By Joanne Silberner

OK, we're addicted, and it's a pretty sick addiction. Literally. We jones for ProMED, a listserv about exotic diseases, far and wide.

Some people like going to see scary movies. Some people like reading murder mysteries. We're fascinated by up-to-the-minute reports about exotic infections, like bluetongue disease and chikungunya fever, that ProMED sends our way.

ProMED covers more common diseases as well. We've been following H1N1's travels around the world through the postings on ProMED, for instance.

Continue reading "Spanning The Globe In Search Of Disease" >

by Deborah Franklin

Let's say you're sick and tired after weeks of traveling and find yourself with a worsening kidney infection, wandering the hospital halls looking for the nephrology clinic....in rural Uzbekistan. Or any place else where you don't speak the language, and can't puzzle out the words.

Hospital signs could be clearer. (Courtesy University of Cincinnati)

Or, let's just say that, like about half of all American adults -- 90 million -- you can't read well enough to navigate an American hospital with written signs.

Pictures could help in both cases, say health literacy experts. But which pictures?

Design students at the University of Cincinnati this week announced they have a few ideas. They've been noodling over how to best represent abstractions like "In-Patient Clinic." How do you best distinguish between the mental health clinic and neurology? (And is that a tube of acne medicine aimed at my eye, or are you just glad to see me?)

(More experimental signs after the jump)

Continue reading "Signs For When Words Fail" >

by Sue Goodwin

Non-malignant tumors are scary, too /istockphoto.com

Until recently, I haven't been a big user of social media.

Like many fifty somethings, I've been astounded by the amount of time some of my younger colleagues spend on their Facebook accounts. For me, just keeping up with email can be overwhelming, much less a phone call to the parents and the BFFs at least once a week.

And then, about a year ago, I started smelling burnt rubber. It's called an olfactory hallucination, and is an indicator that something's not right in your brain. After a biopsy and a surgery, I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor two months ago.

Continue reading "What Do You Do When It's 'Just' Benign?" >

By April Fulton

Want to pay less for that proceedure? Haggle. There's a new service to help. /istockphoto.com

Tired of paying top dollar for health care? You probably can and should negotiate the cost of that root canal, but if you have good insurance, it may not seem worth the effort.

Since the economic forecast continues to be cloudy and employer-sponsored health care is becoming increasingly expensive, this laissez-faire approach may not be the best strategy anymore.

A new free web service launched in January called the Healthcare Blue Book offers consumers who pay cash for health care services the tools to shop around for the cheapest services in their area.

Continue reading "Stop Paying Too Much For That Bypass" >

by April Fulton

Having a computer is not enough to get patients to make healthier choices southerntabitha/Flickr

Would you like to receive e-mails from your health insurer, reminding you to exercise more and eat right? How about a text message promoting free blood pressure checks at the local hospital?

Apparently, most of us want such communications, but insurers and doctors are not yet taking advantage of these proactive technologies.

A new survey by Microsoft released today says most consumers want their doctors and health insurers to use technology reminders to help them live a healthy lifestyle, but nearly half say their health plans support them only when they are already sick.

Continue reading "Texting For Better Health?" >

by April Fulton

Dr. Robert Wilson (left) and Dr. Arno Penzias (right), who discovered the microwave background radiation from the universe that confirmed the Big Bang theory, in front of the Horn Antenna, 1975. Bell Labs via National Park Service website

 

A diversion from health, for a moment. Summer's here, and traveling is on our minds. But where to go for a unique experience?

We've seen the tired guide books on where to find the best restaurants, the best hotels, and the most important cultural sites, but how about a guide to locations of significant science interest?

Enter The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science & Technology Come Alive by John Graham-Cumming, due out June 3. Graham-Cumming has such geek cred that his first book was a self-published computer manual.

Continue reading "Sightseeing The Science Geek Way" >

by April Fulton

We've heard a lot this week from doctors suggesting that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's Type 1 diabetes is no big deal.

