The Kevin, MD Interview

Definitely spread the word, because, this week The Doctor Anonymous Show welcomes probably the most recognized blogger in the medical blogosphere - Kevin Pho who of course is the author of Kevin, MD, Medical Weblog. On his about page, here is how he describes his blog.

This blog aims to pull that curtain back and "tell it like it is." By shining a light on physician frustrations that the mainstream media may ignore, perhaps we can get one step closer to resolving these issues.

Join us on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time. I have so many questions especially his beginnings in the blogging world. You can also join us in the live chat room or even call into the show to ask Kevin a question.

I do have to tell you that my internet connection at home here has been (at times) shaky. So, we'll see if I have my traditional technical glitch. I'm also experimenting with a new live video site called ustream.tv - so check out my channel over there where I will try to simulcast the show. Check here tomorrow for details.

The Plague Comeback

Remember a few years ago when it was declared that smallpox was eradicated from the face of the earth? Then, a bunch of military people declared that it could be used as a weapon - thus the rationale behind the smallpox vaccine? I think that the tide is turning for some of these infectious diseases from long ago....

Reuters is reporting today that "The Plague" is making a comeback. You remember The Plague, don't you? This is the famous fatal illness from the middle ages. It even attained parody status. I mean if Monty Python makes a reference to Plague (see video clip above), you know it has to be funny (kind of).

Researchers at the University of Liverpool are reporting that Yersinia pestis (The Plague) is now showing up in African countries and that this should not be ignored. Over the past 20 years, Plague has killed some 100-200 people annually. This is a lot more people than I once thought.

"Although the number of human cases of plague is relatively low, it would be a mistake to overlook its threat to humanity, because of the disease's inherent communicability, rapid spread, rapid clinical course, and high mortality if left untreated," [researchers] wrote in the journal Public Library of Science journal PloS Medicine.

So, look out MRSA and E Coli - The old school diseases like The Plague, smallpox, and anthrax may be making a comeback - maybe even as terror weapons. That's kind of frightening to me. What's going to be next? The dreaded ebola virus? Yeesh!

Election Update

For those of you who follow politics in the United States, you know that it's primary day in Michigan. The political pundits are gabbing away as usual and analyzing every poll out there to try to predict a winner. If the New Hampshire primary taught us anything, it's that never trust the polls - they're always wrong!

How does that apply to this post? Thankfully, I'm not going to be talking about politics, but in my latest video blog, I do talk about an important election - Which blogs are determined the best by you the voter? There are only a few days left to register your vote in the Medgadget Weblog Awards.

This video post gives in-depth analysis and my predictions on who will win these races. Well, it's not that hard, the current results are right on the Medgadget site - So, you know exactly how people are doing. (Note: the numbers quoted in this video post are as of 12:01am eastern time Jan 15) I thought it may be fun to give a "news update" talking about an election other than the US presidential race.

I remember when I was nominated last year for best weblog and best new weblog for 2006. You can look back in my blog archives. I was asking (sometimes begging) people to vote for me. You can see the same thing happening with this year's finalists. It would be interesting (and fun) if there could be debates set up in cyberspace among the weblog finalists.

The polls close on Sunday, January 20th. That evening will be a special episode of The Doctor Anonymous Show at 9pm eastern time. I will have a panel of experts to analyze this race right before the polls close at midnight pacific time.

Also, don't forget that Kevin, MD will be the guest on The Doctor Anonymous Show this Thursday, January 17th at 9pm eastern time. I'm really looking forward to this interview. This should be a good time!

Macworld 2008

I'm not a tech blogger, nor do I pretend to be one. But, I can't help to talk about Macworld Expo which is beginning today in San Francisco. As you remember, last year at this time there was much anticipation about the iPhone being announced - which happened - and became (arguably) the number one tech gadget for 2007.

The "bar of expectation" is being raised again by the tech press. There's an article on the Fortune website asking "Can Steve Jobs Top the iPhone?" Now, I know that Apple does it to itself, as far as raising the hype every year and keeps the pundits guessing until the last second with its secrecy going into these conferences.

The current rumors are that Apple will announce a sub-notebook (a kind of MacBook nano), iPhone updates, iTunes movie rentals, and that always mysterious musical guest - who will it be? I'm a proud user of Apple products (how many do I have - Sheesh!). So, I'm eagerly anticipating what Steve Jobs has in store for his keynote speech this week....

Podcamp Ohio

I've become involved with a fascinating project called Podcamp Ohio. I've heard about and read about other Podcamps around the country over the past year. According to the website, this event helps connect people interested in blogging, social networks, podcasting and new media to learn, share, and grow their new media skills.

The guy who picked up the torch for the buckeye state is Angelo Mandato. The organization on this event has been phenomenal so far. There was a planning meeting today and I got to meet a couple of other people who I have been following over on the Viddler site - Brandice & Joe and their video show called "STEAP' which stands for "Super Tea People" where they review different teas.

I'm definitely not the tech guy. In fact, I felt fairly intimidated trying to talk new media speak with these people (I was clueless). However, they were so helpful and I learned a lot about blogging, podcasting, and video (hopefully, I'll remember it).

Anyway, the meeting was captured on ustream. We were there about two and a half hours talking about technology while mixing in some meeting planning. It was weird (in a cool way) to talk to people I've been seeing on Viddler and hearing on Talkshoe.

