Sound Medicine -- May 3, 2003

Hosts Barbara Lewis and Dr. Kathy Miller talk to physicians and researchers about:

Battlefield Medicine

"Devil Docs"

War and Kids

Battlefield Medicine

New blood clotting products and a totally revamped way of providing care during the Iraqi war may mean more soldiers will survive severe injuries. Surprisingly, the rate of soldiers dying from wounds has not changed since the Civil War up to the present day. This is because advances in medicine have kept pace with the development of increasingly lethal weapons. The Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio, Texas tracks those numbers, as well as creates new ways to help save lives on the front lines.

Col. John Holcomb, a surgeon and director of the Institute, tells us how each major U.S. war has led to medical innovations, both for military and civilian use. For example, penicillin was developed during World War II, and blood was used as a common resuscitative product for the first time. The wars in Korea and Vietnam were the first to see rapid helicopter evacuations. More recently, new bandages have been developed to help decrease bleeding, and hospitals are becoming progressively more mobile.

However, these advancements do not only benefit the military; many directly translate to civilian use as well. Col. Holcomb discusses the importance of collaboration between military and non-military researchers. Each year, there are 100,000 peacetime trauma deaths in the U.S. -- twice as many deaths as there were during the entire Vietnam conflict. And medical advancements in trauma go both ways; innovations and research conducted in the civilian community also benefit the military community as well.

Resources:

Read about medical advancements in World War I.

Read about the correlation between battlefield medicine and diet during the Civil War.

Learn some ways in which technology helps battlefield medicine.

"Devil Docs"

Dr. Sanjay Gupta provided American television viewers with riveting reports from Kuwait during his tour of duty with the U.S. Navy's medical unit, also known as the "Devil Docs". Now back in the United States, he describes his experiences and talks about the medical challenges faced by American and Iraqi medical personnel. Dr. Gupta is a health news correspondent for CNN and is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta.

The term "Devil Docs," referring to Navy doctors, is a reference to Marines being known as "Devil Dogs". Dr. Gupta discusses the Frontline Resuscitative Surgical Suite, a unit that treats soldiers who are injured so severely that they must be treated immediately. The FRSS is a mobile unit that dismantles in two hours.

An operation at the FRSS may not be a soldier's final operation. Rather, it may just be a quick fix, and he or she may need more surgery later on. For example, if an injury produces a dangerous amount of abdominal bleeding, an FRSS doctor may just surgically block off certain areas of the abdomen temporarily to stop the bleeding. Once the soldier can safely be moved, he or she is flown to a regular military hospital where more definitive surgery takes place.

Resources:

Learn more about Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Read a recent article about the Devil Docs.

War and Kids

For most of us, it is challenging to explain the delicate subject of war to our children. Judith Myers-Walls has been researching how war and conflict affect children. She is a Purdue University Extension Specialist in Child Development and Family Studies. According to Dr. Myers-Walls' research, 24% of parents say they have not talked to their children about war or peace. However, 54% of children surveyed claim that their parents did not discuss the topic with them. Why the discrepancy?

One explanation is that parents are often vague or brief when discussing unpleasant things with their children. However, like other sensitive subjects (such as sex or drugs), parents must discuss it clearly with their children multiple times for them to gain an accurate understanding. Furthermore, parents often wait until too late to bring up the subject with their children, although kids often know more than parents realize. Avoiding discussion about war can have many negative effects on children. Besides simply not understanding events, kids may also form inaccurate views of the situation. Furthermore, children can sense if their parents do not want to talk about war, and might understand the subject to be taboo.

Talking about war is especially difficult for military families and those in war zones, because parents can't guarantee anything when there is a relative involved in the military. Furthermore, families may experience unexpected stress when members return home from serving in the armed forces, when family roles and power balances must readjust once more. Children may have difficulty dealing with reconciliation on a global level as well. Often in times of war, people are categorized as either "good guys" or "bad guys." It can be very difficult to repaint the picture as loyalties and alliances change.

Resources:

Read more about Dr. Myers-Walls' research on terrorism and children.

Learn how to recognize signs of stress in children and how to help them cope with disaster.

Is there a medical topic you'd like us to cover? Reach us by email: soundmed@iu.edu
or by phone:
(317) 274-4848.

Histoplasmosis is a disease that affects the lungs and is sometimes fatal if left untreated. People in what professional group are most at risk?

A. Archeologists and gardeners who are exposed to soil
B. Healthcare professionals who come in contact with infected people
C. Chemists who are exposed to certain types of chemicals

Find out!

It only takes a small particle on your skin to start it… a bug crawling up your arm or a fine hair landing on your hand. But there is no relief till you have scratched it to your satisfaction. We are talking about itching. But what causes an itch in the first place?

Find out!

Counting one's blessings and a positive outlook to life benefits both healthy and ill people, mentally as well as physically, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

A group of healthy college students was asked to write a weekly report, and a group of adults with incurable diseases such as polio was asked to write down daily for three weeks, about what they were thankful for in their daily lives. Other similar groups were asked to count and write down their daily hassles.

The grateful college students were found to exercise more and the grateful chronically ill adults reported sleeping longer and waking up refreshed. The grateful people also were nicer and more helpful to others.

The study found that people, both healthy and chronically ill, who consciously reminded themselves every day of the things they were grateful for showed marked improvements in mental and physical health.

The grateful group felt better about their lives and was more optimistic than those who were asked to count hassles. They also were found to be better off than those whose positive outlook consisted of seeing themselves better off than others by taking pleasure in the troubles of others.