Medical Notes: Week of May 8, 2022
Is your medication harming the health of your baby? Then, the number of drugs laced with Fentanyl has skyrocketed. And finally, our vocal habits change depending on who we’re talking to.
How Harm Reduction Services Help Reduce Rates of Drug Overdose
The CDC reports May 2020 through April 2021 saw the most drug overdose deaths ever recorded in a single year. Experts discuss the use of harm reduction services and why drug addiction is a mental health issue.
Easing the Opioid Epidemic: How to Respond
Drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 Americans in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, as pressures built and users sometimes had to get their fix from unfamiliar sources. Experts discuss how the pandemic cost lives beyond Covid, and how surgical painkiller drug substitutions are beginning to keep some people from going down the opioid path.
Medical Notes: Week of October 3, 2021
Children as young as five may soon be part of the tug of war over vaccine mandates. Then, several important studies on Covid and vaccination are released by CDC. And finally, a study finds that people with a history of trauma get more of a high from morphine than people who’ve been trauma-free.
The Unmeasurable Presence of Pain
Pain varies from person to person and is totally subjective. It can’t be truly measured. This makes pain management one of the greatest challenges in healthcare. An expert discusses how pain works and how doctors struggle to contain it.
Medical Notes: Week of February 9, 2020
The gap between black and white uninsured rates has dropped by more than four percent. Plus, a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine shows that only two percent of those who are considered high risk for drug overdose have filled a prescription for Naloxone. Then, Cancer patients often receive radiation therapy over several months, but a new …
Medical Notes: Week of September 15, 2019
Nodding off very often during the day may be an early warning sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Then, surveys show that about a tenth of Americans over age 18 either use illicit drugs or don’t use their medications the way they’re supposed to. And finally, If you’re really stressed, a nice glass of red wine really could be just the ticket.
Medical Notes: Week of July 14, 2019
A new study finds the people we trust most, friends and family may be at fault for triggering opioid addiction. Then, a new study finds that vitamin D may help cancer patients live longer, and finally, another reason you should think twice before dozing off with the television left on.
Medical Notes: Week of November 4, 2018
Post surgery opioid addiction in women. The Risks of drinking everyday. Intestinal bacteria tied to obesity in toddlers. Lung cancer death decreases in California. And finally, a reduction in the flu for some due to television watching habits.
Using Naloxone for Drug Overdoses
The drug Naloxone has been hailed as a lifesaver, as it can reverse the effects of what would otherwise be fatal opioid overdoses. Expert panels recommend that more average citizens carry it, especially those likely to be in contact with drug users. However, obstacles including cost prevent even some first responders from having access. A new study also …
Addiction, Relapse and Criminalization
After criminal convictions, many people with substance use disorder are placed on probation with the condition they remain completely drug free. They are often jailed when they relapse, setting back recovery and removing them from treatment that helps keep them clean. Is that fair, when relapse is a common symptom of their disease (and many others)?
Harm Reduction and Drug Abuse
As the opioid crisis continues, the city of Vancouver, BC, has found that a harm reduction approach helps addicts move to safer drug use and eventually getting clean. An author who’s watched the process discusses the controversial approach of officially allowing drug use, but in safer conditions.