Podcamp Ohio will take place on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 in the Columbus area. Planning meetings are each week on Talkshoe. And, further in person meetings will, hopefully, be in different parts of the state to capture new people and get them excited about the event. I hope to help out as much as I can to make Podcamp Ohio a success!

Heart decellularisation

The heart of rock and roll is still beating.. (Huey Lewis & the News)

What if I told you that scientists have found a way to bring to life an animal cadaver heart so that it can beat - giving the possibility of a new source of donor hearts for humans. You'd probably tell me that I'm crazy.

Well, I would agree with that statement (that I'm crazy), but reseachers at the University of Minnesota have proven that they can bring an animal heart to life - through the process of decellularisation. (AFP)

In this process, all the cells from an organ -- in this case the heart of a dead rat -- are stripped away using powerful detergents, leaving only a bleached-white scaffolding composed of proteins secreted by the cells.

In the experiments, this matrix was then injected with a mixture of cells taken from newborn rat hearts and placed in a sterile lab setting, where the scientists hoped it would grow.

After only four days, contractions started, and on the eighth day, the hearts were pumping, according to the study, published in the British journal Nature Medicine.

The thought of using animal hearts in humans kind of freaks me out a little bit. But, according to the article, 50 thousand Americans die each year waiting for a donor heart. Plus, 22 million people worldwide live with the threat of heart failure.

This experiment is just that - an experiment. I really doubt that any practical application will come of this. I know that we already use bio-artificial hearts - kind of. I mean, I have a handful of patients with bovine prosthetic heart valves. But, would people accept an entire animal heart, even if through decellularisation? Or, would people say "Be Still My Beating Heart?" (Sorry for the Sting reference)

Dr. A Show 19: Epilogue

Thanks so much to Nick Genes for coming onto the show. We had to beg someone to call in to talk to us. And, thankfully, Enrico called in. The funny part was that we talked for about another 45 minutes after that. The total length of the show was two hours - YEESH!

But, it was a very good time. We did talk about the Medgadget Weblog Awards. Nick talked about the qualities of a good medical blog. We even talked about some funny "gag" awards or parody awards. What do you think would be funny gag awards that would compliment the real awards? Leave a comment here.

We also talked about our predictions for the medical blogosphere for 2008. I agree with Nick that medical issues may have a significant impact on the US presidential race. Blogging for political campaigns and other intersections of the blogosphere and politics - this is an interesting prediction for 2008. Then, somewhere in there, I had my obligatory technical glitch (Thanks BlogTalkRadio!)

We also talked about sponsorship of blogs - particularly medical blogs. Does this affect the integrity of the blog? The chat room definitely had something to say about this. My personal opinion is that, at this point, I would feel uncomfortable putting advertisements on my blog. This will be a great topic to talk with Kevin next week. Probably the only thing I would consider at this point would be maybe receiving a free book from an author, possibly interview them for the show, and then give the book away as a prize to a caller or someone in the chat room. Even this, this is a maybe.

I don't even remember everything else that happened. I have to listen to the entire thing again to see what I actually said. But, this was definitely a good time and I'm glad that I'm back doing the show again. Thanks to all who listened and participated in the chat room. Oh yeah, I tried out a live ustream.tv feed and it worked! I'll probably be trying that more in the future. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Listen LIVE tonight!

Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 9:00pm Eastern Time

What do you think are the best medical blogs out there (besides mine - HA!)? We'll be joined by Nick Genes from the 2007 Medgadget Medical Weblog Awards. We'll also be making our predictions for the medical blogosphere for 2008. See you tonight! (What do you think of my video promo piece above?)

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:

*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.

*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the "Chat Available" button in the upper right hand corner of my show site. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room. (If not, you will be designated as "guest")

*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. Hope these tips are helpful!

Medgadget Polls Are Open!

In the United States, there has been a lot of press in the last seven days regarding the elections in Iowa and New Hampshire and how they are impacting the US Presidential Race. (I wonder who KevinMD voted for.) If you watch the news, in fact, this is all that they have been talking about (yeesh!)

Well, let's talk about an election that actually matters (hehe). What are the best medical blogs of 2007? You can help make that decision! The polls are open for the 2007 Medgadget Medical Weblogs sponsored by ScrubsGallery.com. There are seven categories and five finalists per category. The polls close on January 20th - but don't wait that long - Vote today and Good Luck to all the Finalists!

The Doctor Anonymous Show makes a triumphant return tomorrow night at 9pm Eastern Time. Our guest will be Dr. Nick Genes from Medgadget. In addition to the awards, we'll be talking about 2008 predictions for the medical blogsosphere. I figure, everyone else out there on the internet is making predictions - so, why not us?

What do you think will happen in the medical blogosphere this year? Which prolific blogger will quit blogging in 2008 (maybe me - HA!)? What will be the big controversies which will shock the medblog world this year? What are the trends that you see happening with medical bloggers? Call into the show tomorrow night and we'll talk about it. I may even give my predictions to the 2007 Medgadget award winners (aren't you curious?). See you tomorrow night!

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds 4.16 is now up and running at a blog called PathTalk. It describes itself as a "community blog for all things pathology." No theme this week and a very simple and no nonsense layout. I encourage you to check it out. I was all ready to submit my post this week, but I forgot at the last minute. So, I don't have anything over there this week - bummer.

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, Grand Rounds moves to the site called Sharp Brains.