Weekend Wrap Up 3.11.17

Happy Saturday! How’s your weekend shaping up? I skipped town just in time to avoid a late winter snow day in Nashville and arrived in Florida for a quick sunny getaway. I’ve already done my fair share of seafood eating and sun-soaking with plenty more to come over the next two days. What are you up to? If you could use some lazy day reading material, check out this week’s more interesting medical news. 

Bad news for medical residents. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education revised the cap on resident shift length from 16 to 24 hours. So, MDs in training can look forward to pulling some overnighters. 

Use this trick to get an amazing memory. 

Can salted doorknobs prevent superbug infections? Salt has been used for centuries to fight off pathogens, for example by butchers to stave away Salmonella. So, one former butcher put sodium chloride to the test finding that it killed MRSA 20-30 times faster than other substances, reducing levels of the bacteria by 85 percent in just 20 seconds. The finding could lead to changes such as a saline coating on surgical masks. 

Is this going to kill me? Beauty parlor stroke syndrome – extending your neck over the ledge of a sink can cut off blood flow to the brain. 

The cancer-soy connection is getting less confusing. There’s been a lot of back and forth about the relationship between soy and disease, but new research helps clear up the confusion. A study examining more than 6,000 women diagnosed with different types of breast cancer found that soy consumption did not come with a higher risk of death. 

5 key takeaways from the GOP health overhaul plan. 

And now Zika might cause heart problems in healthy adults. According to a recent study, eight out of nine adults infected with Zika developed arrhythmias and six out of nine had evidence of heart failure. Patients ranged from ages 30 to 64. 

Why do we feel itchy when others scratch? A new study sheds light on the phenomenon. 

Lethal opiates delivered by mail from China are killing addicts in the U.S. Carfentanil, 10,000 times more powerful than morphine, has been blamed in more than 230 overdoses in a single month. The DEA is working with regulatory bodies in China to control illicit exportation of the drug. 

Daylight savings time: Bad for your health. Not so good about ‘saving’ time. 

Have a fantastic weekend!