The American Board of Medical Specialties(R) (ABMS) has redefined terms associated with a physician’s clinical active status to better indicate a physician’s participation in patient care activities. This change also includes guidelines for physician reentry and procedures for public reporting. [click link for full article]
People rate their smiles higher than dentists do, according to a new study. Teeth and eyes rated as the most important features of an attractive face, the study also found, and people younger than age 50 were most satisfied with their smiles. [click link for full article]
The AMA is urging all smokers to put their health first in 2008 by making a New Year’s resolution to quit smoking for good. AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said today that making a clean start at the beginning of the year was an ideal way to tackle the difficult goal of quitting smoking. [click link for full article]
On December 13th a woman who was sick with TB (tuberculosis) flew on American Airlines Flight 293 from New Delhi, India, to Chicago, USA. She then took another plane from Chicago to San Francisco. The infected woman is from Nepal and now lives in Sunnyvale, California. Those sitting next or near to her did not know she was infected and posed a danger to their health. [click link for full article]
Attending general surgeons at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will be required to prove basic motor skills outside an operating room before performing laparoscopic surgery on patients. CRICO/RMF, the Harvard medical community’s professional liability insurer, will offer “Fundamentals in Laparoscopic Surgery” (FLS) as a refresher course in January 2008. [click link for full article]
A ten year follow up study carried out by researchers in Spain and Turkey on patients who had laser surgery to treat high myopia (short or near sightedness) found the treatment was safe and effective in the long term, with a retreatment rate of under 30 per cent. [click link for full article]
As Congress approaches the end of the legislative year, AARP Director of Government Relations David Sloane issued the following statement on efforts to pass a package of Medicare improvements. “Given the inability to find consensus on a broader Medicare improvement package, the short term package coming before the Senate this week is the path of least resistance and is woefully inadequate. [click link for full article]
Medicare beneficiaries who have chosen to change their health and drug coverage for 2008 should experience very few difficulties when getting their covered prescription drugs through Medicare Part D, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today. “A top priority throughout the fall open enrollment season has been to help beneficiaries prepare and compare their plan choices so that they could make informed decisions about switching plans. [click link for full article]
Rhinotillexomania: Compulsive nose picking. Among the more obscure and exotic terms in medicine, rhinotillexomania has drawn
attention because of the habit to which it refers.
Rhinotillexomania is “a recent term coined
to describe compulsive nose picking” according to Chittaranjan Andrade and BS Srihari who studied nose-picking behavior in a sample of 200 adolescents and discovered that “almost the entire sample admitted to nose picking, with a median frequency of 4 times per day…” (J Clin Psychiatry 2001;62:426-431). The authors conclude that “Nose picking is common in adolescents. It is often associated
with other habitual behaviors.” The authors propose that: “Nose picking may merit closer epidemiologic and nosologic scrutiny.”
MedTerms (TM) is the Medical Dictionary of MedicineNet.com.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to eat raw oysters harvested from West Karako Bay, a section of Growing Area 3 in Louisiana. These oysters, harvested from Dec. 3 through Dec. 21, may be contaminated with norovirus. Symptoms of norovirus infection include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramping. [click link for full article]