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.
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- The Love Drug
- Women After Sex
- Fatty Acids and Suicide Risk
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- Mental Health Disorders Prevalent Among Youth Worldwide
- Is Giftedness Nothing More than Good Genes?
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Behind the Masks - The Mysteries of Dissociative Identity Disorder
- The NeuroSocial Network
- Inside Your Brain on Holiday
Future Posts
Latest Posts
- Media Violence Leads to Real Violence
- Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Childhood Aggression Predicts Health Care Use Later in Life
- The Brain’s Border Patrol – Blood Brain Barrier
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- BED-head and Obesity – Food for Thought
- Salvia Divinorum – DEA Control over Magic in the Mint
- Mighty Microglia – The Brain’s Immune Cells Key to Treating Brain Diseases
- Does Personality Play a Role in the Stress of Caregiving?
- Economic Burden of Poor Mental Health
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