Marketing a Journal Article...

We received this mail a while ago from Dan Jeffers...

While reviewing blogs and Web sites that discuss blood disorders, I noticed that yours seems to be well-read and well-informed. Your readers may be interested in the recent clinical practice guidelines for von Willebrand Disease (VWD) offered by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. These are the first clinical guidelines in the United States for the diagnosis and management of von Willebrand Disease (VWD), the most common inherited bleeding disorder. The guidelines include recommendations on screening, diagnosis, disease management, and directions for future research. An extensive article on the guidelines is published online Feb. 29 in the journal Haemophilia.

“These are the first guidelines on von Willebrand Disease published in the United States and we are pleased to offer clinicians science-based recommendations in the evaluation and treatment of patients,” said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. “The disease can be difficult to diagnose, especially in women of child-bearing age and in children, and the danger of excessive bleeding is often under-recognized.”

The guidelines can be found at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/vwd/index.htm, and are available for purchase or download.

We hope that you will reach out to your audience by posting a link and/or commenting about the recent guidelines. Thanks for helping us spread the word.

Regards,
Dan Jeffers
Internet Marketing Specialist for
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

What interests me most is not the guidelines for Von Willebrands disease (for medical personel can be found here), it's the fact that medical marketing seems to have taken a new turn.

Before, if a new guideline was published, it could be found in the latest journals like the NEMJ, BMJ, AMJ, SAMJ, CME (there are many (x 100) more) and you would get to know about it via word of mouth. Usually a collegue in the specific field of medicine would have either seen it in his journal, heard about it at a conference, or a drug rep would spread the word. Mostly reputable sources.

It is interesting, that in this new landscape of everything being accessible online (don't get me into the exhorbitant prices you pay to access journals) that this seems to be a new way to market. Get it on Blogs, have the medical Bloggers promote it. It's definately a cheaper and perhaps more far reaching marketing tool. But do you always trust the bloggers information?

This at least comes from a reputable site, so I know the info is good. But in the ever increasing world wide web, where a ton of stuff is factitious (see earlier post about men having babies) and where is it getting harder to distinguish legitimate medical sites from the hocus-pocus out there - I am sceptical about the marketing means...

I don't know...

Jury is out for me...

I'm still trying to decide if I like this type of marketing or if it going to create more headaches in the long run with the large, and sometimes painful, website and information verification process.

Cardiomyopathy patient wants to run a half marathon!

Here's a great story - a friend of ours is a cardiomyopathy patient. This is basically a illness of the muscular walls of the heart - you can't overstress yourself at all or your heart can give out!

This chap, bless his brave soul, wants to run a half marathon in a years time or so. Some people would say WOMBAT. Others... brave lad.

Some advice from SA Doc...

1. Take it easy. Small steps, slow training and build up over months, not weeks.

2. Frequent checks with your cardiologist to make sure your medication is optimal and the heart muscle training is coming along well. Your Echo needs to be "A" OK!

3. Don't run with scissors.

Please go visit his site and drop the guy a comment or two as motivation. It's a great mission to have - and if patients from around the world can stumble upon this kind of positivity? Well, it just can't hurt.

Visit Mark's site here...

Misunderstanding around HIV testing in SA

A comment appearing on Champagne Heathen deserves a quick post. Ties quite nicely into the aritcles we've been writing about HIV ignorance - some malicious, some not.

At least, with this reader, she's bothering to ask, and not just assume. Cough.

I really do start off every year having an HIV test as well as a full STI test. I don't know why, it's just a thing I do. I have to tell you it really peeved me off this year that I couldnt just walk into the lab, ask for the test, have it, go home and wait for the results.

I had to get a consultation, so that the doctor could write up the bloodwork request. He of course wanted to know when this happened - that was his actual question to me. Firstly "it" didnt ever happen and secondly if "it" did why would "it" be any of his business?

What "it" was we can only assume... a rape incident I dunno... The point is it shouldn't be such a hassle for something like this, especially in this country. Sorry god I really did have a rant there. Seems I'm still quite mad about this.

Dear Anonymous Commentor. Thank you for asking - people often get confused about a Doctor's intention. More so when it comes to something as private as HIV testing.

The simple answer, is that whoever you are, we have to consider the potential of pre and post test counselling. A Doctor, first and foremost MUST determine the reason for a patient wanting test

For instance, if there was a little drunken hubba hubba unprotected mistake. Well, we've got window periods, contraception patterns etc. to worry about. If it is rape, as you probably wrongly assumed... there's both window period and proper rape counselling. Even if a patient is just paranoid - there could be other reasons. We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't ask. The question is never intended to offend.

Now, let's consider the horrible side. WHAT if it's positive? That's the reason Doctor's make you come in for an appointment instead of telling you over the phone. This virus, she's a seeeriiuss thing. No-one wants to receive a life-changing diagnosis over the phone.

"It " simply means unprotected sex or the reason for the test, not necessarily "rape" . And "it" IS his business - we can't practice blind. And remember, as clinical as doctor's seem to be getting - we still care about the whole patient... Emotional wellbeing is as important as your health when confronting the medical decisions / risks of everyday life.

All Scrubbed Up Reviewed by DomKop!

Domkop, an oddly titled techy-looking reviewer of South Africa's Blogs has done us the justice of a fair review. Love it. Read the review here.

Christmas Grand Rounds...

In case you haven't seen it yet... Christmas Grand Rounds are a great selection of med-on-the-web. Check it out here.

Excerpt from Medical News and Commentary

Bloggers are renowned for their abilities to comment on the news (often, in pajamas) but on a few memorable occasions, bloggers can report news, too. Such is the case with Dr. Steven Palter of Doc in the Machine, who announced his award-winning endometrial diagnosis technology on his blog. It's part of a series Dr. Palter has written, on the radical transformation of surgery.

Mighty GruntDoc, probably the most consistent contributor to Grand Rounds and current favorite to reach Four-Time Host status first, submits this analysis of a case where law and medicine collided in the ED.

The blogger On The Wards digs deeper into an intriguing new finding on obesity -- are certain bacteria responsible for making you fat?

A new blogger on the scene, Sandy Szwarc, whose blog Junk Food Science argues from the perpective of enjoying food and accepting body shapes, pokes holes in recent reporting on the obesity epidemic.

It's getting cold outside -- and outdoor enthusiasts are paying the price. Healthline writer Dr. P.S. Auerbach provides a timely primer on hypothermia.

What if our insurance companies could provide us with "Nutrition Facts"-style info on basic surgeries and diseases? Henry Stern of InsureBlog interviewed the Chief Innovation Officer at Blue Cross Minenesota, to learn about this new initiative in health care transparency.

Please read the full post - it's a lot more in-depth.

Call for BritMedBlogs... How about the South African ones?

Great fan of the NHS Blog Doctor - such a spoofy, yet real insight into a health system where you have to get a consent form before giving an injection! Here's to hoping that Dr John Crippen Esquire - take's a look at some of the fantastic medical blogs coming out of South Africa!

Read more here... NHS Blog Doctor: The BritMeds

Or take a turn by some of SA's finest...

• All Scrubbed Up (you're on it, wombat)
• Just up the Dose (angsty, studenty, funny)
• Try not to Kill yourself this Year (pity it's closing)

I actually thought there were a couple more when starting this post. Hmm. Any others out there? I'm sure I'm missing a bunch...