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Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Friday, April 5, 2019

The times, they are a-changin’ (and bringing new syndromes)

If your doctor told you that she was giving you a placebo and that it would help you, would you believe her? As it turns out, based on new research, maybe you should.

Placebos are often considered “fake” treatments. You may have heard them described as “sugar pills.” They usually take the form of pills, injections, or even entire procedures that are used in clinical trials to test “real” treatments. For example, one group of study participants is given an active drug and another group is given a placebo, which looks exactly like the active medication but is completely inactive. The participants can’t tell whether they’re getting the fake drug or the real drug. The researchers wait to see if the people taking the real one do better (or worse) than those taking the fake one.

To complicate matters, there is a documented “placebo effect,” which means that some people actually respond to a placebo even though it shouldn’t have an effect on the body. This has been thought to be largely due to their beliefs or expectations that they are getting the real treatment and not the fake one. But what if people were told, up-front, that they were getting a placebo and not an active medication? It stands to reason the placebo would have no effect. Right?

Wrong.
What an “open-label placebo” can do for you

Dr. Ted J. Kaptchuk, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard-wide Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter (PiPS) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, has been studying placebos for more than 20 years. His most recent work on these “open-label placebos,” as they’re called, is fascinating. I had a chance to interview him in person earlier this year.

In one study, Kaptchuk looked at people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common condition that causes abdominal cramping and diarrhea or constipation that can be debilitating for many. Half of the study volunteers were told they were getting an “open-label” placebo and the others got nothing at all. He found that there was a dramatic and significant improvement in the placebo group’s IBS symptoms, even though they were explicitly told they were getting a “sugar pill” without any active medication.

Kaptchuk says placebos won’t work for every medical situation—for example, they can’t lower cholesterol or cure cancer. But they can work for conditions that are defined by “self-observation” symptoms like pain, nausea, or fatigue.

“People can still get a placebo response, even though they know they are on a placebo,” he adds. “You don’t need deception or concealment for many conditions to get a significant and meaningful placebo effect.”
Are open-label placebos a promising new strategy?

Kaptchuk says more research is needed — and some is currently under way. He has another study at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute studying cancer-related fatigue. And a recent study overseas looking at open-label placebo for chronic low back pain looks promising. If placebo works for chronic pain, explains Kaptchuk, it could allow patients to reduce their doses of opioid medications and help prevent addiction.

“Our hope is that in conditions where the open-label placebo might be valuable, instead of putting people on drugs immediately — for depression, chronic pain, fatigue — that people would be put on placebo,” says Kaptchuk. “If it works, great. If not, then go on to drugs.” Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria mutate to “outsmart” or resist antibiotic medicine, making the bacterial infection more difficult for doctors to treat and cure with standard medications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2 million people are infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria every year, and more than 23,000 people die from these infections.

While some bacteria become resistant to a particular antibiotic, other, more dangerous strains have grown resistant to almost every treatment option. This means that doctors must use stronger and less common antibiotics to treat these infections. But a recent discovery now has doctors concerned about the success of even these last-resort antibiotics.
The appearance of a serious superbug

In May, a woman in Pennsylvania became infected with a form of E. coli infection resistant to the drug colistin. Colistin is usually reserved for infections that don’t respond to the strongest antibiotics. Scientists from the Multidrug Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network (MSRN) at the Walter Reed Institute of Research (WRAIR) showed that a gene called mcr-1 was responsible for the bacteria’s resistance to colistin.

MCR-1 is found on a plasmid, which is a portable piece of DNA that can replicate on its own. The presence of mcr-1 means that the bacteria can develop a resistance to colistin, weakening its effectiveness as a treatment. “This development is distressing because colistin is a drug that most doctors will never need to use but it’s nice to have in your back pocket, just in case,” says John Ross, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “If there is a potential that bacteria can become resistance to colistin, it’s kind of like losing your security blanket.”

As more cases of bacteria with mcr-1 are discovered around the globe, many doctors are concerned that this gene could transfer to a type of bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant bacteria, or CRE, that is resistant a group of antibiotics called carbapenems. When an infection doesn’t respond to carbapenem, doctors normally use colistin. But if a plasmid-carrying mcr-1 transfers to CRE bacteria, then these bacteria would be resistant to both carbapenem and colistin, says Ross. If this happens, CRE would become a superbug –– it would be completely resistant to all forms of antibiotics.

Although the creation of a CRE superbug would cause problems in hospitals where bacterial infections are more common, CRE infection is rare, as there are fewer than 600 reported cases each year.
Explaining the rise in antibiotic resistance

There are multiple factors that are speeding up the process of antibiotic resistance:

    Antibiotics in agriculture. Today, the most widespread use of antibiotics occurs on farms. According to the CDC, using antibiotics in food-producing animals has contributed to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria in animals, which are then transferred to humans when we eat foods from these animals like meat or milk.
    Evolution of bacteria. Currently, bacteria are evolving to develop resistance to antibiotics faster than we can create new medicines to treat them, leaving doctors with fewer tools in their arsenal to fight against bacteria.
    Overuse of antibiotics. Many people take antibiotics when it isn’t medically necessary. “Most upper respiratory tract infections, whether it’s a sore throat or sinus symptoms, are due to viruses and will get better without the use of antibiotics,” says Ross.

Protecting yourself and your family

The appearance of super bugs doesn’t mean that healthy people will suddenly become infected with different types of untreatable infections. The threat of antibiotic resistance is much larger in hospital settings, especially in people who are recovering from surgery or have weakened immune systems. Falling short of creating brand-new medicines to treat bacterial infections, doctors urge patients to take antibiotics only when absolutely necessary.

“Often times people with an infection will feel better without antibiotics, and antibiotics, in a lot of cases, won’t speed up the process of getting better,” says Ross. “We need to have a conversation about how we can limit antibiotic use as a society as a whole.” The results are in from the 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). There is a lot to celebrate — but there are also some trends that parents, and everyone who spends time with or works with teens, should know about.

The YRBS is a nationwide survey of high school students conducted every two years. More than 15,000 students participated in the 2015 survey. The point of the survey is to monitor behaviors that can put the health and safety of teens at risk. It’s a confidential survey that allows teens to admit to things they might not want to admit to their parents and teachers. The more we know what is going on, the more we can put things in place to keep teens healthier and safer.

Here’s the good news:

    Cigarette smoking among teens has dropped to its lowest level since the survey began in 1991. Back then, 28% smoked; in 2015, that number was 11%.
    Soda consumption is down too; the percentage of teens having one or more sodas a day dropped from 27% in 2013 to 20% in 2015.
    Physical fighting is also the lowest it’s been since 1991; it has dropped from 42% to 23%.
    Fewer teens are having sex. In 1991, 38% of high schoolers reported having had sex; in 2015 that number was 30% (down from 34% in 2013).

This is all good news. But there were also some worrisome trends:

    While they aren’t smoking as much, they are using e-cigarettes more: 24% reported using one in the past month. This could lead to nicotine addiction and other health problems.
    They aren’t getting into fights, but they don’t necessarily feel safer: 6% of students reported missing at least one day of school in the past month because of safety concerns.
    They are having less sex, but they aren’t using condoms: after going up in the late 90s and early 2000s, condom use has dropped from 63% in 2003 to 57% in 2015.
    Not surprisingly, technology is leading to some risky behavior:
        Computer use for more than 3 hours a day (for non-school stuff) has nearly doubled, from 22% in 2003 to 42% in 2015. That’s a lot of sedentary time.
        Among teens that drive, 42% report texting or e-mailing while driving in the past month. That is terrifying.

If you have teens in your life, talk to them about this survey. Find out what they are doing — and talk to them about making choices that keep them safe and healthy, not just now but in the future too. These aren’t easy conversations to have, but they are incredibly important. They could literally save lives.

