Behind the Scenes of Medical Blogs: MicrobiologyBytes August 21, 2007
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Behind the Scenes, Blogging, Feed, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Microbiology, science, Web 2.0.2 comments
I’ve already presented some famous medical bloggers to you. My aim is to get my readers closer to these quality blogs and the bloggers as well. I’d like to convince more and more health professionals/people interested in medicine to create their own blogs by providing interesting “behind-the-scenes” interviews. The sixth blogger in this series is Dr Alan Cann, the blogger of MicrobiologyBytes, Science of the Invisible and the maintainer of microbiologybytes.com.
- How do you find information for your blog? You certainly read other blogs, journals but do you use RSS reader? How many blogs do you track?
Since I started blogging, I read more than I have ever done. I couldn’t do it without RSS. I feel I need to convert people to the joy of RSS! To help with that, I’ve just written an online tutorial I hope will be helpful for people – and I hope people will give me lots of feedback on how it can be improved. Bloglines is my preferred RSS reader, but I’ve found that when I show people RSS, they have strong preferences which reader they prefer, so I always show people Bloglines, Google Reader and Pageflakes and let them choose which they like best. Since nearly half of the subscriptions to my RSS feed at MicrobiologyBytes are through email subscriptions to the feed rather than through feed readers, I also give them that option, although I try to persuade them not to use email for RSS!
I read around 180 feeds, but this varies from day to day. This is my current list. I have my core feeds that I’ve always read, but I try new feeds out frequently, dropping them if they don’t give me what I’m looking for. About half of them are preformed feeds from blogs, etc, and the rest are generated from keyword searches and tags on a wide variety of websites – that’s how I can rapidly scan so much information in one place.
- You provide excellent content. Moreover, you create podcasts. How much time does it take to maintain these?
Blush. The podcasts are much more labour-intensive than the blog. It takes between one and two hours a week to produce the podcast, which lasts around five minutes! Ironically, I started the blog as a front end for the podcast to allow search engine discovery, but now in many ways the podcast is a shop window for the blog! I currently have around 1,200 subscribers to the podcast feed and the podcast files get downloaded around 10,000 times a month. More people prefer to download the podcast files directly by clicking on links rather than by subscribing to the feed, but that’s fine.
Now that I feel that I know what I’m doing with the blog, it doesn’t take that long to maintain, a few hours spread across the week – less than when I was experimenting more in the early days. But it varies a lot throughout the year, depending on how busy I am with other work.
- You are a blogger at Science of the Invisible and you also work on microbiologybytes.com. I think there aren’t any better microbiology sources than microbiologybytes.com. Am I right?
There are other good microbiology blogs, such as Small Things Considered and Aetiology, but they tend not to post as frequently as I do on MicrobiologyBytes. The most important thing is to read as widely as possibly, and access your information from as many sources and as many points of view as you can.
I’d like to explain why I have two blogs. It’s not because I’m greedy! When I started, MicrobiologyBytes had a long format (for a blog) and the front end to the podcasts, and Science of the Invisible was a short format. Gradually, more and more education/technology content crept into SOTI, and so about six months ago I chose to separate them, giving MicrobiologyBytes all the microbiology content (“The latest news about microbiology in a form that everyone can understand”), and putting all the educational stuff into SOTI (“Education costs money. Ignorance costs more.”). At that point, both blogs really took off, so I guess the lesson is to target a particular audience. I don’t think many people regularly read both of my blogs, although a few wander in and out since I put links in the sidebars.
Actually, I’ve got lots of blogs – since I discovered how to use del.icio.us tags to create RSS feeds. I currently have about six: MicrobiologyBytes, SOTI, two del.icio.us miniblogs for the sidebars so I can post items quickly (one and an other), oh, and my Virtual Frogroom blog. I just started another miniblog to cover the UK foot and mouth disease outbreak.
- Does blogging help your career? Do your colleagues respect what you’ve done on the web?
