“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” — Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy

This article also appears on the Huffington Post.

Thanks to the recent closing of many mental health facilities as a result of today’s tough economic times, the subject of mental illness has been getting a lot of attention lately. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 26.2 percent of Americans aged 18 and older — that’s one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Though no one likes to think of the possibility, the chances that a family will at some time face the specter of mental illness within its ranks are all too real.

While concern for those directly plagued by psychiatric issues is certainly a priority, surprisingly little information is geared toward the effect such an illness has on the loved ones and friends of the sick patient. Unlike cancer or heart disease, whose conditions can be qualified, psychiatric disorders continue to stand as an enigma to much of the modern world. This often leaves those closest to the patient wondering both how to feel and what to do when dealing with the ramifications that are sure to present themselves. … Read more →

Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in South Africa is the largest hospital in the world. Located southwest of Johannesburg, the Hospital expands over 173 acres, consists  of 429 buildings, and has 2,964 beds.

The Hospital is the only public hospital providing medical care to approximately 3.5 million, and as a specialty hospital, patients travel there from all over the country and the surrounding African nations. The hospital employs almost 5,000 people, including 600 doctors and 2,000 nurses. … Read more →

England’s National Health Service (NHS) established in 2005 a Special Health Authority, the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). NHSBT’s mission is “the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood, organs and associated services to the NHS.”

NHSBT recently announced that in 2010 there were more than 6,900 organ and cornea transplants throughout the United Kingdom, and over 2 million donations of blood were collected in England and North Wales. 2010 also saw a record number of patients across the UK receive a transplant while the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register reached 17.7 million.

According to Lynda Hamlyn, Chief Executive at NHSBT:

“We rely entirely on the generosity of donors who make the difference to so many patients who need lifesaving transfusions and transplants. I would like to thank every one of our regular blood donors and those who have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register. This has allowed us to help save and improve more lives in 2010 than ever before. [¶] Donation saves lives, and as we start a new year and a new decade, I would encourage anyone interested in helping save and improve the lives of others to consider becoming a blood donor, if they can, and joining the NHS Organ Donor Register by calling 0300123 23 23 or visiting our websites. [¶] Our priority is to maintain the goodwill and support of our generous donors – be they blood or organ. But at the same time we are mindful of the current economic climate and are particularly proud that we achieved these record results while continuing to deliver overall cost savings of nearly £30million. Money that can be reinvested in front-line patient care in the wider NHS.”

Even while the UK saw more transplant operations in 2010 than ever before, an estimated 10,000 patients remain in need of a transplant in the UK. About 3 people a day will die before an organ becomes available. Hamlyn noted: “Thanks to the altruism of donors and their families, a record number of organs were made available for transplantation in 2010 and a record number of peoples’ lives were saved or improved as a result.”

The full announcement can be read HERE.

Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans. The term “smallpox” was first used in Europe in the fifteenth century as a way to distinguish this disease from the epidemic of syphilis.

Smallpox killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year by the end of the eighteenth century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease, and two million had died as a result.

The Renwick Smallpox Hospital (later the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School) was located on Roosevelt Island in New York City.  When Renwick Smallpox Hospital opened on December 18, 1856 on Blackwell’s Island (the island’s name at the time), the hospital could treat 100 patients.

Designed in the style of Gothic Revival, the Smallpox Hospital was strategically positioned in an undeveloped area at the southern tip of the island. The facility was a three-story, “U-shaped” structure complete with two large wings and a front façade at the center. All of the windows on top floor had distinguishing pointed arches rather than curves.

Even with the smallpox vaccine, New York City had large outbreaks, in part due to the large immigrant population travelling to the New World. Before the Smallpox Hospitals, victims of the disease received care in what was described as “a pile of poor wooden out houses on the banks of the river.” Renwick Smallpox Hospital’s remote location was chosen to isolate and quarantine patients, but due to the seriousness of the disease, the hospital had both a large charity ward (on the lower floors) as well as private rooms (on the top floor).

In 1875, the Renwick Smallpox Hospital closed, and with its affiliation to City Hospital, it became a training center for nurses (and later renamed Charity Hospital). The hospital focused on academic training after a new hospital was built on North Brothers Island to treat smallpox and other similar diseases. Between 1903 and1905  the two wings were added to the Renwick facility to accommodate the school, officially renamed the Home for the Nurses and the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School.

In 1921 Blackwell’s Island was renamed Welfare Island. Over the years, many of the buildings began to deteriorate into total disrepair. In the 1950s, both Charity Hospital and the nursing school were closed, and these operations moved to a new location in Queens, New York.

In 1972, the Renwick Smallpox Hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places, even though the buildings were basically ruins. In 1973, Welfare Island was renamed Roosevelt Island (in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt).

Over the years the famous and historically designated neo-Gothic ruins were illuminated at night in an attempt to raise money for the facility. Unfortunately, on December 26, 2007, part of the north wing collapsed, escalating the need to complete the upgrade. Finally, on May 28, 2009, renovations began to stabilize the Smallpox Hospital, including the addition of a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a 14- public area.

