Sharing Mayo Clinic - April 2012 Archives

Veteran scuba diver Scott Martin, 46, and his girlfriend left Florida in July 2011 to celebrate his birthday in Cozumel, Mexico. His experience there changed the way he thinks about his heart and his favorite pastime. The couple had been in Cozumel for five days, diving twice a day. On the morning of the last day, they made a deep dive. An expert diver, Martin always followed U.S. Navy dive tables and safety protocols. But shortly after he surfaced, Martin began to lose feeling in his hands and feet. The numbness crept up his legs and arms toward his body. He recognized the loss of feeling as a symptom of decompression sickness, or the bends, a condition that occurs when divers surface too fast and gas bubbles form in their bloodstream.

Coughing. That is the sound that awoke Jennifer McDougal on the morning on Dec. 28, 2010. Her husband, Rodney, was in the bathroom preparing for work, and coughing. Suddenly, he collapsed. Rodney, then 42, had a history of hypertension, so Jennifer immediately took his blood pressure. It measured 230/100 — dangerously high. “I didn’t know what was happening. One minute he was fine, the next he was out,” says Jennifer.

Written by: Sara May, Public Affairs intern Do we ever consider the second chances we get? What if you’re given the opportunity to have a second chance at life? It wasn’t until recently, during my internship at Mayo Clinic in Florida, that I began to learn about organ donation and transplantation. I was tasked with promoting the Katie Ride and Walk for Life, which is a cycling ride and walk on Saturday, April 21 to raise awareness for organ donation. [See photos, video and our blog post from last year's Katie Ride and Walk for Life]

WRITTEN BY: James Oliver Senior and Adam Dole "The health care industry is a slow-moving dinosaur, but health-related apps often fail to take into account any understanding ...