Can You Take Creatine If You Have High Blood Pressure?
Conclusion We’ve journeyed through the multifaceted world of creatine, from its role in boosting athletic performance to its potential therapeutic uses. We’ve also delved into the crucial relationship between creatine and high blood pressure, highlighting the need for caution. The key takeaway? If you have high blood pressure, consult a healthcare provider before taking creatine. It’s not just a supplement; it’s a substance that interacts with various bodily functions and can have significant implications for your health. So, before you consider adding creatine to your routine, make t...
Source: The EMT Spot - August 29, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

Alpha-Beta-Blockers For High Blood Pressure: Types, Side Effects, Drug Interactions
Conclusion In conclusion, the advent of alpha-beta-blockers has marked a significant advancement in cardiovascular treatment. These medications, combining the properties of both alpha and beta blockers, have demonstrated superiority in managing various cardiovascular conditions. They offer the potential for enhanced blood pressure control, cardiovascular protection, and versatility in the management of several cardiovascular conditions. The choice of using alpha-beta-blockers, however, must be tailored to the individual patient. Considerations such as past medical records, present health conditions, concurrent ...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 20, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs) For High Blood Pressure: Types, Side Effects, Drug Interactions
Conclusion Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become a leading cause of death globally, necessitating the adoption of preventive measures, early detection, and effective management strategies. Hypertension, a significant risk factor for CVD, requires active management to mitigate associated risks. Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs) have emerged as a favored choice among healthcare professionals due to their effectiveness and unique benefits. ARBs offer several advantages compared to other blood pressure medications. They effectively control blood pressure, protect vital organs such as the heart and kidneys, ...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 11, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

ACE Inhibitors For High Blood Pressure: Types, Side Effects, Drug Interactions
Conclusion In conclusion, the rising utilization of blood pressure medications reflects a growing awareness of the importance of managing hypertension for overall health. ACE inhibitors, among other drug classes, are widely used due to their effectiveness in lowering blood pressure and providing additional benefits for heart and kidney health. It’s essential to consult your doctor before starting or adjusting ACE inhibitor treatment to ensure personalized care and monitor for potential side effects or drug interactions. Taking ACE inhibitors as prescribed, following consistent dosing schedules, and attend...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 9, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

Dear Patient, If You Have to Treat a Cold, Know  This:
BY HANS DUVEFELT Americans hate being sick. There are too many cold medicines out there to remember by name. But there are really only a handful of different drug classes to consider. In order to choose any one of them, be clear about what you want to accomplish. It’s actually very simple. 1) Make my cold go away faster: Zink, echinacea, visualization/manifesting, sauna, prayer (may be mostly placebo effect ). 2) Stop my nose from running (including post nasal drip): You’ll want the crud to leave your body as soon as possible, so turning off the drain pipe that your nose has become can increase the risk of ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 9, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Medical Practice Cold Hans Duvefelt Medical Education Source Type: blogs

Rapid Diagnosis: Vomiting Blood
The dispatcher reports that the patient is vomiting blood. Hemataemesis if you want to be technical about it. It could be a whole bunch of things right? … Well yes it could. Before you e-mail me to say that you can’t believe I missed Bolivian Hemorrhagic Fever, here’s one web site that lists 113 possibilities. But if you want to play the numbers, it’s going to be one of four things. And if you want to play “stump your partner” you can narrow it down quite a bit based on your patients age and disposition. There are four things that tend to cause a person to vomit blood. Before you click on the little ...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 14, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Whitehead Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs

Explorations in French Health Care! (Or what I did on my vacation!)
By MATTHEW HOLT This is a personal story about this blog’s publisher (me!) but it has just enough health care stuff to keep it relevant! This year I finally got invited on the annual mountain bike ride run by my friend JB and his ex Taiwan/Hong Kong buddies. I’ve actually been practicing and training most of the summer and arrived pretty confident even though I knew it would be tough. This edition is in Provence in France. Before it all went wrong And then…..2 hours in on the first day it turns out I was too confident… Back in 2002 I smashed my knee snowboarding into a tree. When I tol...
Source: The Health Care Blog - October 4, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Patients French health care Matthew Holt Source Type: blogs

