You’ve likely heard news reports this week about the swine flu virus outbreak in Mexico. The swine flu or swine influenza produces regular outbreaks of respiratory disease in pigs and is caused by influenza type A viruses. Transmission of swine flu viruses between people has been reported in the past, but was limited to three people. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised its pandemic alert to "phase 5", which means that people in at least two countries in one WHO region are spreading the disease [1]. This was done following an increase to "phase 4" several days ago because the virus was already widespread in differnet locations, with confirmations in Mexico, the United States, Spain and Scotland.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has determined that the swine flu is contagious and is spreading from human to human [2], the WHO has indicated that most people infected with swine flu make a full recovery without the need for medical attention or antiviral drugs [3].
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Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.
The ability to multitask and mentally juggle multiple demands is essential in today’s fast-paced world. At the same time, we’re bombarded with information that can both distract and overload our focus and attention.
Many of us need a caffeine “boost” in the morning or throughout the day to maintain mental focus. However, drinking too much coffee or tea leaves you feeling like you need to do a couple of laps around the building.
And although coffee consumption offers a number of potential health benefits, many of us drink more than enough of it on a daily basis. Energy drinks are an alternative option. However, their effects on cognitive performance are principally related to the presence of caffeine [1].
Enter Brain Toniq
Brain Toniq bills itself as the world’s first and only botanical-based, non-caffeinated functional “think drink”, specifically designed to increase mental focus, function and clarity. According to the Brain Toniq website:
Formulated out of plant extracts and natural compounds, the ingredients in Brain Toniq have a long, proven history for their effects on increasing brain power and cognition.
I’d previously heard about Brain Toniq and was intrigued at the idea of an energy drink designed to increase cognitive performance. Additionally, the Brain Toniq website references peer-reviewed research studies that examine many of the ingredients. When I contacted the company, they were kind enough to send me a sample to review.
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The mission of Highlight HEALTH is to promote advances in biomedical research, to encourage health literacy and to provide reliable sources of health and medical information (more on the about page). In support of these goals, when Highlight HEALTH hosted the Holiday Edition of Grand Rounds in December 2008, I introduced subscription options for eight credible, rotating health and medicine blog carnivals.
There’s a revolution occurring on the Web: those “authoritative” articles written on traditional, static websites are being replaced with blogs, wikis and online social networks. In the sphere of health, medicine and information technology, this “real-time Web” consists of many who are professionals in the field; their posts are listed below.
In the digital age, these are the characteristics of new media: recent, relevant, reachable and reliable.
Fast-forward to April 2009. There are now ten health and medicine blog carnivals that offer email and/or RSS subscription options. Each carnival feed post links directly to the blog hosting the carnival. You never have to search for the latest edition of any of your favorite health and medicine blog carnivals again! There’s something for everyone: the weekly best of the “medical blogosphere”, nursing, genes and genetic diseases, Web 2.0 and medicine, cancer research, neuroscience and psychology, surgical experiences, health policy, medical librarianship and palliative care.
 Grand Rounds |
Change of Shift |
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| Gene Genie |
Medicine 2.0 |
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| Cancer Research |
Encephalon |
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| SurgeXperiences |
Health Wonk Review |
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| MedLib’s Round |
Palliative Care Grand Rounds |
A Google Calendar highlighting all of these carnivals is also available. The calendar is publicly accessible, so if you have your own Google Calendar, you can conveniently follow the Health and Medicine Blog Carnival schedule right next to your own by clicking on the +GoogleCalendar icon in the lower right corner of the calendar. If you click on any event, the description links directly to the specific carnival feed. You’re just three clicks away from the latest edition of any carnival in the biomedical and healthcare blogosphere. You can also subscribe to the Health and Medicine Blog Carnival calendar using iCal or RSS.
If you’re interested in more than one carnival, an aggregated feed is available. The Health and Medicine Blog Carnival Mashup enables you to receive notification of all the carnivals by email and/or RSS.
Lastly, many people are using Twitter to complement or replace RSS. If you use the microblogging service, you can also keep up with all of the new carnival editions by following @BioMedCarnivals on Twitter.
My hope is that these subscription options increase the popularity and readership of each of the carnivals. With all these choices, it’s easier than ever to follow your favorite health and medicine blog carnival(s).
Do you know someone who isn’t reading any of the health and medicine blog carnivals? Click on the “ShareThis” button below this post and share on Facebook or email this article to a friend so that they can learn how to follow the biomedical and healthcare blogosphere.
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