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Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Journalist shows Coca Cola boss how much sugar is in their drink




Calls are growing for high sugar drinks to be taxed in the same way as cigarettes to curb rising obesity. Does the drink industry’s resistance echo that of the tobacco industry denial in the 1960s? Jeremy Paxman spoke to James Quincey, president of Coca Cola Europe.













bbc YouTube channel : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ugFock3p2xE

Sunday, 27 July 2014

Internal Medicine Textbooks

 


Firstly, books used by US medical school students are pretty much different from the rest of the world. My medical school follows the British system, but I am also quite aware of the popular books US medical students use for their medical rotations.

 

 Step 1 : You need a Medical Pocket Book!



A pocket book is essential, as you will be spending most of your time in the wards (or you should be). ANd so, you need a small tiny book which you can fit into your pocket, for immediate reference when needed. The MGH Pocket Medicine book is like the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine for the US medical students. You can carry this book all the way, even during Residency. If you belong more to the British style of medical education, get the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine. It is also known as the "Cream and Onion" among medical students.

 

 

  Step 2 : You need a Medical Textbook

  
These are the big boys in Internal Medicine. US students don't usually get a medical textbook, unless they are interested to get into internal medicine residency, by which they will get the big daddy in internal medicine : Harrison's. As for the rest of the world, most medical students will purchase a copy of a medical textbook, so that they can highlight it and scribble on it all they want. For them, its always either Davidson's or Most of students
use Kumar and Clark, as the content is more complete as compared to Davidson's. However, Davidson's organizes its information more systematically, and is more "user-friendly"



Step 3 : You need a Review Book



 

 

 

 

 

Step-up to Medicine is the BEST review book for Internal Medicine so far. There are others who are Blueprint loyalist who uses the blueprint series. But after going through many medical student forums, I have concluded that Step-Up to Medicine beats the others hands down.

 

 

Step 4 : You need a Case Book 




Case Files is usually the case book used by medical students. It is kinda like the standard. However, I did discover this other case book, known as the NMS casebook, still new and not as popular as Case Files, but I find it really comprehensive in terms of cases, and its cases are divided into proper systems. I personally use both.

Those are the few most common books used by medical students in the Internal Medicine posting. And they are really good, so you do not have to worry that you are buying poor material for your Internal Medicine. What you should worry about, is if you have the time and the discipline to go through the pearls in those books.

Path Bites: A quick and easy way to study path






One of the things that I love about Pathology Student is our daily email called Path Bites. I started this a couple years ago with the goal of helping people keep up with pathology – whether it’s studying for boards, learning pathology in class, or just learning for the fun of it (Really! It’s fun!). We’ve gone from zero to over 5000 subscribers in just over 2 years – and I get nice comments from subscribers a lot – so I feel it’s a valuable service. I thought I’d describe it a bit in case you haven’t seen the signup box to the left – or in case you were wondering just exactly what Path Bites is.
Path Bites consists of a short email every weekday containing an important pathology pearl or two. It’s totally free, and there aren’t any ads or other annoyances – just pure pathology. I alternate between general pathology and systemic pathology topics (general pathology one day, systems path the next), working through topics in a logical fashion. I keep the emails short (so they are readable in a minute or two) and pithy (getting to the point quickly and clearly). Here are a couple recent Path Bites, one on general path (cell injury and cell death) and one on systems path (blood vessels):


Apoptosis
Apoptosis is a unique kind of cell death that happens in a pre-programmed fashion. The apoptotic cell is basically committing suicide according to the instructions it carries in its genes. It releases enzymes that degrade its own DNA and other proteins, and its cell structure becomes altered in such a way that phagocytes see the apoptotic cell as yummy. Interesting: this phagocytosis happens before cellular contents leak out – so there’s no stimulation of the host immune response. Necrotic cells, by contrast, have massive membrane disruptions, and release their cellular contents, eliciting a host reaction.
For more information, see Robbins, page 25.

What causes Raynaud phenomenon?
Raynaud phenomenon is characterized by episodes in which fingers or toes become pale (sometimes even blue!). It’s caused by an exaggerated vasoconstriction of arteries/arterioles, and it can be primary or secondary.
    1. Primary Raynaud phenomenon happens after exposure to cold or emotional stress. It is more common in  young women, and affects about 4% of the general population.
    2. Secondary Raynaud phenomenon happens as a result of arterial disease caused by other conditions like lupus, scleroderma, Buerger disease or atherosclerosis.
Raynaud phenomenon can be the first manifestation of these other conditions…but only about 10% of patients with Raynaud phenomenon will eventually be diagnosed with an underlying disease. So don’t freak out if you have this! Most of the time it’s primary.
For more information, see Robbins, page 518.
Path Bites is valuable because it’s a relatively painless way to get a little path into your head each day. As a student, I didn’t have the discipline or the time to read through Robbins unless a test was looming…but I could definitely read through a short email each day. Over time, we end up covering a lot of ground – one fact at a time!

Here are some comments I’ve gotten by email lately:

I am a Physician Assistant student and the Path Bites emails have been extraordinarily helpful for both our Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Pathology courses.
- Brooke S, PA student
I really enjoy those path bites you send out! It’s especially great when I’m too busy studying other stuff and don’t have time to go around reading longer articles for fun. Not only is the info interesting and convenient to read, but it’s also an effective and painless way to accumulate knowledge over time (smaller portions of info = less overwhelming for brain = sticks better long term!).
- Yuko B, MLT student

I love path bites – they have helped me a lot!!! You really make pathology easy!!
- Jade O, M.D., pathology resident

I have enjoyed your site ever since I found the Path Bites and have recommended you to many of my friends and classmates.
- Henry G, med student

 I hope that gives you a good idea about what Path Bites is like. You can sign up on the left of this page, at the top. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!





All this is from :
http://www.pathologystudent.com/?p=6922