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Personalized Genetics: New Journal and 22andMe September 12, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in 23andMe, genetics, Medicine, Personalized medicine.
1 comment so far

Here are a few interesting publications, articles, updates and news about personalized genetics.

  • 22andme? (GenomeBoy): Linda Avey is leaving 23andMe

I’ve decided that I’d like to focus my efforts on an area that is personally significant and will continue to have a huge impact on our healthcare system–Alzheimer’s disease. Effective today, I’m leaving 23andMe and have begun making plans for the creation of a foundation dedicated to the study of this disorder.

human genre project

Conclusions: This first study to simultaneously examine autonomic nervous system genetics, the biomarker complexity, and mortality concludes: (1) ANS genetics and physiologic complexity are independently related to mortality; (2) Genetics and complexity add information over traditional acuity scoring (probability of survival); and (3) Simultaneous assessment of ANS physiology and genetics may yield novel research, diagnostic, and therapeutic opportunities in critical illness.

Genetics in Social Media September 10, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in genetics, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, twitter, Web 2.0.
2 comments

It seems more and more genetics societies start using web 2.0 tools in order to reach people more easily. As an example, here is the Twitter account of the American Society of Human Genetics.

genetics society twitter

And Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei wrote about the web 2.0 tools Human Genome Organization (HUGO) is using  such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

hugo web2

It’s a good direction. I hope they have clear strategies for using social media.

Best Slideshow About Social Media September 10, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Slideshow, Web 2.0.
3 comments

And I mean it:

Interactive Medical Cases at NEJM September 10, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medical journalism, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0.
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Here is another new feature of the New England Journal of Medicine, one of those medical journals that embraced web 2.0 features in the early phase of the rise of social media.

Educators have long recognized that learning is enhanced and retention improves when the educational material is relevant and engaging and includes interaction. Building on the increasing capacity of the online environment, we are pleased to launch this week a new series of Interactive Medical Cases at NEJM.org.

The interactive cases are an extension of the Clinical Problem-Solving cases that we publish each month. These articles present clinical cases that are diagnostic puzzles. In the articles published in print, an expert clinician discussant responds to sequential clinical information as a case unfolds, eventually reaching a diagnosis. The interactive cases are designed to let the reader determine the diagnostic and treatment plans. The format recapitulates a clinical encounter by presenting the patient’s history with results of the physical examination and laboratory and radiographic tests.

Here is one example:

nejm interactive medical case

iTriage: Health on Smartphones September 10, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Mobile.
2 comments

I just came across the new iTriage website.

iTriage is healthcare in your hand. With iTriage you have access to medical information from over 300 symptoms, 1000 diseases and 350 medical procedures. Take 2 minutes and watch our video on the homepage for a quick overview.

You do not need a WiFi or phone connection for this information since it is stored on your iPhone meaning it is always available to you. Why is this important? Because we here at Healthagen believe healthcare consumers that are educated make better decisions. We want you to have this information when it is most important to you, at the point of receiving care. If something hurts and doesn’t feel right a decision is going to be made, whether it be to stay home, call a nurse or doctor for advice, or seek medical treatment. Shouldn’t you make this decision with the best information possible? We call this “actionable data”, information that enables you to make a good decision.

iTriage can connect you to a nurse or physician advice line. We have partnered with TelaDoc, the leading provider of physician phone advice and treatment. In a few minutes you can be talking to a physician and many times have a prescription called into your local pharmacy facilitating the treatment of many simple and common disorders.

itriage

H1N1: Rap, Second Life and Datasets September 10, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Computer, Second Life, Video, Visualization, Web 2.0.
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Just a few articles focusing on the recent H1N1 outbreak.

h1n1 stats

The Second Virtual Congress of General Practice and Family Medicine: Soon September 9, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Conference, Second Life, Virtuality, Web 2.0.
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I’m a member of the international advisory board of The Second Virtual Congress of General Practice and Family Medicine that is starting on the 21st of September. In the latest newsletter, Dr. Alexandre Gouveia included my thoughts as well:

Dear Colleagues,

I’ve been organizing medical events and scientific conferences in Second Life, the virtual world for years. Since 2007, I’ve been writing about the possible medical implications of such virtual environments on my blog – http://www.scienceroll.com. I really believe in their potential as I see many examples about how it can be used in language learning, meetings or conferences.

In today’s global financial crisis, it’s very important to lower the sky rocking costs of medical conferences, also travelling and logistics issues take precious time and doctors lose days in order to give a few slideshows and talk with colleagues. It shouldn’t work like that.

We all should be able to have sophisticated, secure, and fast channels for doctor-doctor; as well as doctor-patient communication. Web 2.0 will certainly play a major role in this development.

The 2nd Virtual Congress is a huge step in this direction and maybe the only initiative that can gather that many doctors around one important issue: making communication as simple and efficient as possible.

I’m looking forward to working with you on this and let’s organize more and more virtual conferences.

Kind regards,

Bertalan Meskó

virtual congress

3rd Semester: New Mission September 8, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Education, Health, Health 2.0, Medical education, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Medicine 2.0 Course, Web 2.0.
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To be honest, I’m very proud of this university course (this is the first of its kind that is launched at a medical school) and now I’m ready to launch the 3rd semester. The new semester will be centered around a new structure (see below) and a new form of slideshows (Prezi.com). And I’m happy to announce that the whole course will get a brand new website in January where I will publish the content and other details as well.

Here is the new structure:

1st week:

  • Web 2.0: An introduction into a world of possibilities
  • Web 2.0 in medicine: Practical examples, an overview of the whole course

2nd week:

  • The medical blogosphere (why to blog; success stories, advantages; examples)
  • From the first comment to blog carnivals: Step by step (how to start and maintain a medical blog)

3rd week:

4th week:

  • Everything you have to know about Wikipedia (how and why students and doctors should use it)
  • The world of medical wikis (how wikis work and how many wikis we know)

5th week:

6th week:

7th week:

  • Managing a medical practice online (hospitals in social media, Jay Parkinson; American Well and many more)
  • A new way of collaboration: Google Docs (how to write a document online)

8th week:

9th week:

  • Medical search engines (personalized searches, Scienceroll Search, how to use Pubmed)
  • The Google phenomenon (Google Docs, Health, Calendar, Alerts, etc.)

10th week:

First_aid_with_mouse_mod small

Does Twitter damage your memory? September 7, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in twitter, Web 2.0.
3 comments

At this year’s British Science Festival,  Tracy Alloway, a psychologist from Stirling University, said the following:

Some examples of what can hurt or harm working memory include things like Twitter. When you’re receiving an endless stream of information when you’re a ‘tweeter’, it’s also very succinct, so there’s no need to process or manipulate that information, it’s not a dialogue unlike something like Facebook where you might be updating your status and so on.

british science assoc

Fortunately, Mark Henderson at Times Online puts things in the right place:

Most people I know who use Twitter see it as an interactive tool for conversing with wide groups, and for drawing like-minded people’s attention to information that might interest them. It’s interactive, full of links, and information-rich. It’s a misconception that the 140-character limit makes depth impossible. In fact, to me, Twitter seems to build social networks just as effectively as Facebook, which Alloway thinks might improve working memory.

Mark is right, and I have a few examples that can explain why I think so:

Healthcare reform 2009: Video and NEJM Portal September 7, 2009

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Medicine, Video, Web 2.0.
1 comment so far

T. Ryan Gregory at Genomicron posted a video from New Scientist that focuses on some data about the healthcare reform.

And the New England Journal of Medicine also came up with a new portal dedicated to this important issue.

healthcare reform nejm

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