Tag Archives: education

PBS – “Ride the Tiger”

Posted on by April 27, 2016

Tomorrow night at 10pm, PBS is premiering a documentary about the history and treatment of bipolar disorder: Ride the Tiger—A Guide Through the Bipolar Brain.

It’s hard to find a family that hasn’t been affected by this condition, yet it’s still poorly understood and challenging to diagnose and treat.

The show looks at genetics, diagnosis and treatment, and features many highly accomplished people living with the condition.

The PBS webpage also offers resources for more information about bipolar disorder.

I will certainly be watching!

Sláinte,

Frugal Nurse… Continue reading

Allergies 101 Infographic

Posted on by April 11, 2016

I love infographics!

So when Blink Health invited me to share their infographic on allergies, Allergies 101, I was happy to agree.

Blink Health is one of several health care start-ups I’ve been watching that I think provide innovative ways to help people save money on health care. Blink Health specifically helps patients save money on prescription medications.

Blink Health is the first company to develop a proprietary technology to group millions of patients together, creating the strength to negotiate the lowest prescriptions prices possible. They are also the first company to allow patients to purchase their medications online

… Continue reading

ER tips to keep kids safe at home

Posted on by May 16, 2016

As any parent or child caregiver can tell you, keeping kids safe—especially into-everything toddlers—takes a lot of planning ahead. We look around the house or yard and try to think like they do: What will they be attracted to? What will they pick up and put in their mouths? How high can they reach? Etc….

And sometimes we fail.

I just watched two video clips of ER docs talking about some common injuries they see, and what parents can do to make their homes more safe.

The first is from the TV show The Doctors: 3 Dangerous Drugs that Can … Continue reading

Be informed – Informulary

Posted on by March 30, 2016

I love finding websites that provide people with evidence-based health care guidance that is also easy to understand.

Like the law, medicine is full of jargon and tortured language that can leave the most intelligent patient confused about risks and benefits.

Clear communication is especially necessary when talking about prescription medications.

I just ran across a new website called Informulary, which was started with the goal of providing easy-to-use and understand DrugFactsBoxes, similar to nutrition labels on foods.

Since 2009, the Food and Drug Administration has required facts labels on all over-the-counter medications, but so far they have ignored … Continue reading

Spring break and the Zika virus

Posted on by March 20, 2016

Just in time for spring breaks across the country, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has posted the following fact sheets on its Zika Virus homepage:

Most of the tips concentrate on avoiding mosquitoes and mosquito bites by using recommended insect repellents and bed nets, and wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants, or clothing treated with permethrin.

Related post: Be informed – Bug repellents

It’s believed the Zika virus causes the really tragic birth defect microcephaly, so pregnant women or women planning on becoming pregnant need to … Continue reading

Protect yourself from food poisoning

Posted on by February 20, 2016

Cases of food poisoning, or food-borne illnesses, have been on the rise.

A lot of media attention was on the restaurant chain Chipotle recently because of an outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria E. coli.

But it seems there is always a story in the news about contaminated foods, food recalls and outbreaks of the most common culprits of food poisoning: E. coli, salmonella, listeria and hepatitis A.

As the health news website Medscape reports:

Contaminated-food recalls in 2015 were on pace to exceed those from 2014, with bacteria discovered in everything from ice cream to spinach. Companies in

… Continue reading

PBS – “In Defense of Food”

Posted on by December 28, 2015

If you’re interested in starting out the New Year with a better eating plan, check out the PBS production of Michael Pollan’s best-selling book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.

What is Pollan’s manifesto? Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Advice for healthy eating doesn’t get much simpler than that.

In Defense of Food premiers Wednesday, December 30th. Check your local listings for the time. Here’s the trailer:

Michael Pollan hosts the program himself and examines how the typical high-calorie, low-nutrient American diet came to pass and what we can do to reclaim … Continue reading

“That Sugar Film”

Posted on by December 22, 2015

that sugar filmIt probably wasn’t the best idea to watch this documentary just a few days before one of the most sugar-laden holidays of the year.

On the other hand, I will definitely be more conscious about how much sugar I eat and will hopefully avoid a huge sugar hangover—that slightly sick, tired, yucky feeling I get after eating too many sweet foods.

That Sugar Film is one of several sugar documentaries that have come out recently that attempt to show us just how bad sugar is for our health.

Related story from Time: Sugar is definitely toxic, a new study says… Continue reading

Nursing shortage infographic

Posted on by April 7, 2016

I was invited to share this very interesting infographic on the looming shortage of nurses in this country.

The last of the baby boomers will reach retirement age in 2029. Although baby boomers can expect to live well into their 80s and 90s thanks to healthier lifestyles and modern medicine, they won’t be without chronic health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, and early dementia.

That will put a strain on the health care system, as there is already a growing shortage of doctors and nurses. And as more highly-trained nurses take on the role of primary … Continue reading

Sonicare toothbrushes and gum recession

Posted on by October 26, 2015

So I finally got around to finding a new dentist.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my dentist of 20 years retired and, because I don’t have dental insurance, I was faced with the daunting task of researching local dentists to find one that 1) offered basic dental care and didn’t push teeth whitening, gum scaling or Botox; and 2) was willing to offer me a cash discount and work with me on keeping my dental costs down.

Now that I’ve found him, I hope he doesn’t retire soon!

I keep my teeth and gums very clean and … Continue reading