Even more than conversations, as a society we need to work to put education, laws, services and supports in place to be sure that we are doing everything possible to take care of our youth. They are our responsibility, and our future. When are symptoms due to a medical condition, and when are they just a part of life? That’s the question that came to mind as I read about “computer vision syndrome.”
So, what is a syndrome, anyway?

Before considering the health hazards of working long hours in front of a computer screen, it’s worth asking what a syndrome is. In medicine we often use the word syndrome to describe a group of features, such as symptoms, examination findings or test results, that tend to occur together but without a clear enough understanding of their cause to be considered a specific disease.

Some syndromes are described by the part of the body involved: carpal tunnel syndrome, for example, is caused by the compression of a nerve in a narrow part of the wrist called the carpal tunnel. Other syndromes are named for the person or persons who were among the first to describe them: Down syndrome is a genetic disorder named for the British physician Dr. John Langdon Down, who described it in 1862 — well before its cause (an extra copy of chromosome 21) was recognized. Still others are named for the problems they cause. For example, restless legs syndrome” tells you a lot about the symptoms that people with this condition experience. But in many cases, the difference between calling a condition a “syndrome” and simply describing a cluster of symptoms is more about language than about science or medicine.
Eye strain? Or computer vision syndrome?

My medical dictionary lists more than 600 conditions as “syndromes.” Well, now we can add one more: a recently published report describes a new syndrome: “computer vision syndrome.” This is a condition increasingly recognized among people working long hours on a computer who complain of eye problems including:

    dryness
    blurry vision
    double vision
    a burning sensation in the eyes.

Symptoms may be severe enough to interfere with continued computer work.
Is computer vision syndrome a major public health problem?

The authors of the report suggest that up to 70 million people worldwide are at risk for computer vision syndrome. And this number is likely to grow, considering the large (and increasing) numbers of students and employees who rely on their computers for many hours each day. According to the researchers, up to 90% of people who use a computer for prolonged periods of time will report one or more of these symptoms. And that’s not counting other health problems linked to extensive computer use, including back, neck, and shoulder pain; carpal tunnel syndrome; and headaches. Together, it’s enough to make you view an ordinary computer as a potential health hazard.
Why are vision problems so common with computer use?

The authors of this paper suggest several explanations for computer vision syndrome:

    The text and images on a computer screen are made up of pixels with blurry edges. The eyes have to work harder to focus on them compared with text and images on a printed page. This may lead to eye strain.
    Reduced blinking is another potential issue. People tend to blink less frequently than usual when working on a computer. (Normally, we blink about 17 times a minute, but this often drops to 12-15 times a minute during computer use.) Less blinking can lead to dryness.

What’s to be done?

There are a number of ways to combat computer vision syndrome:

    Don’t sit so close. Ideally, the computer screen should be about two feet away from your face.
    Position the monitor well. Experts recommend that the center of the monitor should be 4 to 8 inches lower than eye level. Looking down a bit while working means the eyes are less exposed and therefore less likely to become dry.
    Optimize contrast. Black text on a bright white screen is best.
    Minimize glare. Dimming overhead lights, lowering window shades, using an anti-glare flat-screen monitor, and wearing special glasses can all be helpful.
    Take breaks. Try the 20-20-20 rule, for example: take a 20-second break every 20 minutes and focus your eyes on something at least 20 feet away. While you’re at it, stretch your neck and shoulders.
    Combat dryness. Blink often and use moisturizing eye drops if necessary. Avoiding air drafts and using moisturizing compresses can also help.
    Change the font size. Use a larger font or magnify the viewing display if that makes it easier to see.
    Get your eyes checked at least yearly. Many people strain their eyes while using their computers because their prescription for glasses or contacts is outdated. Let your eye doctor know of any problems you’re having. Bifocals or progressive lenses can make a big difference, especially if you do a lot of moving back and forth between the computer screen and printed material.

What’s next?

Computer vision syndrome may be the newest technology-related threat to public health, but new syndromes related to changes in how we work and play is nothing new. I recall a form of tendinitis called “Blackberry thumb” being described as a “scourge” in 2005, when texting on the new wireless device was becoming common. It’s a reminder that as our technology changes, some impact on our health is probably inevitable.

And whether we consider it a new disease, a new syndrome, or just a part of working long hours in front of a computer screen, the most important thing is to recognize the problems described by computer vision syndrome and take measures to prevent and treat them. That’s particularly true because computer vision syndrome may be the latest technology-related syndrome to be described, but it probably won’t be the last.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Raise your heart rate and your mood

The 2016 summer Olympics had its share of exciting performances, upsets, and photo finishes. But for days after Michael Phelps’s first appearance at the games, it seemed all anyone could talk about was “cupping.” It’s an ancient therapy that left multiple circular discolorations on his skin. During “dry cupping,” suction is applied to the skin for several minutes; sometimes it is combined with massage, acupuncture, or other alternative therapies. (“Wet cupping” is similar except that blood is removed by making small cuts in the skin.)

Cupping is supposed to draw fluid into the area; the discoloration is due to broken blood vessels just beneath the skin, much like a bruise. Cupping has been popular in Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures going back thousands of years, but increasing numbers of people worldwide have been adopting it. Celebrities and athletes have popularized it in the U.S. in recent years.
What is cupping supposed to do?

According to its advocates, cupping is supposed to promote healing and has been used extensively for sore muscles. But that’s only the beginning. Cupping has also been used for

    back and neck pain
    skin diseases such as acne and hives
    lowering cholesterol
    migraines
    knee arthritis
    improving immune function.

And there are many others. If cupping does help with these problems, it’s worth asking: how? From a biological perspective, it’s not clear how the application of suction and drawing blood into an area under the skin would provide all these benefits. A recent review of the treatment describes cupping as a treatment that can strengthen the body’s resistance, restore balance between positive and negative forces, remove disease-causing factors, and promote blood circulation. But exactly how is unclear.
Does cupping work?

A number of studies have examined this question, but unfortunately don’t seem to have  convincingly answered it. In fact, a 2015 review of the evidence found that cupping might provide some relief for chronic neck or back pain, but that the quality of the evidence was too limited to draw firm conclusions.

One problem is that it’s tough to perform a high-quality study on cupping. The best studies are “blinded placebo-controlled trials” in which neither the patient nor the researcher knows which treatment (real or placebo) has been given to a study subject. When medications are studied, coming up with a placebo pill is not difficult; it can be much more difficult to create a convincing placebo comparator for cupping. In addition, pain can be a difficult thing to measure and the placebo effect — improvement related to an expectation of benefit — can be quite powerful.

Still, there have been studies comparing actual acupuncture with convincing but fake (or “sham”) acupuncture.  Similar studies of cupping could be possible. And if cupping truly helped, you may not care if it’s due to the placebo effect.
Are there risks involved with cupping?

Most experts agree that cupping is safe. As long as those treated don’t mind the circular discolorations (which fade over a number of days or weeks), side effects tend to be limited to the pinch experienced during skin suction. It’s quite unusual that cupping causes any serious problems (though, rarely, skin infections have been reported).
So, what’s next?

If you want convincing evidence of effectiveness before trying a treatment, you may want to pass on cupping for now. But if you’d like to try something that’s safe and might help with certain aches and pains (and possibly other ailments), the main downsides seem to be the temporary skin discoloration and the cost — I found estimates online of $30 to $80 per treatment. Some people have it only “as needed” but others may have it monthly or even more often. Future research could prove that cupping is as good as the claims say it is — but we’ll have to wait for the results of high-quality studies to know if it’s true.
New research has shaken up a time-honored strategy for treating advanced prostate cancer that’s begun to metastasize, or spread. Doctors ordinarily treat these cases with systemic therapies designed to kill off metastatic tumors appearing throughout the body. But they don’t use local therapy to treat the primary tumor in the prostate. That’s because the primary tumor — unlike the metastases that it spawns — is rarely lethal. So doctors have been reluctant to give local therapy, such as radiation to the prostate or surgery to remove the organ, if it’s not going to improve the odds of survival.

