Here comes the sun

It’s springtime, and my 12-year-old son has been in his room a lot watching YouTube, so it’s no surprise his thoughts are straying to...making a solar death ray. That’s right, once he saw that you could take apart an old projection screen TV and use the salvaged Fresnel lens to melt a stack of pennies, he’s had a one-track mind.

Copyright © Adem Demir

I want to help him, and I have to admit, there’s some stuff I wouldn’t mind melting. The problem is that when it comes to televisions, I’m less inclined to take one apart than to, say, turn it on and watch a cooking show. I do, however, own a screwdriver (somewhere around here), so I’m willing to give it a go. If this is my last blog, you’ll know we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

Worth a shot

There has been, in the history of medicine, one guy who smoked two packs a day and lived to be 100. Everyone who ever smoked has heard of that guy. I know, because they all tell me about him. I’ve also met hundreds of friends and relatives of the woman who got the flu vaccine and then got flu (okay, there are several of them, but still.). “What is the point,” these people ask me, “of getting the flu vaccine, if someone who got the vaccine still caught the flu? Huh? Not feeling so confident about your little vaccine now, are you?”

From now on, I’m going to direct those people to Dr. Jelena Catania and her colleagues at Duke, who asked a simple question: If you end up admitted to the hospital or the ICU because of influenza, did you get your flu vaccine? Less than a quarter of hospitalized patients had been vaccinated, and among ICU admissions, the rate was less than 10%.

So okay, you got the vaccine and then you got the flu; it happens. I see, however, that you’re not intubated, so I wouldn’t call it useless. Flu vaccine does not protect every person every time, nor do seat belts, smoke alarms, or bulletproof vests. At the same time, they’re all a heck of a lot better than nothing, even more so if you’re that 100-year-old smoker.

Catchy!

I’ve got news for those people who suspect doctors are all involved in a vast conspiracy to suppress, oh, I don’t know, the amazing healing power of goji berries: apparently, we can’t even suppress a smile, much less unflattering study results. How do I know? Because if we could, then the editors at Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology would have taken this next study and stuck it in that warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark instead of putting out a press release!

But, no! Important science has been done, and now everyone knows that attending well-child visits during flu season may account for up to 780,000 cases of influenza-like illness a year. Thanks, y’all. I’ll be sure to alert you next time I get an embarrassing boil.

I try to avoid using the term “ivory tower,” because I don’t want to encourage poaching elephants. But the authors of this study conclude that primary care pediatricians (like me) should avoid scheduling wellness exams during the 6 months of the year when flu rates are highest. Given that we recommend nine wellness visits in the first 2 years of life, I’m having a hard time with the math. When they come up with a solution, I certainly hope to read the press release.

Youse lose

Living in North Carolina, I thought I had heard every nonsensical defense of tobacco products the industry could produce. But apparently you have to be in Norway to hear the claim that little packets of chewing tobacco, called “snus,” would be a great tool for smoking prevention. Dr. Ingebord Lund and Dr. Janne Scheffels at the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research - SIRUS, in Oslo, thought that promise sounded sketchy, so they decided to put it to the test. What they discovered should surprise no one: When it comes to younger adolescents, no snus is good snus.

While some older snus users did indeed prefer the risk of oral cancer to lung cancer, those snus users who choose to use snus before age 16 years were two to three times more likely to smoke cigarettes than were those who started later, and no less likely to smoke than their peers who eschewed snus. Future research from this team will explore the public health risks associated with gnus, cues, kangaroos, queues, stews, zoos, glues, shoes, loos, screws, booze, flues, canoes, tattoos, lues, haikus, and singing the blues.

If you have snus you no longer plan to use, send them to me and my son. We’re gonna need some stuff to solar-scorch, and we’ll be amused.

David L. Hill, M.D., FAAP, is the author of Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro (AAP Publishing, 2012). He is also vice president of Cape Fear Pediatrics in Wilmington, N.C., and  adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves as Program Director for the AAP Council on Communications and Media and as an executive committee member of the North Carolina Pediatric Society. He has recorded commentaries for NPR's All Things Considered and provided content for various print, television, and Internet outlets.