I think it will do. It’s certainly helped me widen my horizons over the last year, and stay up to date – with technology as well as microbiology. I have a Why Blog? page on MicrobiologyBytes.com to try to encourage other people to think about blogging.
- What about the microbiology journals? Have they discovered you and your blogs?
Not the academic journals, since publishers still feel blogging is a threat to their income, but news media have discovered blogging, even if they don’t know what to do with it. MicrobiologyBytes is starting to get quoted quite often by journalists. Interestingly, when I started my microbiology website (now at microbiologybytes.com) in 1994, journalists would find out my phone number (which wasn’t on the site) and interrupt me with calls. Now they just quote the blog directly. I’m happy with that, as long as they link back.
I have a very good relationship with the Society of General Microbiology in the UK who have been generous enough to sponsor the podcasts.
- At last, what are your future plans with your blog?
Well first, to keep going as long as possible – or until a better technology comes along! SOTI is a platform which allows me to explore lots of different technologies which may or may not make it into my teaching eventually – after I’ve had chance to play with them online first. Beyond that, public responses to events such as people flying around the world with XDR-TB and the recent foot and mouth disease outbreak in the UK have started me thinking about how bloggers can contribute to the public good, beyond general education and awareness of science. I’m trying to think of what I might be able to do when the next influenza pandemic strikes – got any ideas?
Thank you, Alan, for the answers. Keep on informing the world about microbiology in several ways!
Behind-the Scenes interviews so far:
- Behind the Scenes of Medical Blogs: Over My Med Body!
- Behind the Scenes of Medical Blogs: Six Until Me
- Behind the Scenes of Medical Blogs: davidrothman.net
- Behind the Scenes of Medical Blogs: Eye on DNA
- Behind the Scenes of Medical Blogs: Kevin, MD
Pseudomonas infections and cystic fibrosis July 1, 2007
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Genetic condition, Microbiology, Video.add a comment
Pseudomonas infection causes serious problems in people with cystic fibrosis. Check out MicrobiologyBytes for more!
Grand Rounds 3.25 March 13, 2007
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Anatomy, Art, Blogging, Cancer, genetics, Grand Rounds, Health, Humor, Invention, Medicine, Microbiology, Nutrition, Photography, Policy and Law, Pregnancy, Prevention, Robotics, science, Sleeping.40 comments
It’s my honor to host this week’s Grand rounds, the weekly rotating carnival of the best of the medical blogosphere. Medical students think alike: in preparing for this edition I came across an earlier Monty Python theme, The Holy Grail of GR at The Rumors Were True. Now, I decided to use some medicine and health care related Monty Python videos to provide funny moments while reading all the nearly 60 submitted articles.
I hope you’re going to enjoy this edition. Let’s start with one of my favourite subjects: from prenatal care to childhood. Also don’t miss the Python’s hospital sketch about a childbirth below:
- Hsien Hsien Lei at Genetics and Health writes about Dr. Rav Dhallan of Ravgen and shares her thoughts on prenatal testing.
- Health Observances blog examines the economic impact of birth defects, or the folic acid awareness.
- Tales from the Womb presents Baby Toby Saga, a collaborative mini-series created with Dream Mom. The idea was to pilot a new form of short story on the blogosphere between a physician and a patient. Don’t miss any of the chapters.
- Healthy Children’s post, Enhance Your Kids with Drugs, Machines, and Perfect Genes asks parents: which group will they choose for their kids: the enhanced or the ordinary?
- Dr. Wes talks about a headline story, the relationship between trans fat and milk (Milk Might Be Harmful to Children).
Let’s continue with many bloggers’ main subject, diet from several aspects:
- Parallel Universes: a man lost 395 pounds with the best diet.
- The Family Fork describes the National Nutrition Month.
- Junkfood Science asks the question whether school PE is really the answer to “childhood obesity?” Then Sandy Szwarc takes a look at the latest study on neurotoxicity of methylmercury for developing fetus’ and children and the body of evidence.
