Join us tonight for The Night Shift with Dr. A. Along with me, our co-host Kat, from the BTR show Llanview Lowdown, will discuss the medically relevant news of the day. At the beginning of this week, octuplets were born in California. Yes, that's right, a set of eight babies were born to Nadya Suleman.
In the CNN video above, it questions how octuplets could be born to someone who already has six children and appears to be still living at home with her parents. Just today, this person's mother has turned on her and says that her daughter had an obsession with having kids.
Do you have thoughts on this case? Well join Kat and me for The Night Shift with Dr. A tonight - Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time on BlogTalkRadio. There are so many other things to talk about, we'll probably run out of time. For example, if you watched Oprah this week, there was discussion on the idea of bioidentical hormones.
In other news, you may have heard of the economic stimulus package that has now made it's way into the Senate. Did you know that there is a $400 Million provision for STD prevention. How does that stimulate the economy? We'll try to figure that out. Also, what happened following Dr. A Show 71? I'll try to address those questions tonight.
Finally, President Obama's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency which regulates programs like Medicare, has had tax problems and we recently learned that he accepted over $200,000 in speaking fees from health care groups that his department regulate. Is that potential conflict of interest? Will these issues derail his confirmation as DHHS Secretary? We'll discuss tonight. See you for the show!
Update: In the player above, you can listen to Show 72. (You can also download the show by clicking here). I thought it was a great show and I want to thank Sunny for calling in and sharing her thoughts on the subject.
If you watch Oprah, you saw this week that Suzanne Somers was talking about something called bioidentical hormones. What is this? Well, this goes into the discussion of the controversial topic of hormone replacement therapy at menopause. In years past, it was standard practice to place patients on estrogen to combat the symptoms of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.
You may remember a big deal being made about estrogen a few years ago, It was in fact something called the Women's Health Initiative in 2002 which revealed that estrogen therapy, according to their data, actually slightly increased the risk of heart disease. According to this WebMD article, subsequent studies have somewhat confirmed that data.
Anyway, all these questions have left women to wonder whether prescription hormone replacement therapy was for them. Then, steps in the alternative medicine community. Especially since 2002, this industry has been trying to find alternatives to prescription therapy.
In the video above, the newsmagazine 20/20 analyzes the claims that Suzanne Somers made in a 2007 book. This report is almost a year old, but brings up some of the same claims that Ms. Somers made on this week's Oprah show. In addition to checking out the video above, there is this news article with quotes from an Ob/Gyn physician on the topic of bioidentical hormones.
The day after the Oprah show ran, I received many questions from my patients on bioidenticals. What did I tell them? Well, for me, there are still a lot of questions of whether they substances work. I just don't see good data out there yet to convince me. In addition, I don't believe that there have been adequate safety studies done on these substances yet.
What are your thoughts on bioidentical hormones? Leave them in the comments below. And, I invite you to my live internet radio show tonight called The Night Shift with Dr. A in which we're scheduled to discuss this topic as well tonight.
Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time (0200 GMT)
Join us for a very important Doctor Anonymous Show. Our special guest co-host will be Dr. Gwenn from the website Pediatrics Now. Our guest will be Dr. V and his blog is called "Parenting Solved: Compelling commentary on parenting and child health." He is also the author of the book "Colic Solved: The Essential Guide to Infant Reflux and the Care of Your Crying, Difficult-to-Soothe Baby." (I also invite you to check out the video above)
During the second part of the show, we'll be discussing the recent acquisition of Wellsphere which occured this week. Dr. Val wrote an article entitled, "How The Health Blogosphere Was Scammed." In addition, twitter has had a lot of discussion on this. You can follow the discussion with the label #wellsphere. Much of the discussion surrounds medical bloggers submitting blog posts and other content to wellsphere without receiving any compensation while this company did.