But for patients, Type 1 diabetes requires constant blood sugar monitoring and frequent insulin shots -- a major life adjustment by any standard.

Noah Kernis, 17, of New York City, was diagnosed just a month ago and spoke with NPR's Rebecca Davis for a segment in the Health Podcast this week about the puzzling symptoms he experienced prior to his diagnosis:

Continue reading "What A Diabetes Diagnosis Feels Like" >

by Deborah Franklin

Now, you too can compare gallbladder surgery prices! timparkinson via Flickr

Californians can now hunt down the best prices for common surgeries online, thanks to a Web tool the state released this week.

Get ready for sticker shock. UC San Francisco Medical Center, for example, says it charges $205,324 to replace a heart valve. Just a few blocks away, St. Mary's Medical Center charges $338,353 for the same procedure. Ouch.

Continue reading "Shopping For California Surgery Prices Online" >

by April Fulton

Women worry more about virus says CNN poll WebMD

According to a new CNN/Opinion Research Poll, 63 percent of Americans say they have never worried that someone in their family will get the swine flu, a.k.a. the new H1N1 virus.

What's interesting is what happens when you break those nonchalant responses down by gender. Among men, 71 percent said they have never worried about flu. Among women, 55 percent say they never worried, according to the poll. That's a big gap.

By way of explanation, CNN Polling Director Keating Holland says: "Women are more likely than men to worry about the flu, possibly because women tend to fill the role of 'health monitor' in American families."

by Vaughn Ververs

Feed a cold, starve a fever and ... intentionally try to contract the swine flu? The new addition wouldn't quite have the same ring as the old adage but it's a discussion that has begun, thanks in large part to an article in today's New York Times.

The paper examines an emerging debate over the wisdom of deliberately trying to catch the swine flu in an attempt to give oneself protection against a more devastating strain of the virus down the road.

The thinking is this: If the current strain appears to be relatively mild at the moment and could become more severe somewhere down the road, is it better to be get it now and build up a natural immunization?

Cornell University flu specialist Dr. Anne Moscona tells the paper where she stands on the idea: "I think it's totally nuts. ... I can't believe people are really thinking of doing it. I understand the thinking, but I just fear we don't know enough about how this virus would react in every individual. This is like the Middle Ages, when people deliberately infected themselves with smallpox."

Continue reading "Experts Warn Against Swine Flu Self-Infection" >

By Mark Memmott

Here's another online educational tool from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to pass along. Take the test to determine your "Flu I.Q". Just click on the "start" button to get it going:

By Mark Memmott

Looking for the official word from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services?

They've got widgets to take you to their webpages.

In English:

And Spanish:

The HHS ops room has swung into action. Joanne Silberner/NPR

 

by April Fulton

Ever wanted to go behind the scenes in a war room? The federal government has been waiting for the new H1N1 virus, or any other new microbe to appear on the scene, for several years now so that they can use the room set up at HHS. And use it for swine flu, they are.

Tune in to Morning Edition tomorrow as NPR's Joanne Silberner takes us on the inside tour of the Secretary's Operations Center. She tells us what's happening there, including how planners are tracking cases and deciding when and how to send medical tools and supplies around the country.

by April Fulton

School closings continue to grow around the country. Today, 19 schools in the Detroit area have closed, adding to the nearly quarter of a million kids out of class in this country due to swine flu concerns.

But as NPR's Larry Abramson learns today, there are indications this tactic could wane as the new flu strain shows it is less lethal than fear.

In a piece he is developing for All Things Considered this afternoon, Abramson interviews Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minnesota.

Osterholm says we may well see public health officials moving toward more traditional approaches in which sick children will be kept at home and schools will only be closed if there's evidence of high risk.

Osterholm defends the decisions to close schools early in the outbreak, as the virulence of the disease was unknown.

