All The News That's Fit: Mental Health Days, 'lasagna Of Death' And Skin Glue

January 31, 2023

Medicine prices are limited, but receipts are not.

Medicare covers more than 63 million Americans.

Here's the good news: By 2025, you'll be paying no more than $2,000 a year for your medications.

Here's the bad news: For those enrolled in traditional Medicare (about 35 million people) without supplement coverage, there are no restrictions on hospital or doctor payments. This can mean catastrophic medical bills due to out-of-pocket expenses.

Medicare Advantage, which is administered by health insurance companies, offers out-of-pocket limits (with higher premiums). Advocates push to limit all Medicare services.

Have a nice mental health day.

If you missed "Quiet Goodbye," maybe take a day off work.

The mental health of many Americans is being tested in the workplace, especially by chronic stress, unpaid leave and burnout, according to a new report from the US Surgeon General.

Recent studies show that 76 percent of American workers report symptoms of at least one mental health condition. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed said that working conditions caused at least one mental health problem. And 81 percent of employees said they want a workplace that supports mental health in the future.

body of knowledge

If the double strand of DNA in a cell were as thick as a clothesline, it would stretch 5 miles from end to end.

Buy me this catch!

A 2021 study published in Medical Care found that primary care exams take an average of 18 minutes.

urgent

1.3 million

Because the drug is so expensive, more and more Americans are stopping life-saving insulin. This represents 16.5 percent of adults with diabetes in the United States.

Source: Annals of Internal Medicine

Stories about waiting rooms

In London, researchers excavate an ancient burial site from the height of the bubonic plague (1346-1350). Analysis of DNA samples revealed how the bacteria that cause plague altered the human genome, making it more resistant to infection over time.

His unusually dangerous nature earned him the nickname "Lasagna of the Black Death".

Doctor's letter

Cuts

Most often this is the skin near the fingernails and toenails - a thin layer of dead tissue adheres to the nail plate to form a seal between the nail plate and the eponychium. It also refers to the outermost layer of the hair shaft.

The best medicine

Patient in the waiting room: Did you hear about the girl who took the food coloring?

Another patient : No, what happened?

Patient 1: Scrub the inside a bit.

Note

“A successful doctor needs three things: a hat that gives him authority, a bang that gives him pride, and a pile (called hemorrhoids) that gives him an exotic appearance.”

English playwright and biographer Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), nicknamed "Dr. Johnson".

Medical history

This week in 1998, a new adhesive called Dermabond was approved to replace painful stitches when required. The manufacturer says that Dermamond can quickly close some wounds without the need for painful injections: The doctor simply presses on the edges of the wound and applies glue. Correct application requires medical skills and experience, so the glue is not intended for home use. Dermabond is the chemical cousin of Crazy Glue, the latter of which is highly toxic for wound repair.

Self-examination

Q: What is the largest joint in the human body?

shoulder

b) the knees

c) the ankles

d) the hips

Answer: The knee is the largest joint in the body. She must bear the greatest pressure, because she carries all the weight of the body on her. The hips are secondary. There is debate as to whether the shoulders or the knees are more difficult.

last words

"I want a world full of white ducks."

British artist and designer Michael Derek Elliott Jarman (1942-1994)

LaVey is a health science writer at the University of California, San Diego.

This story originally appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune.