of people who can’t afford insurance, are having their hardships compared to the suffering of the black people who were owned as property by white people a few decades ago.

If this context somehow sheds new light on that, and is supposed to be making me see it in a whole new non-crazy perspective, it’s not working.

I guess there was no particular theme to any of this, but that’s enough for today.

[Via http://cubiksrube.wordpress.com]

Nelson-Hatch Fails!

The situation is not perfect, and the problems are not over, but still it is a good moment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has rejected an effort to stiffen abortion restrictions in the health care bill.

The vote was 54 to 45.

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah wanted to ban any insurance plan that gets taxpayer dollars from offering abortion coverage. The stronger restrictions mirrored provisions in the House-passed health care bill.

The Senate bill currently allows insurance plans to cover abortions but tries to separate private funds from federal money. It specifies that abortion coverage can only be paid for with private dollars.

Majority Leader Harry Reid said the legislation is about access to health care, not abortion

Perhaps last sentence is related to the protest we described here.

[Via http://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com]

Vaccines and Hospital Workers

Let’s say that you work in a hospital. Let’s say that the hospital is mandating everyone have vaccinations against H1N1. Let’s say you don’t want to get vaccinated. What should happen to you?

In the case of two people working at a children’s hospital in Philadelphia, they got fired. Their excuse for not getting the vaccination?

God doesn’t want them to.

Of course these people have a right to their faith. They have a right to refuse vaccination, and the hospital has a responsibility to remove them from the staff if that’s what these people choose to do.

A little more annoying, though, is this quote from the article I linked to above:

Some of the fired employees, including Gary Cowlay, are members of the health care union. A union spokesperson said some people were granted a religious exemption but others were not.

Now that’s just not right. First off, no one should be given a religious exemption. If you work in a hospital, and you are told you need to be vaccinated against H1N1 in order to continue to work, you need to be vaccinated. If you don’t want the shot, you need to find another job.

Second, if there’s going to be any religious exemption, it should be applied fairly and to everyone who asks for it. Letting some people have it and some not really isn’t right.

To those who say that these poor people shouldn’t have lost their job over this, let me ask you: what if they’d said their religion wouldn’t allow them to wash their hands? It’s not out of the question. If there’s sects of Christians out there who so fucking stupid they believe vaccines are the tool of the Devil, you can be there’s ones out there who are so fucking stupid they believe soap is evil. Should they be allowed a religious exemption so they can keep working at a hospital?

“Sure,” you might say, “they should be fired, because hand washing has been proven to work, but vaccines haven’t, or even if they have, this particular one hasn’t!”

Well, they have been proven to work and while the H1N1 vaccine hasn’t undergone as many tests as one might like and while there hasn’t been much time to do those tests, from all the tests done so far, it seems to work fine. But, hey, if you don’t want to take the risk, don’t. Just don’t expect to work in a hospital.

Ultimately people have the right to their religious beliefs, and well they should. But when those beliefs come into conflict with an issue of public health, guess what needs to happen?

[Via http://wilybadger.wordpress.com]

For old people! Paine's Celery Compound ad, 1888

Paine's Celery compound, 1888

 

Montreal Daily Star,

14 August 1888, page 3

For Old People!

In old people the nervous system is weakened, and that must be strengthened.  One of the most prominent medical writers of the day, in speaking of the prevalence of rheumatic troubles among the aged, says: “The various pains, rheumatic or other, which old people often complain of, and which materially disturb their comfort, result from disordered nerves.”  There it is in a nutshell—the medicine for old people must be a nerve tonic.  Old people are beset with constipation, flatulency, drowsiness, diarrhea, indigestion, rheumatism, neuralgia.

These diseases are of nervous origin.  Paine’s Celery Compound, that great nerve tonic, is almost a specific in these disorders, and by its regulating influence on the liver, bowels, and kidneys, removes the disorders particular to old age.  Old people find it stimulating to the vital powers, productive of appetite and a promoter of digestion.

Sold by druggists.  $1.00.  six for $5.00.  Send for an eight-page paper, with many testimonials from nervous, debilitated and aged people, who bless Paine’s Celery Compound.

Wells Richardson & Co

Montreal, PQ.

[Via http://gilliandr.wordpress.com]

"Worst Night Ever" + Possible Torn Retina = Visit to ER for My Unhappy Wife

This is what my wife's inner child has felt like lately

Cat’s fine. And she doesn‘t have a torn retina. But on Sunday morning, pale and soaked, she told me she’d just spent the worst night of her life.

Her life!

Cool. So I’m off the hook for that night I spent rolling around and vomiting on the living room floor from confusing vodka with lemonade.

Saturday and Saturday night were extremely rough on Cat. Her system was all kinds of bent. Her stomach distress kept her up all night Saturday, and by three the next afternoon we were thinking we needed to take her back to the hospital. So we called Urgent Care to get a nurse’s advice. And what did we learn? That Cat’ seriously dysfunctional stomach and chronic light-headedness weren’t nearly so much a concern as the big cloudy spot that had developed in the vision of her left eye.

“That sounds exactly like a detached retina,” said the nurse on the phone. “You need to go to the emergency room right now.”

So off we went to the hospital. Again.

Our emergency room doctor knew more about the human eyeball than I’ll never know about anything. It was stunning. While Cat sat on an examining table separated by a thin curtain from people she could hear she was glad weren’t her, Dr. Amazingly Competent busted out all kinds of optical exam equipment, and got busy.

Fifteen minutes later, he phoned the hospital’s ophthalmologist on call that weekend to report what he’d found, which we were all glad didn’t appear to be anything serious. And then, just to be sure it wasn’t anything serious, the most conscientious ophthalmologist in the Western World left his home to meet us at his office so he could give Cat a full eye exam.

On the evening of the Sunday following Thanksgiving, this guy stops his life just to be absolutely positive that Cat doesn’t have a detached retina—even though the emergency room doctor had left no doubt that she didn’t. Dr. Reuben Yoo nonetheless showed up his jogging suit just to make sure.

Who are these doctors and nurses who know so much, who care so deeply? The doctors who performed Cat’s operation were amazing. The nurses who cared for her during her stay at the hospital were amazing. The emergency care doctors and nurses were insanely perfect. Dr. Yoo rocked the entire universe for opening his office on the weekend just to be absolutely positive that Cat was all right.

Who are these people? How do they get that way? Who has those kind of brains? Who has that kind of stamina? Who dedicates their life to the physical well-being of others?

Anyway, Cat’s fine. Her eye is fine; her stomach is slowly but surely returning to normal. She’s still anemic from the blood lost during her operation, which of course keeps her light-headed, but that, too, is daily improving, and will be fully better in about a month.

I don’t know how I would have processed all this before I was Christian. But now it’s simple enough: I drop to my knees, and send up to God every last iota of gratitude in my soul.

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