Cool Medical Tools
My longtime friend, Kevin Kelly, author, world traveler, and futurist invited me to join him on the Cool Tools podcast. He wanted me to share my most recent medical “Cool Medical Tools”. He also asked me to share the first aid and medical treatments I carry with me when I travel. Check out the video below for our conversation:   Links to My Favorite Recent Cool Medical Tools 01:00 – Timeshifter app 12:55 – Aranet4 CO2 monitor:  19:14 – Bite Helper big bite aid 25:18 – Natrapel insect repellent 26:13 – Zyrtec antihistamine Cool Stuff in my Personal First Aid Travel Kit Ibupro...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 25, 2022 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Kids Travel Safety Vacationing & Travel Source Type: blogs

story/poem
 ResurrectionSitting in my car with the windows rolled up in the parking lot waiting for my clinic to start. A small part of me legit thinks I might run out of air, get light headed and pass out, maybe even die.  Don ’t thousands of babies and pets cash out in locked cars every year?  Yeah, I know it ’s mostly the heat but still.  And I ’m a goddam doctor thinking nonsense like this.  People are always like, oh doctor this and doctor that and my doctor says and my doctor told me and I'm like for god's sake.  What if your doctor kept warning you about the dangers of low oxygen levels whil...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - October 29, 2021 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs

story/poem
 ResurrectionSitting in my car with the windows rolled up in the parking lot waiting for my clinic to start. A small part of me legit thinks I might run out of air, get light headed and pass out, maybe even die.  Don ’t thousands of babies and pets cash out in locked cars every year?  Yeah, I know it ’s mostly the heat but still.  And I ’m a goddam doctor thinking nonsense like this.  People are always like, oh doctor this and doctor that and my doctor says and my doctor told me and I'm like for god's sake.  What if your doctor kept warning you about the dangers of low oxygen levels whil...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - October 29, 2021 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs

My COVID-19 vaccine story –– and what happened next
Like most healthcare workers, I was thrilled when I was eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. I’ve been involved in COVID-19 patient care since the very start of the pandemic in the US, and I had seen what this virus can do to people. We all felt incredibly helpless against this incredibly contagious bug. With time, experience, and study, we’ve learned which treatments help and which don’t. Even more importantly, we now have vaccines. The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines — tested in about 18,600 and 15,000 participants, respectively — were the first available in the US via emergency FDA authorization...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 4, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Monique Tello, MD, MPH Tags: Asthma Coronavirus and COVID-19 Health Parenting Vaccines Source Type: blogs

Sore arm and chills after the COVID vaccine? Will Tylenol or NSAIDs such as Motrin or Aleve lower vaccine efficacy?
This is a common question, "I have a sore arm and chills after the COVID vaccine? Will taking Tylenol or NSAIDs such as Motrin or Aleve lower vaccine efficacy?".The short answer is, no. You can take antipyretic analgesics (Tylenol, and NSAIDs such as Motrin or Aleve), if needed, to control symptoms after a COVID immunization. Ideally, do not take the medications before the vaccine. You can take them, if needed, after the vaccine. The details are below. Antipyretic analgesics (Tylenol, and NSAIDs such as Motrin, Aleve) are widely used to ameliorate vaccine adverse reactions. Observational studies reporting on antipyretic us...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 15, 2021 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Vaccines Source Type: blogs

Can I take something to prevent colorectal cancer?
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. There is compelling evidence that screening to detect CRC early to find and remove precancerous polyps can reduce CRC mortality. However, screening has associated harms, including procedural complications, and inherent limitations. For example, colonoscopy, the most common screening tool in the US, is less effective in preventing cancers of the right, or ascending side, of the colon compared with cancers of the left, or descending, side of the colon. Moreover, only 60% of US adults recommended for screening actually follow through. Ev...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - January 13, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Andrew Chan, MD, MPH Tags: Cancer Prevention Screening Source Type: blogs

Treating the pain of endometriosis
Many women suffer through years of painful menstrual periods before they are able to get an answer about what’s causing them: a common and often undiagnosed condition called endometriosis. What is endometriosis? Endometriosis is a condition that occurs when tissue much like the tissue that lines a woman’s uterus — called the endometrium — starts to grow in other places inside the body. Most commonly, these growths are within the pelvis, such as on the ovaries, the fallopian tubes, the outer surface of the uterus, or the bladder. During the menstrual cycle each month, the tissue lining the uterus grows thicker, then...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - November 20, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Kelly Bilodeau Tags: Pain Management Stress Surgery Women's Health Source Type: blogs