Flu shots: Built up and torn down

I know, I know. People are sick and tired of me blogging about flu shots. But, hey, it's my blog and I'll write what I want to - HA! Anyway, here's another chapter in the ongoing saga of the flu shot story arc.

When we last left flu shots, they were being celebrated as not having a shortage. I remember even one source touting that there would a "record" number of flu vaccine available for this year's flu season. So, all is well and good, right?

Apparently not. As fast as our dear friends in the press are talking up the flu shots, the tone this week has changed. According to this article from the Seattle Times, they ask this question, "Is the flu shot benefit overstated?"

The benefits of flu shots for elderly people have been greatly exaggerated, according to researchers at Seattle's Group Health Center for Health Studies and George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

I made reference to questionable data in my previous post. Apparently, these researchers are pointing out questionable benefit data for elderly patients to receive the flu shot.

"We find it peculiar that the claims that influenza vaccination can prevent half — or more — of all winter deaths in elderly people have not been more vigorously debated," wrote Jackson and Dr. Lone Simonsen of George Washington University, the lead author of their report, "Mortality benefits of influenza vaccination of elderly people: an ongoing controversy."

So, in a week or two, the positive spin for flu shots will begin again. And, then the week after that, there will be negative stories again. Sure, this sells papers and gets ratings. But, how are patients supposed to decode all this conflicting and confusing information? That's easy. Make an appointment with your physician to talk about it.

Fake acupuncture works

Here's a headline: "Fake Acupuncture Is Still Better than Western Medicine." Uh, I may get in trouble for this post. This AP article reports on a German study where they took patients with back pain and divided them into three groups.

In the largest experiment on acupuncture for back pain to date, more than 1,100 patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture, sham acupuncture or conventional therapy. For the sham acupuncture, needles were inserted, but not as deeply as for the real thing. The sham acupuncture also did not insert needles in traditional acupuncture points on the body and the needles were not manually moved and rotated.

After six months, patients answered questions about pain and functional ability and their scores determined how well each of the therapies worked. In the real acupuncture group, 47 percent of patients improved. In the sham acupuncture group, 44 percent did. In the usual care group, 27 percent got relief.

Now, why did this happen? Could it be that acupuncture is better than "usual care?" If that was the case then why did the fake acupuncture group still score better than the usual care group? Two words: Placebo Effect. Here is how WebMD defines it.

A placebo effect is an improvement in the symptoms of a disease or condition when a person is treated with a drug or other treatment that he or she expects to work, even though the treatment has not been proven effective. When a drug or treatment seems to work for some people but has not been scientifically proven to be any more effective than a "sugar pill" or placebo, it may be said to have a placebo effect.

Getting back to the AP article, it even outlines the bias limitation that this study has, while still trying to persuade you that their theory are still correct (nice try).

Positive expectations the patients held about acupuncture -- or negative expectations about conventional medicine -- also could have led to a placebo effect and explain the findings, [the study co-author] said.

Although the study was not designed to determine how acupuncture works, [the study co-author] said, its findings are in line with a theory that pain messages to the brain can be blocked by competing stimuli.

So, this is another research study in which the results (the facts) did not prove their theory, the most important take away point they want you to know is that acupuncture, whether real or fake, is still better than Western medicine and that insurance companies should pay for it - as exhibited by the last two paragraphs of the article.

Funding came from German health insurance companies, and the findings already have led to more coverage in Germany of acupuncture.

In the United States, some health plans cover acupuncture for some conditions, but may require pre-approval, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. An acupuncture session can cost $45 (euro32) to $100 (euro71).

C'mon, gimme a break! Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing acupuncture. I think this treatment has value. But to make policy changes based on this bad data? That's irresponsible. Either get better data or just acknowledge your bias toward acupuncture (or against Western medicine), make your policy decision (insurance companies should pay for acupuncture), and move on.

Update (10:32pm 10/26): Here's something interesting. This post got picked up overseas. To see what this post looks like in German, just click here. Enjoy!

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds 4.01 is now up and running (early) over at Kevin, MD. With the turn of the digit, could it be that the great Grand Rounds is four years old? Yeesh! I remember reading my first GR about a year and a half ago and wondering whether I could even post over there. How time flies when you're having fun. Thanks to Kevin for including my post this week:

Doctor Anonymous notes the importance of washing your hands.

If you don't know what Grand Rounds is, it is a weekly compilation of the best posts from the medical blogosphere that moves to different sites each week. And, who doesn't like reading about medicine and science? Next week, GR moves to Dr. Rob's new site over at Musings of a Distractible Mind. He had a blog meltdown recently. But now, his new blog is up and running nicely. Enjoy Grand Rounds!

MyBlogLog now on Yahoo

I don't know who turned me onto MyBlogLog, but I think this is a great service. I like how you can put this widget onto your sidebar to see who has stopped by your blog (presuming they have a MBL account as well). I even tried a pro account for a while, because I liked looking at the stats (imagine that).

But, tonight, I'm trying to log into the site, and it asks me for my Yahoo ID. Huh? What's up with that? Apparently, MBL is now a Yahoo company and they are integrating things. Now, there is one problem (at least for me). I don't want to create another account ID for myself on Yahoo. Why they can't they just leave things the way that they are. Sheesh!

If you're on MyBlogLog, what do you think of this new thing with Yahoo? If you don't currently have an Yahoo ID, will you create one just to continue on MBL? Just curious.

Sorry for the whining. I think I'm done now. By the way, the latest edition of the Dr. A show is now archived and ready for you to listen to. You can either listen in my sidebar at this very blog or listen to it at my BTL site. I already got a four star rating! Thanks coaster1robert! Enjoy the show!

Listen Live Today @ 3pm

Thursday, September 20, 2007 from 3:00-3:30 Eastern Time

Something came up today in my schedule that almost made me cancel the show. But, I managed to work it out. The only thing is I had to move the show to an hour earlier at 3pm ET. If you're able to listen live, even with the time change, I invite you to check things out on the new BlogTalkRadio group chat room.

I apologize for throwing off the time for the live show. Hopefully, you'll at least be able to catch Doctor Anonymous Live on the archive. You can even listen to the archived show right here in the sidebar about an hour after the live show is completed. I'm still trying to find a consistent date and time for the show. I've been told that the same day and time is one of the best ways to try to build an audience. Enjoy the show!

Update (1:15pm ET): The BlogTalkRadio site is currently down. Why is that? So, maybe there may not be a show today anyway. This is starting to feel like two weeks ago when the show was messed up because of technical difficulties. We'll have to see what happens in the next hour or so.

Update (1:38pm ET): In looking at the above graphic, they say that they will be back up and running 9/17 which was three days ago. This graphic was from Sunday night when they had scheduled maintenance until the next morning. 

Now, there is the graphic below. That's telling me that there is something wrong going on and it's probably going to be an extended period of time. I'll keep checking things out, but it's looking more likely that there will be no show today. Yeesh! I think I'm cursed for a Thursday afternoon show. Maybe it's time to consider moving the show to an evening prime time slot - and maybe on a different night. Ahhhh!

Purging Disorder

When I first saw the title of this AP article, I said to myself, "I know what this is. It's the binging and purging thing, right." Eating disorders is something I've written before on this blog. Pro-ana and pro-mia sites continues to be one of the most visited posts on this blog.

But, what I didn't realize is that the term purging disorder talks about being "compelled to purge, usually by vomiting, even after eating only a small or normal amount of food."

Apparently, purging disorder is not an officially recognized diagnosis according to the American Psychiatric Association. However, further study and research on this topic may support changing of the criteria for diagnosing eating disorders.

The dangers of purging disorder are similar to those of bulimia: psychological problems, dehydration, electrolyte imbalances that can affect the heart and kidneys, and potential dental problems because of self-induced vomiting.

Here is a pretty good link talking about eating disorders from WebMD. I didn't know that it's hard to even put a number on how many people suffer from eating disorders. Many of these are sad stories. Hopefully, more effective treatments can be developed to address this problem.

I'm A Web Resource!

I received an e-mail from Jimmy Atkinson who is from the Nursing Online Education Database. Apparently, they just put together 100 web resources for medical professionals. I was pleasantly surprised that this blog made the cut:

91. Doctor Anonymous — This is a humorous blog written anonymously by a doctor. It covers medicine in relation to politics, life and beyond. Doctor Anonymous also has an online radio show, broadcast from this blog.

Thanks so much to NOEDb for placing the blog on their list. I really appreciate it. I've even received some traffic from over there today - so thanks! I encourage you to check out this list. It's a pretty good group of links divided into 12 categories. Check it out!

Don't tase me, bro!

What is up with this? Apparently, this incident has received over a million views on youtube already. If you haven't heard about this already, here's an article from the Gainesville Sun. As I have said before, this not a political blog. I only make observations. And, this video is interesting on so many levels.

Wash Your Hands!

Do you wash your hands before your leave the restroom? C'mon, be honest. I won't tell anyone. Well, it seems that in a recent study, less people are washing their hands compared to 2005. Ew! What's up with that? The article is from WebMD.

Researchers who discretely observed men and women in public restrooms found that only 77% washed their hands with soap and water -- a 6% decline from 2005.

But not many people are admitting to slipping up: In a separate telephone survey, 92% of Americans claimed they always lather up in public restrooms. The findings were reported at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).

Who is more to blame? Men or women? What do you think? Here's the answer from the article.

The blame lies squarely with the men, says Brian Sansoni, a spokesman at the Soap and Detergent Association, which cosponsored the survey with the ASM.

The percentage of men observed washing their hands fell from 75% in 2005 to 66% in 2007. In contrast, hygiene habits basically stalled among women: 90% washed up in 2005, compared with 88% in 2007.

Now, as compared to yesterday when I talked about things like lab coats and neckties potentially spreading bacteria, I'm a huge advocate of hand washing in the hospital setting, before leaving the restroom, and other situations where bugs can spread. So, do us all a favor and just wash your hands, would ya?

Dr. A Live - 9/20 @ 4pm ET

I'm happy to announce that the next edition on the Doctor Anonymous Live show will occur on Thursday at 4pm ET. Mark your calendars now! I think (finally) that I've worked out the technical glitches so that I can focus (mostly) on show content. I'm excited about this project again!

Blog Talk Radio unveiled an entirely overhauled site on Monday morning (like the new logo?). I have got to tell you that it looks very nice! I encourage you to check it out.

There are also a few new features that I hope to be trying out for the show on Thursday. For example, they have installed a group chat function. Now you'll have to register as a BTR listener to enter the chat, but I think it would be fun if we got a few people in there chatting away during the show.

BTL has really added a social networking feel to their site now. You can now designate "friends" and sign up as "listeners" to specific shows (don't forget to do that to me when you get your BTL name!). You can also add text comments to specific shows and to my profile, if you like. Plus, there's a rating system for individual shows from 1-5. Hope you can join me in a couple of days!