Monthly Archives: May 2008

Chest Compressions During Defibrillation Probably Safe

This study asked an interesting question: “Is it safe for a rescuer to continue chest compressions during defibrillation of a rescuee?”

You’d think that with the high voltages involved, and mental images of TV doctors yelling “CLEAR!” before defibrillating, there’s no way it could be safe. Apparently, for a gloved rescuer, even with a “worst-case” accidental connection of electrodes between the two people, the leakage current is well within safety standards.

Between this and the recent change of guidelines for CPR (favoring chest compressions over combined compressions and breathing), the long-time typical methods of resuscitation are suddenly changing a lot.

Moderate Drinking (of what?) Found to be Cardioprotective

This study has been making the rounds lately in the news. The evidence as analyzed in the article supports the assertion that moderate drinking is cardioprotective in middle age.

HOWEVER

What I have not seen in the reviews of the article are mentions of which kind of alcohol are significantly protective. (Perhaps because people are just reviewing the abstract, and not the paper.) This paragraph from the results is revealing:

After adjustment for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, wine-only drinkers were significantly less likely to have had a subsequent cardiovascular event than nondrinkers (OR 0.32, 95% CI, 0.12-0.87). Consumers of moderate amounts of beer/liquor/mixed (which includes some wine) tended to also be less likely to have had a subsequent cardiovascular event than nondrinkers (OR 0.79, 95% CI, 0.49-1.26), but the difference was not significant.

Emphasis mine. The evidence supports the assertion, then, that it is not alcohol that is protective, but wine. The authors astutely state this in the discussion:

This study’s finding that new wine drinkers experienced a significant reduction in cardiovascular events after 4 years while new drinkers of other alcoholic beverages did not, is consistent with recent studies showing a slight advantage to wine drinkers.

300

While staying in Minnesota and searching for a house, Amanda and I had the pleasure of watching “300” on a large LCD TV, off of a HD-DVD. It was a feast for the eyes.

I’ve read the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (just now, incidentally), and while the “experts” aren’t fans, the general RT population gave it a reasonable 85%.

Look, it’s not about the story. The story is loosely based on an historical account, and it’s an interesting story, but it’s really about the spectacle. That spectacle shines in HD. If you have an opportunity to watch it on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, I highly recommend it, just for the visual feast. If you are offended by blood and gore, however, find something else to watch.

The End of My Displacement

I am in Baltimore, essentially, because of Hurricane Katrina. Without that catastrophic event and the reactions that followed within the Tulane University administration, I would in all likelihood still be a student at Tulane. Or I may have graduated.

When people find out that my wife Amanda lives in New Orleans, while I live here, a predictable dialog ensues wherein I always end up saying that I’m here because of Katrina.

When we move to Saint Paul, MN, that will no longer be the case. Amanda wasn’t attracted to any of the family medicine residencies in New Orleans. If I had stayed in New Orleans until now, we would still probably be moving elsewhere now. Therefore, once I reach Saint Paul I will (a) no longer have conversations about living apart from my wife, because I won’t, and (b) never state that my reason for being there is related to Katrina.

Honestly, I’ll be happy to avoid the conversation. I resolved to myself that I would quit talking like a victim about the whole thing after a year had passed. For the most part, I’ve been able to hold to that resolution, but I occasionally either slip up and talk about it out of self-pity, or it comes up in conversation as mentioned above. In the latter case, I find myself slogging through the same conversation every time.

“Oh, you’re married?” they say. “Yes, ” I reply, holding up the adorned ring finger. “Why haven’t I met your wife?” they ask. “Well, she lives in New Orleans.” They usually produce some look of pity and or astonishment at this point. “Yeah, I ended up moving here as a result of Katrina fallout.” “Oh, how’s the city recovering, blah blah…” You all know conversations like this. They keep asking the obligatory questions, and I keep giving the obligatory answers, feeling like I’m talking too much about myself when I’m not inclined to talk at all (so I don’t really ask about them in return).

Looking at this, talking about Katrina is probably avoidable in these conversations, but it’s the truth. It is the simple, straightforward explanation of why I am here and my wife is there. This has come up more frequently of late, whenever I’ve needed to inform someone that I’m moving away soon, which is what made me think about it all now.

I’ll be glad to have all of that behind me, and behind us.