Medical News
Protecting the Heart in Muscular Dystrophy Patients wait until you see which med they studied….
Perfecting an Artificial Pancreas misleading title; this is about producing insulin (the pancreas has other functions as well). Nonetheless, this is potential big news on the diabetes front.
Tobacco as a Self-Medication and Wellness opinion piece on how people self-medicate with tobacco, yet are being financially punished for this.
Vitamin D Linked To Reduced Mortality Rate In Chronic Kidney Disease the docs tested all of us on dialysis a few months ago, and I started on Vitamin D (ergocalciferol, which is non-activated), in addition to Zemplar (the activated form). I think you’ll be seeing a lot more on Vitamin D, even in “healthy” patients.
Microsoft Envisions Smarter EMR Interfaces this is interesting to me, as my employer is 100% EMR based (electronic medical record)
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About
My name is Jeff, and I was born in 1963. I married Jackie in 1990 after we met in a psychiatric hospital (we both worked there). Kevin is our teen-aged son.
RN since 1989. I currently work in a hospital-based Pediatric Clinic.
Dog lover. We have 3 2 dogs: Kelsea (Springer Spaniel), Chester (Sheltie), and Digger (GoldenDoodle).
Hobbies: genealogy (main areas of research are Scotland, England, Ireland, and Northeastern Pennsylvania), computers, listening to music (Celtic, Rock, Classical; my current favorites are Enter The Haggis, The Screaming Orphans and Flogging Molly), and following news and politics (I’m a Libertarian but registered Republican, as Pennsylvania doesn’t allow cross-party voting in the primary).
I have 2 major chronic illnesses: Polycystic Kidney Disease and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (a form of muscular dystrophy). I’ve also had gastric bypass surgery successfully (I’m 200 lbs less than my pre-op weight from January 2002), and most recently received a kidney transplant on May 3, 2008 at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA. Thank you donor and donor family!
Philosophy: Chronic illness is all in what you make it; it is what it is, and I won’t let it limit what I do…
Feel free to send me an email; address here.
I try to keep up with vitamin D research via The Vitamin D Council (http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/). They recommend the cholecalciferol form for most people.
Yes, I get their newsletter already.
I started on Vitamin D in January, but it’s ergocalciferol. However, I was also on an activated form of Vitamin D as well while I was on dialysis; Zemplar.
I was shopping for Magnesium Oxide (my magnesium level is low probably due to one of my transplant meds) and found a great source for vitamins, minerals, and herbs.
They have cholecalciferol, 1000 IU, 100 tabs for $2.99 plus shipping. http://www.wonderlabs.com/itemleft.php?itemnum=6651
I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more on the benefits of Vitamin D in the future.
Can you take magnesium oxide with no stomach problems? I can’t. I have to take the other forms, and only at night because it makes me sleepy. Thanks for the Wonder Labs link—they have good prices. I usually order from VitaCost.com, because they have a flat $4.99 shipping charge.
I’m amazed how many people are deficient in vitamin D. I’m thinking about getting tested myself, although I’m almost scared to find out the results!
I only had 1 dose so far, but didn’t have any problems.
Vitamin D levels are not something routinely ordered, but with the research being done, maybe they will be in the future.
I think it’s especially important now, because of the push to use sunscreen. We boost our Vitamin D levels through sun exposure, and that is being cut back. It would be interesting for someone to study this.