Category Archives: Medicine

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Gastric Sleeve Surgery

One form of weight loss surgery that has gained great popularity in recent years is gastric sleeve surgery, or sleeve gastrectomy. Also known as vertical sleeve gastrectomy or vertical gastroplasty, this form of surgery is designed to assist the morbidly obese with losing weight by restricting the amount of food that the body is able to take in and process.

How It Works

Gastric sleeve surgery involves completely and permanently removing anywhere between 60% and 85% of the total stomach. Patients will retain the slim tube or “sleeve” left behind, which serves as the new stomach. Because this stomach is already connected to the stomach inlet and outlet, no rerouting of the intestines is required.

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Medical Documents Dumped in Alabama Dumpster

Common sense continues to be tossed aside, just as often as new stories arise of the careless disposal of sensitive documents. The most recent case comes out of Florence, Alabama where hundreds of medical files were discovered inside a dumpster.

The news was reported by Huntsville CBS affiliate WHNT News 19, with the twist that the records were from patients of a Virginia hospital. While the station could not reach the doctor for comment, his family said he had hired a company to shred the documents. Hiring an unreliable document shredding company: the all-too-common outcome in these senseless instances of privacy breaching.

The hospital in Norton, Virginia, where the files originated, was also notified of the incident.

So how could something as careless as this happen, particularly in an industry of professionals we trust our lives with?

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3D Medical Animation: Full Speed Ahead

All levels of the medical industry have benefited from the use of high quality medical animation. For many decades basic animation has been utilized effectively in the medical field. But, in just the last few years high definition animation has changed the way medical companies and medical practitioners present their products and services. Medical High Definition (HD) animation has become a vital tool in researching medicines, diagnosis of patients and is being used more often by medical professionals to explain to their patients the workings of the human body.

High Definition 3D animation, which is regularly seen in Hollywood movies today, has found its way into the worldwide medical industry. And, it’s having fantastic results. The advancement of special effects and 3D rendering software has been phenomenal, and its planned continued use is at full speed ahead. Every day, computer speeds get faster and faster, making it possible for greater 3D realist animation rendering. The advancement of computer speeds and the quality of 3D animation software has removed the boundaries graphic artists have had to work within. Graphic artists now have the power of a genie in their hands. With the latest 3D animation software and the fastest computers, graphic artists can now create whatever they desire in HD quality.

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Study Says Overweight People Live Longer

The validity of using Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine how healthy we are has been disputed for years. A new study brings it into question again with its findings that “normal” weight people aren’t always healthier than their heavier counterparts.

According to new analysis of nearly 100 studies involving nearly three million people, people who were overweight had a lower risk of death than people at the normal weight range of BMI (18.5 – 25).

“Fat per se is not as bad as we thought,” said Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, professor of medicine and public health at the University of California, Irvine.

Now pick your jaw up off the floor, and let me explain. What the good doctor is trying to say is that fat alone isn’t the sole determining factor for health. The truth is much more complex than that. Some people are overweight with normal blood pressure, some thin with dangerously high cholesterol or blood sugar levels.

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Common Hemorrhoids Causes

As with any ailment or disease, learning about the causes of a specific condition contributes highly to its prevention, which is why we’re here to discuss hemorrhoids causes. Hemorrhoids may not normally be a life-threatening condition, but it is, however, very inconvenient and uncomfortable, and could possibly prevent a person from going about their normal everyday activities.

So what are the usual causes of hemorrhoids?

One of the more prevalent reasons would be spicy food. Take note, however, that it is not necessarily due to the “heat” or the spiciness of your last spicy meal, but rather, the acidity that spicy things tend to add into your system. High acidity levels in one’s diet can make one susceptible to developing hemorrhoids, especially since other substances that we tend to eat or drink throughout the day tend to be acidic to begin with. For example, coffee, sodas and citrus juices are already acidic, and so adding in a sudden huge dose of more acid through spicy food, might just tip the pH levels off one side, and cause hemorrhoids to manifest.