Medicinal Mushrooms: Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor), Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) and Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus)
There some evidence in PubMed than medicinal mushrooms may play a role in treatment of some cancers. Most of the claims of medical benefits are bot backed up by high quality studies as of 2019. References are below.---What is turkey tail?Turkey tail is a type of mushroom that grows on dead logs worldwide. It's named turkey tail because its rings of brown and tan look like the tail feathers of a turkey. Its scientific name is Trametes versicolor or Coriolus versicolor. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is known as Yun Zhi. In Japan, it is known as kawaratake (roof tile fungus). Turkey tail has been used in traditional Chi...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - February 13, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Medicinal Mushrooms Oncology Source Type: blogs
New Treatment for Acquired Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: Caplacizumab
Immune-mediated deficiency of the von Willebrand factor –cleaving protease ADAMTS13 allows unrestrained adhesion of von Willebrand factor multimers to platelets and microthrombosis. This results in thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia, and tissue ischemia. These are the hallmarks of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).Caplacizumab is an anti –von Willebrand factor humanized. Caplacizumab is not a full antibody, but just a fragment if it, as you can see in the video below. It inhibits interaction between von Willebrand factor multimers and platelets.In this double-blind, controlled trial, 145 patients...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - February 1, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Hematology NEJM Source Type: blogs
Avoid "endless day-to-day shallowness"
A quote fromthis NEJM article:"Socrates underscored the perils of an unexamined life. Yet for some physicians, a closely examined professional life would force a painful recognition of what ’s missing. Robert Pirsig, whose philosophical writing focused on quality and values, crystallized the problem decades ago: “We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wonderin g years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone.”"The author of the article lists a few interventions he had tried a...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 31, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: NEJM Psychology Source Type: blogs
Bad traffic has wide reaching health implications including nighttime domestic abuse
From the NYTimes:Brutal commute toll: to save 1 minute of time spent in traffic, people would trade away 5 minutes of any other leisure activityExtreme evening traffic on highways (double the usual time) increased the incidence of nighttime domestic violence by 9%How do deal with this: “Throughout life, mindfulness, healthy eating, sleeping and exercise, and hobbies that blow of steam all help”, according to Rebecca Mooney.References:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/upshot/stuck-and-stressed-the-health-costs-of-traffic.html
Posted atClinical Cases and Images. Stay updated andsubscribe, follow us onTwitter and connec...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 23, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Stress Source Type: blogs
How the ultra-rich deal with stress
From the Guardian: Burned-out billionaires are taking extended multimillion-dollar 'sabbaticals' to recharge:A 40-year-old tech CEO, fresh off selling his multimillion-dollar business, embarked on an extended world tour, visited 66 countries over two years via private jet. The trip included learning to hunt with a bow and arrow with the San people in the Kalahari Desert and filming a documentary in South Africa – and it cost "well into the seven figures.""It could be a couple of million dollars to take your family around the world with a teacher in tow."These wealthy clients are looking for an escape, and some want that ...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 21, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Stress Source Type: blogs
Parenting advice: 5 supportive gestures remembered by the mnemonic CLICC
Mnemonic CLICC:Comfort: stay calm and patientListen: show interest in their passionInspire: expose them to new ideasCollaborate: ask for their opinionCelebrate: use “put-ups”, “not put-downs”Comfort: stay calm and patientPractice active listening and provide support.For teens: Be present and pay attention to changes in behaviors. Offer validating and reflecting statements to help them label their own emotions when in distress.Practice relaxation techniques such as counting to ten, deep breathing, meditation, or positive self-talk. Help them identify strategies to manage stress and control their impulses.Listen: sho...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 21, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: noreply at blogger.com (Ves Dimov) Tags: Children Parents Pediatrics Psychology Stress Trauma Source Type: blogs
People overreport their height and underreport their weight. What are the real numbers?