- Having a Bad Mood? Eat Fish! according to Straight From The Doc.
- Are you “Eating With Your Anorexic?” presents a to-do list for teens on how to gain weight.
- The Doctor Blogger tells us the classic patient response on aerobic exercises.
- Exercise and Fitness Blog proves with an image that using abdominal muscles is not tightening or pressing navel to spine.
Mr. Gumby, in the Python video below, can’t find a nurse, but we always find the best posts of our favourite nurse bloggers:
- PixelRN tells us why she hearts pulmonologists.
- I couldn’t miss the Crazy Genes post from Nurse Ratched’s Place.
- And Kim at Emergiblog had a post about nurse bribing
Posts on Diabetes care:
- Diabetes Mine posted random thoughts on pumping without tubes.
- Six Until Me admits that she hates needles.
- Maybe that’s why Kevin, M.D. wrote about the complexities of drawing blood.
- Chronic Babe presents a review on the book, Know your numbers, outlive your diabetes and an interview with the authors.
- And last, an interesting article on depression treatment that can ease diabetes symptoms.
Before watching a video on a hospital in which the doctors relax and the patients do all of the work, let’s see the usual health care section:
- Dr. David Erani at HealthcareForum.com asks the big question: is death penalty disproportionately used against the poor?
- Kevin, M.D. (1 doctor for 18,000 patients) and Universal Health (From Zero To Infinity And Beyond) both posted on military healthcare.
- According to the Health Business Blog, Senators still seem to be missing the point on generic biologics.
- Doc in the Machine describes new FDA programs which try to track drug safety and share data with the public.
- MSSP Nexus Blog examines patient safety and mentions a book on how to build a safer health system.
- Susan Palwick at Rickety contrivances of doing good is a volunteer ED chaplain and has written a post about the frustration of dealing with inappropriate parenting in the ED.
- Transplant Headquarters tells us how to look up a transplant center.
- A true story from The wait and the Wonder blog on miscommunication. For over 3 months, she thought her daughter was actively listed for a liver transplant, when she was, in fact, still listed as a status 7, inactive.
- An other transplantation issue from A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure about the organ-transplant network.
- Then The InsureBlog takes us into the far future where everyone will have access to free health care.
Our medical bloggers provided us with many interesting and instructive cases:
- Val Jones, M.D. presents a story about a man who was bitten by a rabid bat. Did you know why rabies can cause “hydrophobia” in its victims?
- Or did you know what is the correct way to remove a tick if it is embedded in a person or pet? Medicine for the Outdoors answers the question.
- Odysseys of George’s first article is about an elderly lady with intestinal obstruction (fascinating images!); in the second one, he shows the sad part of medicine: death.
- Parcho, MD knows well how to deliver a baby in medicine style.
- Dr. Signout tells us a drug seeker’s story in the Gut reaction post.
- And a terrible story in other things amanzi blog on sjambok syndrome.
Fun, musings, robotics and a strange video which proves that sometimes we can’t hear or see the patient even if it’s our fault. Consider this section as the editor’s choice:
- Street Anatomy came up with a funny post on anatomical studies of cartoon characters.
- Musings of a Distractible Mind mused about immunizations.
- Highlight Health did the same about where cold and flu germs live and hide.
- The Blog That Ate Manhattan says Cox-2 inhibitors are a bad thing if you are trying to get pregnant.
- Doctor Disgruntled let me know about a short, but funny post on Immune Classic Thong.
- MedGadget‘s Fantastic Robotic Voyage shows new hopes in gastroenterology.
- On The Wards and Blog, MD both wrote about the use of mobile phones in hospitals.
- Med High Valley tells us what to do if you drop your pager in the toilet.
- Then Domenico Savatta at Thoughts from a robotic surgeon couldn’t resist to tell a controversial story about gay bashing in the medical blogosphere.
