Treatment Online

Grand Rounds Vol. 2 No. 29
> 4/11/2006 5:19:40 AM

Hello, and welcome to Vol. 2 No. 29 of Grand Rounds. We here at Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments couldn't be happier about hosting this week. It is an honor.

We had a bunch of great submissions this week, and as far as I know everyone has been included. While there is some grouping by category, the posts themselves are listed in no particular order.

Spotlight
At AADT we blog about mental health issues: everything from anxiety to addiction to, well, depression. I think you get the idea. And as that it is our focus, I wanted to open this weeks Rounds with a special spotlight on mental health blogging from the week that was in the blogsphere.

In his post "Lazarus, arise!" Dr. Dork makes his triumphant return to blogging by examining why he writes, and what it's like to live with a black dog.

In this tragic post, Over My Med Body! teaches us that some patients are older than they appear.

Dr. Herbert tries his hand at poetry, and the result is an elegant testimonial to the anxiety of a day.

Bibliotherapy, Dr. Deborah Serani explains, is pretty close to what it sounds like, using books to heal.

Doc Around the Clock relays a frightening run in with a patient on the psych ward.

For Emergency Physicians like GruntDoc depression comes with the territory.

Insurance, etc.
Everyone loves to hear stories of amazing turn-arounds and upbeat outcomes, but not nearly as many people like to talk about how those great stories were paid for. Like it or loathe it, healthcare isn't cheap, and as this next group of bloggers makes clear, the bottomline can often be a sticky subject.

In part 3 of his comprehensive look at medical coding, billing, and reimbursement, The Doctor Is In tackles the seemingly innocuous subject of diagnosis coding. Warning: things aren't always as simple as they appear.

As InsureBlog tells us, when the Pill Nazi strikes, it's: "NO pills for you!"

In the UK, Healthcare.Wurk.Net worries that the cost of cutting costs might be too much to pay.

Last week's gracious hostess Urostream is more than a little upset with Tricare, the healthcare plan for veterans and their families.

Personal Stories
Week after week some of the best medical blogging comes in the form of personal stories. Reading about experiences from different perspectives within the healing process can be not only entertaining, but educational as well. Whether we're hearing from a GP, a patient, a surgeon or a psychiatrist, these personal accounts can help us all understand one another a little better.

Dr. Charles got up close and personal with an unusually large abscess and found that sometimes laughter is the best medicine.

A Difficult Patient ponders whether the instinct to see more patients might be the very thing that is driving them away.

If you're going into the trenches, Emergiblog can tell you how to stay ahead in the chart wars.

Disease Proof had an early career run in with a big name in the field of nutrition.

Milliner's Dream offers a doula's version of the Vagina Monologues from things heard during birth.

At The Differential one man explains how for Iranian medical students, grades often seem of little consequence.

Amid sleep deprivation and the stress of a dying patient, Barbados Butterfly found that sometimes it can be difficult to recognize yourself in the mirror.

The Cheerful Oncologist channelled a great literary sleuthing duo to solve a tricky case of disappearing blood.

Dream Mom recalls the joys of getting dirty in "the hole."

Mr. Hassle's Long Underpants learned that sometimes it's just important to be a good faker.

The pediatrician, Flea, illustrates that having parents beep you can save time in the long run.

The Newness
Now let's face it, even the best doctors out there can't possibly keep up with everything. Each week brings new research, new techniques, new products and so on and so forth, and while no one of us can know it all, the blogsphere's knowledge knows no bounds. The next group of posts bring something new to the table.

If you're not familiar with the term dyspareunia, The Blog That Ate Manhattan is here to make sure that you never forget it.

Unintelligent Design keeps his eyes open for quackery, and early one morning, he found it.

Circadiana breaks down Chossat's Effect, or as the kids know it these days, fasting-induced nocturnal hypothermia.

If meditation is your bag, then the Chronic Babe has a deck for you.

If you have dealt with any needle-phobic types, then Diabetes Mine just made your day.