From the NYTimes:“People tend to overreport their height and underreport their weight,” said the senior author, Cynthia L. Ogden, an epidemiologist at the C.D.C. The new figures, she noted, are the result of actual measurements:Meet the average American man. He weighs 198 pounds and stands 5 feet 9 inches tall. He has a 40-inch waist, and hisbody mass index is 29, at the high end of the “overweight” category.The picture for the average woman? She is roughly 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighs 171 pounds, with a 39-inch waist. Her B.M.I. is close to 30."Men and women gained more than 30 pounds from 1960 to 2016.Accordi...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 16, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: NYTimes Source Type: blogs
People who live in neighborhoods with green spaces have less stress, healthier blood vessels and lower risk of heart attack and stroke
People who live in neighborhoods with more green spaces may have less stress, healthier blood vessels and a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.Residential greenness is associated with lower levels of sympathetic activation, reduced oxidative stress, and higher angiogenic capacity. This is independent of age, sex, race, smoking status, neighborhood deprivation, statin use, and roadway exposure.For this study (see the link below), researchers tested for a variety of biomarkers of stress and heart disease risk in blood and urine samples from 408 patients at a cardiology clinic in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.Residents of th...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 11, 2019 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Longevity Nature Source Type: blogs
Exceptional longevity: why some people live to be more than 100-year old
Interventions that promote longevity, remembered by mnemonic:DEEP purple - “eat colorful plant foods:Dietary modification,Exercise, activeEngagement,Purposeful living (click here toenlarge the image).Based on a Mayo Clinic Proceedings article (https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(18)30792-4/):Exceptional Human Longevity: the oldest old have an extreme phenotype of delayed onset of age-related diseases and/or resistance to lethal illnesses occurring earlier in life.Centenarians have delayed onset of chronic diseasesDuring the span of human history the likelihood of living from birth to age 100 rose fro...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - December 25, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Lifestyle Longevity Mayo Clinic Source Type: blogs
For type 2 diabetes patients who require an injectable drug, GLP-1-based drugs are preferred over insulin
That's a pretty big change:Diabetes Guidelines Updated: For patients with type 2 diabetes who require an injectable drug, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist is preferred over insulin.https://buff.ly/2T0KowcGlucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-based therapies (eg, GLP-1 receptor agonists, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 [DPP-4] inhibitors) affect glucose control throughseveral mechanisms, including:- enhancement of glucose-dependent insulin secretion- slowed gastric emptying- reduction of postprandial glucagon and food intakeThese agents do not usually cause hypoglycemia.Short-acting GLP-1 receptor agonists have an effect on post...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - December 20, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Diabetes Source Type: blogs
Piriformis muscle syndrome remains controversial and diagnosis is difficult
Piriformis syndrome is a controversial entrapment neuropathyWhat is piriformis muscle?The piriformis muscle is a small but important external rotator of the hip that crosses the sciatic nerve and is believed by some to cause sciatica-type pain when it compresses the nerve. However, the existence of this so-called "piriformis syndrome" remains controversial and diagnosis is difficult.Controversy is due to the limited research about the condition and the difficulty of making the diagnosis, particularly as symptoms mimic many other more common diagnoses.How common is it?Piriformis syndrome may account for 0.3-6% of scia...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - December 17, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Orthopedics Sports Source Type: blogs
Canned tuna is struggling to connect with younger generation
From the WSJ:"Canned tuna is struggling to connect with younger generations who favor fresher, less-processed options."In a country focused on convenience, canned tuna isn ’t cutting it with consumers. “A lot of millennials don’t even own can openers,” said vice president for StarKist.Younger consumers are opting for fresh or frozen fish over canned items.Tuna first made inroads into American cupboards following a sardine shortage in 1903 and grew in popularity during wartime protein shortages that followed and as new canning technologies took hold. Since the late 1980s, its reputation has changed as consumers worr...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - December 4, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Food Source Type: blogs
Kids can't escape screens: America ’s schools are heavily promoting devices for classwork and homework
From Cupertino to San Francisco, a growing consensus has emerged that screen time is bad for kids: The benefits of screens as a learning tool are overblown, and the risks for addiction and stunting development seem high, as per the NYTimes.“Doing no screen time is almost easier than doing a little,” said Kristin Stecher, a former social computing researcher married to a Facebook engineer. “If my kids do get it at all, they just want it more.”Here is the problem:America ’s public schools are still promoting devices with screens — even offering digital-only preschools. The rich are banning screens from class alto...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - November 9, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: NYTimes Pediatrics Phone Psychology Source Type: blogs
Medical students "taught how to practice empathy by following clever mnemonics" - NEJM
C. Nicholas Cuneo, M.D. in the NEJM: "With every faux interaction I felt myself being forced to shed another layer of authenticity, and I quickly grew to dread the whole tedious charade.PEARLS, it spelled out: Partnership, Empathy, Apology, Respect, Legitimization, and Support.With a smirk, I tossed it in the trash."Better understanding and educational approach are needed.--Just as a side note, here is an overview of some empathy/communication mnemonics with the corresponding references:"PEARLS– which stands for partnership, empathy, apology/acknowledgment, respect, legitimation, and support"https://www.mdedge.com/family...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - October 27, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Communication Empathy NEJM Source Type: blogs
Lifespan vs. healthspan: "I'LL do it" mnemonic
Epigenetics"Tthere is nobody who disputes that epigenetics predicts life span ”. Aging eight or more years faster than your calendar age equates to twice the typical risk of dying, while aging seven years slower is associated with half the risk of death, Horvath says."Life span predictor" clockHis lab has developed a "life span predictor" they named it after the Grim Reaper: DNAm GrimAge. The epigenetic clock is more accurate the younger a person is. It ’s especially inaccurate for the very old. “At this point, we don’t have any evidence that it’s clinically useful, because there are big error bars.”Seed of the...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - October 22, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Geriatrics Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
