Reading Room
The reading room includes articles and videos of potential interest to consumers and medical professionals. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the NC Medical Board, its members and staff.
Here’s what coronavirus does to the body
National Geographic
February 15, 2020
Much remains unknown about the novel coronavirus ripping through China, but one thing is certain. The disease can cast a storm over the whole human body. Such has been the nature of past zoonotic coronaviruses, ones that hopped from animals to humans like SARS and MERS. Unlike their common-cold-causing cousins, these emergent coronaviruses can spark a viral-induced fire throughout many of a person’s organs, and the new disease—dubbed “COVID-19” by the World Health Organization on Tuesday—is no exception when it is severe.
New research shows you’re not as hot as you think
WBUR
February 5, 2020
The familiar 98.6-degree standard for healthy body temperature may not be accurate for the modern world, new research finds. According to a recent study from Stanford University, the current average body temperature is actually closer to 97.5 degrees. So where does the “norm” of 98.6 degrees come from anyway?
Home hospice care can be tough on families
NPR
January 21, 2020
‘Donation after cardiac death’: New heart transplant method being tested for the first time in the U.S.
STATNews
January 16, 2020
More than 250,000 people in the U.S. are currently at the end stages of heart failure, up to 15% of whom are in desperate need of a transplant. A new method of “reanimating” donor hearts from those who have died from cardiac failure is currently being tested in the U.S., and may soon ease that burden.
WHO Names Top 13 Global Health Challenges for the New Decade
Medscape
January 14, 2020
With a new year and new decade here, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a list of 13 urgent global health challenges. Developed with input from WHO experts around the world, the list is varied and includes stopping infectious diseases and preparing for epidemics, protecting adolescents, elevating health in the climate debate, and delivering healthcare in areas of conflict and crisis.
The High Cost of Having a Baby in America
The Atlantic
January 6, 2020
For women in many developed countries, having the baby—not paying for it—is the hard part. Giving birth in Finland, for example, will set you back a little less than $60. But in the U.S., the average new mother with insurance will pay more than $4,500 for her labor and delivery, a new study in Health Affairs has found.
