We’ve already described a lot of the mosquito diseases we’re worrying about this summer. And, we’ve also pointed out an extremely valuable reference for travelers run by the CDC. Now, lets give you a printable handout you can use as sort of a check-list to “mosquito-a-fy” the area around your house.
Yea, we know that your neighbor’s yards matter too; but, yours is the place where you need to start!
Traveling the world isn’t as easy now as it once was! The multiple infectious disease are much more complicated, travel immunizations are plentiful but for sporadic diseases and world “health departments” are all too frequently absorbed with other crises or absent all together.
There is a place one can go, however, to find the very latest research and recommendations for travel immunizations and travel safety which takes into account not only your destination but other factors as well – like children, chronic diseases, etc..
Look at the CDC website located in this link and bookmark it for future reference. You’ll see a box where you can select your destination and check any other extenuating circumstances of your travel. Clicking “go” will take you to a page where a whole host of information is available.
For the first time in a long time that I can remember, the dislike of mosquitos has taken on an entirely new life this summer. Most certainly due to all the medical news about the mosquito illnesses and Zika; but, there are other diseases mosquitos harbor too that we can’t just rely on “citrus smells” and “bug zappers” to defeat.
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The Lachman test is pretty easy to explain to someone but difficult to understand without some kind of example.
A plastic model of the knee helps in understanding but an actual patient is better. Unfortunately, there isn’t always one available during your “teaching moment.”
A great alternative is a good teacher and a cooperative patient on a video – like this one.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is hidden inside the knee joint and is diagnosed by performing the Lachman Test during a thorough physical exam – like this one by a pediatric orthopedist.
As you watch him explain the terms: “medial” means “inside or middle“; “lateral” means “outside“; “anterior” means “to the front” and “posterior” means “to the rear.”
There are two “collateral” ligments – one on each of the medial and lateral sides of the knee which prevent right and left scissoring of the lower leg outward and inward.
And there are two “cruciate” ligments – the anterior and posterior, in the middle of the joint which prevent the lower leg from slipping forward or backward out of the joint.
There are other tests which diagnose tears in the remaining three knee ligaments that are not described here. An ACL tear is the most common injury of this type.
A summer injury is best to be avoided if we want to make the most of the sun, fun and time out of school. Fortunately, most all of the common ones are preventable if we are but forewarned and take a few precautions.
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I recently followed along for several weeks as a medical information site posted their ranking of the “Top 50 Most Influential Doctors in History.” Despite the fact that I benefitted from their insight and life’s accomplishments nearly every day, I had almost no clue who many of them were.
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I’ve seen a list of the Top 50 Most Influential Physicians of All Time somewhere, I think in a physicians-only magazine called Medscape. It was compiled by physicians, I suppose from some committee somewhere.
Reviewing it, I’d heard of nearly every name on the list save it be a couple, so I typed one or two into Wikipedia to see what they had on the doctor and was pleasingly suprised with the new insight. These people had done amazing things, many against terrible odds, most with huge personal sacrifice and a few barely escaping dangerous backlash and physical hurdles (or not).
I decided to start a historical series myself, explaining in more detail their contribution to the medical care you and I take for granted today. That was more years ago than I’m proud of; but, I’m still struggling to add these tough-to-write posts to this series.
This beleaguered house plant may look like one of yours, it does mine and there are millions of them in households everywhere because of their interesting foliage and color; but, it is one of the seven most common poison plants for kids.
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This is a “link post” which, as you know, enables me to provide “sidebar” information to you which I find useful from other sites on the web. Also, as you know, I do not link to sites full of “agendas,” “ads” or monetary gain – no matter how good they are. Today’s link: Medical consent by children for their own care.
Usually, I merely give a sentence intro; BUT this topic does require some background information so don’t click until you’ve read the short info below – it’s not long. Read more →