Now investigators are turning that assumption on its head. According to their findings, men who received local therapy while being treated for metastatic prostate cancer lived longer than those who didn’t, “and that makes a case for being more aggressive in how we manage patients who present with metastatic disease,” said Dr. Chad Rusthoven, a radiation oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, and the study’s first author.
Looking back

Rusthoven and his colleagues scoured eight years of data collected by a national cancer registry between 2004 and 2014. Their retrospective study identified 6,382 men who had metastatic prostate cancer at initial diagnosis. All the men were treated with systemic androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for metastatic prostate cancer, but 538 of them were also treated with local radiation to the prostate. At just over five years of follow-up, on average the men who got local therapy had a median overall survival of 55 months compared to 37 months among those who did not. In addition, 49% of the men who were treated with both ADT and local radiation lived for five years compared to 33% of the men who got ADT alone.

Should the findings be confirmed in studies that monitor survival forward in time, “then standard therapy for metastatic prostate cancer will shift to a comprehensive strategy that includes control of the primary tumor,” said Dr. Ana Aparicio, a medical oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was not involved in the study.
Why this approach might work

Aparicio said that treating the primary tumor makes sense for several reasons: First, since men now live with metastatic disease for longer than they used to, they’re more likely to develop symptoms— pain, urinary obstruction, and infections — that can be controlled with local treatment. Furthermore, mounting evidence suggests that tumors in the prostate release chemical and biological substances that promote the cancer’s spread.

Still, Rusthoven and Aparicio both emphasized that local treatments should only be given to men participating in a clinical trial. Local therapy can have significant side effects, “and moreover we need a better understanding of who benefits from the treatment most,” Aparicio said. Her team at MD Anderson is currently enrolling patients for a clinical trial that provides standard systemic therapy for metastatic disease to one group of patients, and ADT combined with either local radiation or surgery to remove the prostate to another.

Rusthoven said he would only give local therapy outside of a clinical trial to a “select group of young patients with limited metastatic burden who are interested in maximally aggressive therapy and who clearly understand the risks and benefits of that approach.”

“This study suggests a different and very novel way of thinking about how to manage men who present with metastatic prostate cancer,” said Dr. Marc Garnick, the Gorman Brothers Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and editor in chief of HarvardProstateKnowledge.org. “There are other cancers where treating the primary cancer in the setting of metastatic disease has been associated with improvements — and this study provides an important impetus to consider this option both in the context of clinical studies and individualized patient selection.” Last month, I took a 7.5-mile hike near Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. Thanks to a nearly 1,900 foot-elevation gain, my hike definitely gave me a good cardiovascular workout. But there may be some additional health benefits of hiking, as I learned from Dr. Aaron L. Baggish, associate director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
“The nice thing about hiking is that it exists along an entire continuum, from a gentle walk on a flat wooded path to mountain climbing,” says Dr. Baggish. Nearly everyone, regardless of age or athletic ability, can find a hike that offers the right level of personal challenge. And hiking may even offer some unique physical and mental benefits, he says.
One benefit of hiking is more for the core

Like brisk walking, hiking is a good way to improve your cardiovascular fitness, particularly if your route includes some hills, which will force your heart to work harder. Taking a hike on the slightly uneven surface of a trail also provides a natural way to engage the core muscles in your torso and to hone your balance skills. “You usually don’t get that type of lateral motion from walking on a treadmill or riding a bike,” says Dr. Baggish.

However, if you have problems with stability or vision, using walking or trekking poles can give you an added level of security on uneven terrain. Use poles with a spiked metal tip when walking on dirt or grass. Plant the pole out in front of you as you walk to take a little pressure off your knee joints.
Going for a hike can offer natural stress relief?

Yet another benefit of hiking may be the restorative and stress-relieving powers of being outside in nature. A number of small studies hint that spending time in green space — nature preserves, woodlands, and even urban parks — may ease people’s stress levels. Giving the growing consensus that stress contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease risk, anything you can do to mitigate stress is likely helpful. In that realm, the benefits of hiking remain anecdotal, but outdoor enthusiasts tend to agree. “There’s a real sense of peace and composure you get from being outside and away from everything,” says Dr. Baggish, whose own passion is not going for hikes but running on trails in the rugged peaks of New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Here are his tips to take a and enjoyable hike:

    Bring a map and hike with a partner. A companion is good for both company and safety. If you go alone, let someone know when you plan to return.
    Wear hiking boots. Choose well-fitting footwear with good ankle support. Make sure to break them in with shorter walks so you don’t get blisters when you’re miles from a trailhead.
    Stay hydrated. Don’t forget to take plenty of water along on your hike, especially in warm, sunny weather.

Finding trails near you

Looking for hiking venues? Local, state, and national parks are a good place to start. American Trails is a national nonprofit organization that supports local, regional, and long-distance trails for hiking and other uses; check the “Trails” tab to search by state to find hikes in your area.
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Sunday, February 17, 2019