With a cost of about $4.5 million, the Renwick Smallpox Hospital ruins were opened to the public. The old Renwick Smallpox Hospital is New York City’s only ruin that remains an official landmark, and it has  subway and aerial tram access to and from Manhattan.

England’s National Health Service (NHS) established in 2005 a Special Health Authority, the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). NHSBT’s mission is “the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood, organs and associated services to the NHS.”

NHSBT recently announced that in 2010 there were more than 6,900 organ and cornea transplants throughout the United Kingdom, and over 2 million donations of blood were collected in England and North Wales. 2010 also saw a record number of patients across the UK receive a transplant while the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register reached 17.7 million. … Read more →

Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans. The term “smallpox” was first used in Europe in the fifteenth century as a way to distinguish this disease from the epidemic of syphilis.

Smallpox killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year by the end of the eighteenth century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease, and two million had died as a result.

The Renwick Smallpox Hospital (later the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School) was located on Roosevelt Island in New York City.  When Renwick Smallpox Hospital opened on December 18, 1856 on Blackwell’s Island (the island’s name at the time), the hospital could treat 100 patients. … Read more →

A hospital stay can be a difficult and often emotional experience for a child. Keeping your children occupied can be the best way to keep them from focusing on their illness. Here is a list of things that can make your child’s hospital visit much more fun.

• Most importantly let your children know how much you love and care for them, and that you will be by their side.

• Bring toys from home for your children. Their favorite doll or dinosaur can make the hospital stay seem much shorter and help them feel at home.

• You can do arts and crafts. Bring coloring books, legos, beads and more. Try making a scrap book of their hospital stay by collect stickers from nurses, drawing pictures of the people they met and so on. Being creative can be a wonderful way to keep busy and stay positive. It’s also a great way to join in on the fun with your child.

• You can bring outside dinner into your child’s room if the nurses okay it. This will make the children feel a lot better, and of course it is much better than eating the cafeteria food.

• Bring video games. If you don’t own video games most hospitals have a Nintendo you can rent. Even parents can get involved on two player games.

• Take your child for “adventures”(walks) in a wheelchair all over the hospital.

• Have a “slumber party” in your child’s hospital room. You may not be able to make a lot of noise, jump on the bed, or have friends come. You can bring a movie and some snacks if your child is able to eat. Most hospitals allow you to rent the vcr. Your child can even have other members or children of the hospital to come and join.

• Bring books to read stories to your child. This is aways a great way to help them fall asleep.

Things which may be restricted:

• Cell Phones. Cell phones often cause interference with hospital equipment.

• Latex or rubber balloons. Many people are allergic to latex, and to be on the safe side, most hospitals restrict their use. Mylar balloons are usually permitted.

• Flowers or stuffed animals. You’ll want to check with the nurse beforehand. Some hospitals have restrictions on these items to avoid patient allergies.

• Electrical Gadgets, like blow dryers, radios, portable DVD players, etc. You will want to get clearance before bringing these items. Battery-operated handheld video game players should typically be permitted.

Craig Garner, chief contributor here at Hospital Stay write on the integration of complementary and alternative medicine in today’s health care system for PBS The Emotional Life.

“The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather, a condition of it.” –Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Let’s face it. Hospitals instill fear and anxiety in just about everyone. We logically connect hospitals with high-tech equipment, sterile rooms, and scary surgical procedures. Surprisingly, few people associate these same facilities with treatments such as massage, acupuncture and meditation.  As we head into 2011 — some ten months since President Barack Obama announced the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) — this lack of understanding about hospital services is about to change.

Offered in almost 40 percent of hospitals (up from 26.5 percent in 2005, and 8 percent in 1998), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) includes yoga, acupuncture, meditation, as well as other options typically considered outside of traditional Western medicine.  In a hospital setting, CAM increasingly appeals to patients for general wellness options, preventative measures, or when conventional choices fall short. Not surprising, preventative care and wellness programs exist at the core of PPACA, even though these particular sections in the 2,700-page law often escape the media’s spotlight.

Western medicine is associated with the most advanced, research-based treatments, surgeries, and drugs used by medical doctors and their colleagues. CAM treatments may date back thousands of years to ancient Greece or China and include in part acupuncture, herbal medicine, chiropractic treatments, hydrotherapy, and art therapy.  Historical precedence, however, may not be the biggest concern for hospital patients, especially since the existence of stress, anxiety, and overall fear — an inescapable dynamic inherent in practically all hospital stays — predates both new and old medicine.

With so many therapies falling under the umbrella of complementary and alternative, there are a myriad of different ways that hospitals and medical centers might integrate CAM into their establishments. While hospitals typically focus on the more established CAM therapies like massage, relaxation training, and nutritional therapy, even these treatments typically vary.

In addition to body-based therapies such as acupuncture, some CAM programs offer treatments in stress management, hypnosis, and resilience training. Studies show this approach helps patients develop positive coping strategies. Other facilities include CAM treatments in wellness areas, including environment, relationships, personal growth, and spirituality, as well as nutrition and exercise.

