LJ Anderson
Writer and Columnist
Specializing in Health Writing
Specializing in Health Writing
They Can't Find Anything Wrong! by David D. Clarke, MDThis Portland gastroenterologist clearly describes, with many patient examples, how stress can affect our physical and emotional state, how frustrating frequent missed diagnoses can be for patients and caregivers alike, and how stress illness can be effectively treated.
Lincoln’s Melancholy by Joshua Wolf ShenkThis historical view of President Lincoln’s lifelong struggle with depression is a combination of historical research and contemporary commentary. It brings Lincoln alive in a very personal way along with enhancing the reader’s view of how depression can manifest itself and be lived with.
Hip Hop—Beyond Beats and Rhymes
A documentary film by African American filmmaker Byron Hurt, former quarterback turned activist, that thoughtfully examines the presence of sexual and gender violence in hip hop and rap music.
Rebuild Hope Rebuild Hope is a non-profit organization started by several Silicon Valley executives that mobilizes community support to help seriously injured veterans rebuild their lives.
'Lost Boy' found his way through running
by John Crumpacker, San Francisco Chronicle
This remarkable story of a Lost Boy from Sudan participating in the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials held in Eugene, Oregon, is without parallel as a story of human resilience.
Atul Gawande, Complications"The core predicament of medicine--the thing that makes being a patient so wrenching, being a doctor so difficult, and being a part of a society that pays the bills they run up so vexing--is uncertainty. With all that we know nowadays about people and diseases and how to diagnose and treat them, it can be hard to see this, hard to grasp how deeply the uncertainty runs. As a doctor, you come to find, however, that the struggle in caring for people is more often with what you do not know than what you do. Medicine’s ground state is uncertainty. And wisdom--for both patients and doctors--is defined by how one copes with it."
Hawaii and MRSA infections
Hawaii Health Information Corporation
Hawaii has twice the national average of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections. Its rates of hospitalization are twice as high as the Mainland range, which fall between 89 and 113 hospitalizations per 100,000 population. Hospital stays for MRSA infections on Maui, the highest, were 188 MRSA hospitalizations per 100,000 population in 2006, followed by Kauai with 176 hospitalizations per 100,000 population.
The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
Every patient should know what these researchers have found relative to disparity in practice patterns across the United States. How you are treated and the outcome, for better or worse, may depend on the geographic area where you live, how many hospital beds are available, how many types of doctors are practicing in various specialties, and what resources are or are not available.
Guidesmith
Guidesmith was developed by medical decision analysis expert Jeffery Belkora, PhD, and sponsored by UC San Francisco. It guides a patient through asking the right kinds of questions and making sound decisions in high-stakes situations. The exercise would be helpful in any kind of medical decision-making situation.
Free Rice
Build your vocabulary while contributing rice to those in need. This creative use of the Internet to meet the world’s hunger problems through the UN World Food Program also has links to literacy building and anti-poverty initiatives.