If I ever heard

"I heard it through the grapevine...".

Word of mouth (WOM) has always been one of the most credible and influential sources of information for a consumer. With the advent of the Internet, new mediums of communication, such as blogs and social networking sites, have opened up, allowing more consumers to gather WOM information more easily than ever before. In this study, I examine the usefulness of online WOM, particularly from blogs ...

If I had...Cataract.

in some cities in the USA,6 but the general level of health consciousness and the public attitude to family medicine and emergency care are so different in the USA that it is far from clear that American experience is relevant to the United Kingdom. The number of lives that MCCUs can be expected to save in the United Kingdom is therefore small, so establishing MCCU services on a wider basis mus...

If I had a hammer

We present the case of a 64-year-old man who was referred to our service after sustaining a self-inflicted nail-gun injury to his chest. He received three nails penetrated into his chest. Computer tomography revealed no massive haemorrhage or damage to major vessels. He underwent an emergency sternotomy, two nails caused pericardial perforation and myocardial injury were noted easily and remove...

Infectious diseases consultative recommendations: if heard, they can be listened to.

Accepted 21 January 2004; electronically published 14 April 2004. Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Marvin J. Tenenbaum, North Shore Infectious Diseases Consultants, 44 S. Bayles Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050 (mstenenbaum@yahoo. com). Clinical Infectious Diseases 2004; 38:1219–21 2004 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. 1058-4838/2004/3809-0004$15.00 When the mem...

If I had resistant hypertension.