It’s springtime, and my 12-year-old son has been in his room a lot watching YouTube, so it’s no surprise his thoughts are straying to...making a solar death ray. That’s right, once he saw that you could take apart an old projection screen TV and use the salvaged Fresnel lens to melt a stack of pennies, he’s had a one-track mind.

Copyright © Adem Demir

I want to help him, and I have to admit, there’s some stuff I wouldn’t mind melting. The problem is that when it comes to televisions, I’m less inclined to take one apart than to, say, turn it on and watch a cooking show. I do, however, own a screwdriver (somewhere around here), so I’m willing to give it a go. If this is my last blog, you’ll know we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

Worth a shot

There has been, in the history of medicine, one guy who smoked two packs a day and lived to be 100. Everyone who ever smoked has heard of that guy. I know, because they all tell me about him. I’ve also met hundreds of friends and relatives of the woman who got the flu vaccine and then got flu (okay, there are several of them, but still.). “What is the point,” these people ask me, “of getting the flu vaccine, if someone who got the vaccine still caught the flu? Huh? Not feeling so confident about your little vaccine now, are you?”

From now on, I’m going to direct those people to Dr. Jelena Catania and her colleagues at Duke, who asked a simple question: If you end up admitted to the hospital or the ICU because of influenza, did you get your flu vaccine? Less than a quarter of hospitalized patients had been vaccinated, and among ICU admissions, the rate was less than 10%.

So okay, you got the vaccine and then you got the flu; it happens. I see, however, that you’re not intubated, so I wouldn’t call it useless. Flu vaccine does not protect every person every time, nor do seat belts, smoke alarms, or bulletproof vests. At the same time, they’re all a heck of a lot better than nothing, even more so if you’re that 100-year-old smoker.

Catchy!

I’ve got news for those people who suspect doctors are all involved in a vast conspiracy to suppress, oh, I don’t know, the amazing healing power of goji berries: apparently, we can’t even suppress a smile, much less unflattering study results. How do I know? Because if we could, then the editors at Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology would have taken this next study and stuck it in that warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark instead of putting out a press release!

But, no! Important science has been done, and now everyone knows that attending well-child visits during flu season may account for up to 780,000 cases of influenza-like illness a year. Thanks, y’all. I’ll be sure to alert you next time I get an embarrassing boil.

I try to avoid using the term “ivory tower,” because I don’t want to encourage poaching elephants. But the authors of this study conclude that primary care pediatricians (like me) should avoid scheduling wellness exams during the 6 months of the year when flu rates are highest. Given that we recommend nine wellness visits in the first 2 years of life, I’m having a hard time with the math. When they come up with a solution, I certainly hope to read the press release.

Youse lose

Living in North Carolina, I thought I had heard every nonsensical defense of tobacco products the industry could produce. But apparently you have to be in Norway to hear the claim that little packets of chewing tobacco, called “snus,” would be a great tool for smoking prevention. Dr. Ingebord Lund and Dr. Janne Scheffels at the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research - SIRUS, in Oslo, thought that promise sounded sketchy, so they decided to put it to the test. What they discovered should surprise no one: When it comes to younger adolescents, no snus is good snus.

While some older snus users did indeed prefer the risk of oral cancer to lung cancer, those snus users who choose to use snus before age 16 years were two to three times more likely to smoke cigarettes than were those who started later, and no less likely to smoke than their peers who eschewed snus. Future research from this team will explore the public health risks associated with gnus, cues, kangaroos, queues, stews, zoos, glues, shoes, loos, screws, booze, flues, canoes, tattoos, lues, haikus, and singing the blues.

If you have snus you no longer plan to use, send them to me and my son. We’re gonna need some stuff to solar-scorch, and we’ll be amused.

David L. Hill, M.D., FAAP, is the author of Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro (AAP Publishing, 2012). He is also vice president of Cape Fear Pediatrics in Wilmington, N.C., and  adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves as Program Director for the AAP Council on Communications and Media and as an executive committee member of the North Carolina Pediatric Society. He has recorded commentaries for NPR's All Things Considered and provided content for various print, television, and Internet outlets.

