Monthly Archive for February, 2009
Migraines and Nerve Stimulation
Nerve stimulation therapy is used to treat many different types of disorders, including back pain, epilepsy, depression, and headaches. Some recent clinical findings were presented at the 2009 American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) annual meeting held in Honolulu, Hawaii. Wouldn’t you love to go to Hawaii for a medical meeting?The research was on the use of occipital nerve stimulation for refractory migraines. Vagus nerve stimulation has been used very successfully to treat epilepsy. A stimulator gets implanted under the skin (similar to a pacemaker) and then electric impulses are sent up the vagus nerve in the neck.
Doctors as Mirrors – A Reflection on the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Has this scenario ever happened to either you or somebody you know? You get a raving endorsement from a friend or family member about the doctor they saw, and how they're the best thing ever, and how you absolutely MUST go see them immediately? How many times has somebody actually gone to see a doctor based on that recommendation, only to be underwhelmed and confused about the beaming review?These are cases where people fell victim to the cult of personality. The doctor-patient relationship, just like any other relationship, takes on many forms. What works for one person may not jive for another.
Erasing Fear with Propranolol
Emotional memories last forever. Evolutionarily speaking, it is advantageous to remember the important events in life. However, some memories become harmful or maladaptive, such as in post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, and some addictions. Psychologists and psychiatrists have tried for more than a century to erase these detrimental memories through pharmacological, psychological, and behavioral treatments, with only limited success. However, a new study published in Nature Neuroscience reports that the common medication propranolol -- a member of the beta-blocker class normally used to treat hypertension -- can erase the fearful element of an emotional memory.
The Complex Emergence of Superbugs
Everyone seems to be concerned about drug-resistant bacteria, or so-called “superbugs” these days, and with good reason. Physicians are seeing an increasing number of infections resistant to their usual antibiotic armamentarium, and are losing lives that just a few years ago would have been salvageable, including the recent death of a top Brazilian model.Search the literature for reasons why this is happening and you’re likely to stumble across an array of sources that point the finger at over-prescribing physicians and misbehaving patients who don’t take their antibiotics as prescribed. Certainly these two factors play a significant role. But what is frequently overlooked is how drug resistance may be fostered outside the hospital and doctor’s office.
Popular Posts
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- The Science of Stuttering
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Intelligence - Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Is Grief a Mental Illness?
- The Brain's Buying Power
- The Cost of a Good Night's Sleep
- Risk Factors for Recurrence of Depression
- Salvia Divinorum - DEA Control over Magic in the Mint
- The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
Future Posts
Latest Posts
- Thinking Fast Equals Risky Business
- A Gateway to Weight Loss?
- Intelligence – Do You Need it to be Successful?
- A Trip for Terminal Patients
- Memory Ain’t What It Used to Be – And That’s Good for Psychotherapy
- The Science of Stuttering
- Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
- Beer – The Smarter Drink
- Macroeconomics and Suicide
- From Nymphomania to Hypersexuality
Comments
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- Lino Baine: I am not aware that people wit
- Lulu Jones: Hmm....this is interesting. I
- Robert A. Yourell, MA: Hi Stephanie...OR they tried a
- Stephnie: Based on the facts in the arti
- Sammy: I was a test subject for one o
- Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA: Thank you for your insightful
- Richard Kensinger, MSW: I agree w/ Howard Gardner's pe
- Melbzi: Muso's and smoked pot.I q
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- CODER: When we get sick, really sick
