Nuggets for September 24

Yes, it's been awhile, but since I've been on vacation, I figured I should just stop the early Christmas shopping and get with posting a few of these goodies. Hope you all enjoy!

Pandemics-R-Us

Since it was on my list of things to do, I got my seasonal flu shot this week.

It's easy to get caught up in the hype, but keep your wits and learn something from the CDC's page on H1N1 flu.

On the subject of flu, my personal favorite in the "when people get carried away" section appeared recently in the NY Times with some great photos and is called City Critic- What not to wear when worrying about the flu. No, Tyveks are not fashionable this year. Big thing to remember: hand hygiene people!

Family fun

The myriad of articles on family dynamics, etc., really surprised me. Here are some I found interesting:

Seven ways your siblings may have shaped you (from Yahoo!Health)

Mama wasn't always right: 9 updated health rules (from cnn.com) Guess I won't get in trouble for reading in low light anymore!

Medical news of note

I am always fascinated by brain stories (I guess in another life I was somewhere in neuro) and this one was really interesting: Brain pacemaker for a rare disorder (from msnbc.com)

The BBC has been having some very interesting articles on health, and here are a couple below.
Antibiotic resistance clue found

And because most of my patients are in the target demographic for this...
'Viagra cream' could prove safer

Tools you can use
And finally, since I've been embarking on a few home improvement projects, check out these nifty health related tools. No batteries required!

The ANA has a new site on Safe Patient Handling. It's got a lot of information you don't want to miss to keep your work environment safe.

I found this one thanks to a nursing newsletter from the ANA. Statistician George Fernandez at the University of Nevada at Reno has devised an even simpler implementation of BMI called MWL or Maximum Weight Limit. The calculation is a breeze, especially if you don't have a calculator handy.