Vita Health Tips to know

Let me just say it was a real struggle figuring out I wanted to feel with like the viewers the background but then the lighting was all under my desk was messy so I didn’t want to have that as a background. So here we are, I’ve got my studio lights up to help support me so I’m hoping that this video turns out okay.
Anyways, as you can see for the title today I’m going to be doing a video all about how to do well at university so I’m going to be talking more about the academic side of things. So once I’ve always talking about the social aspects and the partying on my channel, so I thought I’d bring it back a little and actually give some academic advice. I’m going to be discussing study tips, ways to get organized how to keep on top of things.
So if you’re looking forward to the video, make sure the thumbs up button if you are an idea I would like to see more of my videos don’t forget to
the subscribe button down below and click the subscribe button so it will push notifications are that fair review let’s just go ahead and jump straight into the Tips.
So my first tip on how to do what a university is definitely getting organized and remaining organized throughout the year I’m the best way to do this is getting a plan. Our panelists are so important in helping to keep up with things and knowing what your schedule is week two we actually just get mine from TK Maxx.
I believe this whole candles literally free costs 99 amazing we are getting a tonight is definitely an essential when it comes to university. It’s a great way to see when you have your lectures when you have deadlines, assignments, etc. Particularly in the first time of university it’s very hard to keep up with things because on top of going to lectures you’re also doing societies are going out we’re making friends and socializing and so from that when you’re not keeping track of what you’re supposed to be doing it is very very easy to forget things or forget you have that 9am often get that your assignment still friday so to avoid anything like that happening. I definitely
about getting a planner if you don’t like to write down things it doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical one like the one I showed you I mean there’s so many apps we can actually just use the note section on your iPhone I used to do that all the time via regardless of performance we’re doing yeah I definitely recommend having a plan on write down everything keep on top of thing and ensure that you know exactly what you’re meant to demean each week.
The next tip I’m going to be talking about is something I’ve been doing it since like year nine I want to say by any found out the actual time for this morning apparently it’s called the halo so what the halo effect basically is, is that when you first school or university within the first couple of weeks, just how you’re forming an opinion of your class and your teacher. The teacher is also doing the exact same thing with their students at it from day one of your lectures about the front of the class engagement for teacher having the eye contact, paying up your hand to ask a question for teacher it’s going to immediately see as like a good shooter, someone who’s very keen in the subject, someone that really wants to do well.
Essentially someone that they like. Whereas if you’re sitting in the back of the class, which is a bit noisy, oh, like a group of friends than your teacher might just think, okay, I always recommend getting close on time it’s sitting at the front. I’m just kind of engaging with your teacher from the get go find that once you establish a good connection with your lecture are live on his they get so much easier, they’re often more willing to go above and beyond when it comes to answer your questions. I hope out because they know that you’re genuinely interested in the subject.
But personally I love most about this halo effect is that once you spend a few weeks establishing that good bond that get connection for the rest of the year, I find that you can kind of get away with more things that if you miss your lecture, for some reason, I feel like maybe they’re bit more understanding because they know that you wouldn’t miss it for a stupid reason. You know, they’re just a bit more lenient and understanding throughout the year. So definitely recommend being a good student. Usually at the start of time let your team know that you’re really keen on wants to do well.
Tip number three is more of a study tab and something which I strongly recommend it
And that is pre reading before you going to close this is something I did more towards the end of my A Levels and found it so so helpful that I wish I did it before so it’s definitely something which I recommend doing from the very start University is if you’re unaware of what pre reading so it’s basically reading up on the topic that you’re going to be studying in class I find that doing this makes your lectures make it so much more sense because you’re not trying to grasp everything for the first time we’ve actually already had some prior knowledge so it’s more so confirming it reiterating it and just allow yourself to understand the topic so much better so for my personal University which has a lot of you guys know it is University of the Arts London London College of fashion my uni we have this include noodle where our teachers but done exactly what topic we’re going to be doing each week and I often already have like the reading materials out there if I need that I’m going to do in crisis management for example I can go on to the regional is for that topic and just have every little bit before class so that one are actually in class it will make a bit more sense and what’s amazing about pre reading is I honestly doesn’t have to be long at all actually just fine. minutes of skim reading is enough, it’s just something to do that you just have an overview of the topic before you learn a more in depth. So that hopefully makes it more sense.
You can literally do it on your way to lecture as well sure, having breakfast it doesn’t have to be a task that you have to go to the library for, can literally just do it on the go. And if for some reason your university hasn’t published by the reading materials for it, or like resources that you can use your goal is the thing and I you can actually just type in on Google happened over through and hopefully that allow things to make so much more sense to you.
The fourth tip for today’s video is also a study tip and that is to clarify any doubts that you have immediately say when it comes to university, things move pretty quickly. And so if you’re in class and you don’t understand the topic and you know asking questions because you think it will make sense closer towards exam period or whatever the chances are by the time you get to exam here is will also have certainly other topics that you’re unsure about. I was just getting to the point where you physically don’t have time to go over everything again.
So my best piece of advice to all Asked Questions that maybe don’t understand something obviously for teachers just introduce the topic way into she finishes explaining it until you ask a question but at the end of that class you’re like wait a sec I actually don’t understand this concept either asking cause then in that because chances are other students didn’t understand over you asked that question in front of everyone over may be beneficial to the other students that if you’re perhaps shy or the transition classes past, definitely stay back to the end of the class to ask you a lecture about it. Or if you have tutorials or university awesome then in that as well.
But honestly, the Wise we can do is just leave and definitely want to make sure that you just understand things as you go along that by the time you get to your assessments or sound, you already know the content and you can just focus on exactly the thing I’m going to talk about in today’s video lectures. Lecture.
Our lectures is the lecture Do I go to university? I don’t know. But yeah, in terms of lectures, first and foremost, go to a lecture. It’s like maybe it’s because I never had 9am Like all of my lectures, I don’t some people don’t go to lectures, it’s so much easier to just sit in a room for like an hour and a half then to stay at home and cut off your lecture on your laptop and be making notes and not really understanding what’s going on. Even if we’re completely hung over or you just can’t be bothered. Just drop yourself into unique it’s literally about to sit there like arms folded, and just listen and then to be at home and not greater than lecture and then catch up later while you frantically trying to make notes and piece everything together. Like it’s just not worth it. So personally just go to other artists in my opinion, but the second thing and tells the lectures it’s definitely make good to know one thing that took me quite a long time to graph is that you generally don’t need to write down everything that’s on the board. Literally just write down the most important point I know that if you’re like me that it’s quite hard not to do because you want to get down all of the information but learning to make condensed notes from the get go. It is definitely something which is beneficial because it saves you from condensing your classmates later on in the year and it was me so if you’re looking for quick

information of the answers you can easily find a bullet point which has it as opposed to having to like dissect your class know another thing which makes your lecture notes really amazing is using color I know it’s quite long to bring like a whole purpose okay sometimes so I recommend getting those pens that have like the color wheels around it but you can click for like red and then click for blue and then click for black I love phase I’m making and so if that’s something that’s really important I’ll quickly just switch to read and write that impressive it sounds out there again we’ll come back to your notes you know what’s really important and what keywords you either yeah those are my tips which I hope really hope he was at university also have them a quick and simple it’s really good to just reiterate them and have them fresh in your mind before you start going to an active if you did find the city are helpful if you learn something new then I’d love if you could hit the thumbs up button and let me know in the comments down below if you Are any of you enjoyed the video just getting the scroll down below upload new videos every single Wednesday and Sunday. Yeah that is basically the end of today’s tips. Thank you guys so much for reading and I’ll see you in my next one.
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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Safe injection sites and reducing the stigma of addiction

The United States was declared free from ongoing measles transmission in 2000. So why are we still having measles attacks? An outbreak of measles is currently raging in Minnesota. In 2015, 125 cases of measles occurred in California, and in 2014, 383 people were infected with measles in an Amish community in Ohio.
How measles outbreaks happen

There are several reasons why we are still at risk for measles outbreaks. Travelers may get infected overseas, and bring the measles virus back into the country with them unawares. The 2015 measles outbreak in Ohio began when two infected members of the Amish community returned home from typhoon relief work on the Philippines. The California measles outbreak in 2014 started at two Disney theme parks, perhaps after the virus was brought there by a foreign tourist.

In measles, there is an unusually long delay between infection and the development of the rash and other symptoms, typically about two weeks. Measles virus is also highly contagious; patients start to spread the virus to other people about four days before the rash develops. These features make it possible for measles to spread quickly through an unsuspecting population.

The final component to measles outbreaks is inadequate immunity. Many American adults have only received a single dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is only 93% effective at preventing measles. Since 1989, the recommendation has been to give two doses of MMR, which is 97% protective against measles. Vaccination rates have been low among patients in recent US outbreaks. In the current outbreak in Minnesota, most measles cases have occurred in unvaccinated Somali-American children, probably due to the success of anti-vaccine activists in pushing a debunked connection between autism and the MMR vaccine.
Measles infection can still be lethal

So, what’s the big deal about measles? For most people, measles makes for a miserable week of high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes, and an impressive total body rash. But for others, it can be a life-threatening, even fatal, condition. One out of every 20 measles patients develops pneumonia, which may be severe. Infection of the brain, or encephalitis, occurs in one out of 1,000 cases. Brain damage, deafness, intellectual disability, or death may result. Before the measles vaccine was available, measles killed 500 people in the US every year, most of them children, and led to 1,000 cases of brain damage per year.

Measles has an especially horrifying late complication known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). In SSPE, children recover from their initial measles infection, only to develop progressive brain infection with a mutated form of measles virus in their teenage years, leading to a persistent vegetative state.

Many outbreaks of measles could probably be prevented if more travelers received MMR prior to foreign travel. According to a study done in US travel clinics, 16% of pre-travel patients were eligible for measles vaccine, but only a minority of patients received it. The authors of the study cited many reasons that patients didn’t receive the vaccine, with patient refusal being the most common. Next time you plan to travel overseas, think about protecting your community by asking your doctor if you are a candidate for the MMR vaccine before you leave.According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the best place for a baby to sleep is in his parents’ bedroom. He should sleep in his own crib or bassinet (or in a co-sleeper safely attached to the bed), but shouldn’t be in his own room until he is at least 6 months, better 12 months. This is because studies have shown that when babies are close by, it can help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.

A study published in the journal Pediatrics, however, points out a downside to this: babies don’t sleep as well, and by extension, neither do their parents.