But as our understanding of the virus advances, it may be time to dial it down.

by Rebecca Davis

A Veracruz, Mexico, health official checks a masked boy for swine flu. Carrie Kahn/NPR

NPR's crack health and science team takes a break from reporting on the 2009 H1N1/swine flu outbreak to look back at the week's events. In this podcast special, health and science editors and reporters discuss how the outbreak unfolded and the status of the vaccine.

They also examine this recurring question: The virus doesn't seem all that bad here -- is everyone overreacting?

Don't be too comforted, they caution. There's still a lot we don't know about this new strain of flu. So -- listen in and find out more:

You can sign up to receive our latest NPR: On Health Podcasts here.

Also, if you have questions you're not finding answers to about the swine flu -- please write us at NPRHealth@npr.org ... And early next week, we'll post another podcast with answers!

by April Fulton

Who should cover up ?

istockphoto.com

These blue paper surgical masks are covering many faces in Mexico as people try to protect themselves against catching 2009 H1N1, but not so much in the United States -- yet.

NPR health reporter Allison Aubrey is working on a story today about the role surgical masks may play in keeping swine flu at bay and wants to know: Who is using them and how?

Are your doctors wearing them? Teachers? Sanitation workers?

Drop us a note about what you've seen or heard.

by April Fulton

*UPDATE* The CDC re-posted the guidance mentioned below shortly after this post. The only change appeared to be adding the new name of the flu, H1N1.

The Centers for Disease Control just issued an interim guidance to help airline crews identify passengers who may have swine influenza and is recommending that any passengers observed with two or more symptoms be sent to a CDC Quarantine Station.

But not five minutes later, pulled the notice off their website. An agency spokeswoman speculated that they were probably making changes to the notice, but provided no more detail.

When the notice was up, it said crews are required to observe and report passengers who are feeling feverish or have a temperature greater than 100 degrees F, a sore throat, a cough, stuffy or runny nose.

"Any passengers observed to have or who report having two or more of these symptoms should be reported immediately to the CDC Quarantine Station of jurisdiction where the plane is expected to land," the advisory says.

CDC has 20 Quarantine Stations around the country near ports of entry and has the legal authority to detain anyone who may have cholera, diphtheria, infectious TB (tuberculosis), plague, smallpox, yellow fever, and viral hemorrhagic fevers, SARS, or new types of flu that may cause a pandemic.

CDC can deny ill persons with these diseases entry to the United States or have them admitted to a hospital or confined to home.

Stay tuned for more details.

by April Fulton

While it's an important tool to prevent the spread of swine flu and other germs, frequent handwashing that includes hot water and lathering up for 20 seconds can be dull, says NPR's Allison Aubrey.

After preschool, singing "Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star" to get you through it gets pretty old, too.

So we asked Allison to solicit from the newsroom some songs grownups could sing to make that 20 seconds go faster in the course of her reporting today, and she was innundated with suggestions ranging from classic opera to rap.

Here you can vote on some of our favorites:

Continue reading "Singing While You Scrub" >

by April Fulton

Grandma -- or at least Sesame Street -- always said, wash your hands.

NPR's Allison Aubrey says they're right. Frequent handwashing is one of the best ways to protect against acquiring germs -- the swine kind or other.

She's working on a story for Morning Edition tomorrow on how to get grownups to remember to scrub at least 20 seconds, through song.

Stay tuned for a poll so you can vote on your favorite musical reminder, but enjoy this Sesame Street clip on hygiene meanwhile.

By Mark Memmott

As you would expect, there are many places to go on the Web for information about the swine flu outbreak. We'll pass along valuable links as we find them. Among those already on our radar screen:

-- NPR.org's "basic information about swine flu" and "tips for preventing swine flu."

-- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "general information" webpage, its "swine flu and you" webpage and its "key facts" webpage.

-- The World Health Organization's explanation of its "pandemic alert" phases. Also: WHO's FAQ's about the outbreak. Among WHO's tips:

To protect yourself, practice general preventive measures for influenza:

Avoid close contact with people who appear unwell and who have fever and cough.

Wash your hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly.

Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.