Not every affliction can be pinned down, but as The Happystance Project points out, that doesn't mean those who are suffering aren't sick.

Inside Surgery warns that using probiotics opens a new can of worms.

Hot Topics
Last, but certainly not least, we have those posts that tackle current events in medicine. These entries can span the board from a page 1 story to an obscure journal publication, but one thing is for certain, each one is fertile ground for a good ol' fashioned throw down.

Kevin, M.D. proves that when we're talking about defensive medicine, the gloves might be coming off.

Aetiology updates us on the mumps outbreak coming out of Iowa.

CardioBlog imagines a not too distant future where prayer has become an accepted medical treatment.

The Heart of the Matter finds that, thankfully, cardiologists know their hearts.

Fixin' Healthcare cracks open Judith Harris's book, The Nurture Assumption to examine the human spirit.

At the Health Business Blog we find midwives under attack, but the question is: don't the challengers have a point?

Chewing gum can't possibly be good for you wonders Clinical Cases and Images Blog. Can it?

Guess what, your mom was right, as Straight From the Doc tells us, vegetables are good for you.

Respectful Insolence comes to the defense of Paul Shattuck.

Healthy Concerns thought she liked the idea of legislating snacks in schools, until she realized that she didn't like it.

Parallel Universes wonders how a good economy could be so bad for our health.

Hospital Impact breaks down the economics of "The New World Order."

Dr. Andy examines the difference between absolute and relative poverty, and proposes some further research.

Kids are getting bigger, but as Two (Presidential) Terms Later... explains, car seats aren't.

Well, that concludes our adventure this week, folks. It has been a pleasure. Next week keep your eye on Fat Doctor who will be providing for all your Grand Rounds needs. Submissions can be sent to bigmamadoc@hotmail.com. Special thanks go to Nick for setting everything up. Take care!

Comments
Nice job. I think I prefer your approach, which is a bibliographic essay, to the more artistic approaches to Grand Rounds that have been fashionable as of late. The problem with the "artistic approach" is that you cannot tell what the link is about from the blog source!Each link in your effort clearly explains what the entry is about, so I can pick out the most interesting ones first. Thanks!
URL: www.drhebert.squarespace.com
Posted by: mchebert 4/11/2006 8:05:58 AM
You seem to have left out Power and Control's submission on the use of marijuana for treatment of PTSD.Is it because you still believe that drug use causes addiction rather than that such use is a symptom of other problems? Like PTSD for example. Or in the case of stimulants ADD/ADHD.Of course if drug use is a symptom and not a problem a lot of the "drug abuse" industry goes up in smoke. What a lot of the "drug abuse" industry is in fact doing is similar to treating diabetics for excessive insulin use. Customers for life.BTW my work has been featured on several previous Grand Rounds. And was well recieved too.
URL: http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2006/04/ptsd-a
Posted by: M. Simon 4/11/2006 11:14:30 AM
Beee-utiful! And thanks for including Emergiblog this week!
URL: emergiblog.blogspot.com
Posted by: Kim McAllister 4/11/2006 11:48:47 AM
Nice job!Wow, every week it seems like there's more and more bloggers.
URL: http://www.diseaseproof.com/
Posted by: Gerry Pugliese 4/11/2006 11:07:51 AM
There's to much of a recency bias in so much of the internet. I like how you pushed the short stories, poetry, and genuflection up and moved the hot topics down.
URL: http://nielsolson.us/Haversian/
Posted by: Niels Olson 4/11/2006 12:43:27 PM
Great job--thanks for hosting!
URL: www.xanga.com/difficultpt
Posted by: difficult patient 4/11/2006 8:24:59 AM
Glad to have discovered this site; it's getting harder and harder to keep up with all the med blogs out there, so a resource that consolodates the highlights is very useful.Jessica
URL: http://jaotte.wordpress.com/
Posted by: Jessica Otte 4/11/2006 11:39:04 AM
Thank you for your thorough research and clear writing.

Posted by: steven 2/18/2008 10:00:27 AM