Empowering Biomedical Research in Rural West Virginia
Public health crises often disproportionately impact rural America. Sally L. Hodder, M.D., works to alleviate these disparities, especially regarding the opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s the director of the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI), the associate vice president of clinical and translational research, and a professor of medicine at West Virginia University.
Dr. Sally Hodder. Credit: West Virginia University.
Dr. Hodder’s work is focused in West Virginia, but her results are valuable assets to researchers across the country. Not only does treating chronic...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - November 23, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Injury and Illness COVID-19 Medicines Pain Source Type: blogs
Think twice before prescribing opioids as a first-line treatment for pain
Everyone knows the terrible toll the opioid epidemic takes on our society. It doesn’t matter where you live and how wealthy or educated you are, no one is immune. I watched as a colleague tried to help a child struggling with addiction, spending countless hours of worry and thousands of dollars, only to have the
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Think twice before prescribing opioids as a first-line treatment for pain originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - November 22, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: Gary Call, MD Tags: Meds Medications Pain Management Source Type: blogs
Pre-Contemplation Stage of Change: What It Looks Like in Addiction Recovery
Content reviewed by Karen Rubenstein, LMFT, Chief Clinical Officer at...
The post Pre-Contemplation Stage of Change: What It Looks Like in Addiction Recovery appeared first on Cliffside Malibu. (Source: Cliffside Malibu)
Source: Cliffside Malibu - November 22, 2022 Category: Addiction Authors: ebarbour Tags: Addiction Recovery change Source Type: blogs
New LA Mayor, Old Problem: Homelessness
Michael D. Tanner and Sofia HamiltonIt wascloser than many expected, but Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass has been elected mayor of Los Angeles. She will be the first woman and only the second African American to be elected mayor of America ’s second largest city.Bass made solving the city ’s growing crisis of homelessness the centerpiece of her campaign—and for good reason. There are more than60,000 homeless Californians living in Los Angeles County. This represents not only a humanitarian tragedy for those living on the street, but a growing quality of life problem for the city ’s residents and visit...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 21, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Michael D. Tanner, Sofia Hamilton Source Type: blogs
What Is Nystagmus?
This study has never been duplicated.
Note the estimated angle of nystagmus onset
Yup, my patient has nystagmus. What does that mean?
Big picture … it means that there’s something abnormal about the patient’s nervous system. There are a few major reasons to consider.
Drugs and alcohol
Yes, that old roadside sobriety test is a useful indicator of alcohol intoxication. People begin having nystagmus with blood alcohol levels as low as .04%. But alcohol isn’t the only drug that can cause nystagmus. Other central nervous system depressants like barbiturates, Lithium and benzodiazepines ...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 14, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs
“It’s Not My Emergency”
A regular reader of The EMT Spot asked a great question recently. (Thanks Timothy.) “How do I keep my cool and not loose my head in stressful situations?” I want to give you a tip that has worked well for me in the past. It’s a phrase I learned as an EMT and it’s helped me on countless occasions.
“It’s not my emergency.”
I know. I know what you’re thinking. On the surface, “It’s not my emergency.” sounds like a very callous and uncaring thing to say. But give me a chance to explain.
I was taught the phrase, “It’s not my emergency.” by a talented young paramedic who was a mentor in my ...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 14, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs
Aspects of an Addiction Relapse Prevention Plan
Content reviewed by Karen Rubenstein, LMFT, Chief Clinical Officer at Cliffside Malibu Recovery from...
The post Aspects of an Addiction Relapse Prevention Plan appeared first on Cliffside Malibu. (Source: Cliffside Malibu)
Source: Cliffside Malibu - November 14, 2022 Category: Addiction Authors: ebarbour Tags: Addiction Recovery Plan relapse Source Type: blogs
What Is GHB Anyway?
Let’s face it, there are a whole bunch of street drugs out there that we as EMS caregivers should understand. While we can’t always be expected to identify the exact drug a patient has ingested. We do need to be able to predict a given drugs effect on the body.
We should also be able to take a fair guess at the identity of an ingested drug based on our evaluation of the patient’s physical presentation. GHB is one of those drugs that can be hard to nail down based on the physical signs. But it does leave some clues – if you know what your look for.
