A Brochure That Could save Lives, "My Medicines".

Can carrying around a brochure help save your life? Yes, if it's the "My Medicines" brochure offered by FDA's Office of Women's Health (OWH). It's designed to help consumers track the medications they use.

My Medicines features a chart that allows you to list information about your prescription medicines, including the names of the medicines, how much you take, when you take them, what condition they are treating, and the number of refills.

The brochure also offers advice on how to use labeling information, how to avoid problems with your medicines, and questions you should ask your doctor or pharmacist about your prescriptions.

The brochure is available online at www.fda.gov/womens/taketimetocare/mymeds.html, as well as through the mail and from insurance providers, pharmacies, hospitals, health fairs, senior centers, and other venues.

A Case History

Coral Thomas, a resident of Clarksville, Tenn., is particularly glad that she picked up a My Medicines brochure during a visit to her doctor.

Thomas filled out the brochure, and placed it in her purse. It was there to help her when, at age 66, she suffered a heart attack. "The heart doctor at the hospital told me that (filling out and keeping the brochure) was the smartest thing I could have done," she reported.

Seeing that Thomas was taking daily treatments for high blood pressure and other conditions, the doctor changed his treatment plan. He later told Thomas he wished that every patient would carry such a list because it helps caregivers know the best way to proceed.

After her recovery, Thomas ordered dozens more My Medicines brochures and distributed them to her friends. "It's just the best thing to have," she says. "Women should carry one in their purses and keep a spare in their cars. Believe me, it can save your life."

Of course, the brochure can prove helpful to men as well.

Take Time to Care

My Medicines, which is available in 14 languages, is part of an outreach initiative called "Take Time to Care" (TTTC), which was launched by OWH in 1998 to provide reliable, science-based health information. Millions of My Medicine brochures have been distributed since the program's launch.

OWH now offers more than 50 easy-to-read publications that include fact sheets and medication guides. The following free materials, which are also available in many languages, can be downloaded at www.fda.gov/womens/pubs.html

Use Medicines Wisely

www.fda.gov/womens/taketimetocare/usemeds.html

Take Time To Care About Diabetes
www.fda.gov/womens/taketimetocare/diabetes/default.htm

Menopause and Hormones
www.fda.gov/womens/menopause/default.htm

For More Information

To order "My Medicines" through the mail, visit:
www.pueblo.gsa.gov/results.tpl?id1=16&startat=1&--woSECTIONSdatarq=16&--SECTIONSword=ww

Or call the Federal Citizen Information Center toll-free at 1-888-878-3256 and order publication 556R.

Free Publications for Women and Their Families
www.fda.gov/womens/pubs.html

FDA Office of Women's Health
www.fda.gov/womens/

tag: Medicine, food safty, FDA Services, Women's Health, prescription medicines, My Medicines brochure, high blood pressure, Take Time to Care, Menopause

Broccoli May Help to Prevent Skin Cancer

Researchers say that an extract made from broccoli sprouts may prevent skin cancer when applied directly to the skin. VOA's Jessica Berman reports scientists say broccoli contains a chemical that stimulates the body's natural anti-cancer ability.
According to scientists, broccoli contains a chemical called sulphoraphane, which activates cancer-fighting enzymes inside cells. Researchers say the richest source of sulphoraphane is contained in sprouts.

In a demonstration of the plant's anti-cancer properties, investigators smeared broccoli sprout extract on the skin of six volunteers for three days, and then exposed them to high doses of ultraviolet radiation, which is the leading cause of skin cancer.

They found there was an average 37 percent less redness and sunburn in the patches covered by broccoli extract. Redness and sunburn are an indication of skin damage that could lead to cancer.

The results of the study are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Paul Talalay is a Johns Hopkins University molecular pharmacologist and the author of the study. Talalay says sunscreen conferred no protection against the UV rays, but he says that does not mean people should stop using it.

"We want to avoid under all circumstances people doing weird things like making broccoli sprout soup and applying to their skin and thinking that they will be protected against the sun," he said. "They will have not have any protection whatsoever, because it's a totally different mechanism and one cannot possibly substitute for the other."

Applied as a thick cream, sunscreen protects the skin by deflecting the sun's harmful rays. But it must be constantly reapplied to remain effective.
VOA article

Tags: Skin Cancer, sulphoraphane, broccoli, sprouts, Johns Hopkins University

Medicinal Digital Photography!

I found this article about Digital Photography at iPath site. I think it is a very interesting article and I decided to publish a little of it to wet your appetite before forwarding to the actual article with much more information.
David Riba Torrecillas^*, Jorge Soler-González and Antonio Rodríguez-Rosich

*ABS Tremp, Institut Catalá de la Salut; ABS Rambla Ferran, Institut Catalá de la Salut; Medicine Faculty, Universitat de Lleida (UdL), Institut Catalá de la Salut, Lleida, Spain

Over the past decade, digital imaging technology has become widespread: most cameras now sold in North America and Europe are digital rather than film based. Digital photography has become an easy, inexpensive and rapid way to capture clinical images.¹ Medical fields such as dermatology, radiology and ophthalmology² have been using digital imaging for some time, but family doctors are also well positioned to take advantage of these evolving imaging trends.³ Digital photography can help physicians provide better medical care by adding accurate, easy-to-capture clinical images directly to electronic records (replacing inaccurate or inadequate clinical descriptors or stylized pen and ink sketches in our notes). The growth and evolution of lesions and wounds can also be monitored. In addition, this format allows images to be shared through telemedicine services⁴ or for images to be sent (through intranet or the internet) quickly and efficiently from one health care level to another for consultations with colleagues or for teaching⁵ and research.

We aim to briefly summarize the approaches that we have found useful for introducing digital photography into the family physician's practice.
Now the link to the real thing

Tags: Medicine, digital imaging, medical imaging