Obesity, Weight-related Research Scholarly Journals

The following are from the National Library of Medicine's catalog. Many of these journals are peer-reviewed and therefore are indexed in PubMed.  Some of these journals are subscription based and cost money to actually read an article and I can only you point you to the journal on the Publisher's site.  All is not lost:  You can always go to your Public Library.  You would be surprised at how much resource-sharing is going on, making it affordable for public libraries (and you) to gain access to Databases that carry some of these journals.  I am amazed that even my own Public Library has Business Database package that some small academic institutions can no longer afford.  Anyway, with your library account you can tap into some of these databases from home, or on their wireless if you bring in a tablet or laptop.  If they do not have access, they will get the article for you via Interlibrary Loan for a nominal fee.  If all else fails, please feel free to contact me and I will point you in a good direction---this is what I do all day long. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Obesity, Organ Donations, Prescription Pain Medications

The holy trinity of our healthcare system and it was all tackled on the season finale of Monday Mornings.  I have always loved lawyer and doctor shows, huge fan.  I really love David E. Kelley, LA Law, series; he and Aaron Sorkin are my favorite writer/series creators.  Anyway, if you get a chance to watch it, it's the episode entitled, "Family Ties."  I am sure this was a statement episode.  The obese 16-year-old male patient who has a heart attack at school.  The woman who is injured by a skateboarder, brought to the ER by and dies; even though she's an organ donor (signed the back of driver's license) her son sues to stop the harvesting.  The man who is addicted to painkillers going from hospital to hospital (he also looks very normal) seeking more painkillers; he is denied a prescription by the Attending (Ving Rhames); he then approaches another ER physician in the parking lot whom he has previously manipulated and when she tells him no, she is attacked and severely injured.  

While I was watching this show, I was astonished that these "issues" with healthcare were being addressed.  The obesity part was particularly poignant.  The doctor was angry and definitely crossed many lines but she was correct in addressing it.  "...this country spends $190 billion in obesity related healthcare costs...as physicians we just stand idly by and we should be outraged..." I promise that I haven't given away the episode because it's packed with revelations and aha(s).