Some of these treatments are truly “holistic” systems, incorporating acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage, dietary, and lifestyle treatments in some instances, and yoga, diet, massage, and meditation in others. At the same time, complementary treatments are not always holistic, and this term may be little more than a lure for patients seeking “whole-person” care.

Some of the most common conditions treated with complementary and alternative medicine at hospitals include chronic pain, cancer, preparation for surgery and/or recovery, women’s health, and anxiety and depression. However, patients seek CAM treatments for any number of conditions, including chronic fatigue, sinusitis, addiction, gastrointestinal conditions, sports injuries, or as a preventative measure.

As with CAM-treated ailments, CAM treatments are far ranging. They vary in cultural origin, philosophy, and history—some may be thousands of years old, others only decades. They may include anything from homeopathy to pet therapy (an increasingly popular inpatient service, sometimes referred to as Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)). The following are some of the most common treatments found at hospitals and integrative centers in the U.S.

Acupuncture involves the insertion of fine needles at specific body points and is believed to rebalance energy flows (qi) along pathways (meridians) to alleviate pain or treat conditions such as insomnia and high blood pressure. Acupressure is similar but involves the application of pressure as opposed to needles.

Biofeedback uses electronic devices to enhance patients’ control over body functions, such as heart rate and muscle tension, to treat conditions like anxiety, insomnia, and migraines.

Chiropractic body manipulation is based on diagnosis and manipulation of joints used primarily to treat spine, joint, and muscle problems.

Creative therapy uses creative expression—music, art, dance, and color, for example—for therapeutic purposes, such as dealing with difficult emotions or stress.

Herbal medicine, rooted in Western and Eastern traditions such as Ayurvedic, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan, uses medicinal fruits and plants to promote healing.

Hypnotherapy uses therapeutic suggestions to the mind in a relaxed state to encourage healing of physical or emotional problems, such as phobias, addictions and anxiety.

Massage is the application of pressure to induce relaxation and is believed to include a range of health benefits such as improved immunity and circulation.

Meditation, a form of mind-body therapy, uses a variety of techniques—such as focusing on a word or image—to clear the mind and induce relaxation. Other techniques include deep breathing, progressive relaxation and guided imagery.

Nutrition uses food and supplements tailored to an individual to treat ailments or as a preventative measure.

Qi gong, Ta’i chi, and yoga: A part of the traditional Chinese medicine system, Qi gong is a system of static and moving exercises that involves breathing and meditation. Also of Chinese origin, Ta’i chi involves slow, flowing movements and breathing techniques. Yoga, a part of Ayurvedic medicine, is a system of exercises, breathing, and meditation techniques.

Reiki, or “universal life energy,” involves transferring healing energy through hand positions to treat and rebalance the body.

Whole medical systems are complete systems of theory and practice, often having evolved over centuries, such as Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine. Naturopathy is another conventional whole medical system with a focus on utilizing natural treatments such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, and nutrition to encourage the body to heal itself and return to a state of balance.

This article was originally posted on PBS This Emotional Life.

A recent study reported online now and in the April issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research has concluded one out of every 12 fans leaving major sporting events is drunk.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota measured the blood alcohol content (BAC) in 382 adults after 13 baseball games and three football games found that eight percent of these fans had a BAC above the legal limit (0.08 or higher). Researchers also concluded that individuals who participated in tailgating before were 14 times more likely to leave that game intoxicated, and fans under 35 years old were nine times more likely.

According to study author Darin Erickson, an assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health: “There weren’t really a lot of studies that specifically looked at an objective measure of how much people were drinking at these events. As with most good research, it probably brought up more questions than answers.”

Erickson’s study approached fans after sporting events between May and October 2006, and researchers asked these individuals to submit to an anonymous breathalyzer test and brief survey about their alcohol consumption.  After each game about 20 fans volunteered, with 58% of the individuals being male, 55% between the age of 21 and 35, and 14% were 51 or older. Erickson continued: “We were concerned we wouldn’t be able to get enough people. Next time we would have [another person on the team] just to watch how many people say no. We don’t have a real objective idea of the response rate.”

Some experts believe that the number of individuals drunk after sporting events if probably higher. Dr. Stephen Ross, an assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine and clinical director of the NYU-Langone Center of Excellence in Addiction, stated: “The numbers are startlingly alarming. It’s well known the amount of drinking that goes on at ball games. It’s part of the culture of the games. Culture determines substance use almost more than any other factor. It’s clearly a public safety hazard.”

Michael Hilton, deputy director of the division of epidemiology and prevention research for the U.S. National Institute on Abuse and Alcoholism, added: “The implication is that a lot of these people are probably going to be driving. It should be an area of concern. This is really very much a pilot study, but it definitely says things that are worth following up in future studies.”

In conclusion, Dr. James C. Garbutt, medical director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, added a sobering warning:  “The study reminds us that heavy drinking at sporting events occurs and that this likely contributes to DWI accidents and injuries or even deaths. Efforts to reduce this serious problem — such as education, traffic stops around a stadium and not serving alcohol in the final portion of a game — are of value.”