Jenssen’s Mindstorm

I just happened to stumble upon Jenssen’s Virtual Hallucination Video presentation called “MindStorm”.  It is a 5 minute video that gives you the prospective of living with schizophrenia.  I suggest watching.

To view MindStorm, click here.

Antipsychotics and Heart Problems

A recent study finds that the “newer” antipsychotic medications nearly double the risk of dying from heart problems compared to older generation antipsychotic medications.

Researchers examined Tennessee Medicaid records covering the 15 years ending in 2005. They focused on about 44,000 users of older anti-psychotic drugs like haloperidol and about 46,000 users of newer drugs like Zyprexa, made by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co., and Risperdal, made by New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson Inc.

The study also included 186,600 people who weren’t taking
anti-psychotics but resembled the users in age, heart risk status another characteristics.  Some 1,900 participants died of sudden cardiac death over the 15 years.

Analysis found that taking either the older or the newer drugs roughly doubled the risk of sudden cardiac death. The overall rate in drug users was about three deaths per year for every 1,000 patients.

Technorati Tags: antipsychotic, medication, pharmacology

ER Use vs. Family Physician

With economy ever turning downward, I am sure America’s ERs will continue to feel the crunch of treating the uninsured and now the insured.

People with lower incomes – roughly $64,000 for a family of four – were about twice as likely to use the ER as those from households with higher incomes. Similarly, respondents whose primary language was not English were also about twice as likely to use ERs for nonemergencies, compared to their English-speaking counterparts. Hispanics and nonwhite residents were also about twice as likely to head to the ER for illnesses that their primary-care doctor typically could have handled.

Technorati Tags: ER, Health Care, Insurance

You Don’t Have to Look Far for Inspiration

Being a runner myself, there are days when all you want to do is not train. Your legs are tired and sore. The weather maybe to too cold, too hot or too wet. Here is the story of Rick Bounds. 15 months ago he was told he was dying of liver and kidney disease. Today, Rick is training for this Saturday’s Pocomoke City Triathlon.

“I’m doing this for the people who are on transplant lists to let them
know there is life after tranplantation, and that they can rebuild your
body,” he said.

Obesity Peaks

After 25 years of increasing obesity in this country, the numbers appear to be leveling off. What is sad is that people are taking this as good news. I don’t think we can get much fatter in this country. Maybe rising gas costs and rising grocery bills will finally force Americans to stop stuffing their faces with ridiculous amounts of calories.

“That is a first encouraging finding in what has been unremittingly bad news,” said Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston. “But it’s too soon to
know if this really means we’re beginning to make meaningful inroads into this epidemic. It may simply be a statistical fluke.”

In 2003-04 and 2005-06, roughly 32 percent of children were overweight or obese, according to a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That level held steady after rising without interruption since 1980.

Toad Venom a Dangerous Aphrodisiac

A new York man has died after using toad venom as an aphrodisiac. Apparently the venom is sold in local New York sex shops. The venom may cause an abnormal heart rhythm if ingestion.

Health officials say the culprit was a hardened resin, made at
least partly from venom collected from toads of the Bufo genus,
containing chemicals known as bufadienolides that can disrupt heart
rhythms. The aphrodisiac was supposed to have been applied to the
skin, not eaten, but authorities said even that use can be harmful.

Drug Testing After Exams

Drug testing after exams may soon become a reality. Just like athletic drug testing, researchers warn that students may soon use memory boosting medications to help cram for exams.

The experts pointed out brain enhancers, such as caffeine, had been used for a long-time. But they warned there was anecdotal evidence drugs such as aricept, a treatment for Alzheimer’s, ritalin, used for attention deficit disorder, and modafinil, which targets day-time sleepiness, were also being used by otherwise health people to boost alertness and memory.

Smoking and Social Health

Are you a smoker?? Then chances are you are slowly being pushed farther from your social group. So says Harvard and the University of California. Interestingly our social behavior is contagious and it seems that obesity (ie. eating) has overtaken our social connectedness.

The study follows up on research by Fowler and Christakis published last summer, also in the New England Journal of Medicine, finding that obesity is “socially contagious” – spreading from person to person in a social network so that if one becomes obese those closely connected to them have a greater chance of becoming obese themselves.

Using data from the same Framingham Heart Study (which, among other things, was the first to identify the link between smoking and cardiovascular disease), the researchers observed that smoking behaviors are subject to similar social-network effects, at two and three degrees of separation. Except that quitting smoking, they found, spread through the network not only like one domino knocking down the next, which in turn knocks down another, but also like a house of cards collapsing.

Technorati Tags: obesity, social, smoking, quitting smoking

Swedish Nurses Strike

Nurses in Sweden are looking for a higher wage. According to Sweden Radio, 4000 operations have been canceled and 12,000 patient examinations have been differed over collective bargaining.

Interestingly, the nurses are rotating in and out of the strike. While some nurses strike others are caring for patients.

The union’s demands that minimum salaries for nurses be set at 22,000 kronor a month ($44,000 a year), and that all union members receive a salary increase of 1,700 kronor a month this year and next. But County Councils could likely only pay for such an increase by increasing taxes—something for which the paper feels taxpayers would not stand.

Stress and Drug Abuse Among Students

Something to keep in mind during exam time.

Recent studies show that a growing number of high school and college
students are turning to stimulants like ADHD (Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder) drugs and energy drinks to help them through
their stress — particularly during exam time, says Jennifer Christner,
M.D., an adolescent medicine specialist at the University of Michigan
Health System.