Researchers found that “early independent sleepers,” babies who slept in their own room before 4 months, slept longer, and for longer stretches, than babies who slept in their parents’ room. At 9 months, these babies were better sleepers, not just compared to those who slept in their parents’ room, but also to those who transitioned to their own room between 4 and 9 months.

This is no small thing for sleep-deprived parents. Even a few extra minutes can make all the difference — and given that research suggests that sleeping well in infancy improves the chances of sleeping well in childhood, the study seems to suggest that getting babies out of their parents’ room from the get-go could be a real sanity saver.

The study also found that babies who shared a room with their parents were four times more likely to end up in their parents’ bed during the night — and more likely to have pillows, blankets, and other unsafe stuff around when they sleep. Interestingly, babies who slept in a different room were more likely to have a consistent bedtime and bedtime routine, something that has been shown to help babies sleep better.

But as with most things in medicine, it’s not that simple.

As was pointed out in a commentary accompanying the study, early “sleep consolidation,” or sleeping many hours at once, isn’t necessarily a good thing. The ability to wake easily is important and may be critical in preventing SIDS. The waking up that happens with room sharing may be the exact thing that protects the baby.

It should be pointed out, too, that infancy doesn’t last forever. As much as it can feel like an eternity of being woken at night, the fact is that over time, most babies learn to sleep through the night and give their parents a break.

Also, having the baby sleep nearby helps with breastfeeding. It’s a simple fact that because breast milk is digested more quickly than formula, breastfed babies tend to eat more frequently than formula-fed babies. When babies are in another room, it’s harder and mothers may give up and switch to formula earlier.

It would be so easy if there were rules for parenting that worked for every family, but that’s just not the case. Every family and every child is different; in every situation, it’s about weighing risks and benefits.

Room sharing can help prevent SIDS and support breastfeeding, that’s clear. Also, room sharing doesn’t mean that babies can’t have a consistent bedtime and bedtime routine; it may be tempting to keep the baby up until the parents go to bed, but it doesn’t have to be that way. But the benefits of room sharing diminish when room sharing becomes bed sharing, or when other rules of safe sleep (like no pillows) get broken. Safe sleep, and good sleep routines, should happen no matter where a baby sleeps.

At the same time, if room sharing means that parents aren’t getting any sleep because they are woken by every baby whimper and squeak, that’s not good for anybody — and if the parents’ relationship is suffering significantly because they don’t feel that they can or should be intimate near the baby, that’s not good for anybody either. What’s important is that parents know the recommendations, and the facts behind those recommendations. Once they have that information, they should work with their pediatrician to make the decisions that make the most sense for their child’s safety, their sanity, and the overall health and well-being of their family.
The United States was declared free from ongoing measles transmission in 2000. So why are we still having measles attacks? An outbreak of measles is currently raging in Minnesota. In 2015, 125 cases of measles occurred in California, and in 2014, 383 people were infected with measles in an Amish community in Ohio.
How measles outbreaks happen

There are several reasons why we are still at risk for measles outbreaks. Travelers may get infected overseas, and bring the measles virus back into the country with them unawares. The 2015 measles outbreak in Ohio began when two infected members of the Amish community returned home from typhoon relief work on the Philippines. The California measles outbreak in 2014 started at two Disney theme parks, perhaps after the virus was brought there by a foreign tourist.

In measles, there is an unusually long delay between infection and the development of the rash and other symptoms, typically about two weeks. Measles virus is also highly contagious; patients start to spread the virus to other people about four days before the rash develops. These features make it possible for measles to spread quickly through an unsuspecting population.

The final component to measles outbreaks is inadequate immunity. Many American adults have only received a single dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is only 93% effective at preventing measles. Since 1989, the recommendation has been to give two doses of MMR, which is 97% protective against measles. Vaccination rates have been low among patients in recent US outbreaks. In the current outbreak in Minnesota, most measles cases have occurred in unvaccinated Somali-American children, probably due to the success of anti-vaccine activists in pushing a debunked connection between autism and the MMR vaccine.
Measles infection can still be lethal

So, what’s the big deal about measles? For most people, measles makes for a miserable week of high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes, and an impressive total body rash. But for others, it can be a life-threatening, even fatal, condition. One out of every 20 measles patients develops pneumonia, which may be severe. Infection of the brain, or encephalitis, occurs in one out of 1,000 cases. Brain damage, deafness, intellectual disability, or death may result. Before the measles vaccine was available, measles killed 500 people in the US every year, most of them children, and led to 1,000 cases of brain damage per year.

Measles has an especially horrifying late complication known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). In SSPE, children recover from their initial measles infection, only to develop progressive brain infection with a mutated form of measles virus in their teenage years, leading to a persistent vegetative state.

Many outbreaks of measles could probably be prevented if more travelers received MMR prior to foreign travel. According to a study done in US travel clinics, 16% of pre-travel patients were eligible for measles vaccine, but only a minority of patients received it. The authors of the study cited many reasons that patients didn’t receive the vaccine, with patient refusal being the most common. Next time you plan to travel overseas, think about protecting your community by asking your doctor if you are a candidate for the MMR vaccine before you leave. Imagine a chronic medical condition in which the treatment itself has serious side effects. Examples of this are plentiful in medicine. For example, in diabetes, giving too much insulin can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), a dangerous and potentially life-threatening condition. That doesn’t happen very often, but imagine that it was a common complication of treating diabetes because doctors couldn’t really tell how powerful a given dose of insulin actually was. And suppose that doctors and patient safety experts advocated for places where patients with diabetes could be carefully monitored when taking their insulin. Would you be opposed to this idea? Would you blame the patient for developing diabetes, or for needing this carefully supervised medical treatment in order to live? I suspect that the answer is “of course not!”

Now, let’s shift gears and discuss opioid addiction, specifically people who use illicit drugs like heroin and black-market fentanyl. Heroin is the strong opioid substance derived from the poppy seed that has been used for thousands of years. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be hundreds of times more powerful than morphine or heroin. Increasingly, illicit heroin is adulterated with fentanyl and similar chemicals, which public health experts believe is the reason for the continued rise in opioid-related deaths despite aggressive measures to decrease opioid prescriptions, increase substance use disorder treatment facilities, and widely distribute naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose.
Saving lives in the face of increased risk for dying of a heroin overdose

People who use heroin are now at significant risk for overdose death, mainly because the opioid content can vary considerably from dose to dose. Previously, a little too much could have caused a decrease in respiratory rate and a high dose could lead to overdose. Now, with the variability of potency from the synthetic opioids, the strength of each dose can be markedly different. Furthermore, the uptake of fentanyl in the brain is so rapid that a fatal overdose can occur much more quickly than with heroin alone.

If we, as a society, are truly serious about saving lives, we have no choice but to allow people who use injectable opioids to do so in safe, monitored locations without fear of negative repercussions (e.g., being arrested). If you had asked me about this several years ago, I never would have believed that I could write the preceding sentence. I would have said, “Why empower junkies to abuse illegal drugs? Why make it easier on them instead of harder? Why should society condone this activity?”

However, I was wrong — dead wrong.
Good reasons for a change of heart

It turns out that addiction (called substance use disorder or, more specifically here, opioid use disorder in medical jargon) is a disease that can affect any one of us, just like diabetes or high blood pressure. It does not discriminate and does not represent a moral failure on the part of the individual who develops it. It is a condition that no one chooses, but when it attacks, it changes the brain of those with the disease. We can actually visualize those changes with tests like functional MRIs. It leads people to make choices that destroy their lives and the lives of others, such as loss of job, isolation and loss of relationships, incarceration, and even death. We also now know that this is a treatable disease, but the window for successful treatment depends on the psychological state of the person. We must be ready to engage them in treatment at that moment when they are ready.