It’s springtime, and my 12-year-old son has been in his room a lot watching YouTube, so it’s no surprise his thoughts are straying to...making a solar death ray. That’s right, once he saw that you could take apart an old projection screen TV and use the salvaged Fresnel lens to melt a stack of pennies, he’s had a one-track mind.

Copyright © Adem Demir

I want to help him, and I have to admit, there’s some stuff I wouldn’t mind melting. The problem is that when it comes to televisions, I’m less inclined to take one apart than to, say, turn it on and watch a cooking show. I do, however, own a screwdriver (somewhere around here), so I’m willing to give it a go. If this is my last blog, you’ll know we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

Worth a shot

There has been, in the history of medicine, one guy who smoked two packs a day and lived to be 100. Everyone who ever smoked has heard of that guy. I know, because they all tell me about him. I’ve also met hundreds of friends and relatives of the woman who got the flu vaccine and then got flu (okay, there are several of them, but still.). “What is the point,” these people ask me, “of getting the flu vaccine, if someone who got the vaccine still caught the flu? Huh? Not feeling so confident about your little vaccine now, are you?”

From now on, I’m going to direct those people to Dr. Jelena Catania and her colleagues at Duke, who asked a simple question: If you end up admitted to the hospital or the ICU because of influenza, did you get your flu vaccine? Less than a quarter of hospitalized patients had been vaccinated, and among ICU admissions, the rate was less than 10%.

So okay, you got the vaccine and then you got the flu; it happens. I see, however, that you’re not intubated, so I wouldn’t call it useless. Flu vaccine does not protect every person every time, nor do seat belts, smoke alarms, or bulletproof vests. At the same time, they’re all a heck of a lot better than nothing, even more so if you’re that 100-year-old smoker.

Catchy!

I’ve got news for those people who suspect doctors are all involved in a vast conspiracy to suppress, oh, I don’t know, the amazing healing power of goji berries: apparently, we can’t even suppress a smile, much less unflattering study results. How do I know? Because if we could, then the editors at Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology would have taken this next study and stuck it in that warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark instead of putting out a press release!

But, no! Important science has been done, and now everyone knows that attending well-child visits during flu season may account for up to 780,000 cases of influenza-like illness a year. Thanks, y’all. I’ll be sure to alert you next time I get an embarrassing boil.

I try to avoid using the term “ivory tower,” because I don’t want to encourage poaching elephants. But the authors of this study conclude that primary care pediatricians (like me) should avoid scheduling wellness exams during the 6 months of the year when flu rates are highest. Given that we recommend nine wellness visits in the first 2 years of life, I’m having a hard time with the math. When they come up with a solution, I certainly hope to read the press release.

Youse lose

Living in North Carolina, I thought I had heard every nonsensical defense of tobacco products the industry could produce. But apparently you have to be in Norway to hear the claim that little packets of chewing tobacco, called “snus,” would be a great tool for smoking prevention. Dr. Ingebord Lund and Dr. Janne Scheffels at the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research - SIRUS, in Oslo, thought that promise sounded sketchy, so they decided to put it to the test. What they discovered should surprise no one: When it comes to younger adolescents, no snus is good snus.

While some older snus users did indeed prefer the risk of oral cancer to lung cancer, those snus users who choose to use snus before age 16 years were two to three times more likely to smoke cigarettes than were those who started later, and no less likely to smoke than their peers who eschewed snus. Future research from this team will explore the public health risks associated with gnus, cues, kangaroos, queues, stews, zoos, glues, shoes, loos, screws, booze, flues, canoes, tattoos, lues, haikus, and singing the blues.

If you have snus you no longer plan to use, send them to me and my son. We’re gonna need some stuff to solar-scorch, and we’ll be amused.

David L. Hill, M.D., FAAP, is the author of Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro (AAP Publishing, 2012). He is also vice president of Cape Fear Pediatrics in Wilmington, N.C., and  adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves as Program Director for the AAP Council on Communications and Media and as an executive committee member of the North Carolina Pediatric Society. He has recorded commentaries for NPR's All Things Considered and provided content for various print, television, and Internet outlets.