- Do you want to live forever? My fellow medstudent, From Medskool presents Aubery de Grey’s opinion on the subject.
- Enrico Cantu from Mexico Medical Student realizes how much a medical student has to learn.
- Foggy Bottom Lantern asks that which disease you would choose to wipe off the face of the earth and why?
I don’t know whether there have ever been an images’ section, but here it is:
- Photoblog – for the dopamine created an incredible image on burnout syndrome in medicine.
- Vitum Medicinus shows what it’s like when the lecturer annotates his slides.
- And a picture, outside the ED from Gruntdoc.
At last, I hope I create a new section in the history of Grand rounds with medicine and web 2.0:
- The Insomnia Blog posted on buying prescription drugs on the internet.
- Clinical Cases and Images – Blog says a urologist shares robotic surgery schedule via Google Calendar.
- Don’t miss the first podcast of Doc in the Machine !
I hope you enjoyed this Grand rounds edition as I’ve had so much fun while doing it. Thank you, Nick Genes for the opportunity and all the help. Please prepare for the next edition at Blog, MD. Sorry for the irking medical Monty Python videos, but I must say that thank you for watching and good night a dingdingdingdingding…
The cause of Beethoven’s deafness January 13, 2007
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Anatomy, Health, Medicine, Microbiology, Mystery, science.6 comments
I’ve always been curious about the cause of Ludwig van Beethoven’s deafness. The genious of music died on March, 26, 1827 and the record of his postmortem examination was lost and rediscovered in 1970. Beethoven had plenty of problems, but now I focus on his neurological symptoms. First, please read a portion of the autopsy report:
The external ear was large and irregularly formed, the scaphold fossa but more especially the concha was very spacious and half as large again as usual…the external auditory canal was covered with shining scales… The Eustachian tube was much thickened, its mucous lining swollen and somewhat contratced about the osseous portion of the tube… The facial nerves were of unusual thickness, the auditory nerves, on the contrary, were shiveled and destitute… The convolutions of the brain were full of water and remarkably white; they appeared very much deeper, wider and more numerous than ordinary.
Here is the list of the suggested diagnoses: syphilis, otosclerosis, sarcoidosis, Paget’s disease, typhus, measles, scarlatina, Whipple’s disease, Systemic lupus erythematosus.
Wikipedia article says:
Around 1801, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He suffered a severe form of tinnitus, a “roar” in his ears that made it hard for him to perceive and appreciate music; he would also avoid conversation… Beethoven’s hearing loss did not affect his ability to compose music, but it made concerts — lucrative sources of income — increasingly difficult.
As a result of Beethoven’s hearing loss, a unique historical record has been preserved: he kept conversation books discussing music and other issues, and giving an insight into his thought. Even today, the conversation books form the basis for investigation into how he felt his music should be performed, and his relationship to art — which he took very seriously.
The American Journal of Medicine has an article on the subject. They stated that no diagnosis has been accepted as the universal etiology of his complaints, but not only one disease caused all of his symptoms. According to close friends of Beethoven, he was particularly never out of love. That’s why the most probable cause of his deafness was the exposition to Treponema pallidum. So the best explanation for most if his complaints is syphilis.
References:
- London SJ. Beethoven: case report of a titan’s last crisis. Arch Intern Med. 1964;113:442-448
- Forbes E, ed. Thayer’s Life of Beethoven. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,1973.
- The Sound that Failed; The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 108, April 15, 2000.
The weirdest medical mysteries of 2006 December 16, 2006
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Humor, Medicine, Microbiology, Mystery, Pregnancy, science, Syndrome.12 comments
Here are my own list of the most interesting medical mysteries of 2006. I’ve chosen some publications and blogposts on astonishing cases, syndromes. If I missed something, please contact me or send your list and I’ll include it in the article. Enjoy the images below as well.