My opinions changed drastically after a visit to a local needle exchange facility. By current law, individuals can’t inject inside the building. They have to take their chances outside and then they can come inside to be monitored after injecting. I initially envisioned the facility to be sterile, dirty, and depressing. Instead, I was surprised to see that it looked like a living room. There were sofas and a television. There was a warm light, and it appeared to be a welcoming place. Across from the sofas were two desks where staff members sat. Their job is to watch for any signs of overdose (a person who is too sleepy or who is breathing too slowly) and then rapidly respond by providing a nasal dose of naloxone to reverse the overdose. More importantly, they are there to help people right when they are open to treatment for substance use disorder. The staff will help connect them to treatment resources, whether it is group therapy or medical treatment like buprenorphine (Suboxone) or methadone.

If that moment of opportunity in which the individual is receptive to treatment passes, the consequences can be deadly.

Furthermore, the facility is all about harm reduction. There are boxes of free supplies: needle kits so that people do not share needles, condoms for safe sex, kits to help treat small skin infections, even little clean cups to freebase injectable drugs. Naloxone kits are also provided free of charge. There is no judgment there. It is only about reducing a person’s risk of serious, life-threatening infections like HIV and hepatitis C, or the risk of death. And it makes sense. If we are going to agree that opioid use disorder is just another medical condition that needs to be treated, then the compassionate thing to do is to remove the stigma associated with it and reduce associated harms while a person is suffering with substance use disorder. Plain and simple: people with this disease are going to use drugs. Is it better for them to use in the shadows, risking transmission of serious infectious diseases, or monitor them when they are using and be there for them to get them treatment at the moment they are ready?

Currently it’s still illegal in the US to allow people to inject in these supervised environments, but the tide is turning. The city of Ithaca, NY is contemplating a safe injection space, as is Seattle. Multiple studies have confirmed that they work. In Vancouver, Canada, where such facilities were implemented in 2003, they concluded: “Vancouver’s safer injecting facility has been associated with an array of community and public health benefits without evidence of adverse impacts.” Massachusetts is also contemplating a similar pilot supervised injection facility program. With the crises of the opioid epidemic now claiming more than 30,000 lives every year in the US, it’s time to change our biases and old ways of thinking — people’s lives depend on it.

Imagine a chronic medical condition in which the treatment itself has serious side effects. Examples of this are plentiful in medicine. For example, in diabetes, giving too much insulin can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), a dangerous and potentially life-threatening condition. That doesn’t happen very often, but imagine that it was a common complication of treating diabetes because doctors couldn’t really tell how powerful a given dose of insulin actually was. And suppose that doctors and patient safety experts advocated for places where patients with diabetes could be carefully monitored when taking their insulin. Would you be opposed to this idea? Would you blame the patient for developing diabetes, or for needing this carefully supervised medical treatment in order to live? I suspect that the answer is “of course not!”

Now, let’s shift gears and discuss opioid addiction, specifically people who use illicit drugs like heroin and black-market fentanyl. Heroin is the strong opioid substance derived from the poppy seed that has been used for thousands of years. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be hundreds of times more powerful than morphine or heroin. Increasingly, illicit heroin is adulterated with fentanyl and similar chemicals, which public health experts believe is the reason for the continued rise in opioid-related deaths despite aggressive measures to decrease opioid prescriptions, increase substance use disorder treatment facilities, and widely distribute naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose.
Saving lives in the face of increased risk for dying of a heroin overdose

People who use heroin are now at significant risk for overdose death, mainly because the opioid content can vary considerably from dose to dose. Previously, a little too much could have caused a decrease in respiratory rate and a high dose could lead to overdose. Now, with the variability of potency from the synthetic opioids, the strength of each dose can be markedly different. Furthermore, the uptake of fentanyl in the brain is so rapid that a fatal overdose can occur much more quickly than with heroin alone.

If we, as a society, are truly serious about saving lives, we have no choice but to allow people who use injectable opioids to do so in safe, monitored locations without fear of negative repercussions (e.g., being arrested). If you had asked me about this several years ago, I never would have believed that I could write the preceding sentence. I would have said, “Why empower junkies to abuse illegal drugs? Why make it easier on them instead of harder? Why should society condone this activity?”

However, I was wrong — dead wrong.
Good reasons for a change of heart

It turns out that addiction (called substance use disorder or, more specifically here, opioid use disorder in medical jargon) is a disease that can affect any one of us, just like diabetes or high blood pressure. It does not discriminate and does not represent a moral failure on the part of the individual who develops it. It is a condition that no one chooses, but when it attacks, it changes the brain of those with the disease. We can actually visualize those changes with tests like functional MRIs. It leads people to make choices that destroy their lives and the lives of others, such as loss of job, isolation and loss of relationships, incarceration, and even death. We also now know that this is a treatable disease, but the window for successful treatment depends on the psychological state of the person. We must be ready to engage them in treatment at that moment when they are ready.

My opinions changed drastically after a visit to a local needle exchange facility. By current law, individuals can’t inject inside the building. They have to take their chances outside and then they can come inside to be monitored after injecting. I initially envisioned the facility to be sterile, dirty, and depressing. Instead, I was surprised to see that it looked like a living room. There were sofas and a television. There was a warm light, and it appeared to be a welcoming place. Across from the sofas were two desks where staff members sat. Their job is to watch for any signs of overdose (a person who is too sleepy or who is breathing too slowly) and then rapidly respond by providing a nasal dose of naloxone to reverse the overdose. More importantly, they are there to help people right when they are open to treatment for substance use disorder. The staff will help connect them to treatment resources, whether it is group therapy or medical treatment like buprenorphine (Suboxone) or methadone.

If that moment of opportunity in which the individual is receptive to treatment passes, the consequences can be deadly.

Furthermore, the facility is all about harm reduction. There are boxes of free supplies: needle kits so that people do not share needles, condoms for safe sex, kits to help treat small skin infections, even little clean cups to freebase injectable drugs. Naloxone kits are also provided free of charge. There is no judgment there. It is only about reducing a person’s risk of serious, life-threatening infections like HIV and hepatitis C, or the risk of death. And it makes sense. If we are going to agree that opioid use disorder is just another medical condition that needs to be treated, then the compassionate thing to do is to remove the stigma associated with it and reduce associated harms while a person is suffering with substance use disorder. Plain and simple: people with this disease are going to use drugs. Is it better for them to use in the shadows, risking transmission of serious infectious diseases, or monitor them when they are using and be there for them to get them treatment at the moment they are ready?

Currently it’s still illegal in the US to allow people to inject in these supervised environments, but the tide is turning. The city of Ithaca, NY is contemplating a safe injection space, as is Seattle. Multiple studies have confirmed that they work. In Vancouver, Canada, where such facilities were implemented in 2003, they concluded: “Vancouver’s safer injecting facility has been associated with an array of community and public health benefits without evidence of adverse impacts.” Massachusetts is also contemplating a similar pilot supervised injection facility program. With the crises of the opioid epidemic now claiming more than 30,000 lives every year in the US, it’s time to change our biases and old ways of thinking — people’s lives depend on it.
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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Right brain/left brain, right?

Imagine a scenario in which I could endorse a pill that could counteract or treat hypertension, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, coronary illness, even dejection and dementia. What's more, consider the possibility that specialists had widely inquired about this pill and the outcome was: adequate verification that it's powerful. In addition, it's for all intents and purposes free and has no terrible reactions. In actuality, its solitary reactions are enhanced rest, expanded vitality, and weight reduction.

All things considered, people, this amazing medication exists. It's genuine and promptly accessible for everybody. It's called serious way of life change. Its dynamic fixings are physical movement and extraordinary upgrades in eating routine, and it functions admirably. Incredibly well. In the event that it were a genuine pill, almost certainly a huge number of individuals would uproar for it and some pharmaceutical organization would harvest huge benefits. In any case, here's the means by which you can get "it." Intensive way of life changes includes learning and activity — which numerous specialists believe is simply too hard to even think about teaching, and numerous patients believe is too hard to even consider doing.