What Is It? : A Multi-Receptor Stimulant
GHB is short for ...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 10, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs
Exploring AI Art Co-Creation
As I’ve been playing around with AI art tools, I decided to update the associated images for our courses. I wanted to come up with a more unique and personal expression than using the old stock images as we’ve been doing for the past few years.
This was a relatively small project, and it gave me a nice reason to delve into some interesting AI tools to better assess their capabilities. I definitely learned a lot and very much enjoyed the experience.
With most of the images I iterated dozens of times, feeding incremental images back to the AI tools and prompting them to keep evolving those images in directi...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - November 8, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Productivity Source Type: blogs
5 Tips For Talking With Your Teen About Using Substances
Raising children is a difficult task that only strengthens when that child becomes a teen. During adolescence, it is a time of discovering who they are, and they will often test their boundaries. This is why it is crucial to talk to your teen before they begin testing their limits regarding substance use. It can lead to very unhealthy behaviors if they begin using drugs or alcohol at a young age and can lead them into dangerous territory.
Because of this, it is vital to have a conversation since studies have shown that kids with clear rules about substance use are less likely to get into serious trouble. As a parent, yo...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - November 8, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Erin Falconer Tags: communication depression featured health and fitness psychology addiction family parents substance abuse teens Source Type: blogs
What Are K2 and Spice Anyway?
Chances are, you’ve probably heard about the new trend in synthetic cannabis products either from your local news media or from your ongoing EMS education. Over the past few years, these products have been increasing in prevalence around the US and in Europe. But what are these products anyway? Are they cannabis or not? Are they legal to posses? Are the effects similar to traditional marijuana?
Here’s a quick rundown of what EMS folks should know about this new and growing trend in street pharmacology.
Synthetic cannabis products have a variety of street names including Spice, K2, Herbal Incense, Potpourri, Barel...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 7, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs
Global Digital Health 100 – The Medical Futurist ’ s Top Choices in 2022
We first published the list of the Top 100 Digital Health Companies in 2017, highlighting the mindblowing growth the sector registered in the previous year. “Global digital health investments totalled more than 8 billion USD in 2016” – we wrote. Looking at the latest data, we better keep our seatbelts fastened: this figure was USD 57.2 billion in 2021, with a year-on-year growth of 79%.
Digital health is booming, with dozens, hundreds of startups and scale-ups entering the realm each year. While their spectacular promises are loud, failure is silent – unless it happens to one of the tech giants ...
Source: The Medical Futurist - November 7, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF bioprinting digital health Healthcare wearables top 100 telemedicine digital health companies remote care digital therapeutics Source Type: blogs
Eleven Madison Park Granola
They don’t offer this granola on the menu at Eleven Madison Park, New York’s award-winning, 3-star restaurant serving only plant-based food, with a tasting menu that will run you $365 a pop. Instead, all diners get a jar of the granola as a parting gift at the end of their meal, to serve at tomorrow morning’s breakfast. It’s actually a nice touch…
The restaurant wasn’t always vegan, and not everyone was happy when chef Daniel Humm decided to eschew all but plant-based foods when he re-opened the place in 2021 after a Covid hiatus. Although Eleven Madison was once purported to have a ...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - November 5, 2022 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Breakfast 11 madison park Dried cherries evelen madison park granola Source Type: blogs
Do 12-Step Programs Work for Addiction Recovery?
Content reviewed by Karen Rubenstein, LMFT, Chief Clinical Officer at Cliffside Malibu Substance use...
The post Do 12-Step Programs Work for Addiction Recovery? appeared first on Cliffside Malibu. (Source: Cliffside Malibu)
Source: Cliffside Malibu - November 5, 2022 Category: Addiction Authors: ebarbour Tags: Substance Abuse 12 step Substance Use Source Type: blogs
Rapid Diagnosis: Pinpoint Pupils
Abnormally constricted or “pinpoint” pupils are a great finding for our rapid diagnosis series. There are many things that can cause the pupil to abnormally dilate. Very few things will make the pupil abnormally constrict. Constricted pupils are a doorway to a very short list of ailments and with a bit of background you should be able to hang your hat on one fairly quick.
How So We Assess For “Pinpoint” Pupils?
Recall that the pupil should be mid-range and reactive under normal lighting conditions. When subjected to bright light, the pupil will constricted to reduce the volume of light entering the iris. In d...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 1, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs
