Assorted Interesting Things

Just in Time for Halloween:

The FDA reminds you of the risks associated with decorative contact lenses.

via Unbounded Medicine, bread formed into body parts.

Ballistic Gelatin Cadavers Hit the Theatre

Done with your body? Consider donating it to the Anthropological Research Facility (that's the Body Farm for the locals).

Other Things:
via Medgadget, a special bra for women after heart surgery.

From Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, an update on mumps in the U.S. - "During January 1--October 7, 2006, a total of 45 states* and the District of Columbia reported 5,783 confirmed or probable mumps cases to CDC."
Regarding the patients' vaccination status: "Data regarding vaccination status are incomplete. In Iowa, one of the states with the most complete data, preliminary vaccination data have been reported through September 30. Among 1,798 patients with completed follow-up reports, 123 (7%) were unvaccinated; 245 (14%) had received 1 dose of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and 884 (49%) had received >2 doses of MMR vaccine. The vaccination status of 546 (30%) patients, the majority of whom were adults, was unknown (3)."

Hmm. I'm kind of glad now that I was given another MMR earlier this year, although that appears to be not at all foolproof...

In other vaccine news, the CDC recommends shingles vaccination. The CDC also has an updated free, online self-study course on public health available, Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice, Third Edition.

Kevin MD is an interesting blog. However, I hope I never get some of his readers as my doctor, or nurse, or even next-door neighbor. In response to a post about ER admissions for chest pain that are really anxiety attacks, some reader comments:
"Hopefully she gets a nuclear perfusion scan during admission with equivical results leading to a cardiac catheterization. In addition to the CT, those will greatly increase her odds of getting a radiation induced cancer in 20 years."
"No. Hopefully she'll get a CT scan with contrast to rule out PE, will have an allergic reaction to the IV Dye. The radiologist, freaking out because she is an Attorney, Will give her IV Epinephrine by mistake, causing her to go into V-Tach."
Yes, definitely make rude comments about paying back the patient for bothering you, rather than being concerned about how said anxiety is obviously disrupting the patient's life (as evidenced by the trip to the ER) and the follow-up care in this situation. Aren't you hilarious?

Technorati Tags: ballistic gelatin; body donation; cadavers; contact lenses; immunization; medical ethics; mumps; shingles; vaccines
MeSH Tags: Contact Lenses; Forensic Ballistics; Herpes Zoster; Immunization; Mumps; Tissue and Organ Procurement