In any case, they would not be right

I'm here to report that escalated way of life change is possible, reasonable, and fundamental for good wellbeing. Doctor and scientist Dr. Senior member Ornish is a pioneer of escalated way of life change. I had the chance to hear him talk at the Harvard Medical School Lifestyle Medicine Conference in July. (You can tune in to his TED talks here.) Dr. Ornish and his group began looking into this program decades prior, and they have reliably discovered positive outcomes.

Research-based serious way of life change

Things being what they are, what precisely that does their program resemble? It accentuates sustenance and exercise, as one would expect, however it additionally addresses mental components like dejection, segregation, melancholy, and outrage. Why? Since research indicates passionate and social wellbeing is related with a diminished danger of illness and unexpected passing. He talked about the significance (explore demonstrated) of association, closeness, and love. He calls attention to that a ton of "terrible" practices, for example, smoking, drinking, and indulging are really individuals' endeavors to self-cure enthusiastic torment.

Here's the means by which it works: nine weeks of sustenance and supper prep guidance on a plant-based, low-refined-carb and low-trans-fat eating routine, just as imparted dinners to the gathering; proposal for and direction in three to five hours of moderate physical movement, alongside a few quality instructional meetings for every week; stress the board, correspondences abilities, and unwinding guidance; and a care group. The objective is for patients to embrace these wellbeing advancing techniques for whatever is left of their lives.

What specialists and patients need to think about escalated way of life change

The general message for doctors is this: a serious way of life change program won't work if it's simply "requested" by docs, or if patients are required to connect with it dependent on dangers and alerts. Amid the course I took in the significance of keeping away from blame, disgrace, and panic strategies, and making tracks in an opposite direction from marks, for example, "great" or "awful." Any way of life change must be important and pleasurable. In the event that it's important and pleasurable, individuals will do it. For these progressions to be best, individuals need to need to proceed with them for whatever remains of their lives. The doctor's main responsibility is to go about as a mentor for the patient, empowering and managing their endeavors, without judgment.
During the 1980s, reports started to surface of a potential association among vasectomies and prostate malignant growth. This stressed men thinking about vasectomies for anti-conception medication, yet it was additionally disputable. A few investigations recognized an affiliation while others didn't. Harvard Prostate Knowledge last canvassed the theme in 2015, after the biggest examination to that point recognized somewhat higher dangers of high-grade prostate malignant growth among men who had a vasectomy contrasted with men who hadn't.

Since concentrate has been overshadowed by a significantly bigger one.

Here's the manner by which the examination worked

For this new exertion, scientists with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota glanced through 53 thinks about with a consolidated 15 million men who had a vasectomy and were then pursued for as long as 24 years. The Mayo scientists likewise controlled for a potential predisposition that made a portion of the prior examinations difficult to translate: explicitly, that men who get a vasectomy are bound to focus on their wellbeing, incorporating prostate malignancy screening with a PSA test. Researchers had guessed that detailed connections among vasectomy and prostate disease could have more to with screening results and early identification than with vasectomy itself.

To control for that plausibility, the Mayo group stratified every one of the 53 ponders by whether their danger of inclination was high, medium, or low.

This is what analysts found

They found that proof connecting vasectomy with prostate malignant growth was most grounded in the more one-sided considers. Also, when taking a gander at the low-inclination considers — the ones that best represented the impact of early discovery with PSA screening — the association with prostate malignancy was "insignificant," as indicated by Dr. Bimal Bhindi, a urologist at the Mayo Clinic who drove the examination. Besides, the low-predisposition considers contained no proof at all that vasectomy raises dangers for the high-grade prostate malignant growths that undermine survival.

"We blended three many years of epidemiological research on the point and found no reasonable verification that vasectomy causes prostate malignancy," Bhindi composed. "Nor do we are aware of any unmistakable organic instrument for how it could do as such."

"The present examination is vital for its sheer size," included Dr. Marc Garnick, the Gorman Brothers Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and editorial manager in head of HarvardProstateKnowledge.org, who offered an increasingly tempered evaluation. "Nonetheless, review examinations that attempt to deal with predispositions are continually testing. For the time being, the potential danger of prostate malignancy ought to likely not deter a person from having a vasectomy if that methodology is thought to result in the most ideal contraception strategy." vIf you're similar to me, you discovered that about 90% of individuals are correct given and a significant part of the reason is hereditary. What's more, that is valid, despite the fact that it remains a riddle why our hereditary development prompted such a large number of more righties than lefties).

Be that as it may, for specific errands, handedness can be "survive." For instance, right-gave children figuring out how to play tennis, golf, or baseball can wind up fruitful hitting from "the opposite side." It might be more a matter of how they are educated and what gets strengthened than about a hard-wired inclination for one hand or the other.

As indicated by new research, individuals being "left-brained" or "right-brained" may likewise be less settled than we'd thought.

Perceive yourself?

As indicated by customary way of thinking, individuals will in general have an identity, thinking style, or method for doing things that is either right-brained or left-brained.

The individuals who are correct brained should be natural and innovative free masterminds. They are "subjective," enormous picture masterminds who experience the world in wording that are elucidating or abstract. For instance, "The skies are dim and threatening; I wonder if it will rain?"

In the mean time, left-brained individuals will in general be progressively quantitative and logical. They focus on subtleties and are governed by rationale. Their perspective on the climate is almost certain, "The conjecture said there was just a 30% possibility of downpour however those cumulonimbus mists will likely bring roar just as downpour."

A well known book previously distributed in 1979, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, broadens this idea. It recommends that paying little mind to how your cerebrum is wired, connecting with your "right mind" will enable you to see — and draw — things in an unexpected way.

These thoughts of "left and right mind ness" are broad and generally acknowledged. Be that as it may, they may likewise not be right.

Area matters

There is truth to the possibility that some cerebrum capacities live more on one side of the mind than the other. We realize this to some extent from what is lost when a stroke influences a specific piece of the mind. For instance, it has for quite some time been believed that, in a great many people, control of language lives in the left half of the mind. What's more, there are regions of the correct a large portion of the mind that control development of the left arm and leg (and the other way around). Harm to the front piece of the mind is connected with decreased inspiration, trouble arranging, and debilitated imagination. In the interim, the back of the cerebrum (the occipital cortex) incorporates visual data from the eye. Harm to this zone can cause halfway or complete visual impairment. These are only a couple of instances of how certain parts of the mind seem in charge of explicit capacities. In this way, area does make a difference.

Be that as it may, for increasingly singular identity qualities, for example, imagination or an inclination toward the judicious as opposed to the natural, there has been practically zero proof supporting a living arrangement in one region of the cerebrum. Indeed, in the event that you played out a CT filter, MRI check, or even a post-mortem examination on the mind of a mathematician and contrasted it with the cerebrum of a craftsman, it's far-fetched you'd discover much distinction. What's more, in the event that you did likewise for 1,000 mathematicians and specialists, it's improbable that any unmistakable example of distinction in mind structure would rise.

The right-cerebrum/left mind legend?

All in all, is "supposing with the left half of your cerebrum" a fantasy? Perhaps. In any case, the absence of evidence does not demonstrate the inverse. For individuals living a great many years prior, a powerlessness to demonstrate the earth was round did not demonstrate the earth was level!

Be that as it may, the proof limiting the left/right cerebrum idea is collecting. As per a recent report from the University of Utah, cerebrum examines exhibit that movement is comparative on the two sides of the mind paying little heed to one's identity.

