On Call tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-86841574785193740 2011-06-01T00:15:47-07:00 Making sense of staying healthy. TypePad Pollen Power tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b01543293e727970c 2011-06-01T00:15:47-07:00 2011-06-01T00:15:30-07:00 My wife says I'm an optimist. But when it comes to the recent cold, wet weather we've been having, there really is a silver lining in all that gray -- it's keeping the pollen counts down, even during the peak of allergy season. And allergy season is serious business. Since... Lester Baskin MD Vitamin D and Colds: The Sequel tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b014e6012b009970c 2011-05-02T16:39:54-07:00 2011-05-02T16:39:43-07:00 Some interesting and poorly-publicized developments regarding the benefits of vitamin D arrived at the end of the year. Specifically, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released their long-awaited recommendations for supplemental D dosing, as well as their assessment of the growing body of vitamin D research. Commissioned by the US and... Lester Baskin MD CPR - update tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b014e86df79bb970d 2011-03-21T16:04:54-07:00 2011-03-21T16:04:54-07:00 Ahhh... the dangers of the Internet. Everything lives on, even outdated guidelines. Thanks to an astute reader of yesterday's blog, my attention was called to the AED video to which I link in the last paragraph. While the instructions for use of the AED are helpful, the commentators offer old... Lester Baskin MD Code 99 tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b014e8630b3e5970d 2011-03-19T22:59:17-07:00 2011-03-19T22:51:03-07:00 You're in the Chicago airport, hustling from your Portland flight to your next leg. As you zigzag in between travelers on the concourse, you pass an older woman who appears to stumble and then drop to the ground. At first you think you somehow knocked her down accidentally. She appears... Lester Baskin MD The Three-Meal Wonder tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b0147e147f041970b 2011-01-12T14:11:05-08:00 2011-01-12T14:02:29-08:00 These are the dark times. The holidays are over. The Ducks just lost. The weather is cold, wet, and generally nasty. The social calendar is as empty as a champagne glass after New Year's. And no one wants to cook. After entertaining for the past 6 weeks, I'm right there... Lester Baskin MD 'Tis the season tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b0147e0351102970b 2010-11-30T11:48:28-08:00 2011-03-14T23:56:16-07:00 You can't hear the wheezes emanating from my chest right now, but I'm in the grips of a nasty cold. Whole family is under the weather, actually -- and we're short a humidifier. I always thought we were a two-humidifier family, but this week has proven me wrong. The common... Lester Baskin MD 21st Century Sex tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b0133f52d83c4970b 2010-11-01T23:06:08-07:00 2010-11-01T23:06:08-07:00 During the height of his White House sex scandal, President Bill Clinton famously declared that he did not have sex with Monica Lewinsky. Most skeptics dismissed his comments as pure lies, and felt vindicated when he later admitted to an inappropriate relationship with the intern. But the most recent survey... Lester Baskin MD Not All Pictures are Worth 1000 Words tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b013487be74c2970c 2010-10-11T23:37:16-07:00 2010-10-11T23:19:13-07:00 The phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" is distinctly American. According to The Phrase Finder, it was used widely and exclusively in the US media starting in 1911. So it would make sense that Americans apply the same logic to medical imaging. Unfortunately, we are in a much... Lester Baskin MD Vitamin Re(D)ux tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b0133f49da365970b 2010-10-02T12:23:48-07:00 2010-10-02T12:23:48-07:00 After reviewing my first blog entry on vitamin D, I came across a riveting hour-long YouTube post from some budding videographers at The Centers for Disease Control. And while the editing and composition leave something to be desired, there were some useful pearls that I will reveal here (and save... Lester Baskin MD Let's Be Friends tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0133f2d01a6d970b0133f3e82506970b 2010-09-16T09:40:09-07:00 2010-09-29T00:01:18-07:00 I have a confession: I don't know the names of my neighbors across the street. And they've been living there for over two years now. In my defense, I know the people who reside to the left and right of my house. But crossing that two-lane street seems an impossible... Lester Baskin MD