The frustration out there in new media medicine (ie-medical blogsosphere) is palpable. This is clearly exhibited by the screen shot below from our friend Kerri Morrone Sparling who - formerly - had content on the Wellsphere site. (Of note, the screen shot below was taken before her account was deleted) In turn, other people who used to have content on the site have changed their profiles similarly. Do you have a Wellsphere story to share? To try to get the word out to more people, I encourage you to write a blog post about it and tell your readers, your colleagues, and everyone else about this story. If you leave a link here, I'll try to gather all the stories on this blog post to let people know that this has affected a lot of people - and a lot of people out there are very mad.
I also invite you to join us for the live internet radio show which will be Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time on BlogTalkRadio. Even if you cannot join the show live, you can always listen later, because the show is archived on a podcast. (Update: Check out posts written by Dr. Rob called "All is Not Well(Sphere)," Chronic Babe called "About the whole Wellsphere debacle," Staticnrg has an interesting logo, and hopefully more posts on this topic.)
If you do listen live, you can even take part in the chat room. It is truly "The show within the show." You can even call in and say hello. A great opportunity to interact with medbloggers you've only read about. And, you will be able to see me on the live webcam during the show!
For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners: *Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.
*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Play/Chat" button. Then, of course, press the "Play/Chat" button.
*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the green "Chat Now" button. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room.
*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. If you have a headset microphone, you can "call" into the show by looking for the "Click To Talk" button at the top of the chat box to try out the BTR VoIP option. Hope these tips are helpful!
Update: There have been some questions with regard to show 71. I will try to address some of them here. I did talk a little about the situation on show 72. So, I encourage you to listen to the latter part of that show. As I stated there, I do not intend to release the second part of the show. Sorry for the inconvenience.
As far as the first part of the show, in the near future, I do intend to release the portion of the show with Doctor V from the blog "Parenting Solved" and author of the book "Colic Solved." That segment of the show also featured Dr. Gwenn from the website "Pediatrics Now."
In case you don't know, the "review of systems" is the laundry list of questions at the end of the medical interview that may tip you off to something you may have missed during the first part of the interview. Docs with little time to see the patient, sometimes gets into "tunnel vision" and, sometimes go down the wrong path. A quick review of systems may help you get back on track.
Above is a video from our new blog buddy Dr. Katie as she is practicing the Review of Systems for class. Ah, the Review of Systems through the eyes of a medical student. I remember how nervous I felt wondering whether I would forget "this" system or "that" system. Anyway, a good review for me. Thanks Katie! (make sure you watch the entire thing - the last 5 secs are GOLD)
This month, Dr. Gwenn has asked Doctor V to be on the show. He runs the blog called "Parenting Solved: Compelling commentary on parenting and child health." Doctor V has also written a book called "Colic Solved: The Essential Guide to Infant Reflux and the Care of Your Crying, Difficult-to-Soothe Baby."
In addition to our guests, I will have a HUGE announcement having to do with my February 5th, 2009 show. So, join us the Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time on BlogTalkRadio for Dr. A Show number 71.
And, hey, if you cannot catch us live, that's ok. All my shows are archived and available for download. So, can you listen anytime! But, if you do listen live, you will be able to participate in our live, interactive chat room. You'll also have the opportunity to call in to join the conversation, and even see my shining face on my webcam. See you for the show!
Thanks so much to my co-host Kim for all of her hard work to put this show together. (Can also download the show here. Also, don't forget to check out the video post) She definitely did a lot of show prep including contacting and inviting the guests - and writing some great questions. Kim also primarily ran the interviews during the show. Great job Kim!
Thanks also to the guests on the show tonight. First was Stacy from the blog called "The Adventures of Stacy Without An E." Our second guest was Tracy from the blog called "Kaply, Inc." Not only did we have a great conversation about their blogs, but also we had a great conversation about how it was to live with chronic kidney disease and to live with dialysis.
Also, don't forget to join me for the "Night Shift with Dr. A" which will be on Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time. My co-host for that show will be Kat from the BTR show "Llanview Lowdown." We'll talk a little medicine, a little health, entertainment, pop culture, and whatever else comes up. Hope to see you for the Night Shift!