1. No fingertips: Sufferers of two rare congenital diseases – Naegeli syndrome and Dermatopathia Pigmentosa Reticularis (DPR) – can’t sweat, have thickened palms and soles, and their fingertips are as smooth as porcelain. But the mystery has been revealed.
2. Pregnant man: Bhagat of Nagpur, India, had a really big belly. Doctors thought he might have a giant tumor, so they decided to operate and remove the source of the bulge in his belly. They’ve found an other body, his mutated parasitic twin brother with limbs, some part of genitalia, hair, jaws.
3. The Girl Who Won’t Grow Up: Brooke Greenberg is 13 years old, she weighs just 13 lbs. and is only 27 inches tall. It means that she hasn’t changed in 13 years. Her condition has no name and doctors are unaware of any other child in her situation.
4. Morgellons disease: a mysterious condition marked by the sensation of insects crawling under the skin and sores that erupt and release black specks or fibers that are white or clear, or even blue or red. These fibers have nothing in common with carpet, clothing fibers and other materials. However, the fibers taken from the Morgellons patients matched each other. Still no therapy, no etiology or diagnostic criteria.
5. The death of Slobodan Milosevic: the toxicologists determined that Milosevic ingested the antibiotic rifampicin (antituberculotics), which would blunt the effect of his blood pressure medicine. As well as tribunal officials speaking on condition of anonymity suggested that the antibiotic was taken intentionally, smuggled in by visitors.
6. Glass from the head: Sarita Bista, a 12 year-old Nepalese girl has been emitting more than 130 transparent solid objects (like glass pieces) from her forehead since January 18, 2006.
7. Kids who snore regularly are nearly four times more likely to wet the bed than those who sleep silently. The possible explanation: people who snore produce more urine at night, while trying to breathe through obstructed airways may cause abdominal pressure that could also contribute to incontinence.
Strange fibers in Morgallon’s disease
The 12-year-old Brooke Greenberg
10 Promising Treatments for World’s Biggest Health Threats December 14, 2006
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Invention, Medicine, Microbiology, Prevention, science.add a comment
A Scientific American article about an interesting subject. I hope at least the half of it will become reality. By the way, it was a nice job to collect these.
These 10 treatments, all of which could significantly impact global health and wellness, are currently running the last gauntlet a pharmaceutical must run before it becomes available to the public–the clinical trial.
- Alzheimer’s Disease–Alzhemed : A new drug targeting the root of this debilitating degenerative disease could be the vanguard of a novel class of treatments
- Dengue–Live attenuated 17D yellow fever and dengue chimera: A disease afflicting half a million people annually requires a special kind of vaccine
- Diabetes–Technosphere Insulin System : Inhalable insulin could help diabetics regulate blood sugar to an unprecedented degree
- Hepatitis C–E1E2/MF59 : The world’s first preventative vaccine against Hepatitis C could curb the spread of the disease that killed Allen Ginsberg and thousands of others
- Arthritis–Naproxcinod : Potential replacement for Vioxx combines the powers of nitroglycerin with those of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- Lung Cancer–Stimuvax: New vaccine against the deadliest of all cancers teaches the body to defend itself while avoiding the side effects of more traditional therapies
- Malaria–RTS,S/AS02A : Killing more than two million people, mostly children, every year, this disease will finally face the first ever commercially available vaccine designed to fight it
- Smoking–NicVAX : Immunizing the body against nicotine might be just what smokers need to quit for good
- Vision Loss–Bevasiranib: First a Nobel Prize, and now a potentially viable treatment: the world’s first interfering RNA drug could be the first of many
- HIV–HPTN 046 and Nevirapine: Preventing the half-million cases of mother to child transmission of HIV every year would go a long way to turning the tide of an epidemic
Who named it? (Part three) December 14, 2006
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Invention, Medicine, Microbiology, science.add a comment
It’s the last part of it. Did you know that…
* Rudolf Virchow (Virchow’s triad ): Virchow’s eightieth birthday in 1901 became the occasion for an unprecedented worldwide celebration. A torchlight parade in Berlin and numerous receptions in the leading scientific centres, even as far away as Japan and Russia, gave testimony to his unparalleled international reputation.
*Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen (Recklinghausen’s disease ): Recklinghausen was quite a colourful personality and pleasant colleague. He opposed Robert Koch’s concept that the tubercle bacillus was the cause of tuberculosis.
* Friedrich Wegener (Wegener’s granulomatosis): As early as in 1932, eight months before Hitler came to power, he joined the S.A (Sturmabteilung) and became a member of the Nazi party on May 1, 1933.
*Carl Wernicke (Wernicke’s disease): He had not much contact with his younger pupils, but his way of examining patients and his demonstrations were so lucid and stimulating that those who had the good fortune to attend his clinics were deeply influenced in their further consideration of neurological and psychiatric problems.
*Max Wilms (Wilms’ tumour): In May 1918, Wilms performed a laryngotomy/cricotomy on a French prisoner of war who had laryngeal swelling secondary to diphteria. However, Wilms acquired the disease in a severe septic form and died a few days later. He was only 51 years old, at the height of a distinguished career. The French officer survived.
*A. G. Maurice Raynaud (Raynaud’s sign):Raynaud was an excellent teacher and fine clinician. He was also a busy writer. His book Sur la salive d’un enfant mort de la rage was the result of research done with Louis Pasteur and Odilon Marc Lannelongue.
*Daniel Elmer Salmon (Salmonellosis): He inaugurated a number of significant public health policies, including a nationwide system for meat inspection and quarantine requirement for imported livestock, and for the inspection of exported cattle and the ships with which they were transported.
Botulinum toxin – a miracle poison? December 11, 2006
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Biology, Health, Invention, Medicine, Microbiology.1 comment so far
Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring substances in the world. In some cases, it can help as it:
- minimizes fine facial wrinkles
- treats involuntary eyelid twitching and muscle contractions associated with crossed eyes
- offers relief from sweating of the hands, feet and underarms
- manages painful neck spasms (dystonia)
- helps in overactive bladder syndrome with or without incontinence
- helps in diabetic neuropathy
Botox, a commercial form of the toxin is also widely used in cosmetic operations and migraine headaches.
Newer applications include facial scar healing and treatment for types of impaired bladder control. And the list goes on.
If you’re considering a treatment that involves botulinum toxin, check to see that your doctor has considerable experience using the drug. Also check with your insurance company about coverage. The injections are costly and may not be covered.
The Top 10 health stories of 2006 December 2, 2006
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Invention, Medicine, Microbiology, Policy and Law, science.4 comments
The Harvard Health Letter has created a list on the top 10 health stories of 2006. You can read more about it on their page:
- Vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV).
- It became easier to avoid trans fats after the FDA required food manufacturers to list trans fat content in the Nutrition Facts portion of food labels.
- Massachusetts adopted the most promising plan yet for universal health insurance coverage.
- New treatment for macular degeneration. The FDA approved Lucentis, an anti-angiogenic drug aimed at the blood vessels that cause wet macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness.
- Germ warfare: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Clostridium difficile, and extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis cause major problems mainly in poor contries.
- The FDA approved Zostavax, the first vaccine against shingles and a vaccine against pertussis is now part of the adult vaccine schedule.
- The FDA allowed the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri back on the market, with careful restrictions to ensure patients are closely monitored. The drug had been withdrawn in 2004 because of rare cases of brain infection.
- Bird flu continues to smolder, vaccine development inches forward, and the public and the press are showing signs of bird flu fatigue.
- The Institute of Medicine released a report calling for two dozen reforms about FDA.
- Several new studies suggest that vitamin-D may protect against cancer. One study showed that as blood levels of vitamin D go up, women’s breast cancer risk goes down. Another found that fairly large amounts of vitamin D lowered the risk for pancreatic cancer by about 40%.