They took a gander at the mind sweeps of in excess of 1,000 youngsters between the ages of 7 and 29 and isolated distinctive zones of the cerebrum into 7,000 districts to decide if one side of the mind was more dynamic or associated than the opposite side. No proof of "sidedness" was found. The creators reasoned that the thought of a few people being all the more left-brained or right-brained is more an interesting expression than an anatomically precise depiction.
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The latest scoop on the health benefits of coffee

A week ago I was sitting in my bed around midnight, composing a letter to celebrate the finish of my interest in a serious expanded length physical recovery program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Network custom-made explicitly for individuals in the more noteworthy Boston territory with interminable torment. I had first found out about the program in an article in the Boston Globe, and was promptly keen on giving it a shot. I had attempted shorter rounds of active recuperation (once seven days sessions at just 30 minutes each) multiple times in the earlier year with no enhancement. Truth be told, a great part of the time I felt more terrible subsequently. All things considered, I needed to participate in an increasingly careful program that would recommend cover regimens, yet would consider my individual needs as per my specific findings. Also, I needed to all the more likely comprehend the science and neuroscience behind torment so I could oversee it better, or if nothing else make harmony with it.

In the wake of going to a few tests and appraisals so as to get access to the program, I needed to hold up five months until my name came up on the holding up rundown. Once conceded, I went each Monday and Wednesday for the whole day. It resembled a sort of summer camp for grown-up "spoonies." Each day would begin with fortifying, extending, and cardio works out, trailed by gathering classes where we talked about our objectives for development and numerous other related subjects. We additionally had jujitsu and yoga, sprinkled with individual meetings with an actually allocated physical specialist, word related advisor, and psychotherapist.

As I sat there a few evenings ago composition my letter, I held my pen uniquely in contrast to I had only a month (and before that, numerous years) earlier: squeezed between the bowed knuckles of my pointer and center finger, with my thumb holding it relentless. I endeavored to put the power of my arm behind the development of my pen. This is one of numerous traps I learned in the program — the act of appropriate body mechanics. For this situation, it kept my wonky wrist (so inclined to strains and sprains) relentless. While my handwriting was more messy as I adjusted to this new technique, the words were the equivalent and my hand hurt significantly less subsequently than it would have something else.

At the program I additionally learned other valuable body specialist techniques: figuring out how to turn my body rather than contort it, to push rather than draw at whatever point conceivable, to keep my appendages and shoulders closer to my body amid family unit exercises like clothing and clearing, or activities like swimming. I presently stoop or squat as opposed to bowing at the back to lift something up or to scoop my felines' litter boxes. In any case, body mechanics weren't the main things I discovered that I presently incorporate into my day by day schedule. We additionally fused care reflection procedures to tame the rising frenzy of a torment flare or different burdens that can intensify torment signals. We learned torment control modalities, for example, utilizing ice and warmth for the duration of the day, rather than exactly when something harms us, so as to acquire the beginning of torment. We had classes about other vital parts of real wellbeing like rest, sex, and sustenance. Our heads and bears and back were snared to gel cushions and wires that observed our muscle strain as we moved and talked, so we could get a genuine representation of how certain positions, or even sentiments, were affecting our bodies.

The program was not a wonder fix and makes no case to being such. Actually, the group is exceptionally certain that the torment may never completely leave. For my situation, my agony keeps on ebbing and stream in a way where it is difficult to dependably follow enhancements. Generally speaking, torment is as yet a day by day experience for me. Some days I will feel like the program helped immensely; different occasions, I question whether it has worked much by any means. In any case, unmistakably I have gotten some truly profitable devices for how to utilize my body that will probably counteract real decreases. I've likewise figured out how to all the more likely pardon and love my body for what it is, to be progressively tolerant with its imperfections and frailty. For me, that is more valuable than some other arrangement: the extreme demonstration of self esteem. As a doctor with an enthusiasm for decreasing narcotic related issues, I every now and again hear stories from associates and companions about their friends and family who either battle with narcotic habit or have even passed on from narcotic related overdose. My subsequent inquiry to them is typically: "How could it start?" Almost every time the appropriate response is the equivalent: the individual experienced intense agony either from an injury or medical procedure, was begun on narcotics by a specialist, and after that couldn't stop.

My child's baseball mentor, who isn't in the restorative field, portrayed it superbly. He went in for a minor back medical procedure and was released with 60 tablets of oxycodone (the narcotic medication in Percocet and Oxycontin). For the principal couple of days, he had noteworthy torment and utilized the torment pills. After the agony started to die down and acetaminophen and ibuprofen were adequate, he quit utilizing the oxycodone. In any case, in the wake of stopping the medicine, he started inclination horrible, encountering body throbs, fretfulness, and a sleeping disorder. He took another oxycodone and felt much improved. Luckily, he had the knowledge to perceive what was happening: he was pulling back from the narcotic, even subsequent to taking it for just a couple of days. Had he kept treating his withdrawal with oxycodone, he may have turned out to be snared. "I evaded a shot," he let me know.

The issue of unfavorable impacts and unused narcotics

This story, rehashed time and, is fascinating in light of an ongoing report distributed in JAMA Surgery. The paper was a meta-examination that consolidated the aftereffects of six past investigations researching utilization of narcotics by patients after seven distinctive surgeries. In the period of the narcotic pandemic, where we realize that most by far of pills taken for non-therapeutic reasons (e.g., misuse) are gotten from companions or relatives, the outcomes are stunning: 42% to 71% of the endorsed narcotics went unused. Besides, 16% to 29% of patients experienced antagonistic impacts specifically ascribed to the narcotics.

Various government and general wellbeing organizations prescribe disposing of unused narcotics. It's not sheltered to flush them down the can as they can pollute our water supply, yet most police headquarters and now business drug stores have containers where unused prescriptions can be securely arranged. Regardless of this, the examination found that just 4% to 30% wanted to discard the prescriptions and just 4% to 9% intended to utilize a sheltered transfer technique.

For what reason are narcotics recommended regularly and in bigger sums?

A key inquiry is the reason overprescribing after medical procedure is happening. I accept there are two likely clarifications. The first is that specialists, properly, don't need their patients to experience the ill effects of agony after a task. The second is that, in numerous states, it is difficult to telephone in a solution for a controlled substance (for example a narcotic torment drug). In this way, a patient really needs to return to center to get a medicine, which makes bother both the patient and the prescriber. Giving a remedy to 60 or 90 pills bodes well thinking about this obstruction. A few states are executing approaches to give electronic remedies that would make the specialist's office visit pointless if a refill is required, yet it will require significant investment before most specialists can do this.

In any case, as the examination in JAMA appears, these huge sums might be definitely a bigger number of pills than is required. For instance, consider another charming investigation of patients being treated for an intense furthest point crack. The scientists gave patients exceptional pills that contained both oxycodone and a little radio transmitter that wound up initiated in the stomach. The specialists could distinguish precisely when the narcotic was taken. Patients were told to utilize something like multi week of oxycodone. At development, the normal number of pills utilized was eight. The vast majority of the extreme torment was gone in only three days. There was no more requirement for narcotics than a couple of pills, absolutely under 15.

This is what you can do to secure yourself and your locale

By what method can people in general ensure itself? Doctors have an obligation to instruct about the dangers and advantages of all medications rendered, including while recommending narcotics. That tragically doesn't generally happen. So here's my recommendation: in the event that you are endorsed a narcotic for intense agony, including after medical procedure, take the majority of the non-narcotic torment meds allowed by your specialist as trained (for example acetaminophen and ibuprofen, if not contraindicated). Include the narcotic if, and just if, the agony isn't tolerable with alternate meds. What's more, when the agony is middle of the road, stop the narcotic and securely discard it by taking it back to your drug store, in the event that they have a transfer canister, or any DEA-suggested accumulation site. At long last, consider having an exchange with your specialist about the quantity of pills you are probably going to require in any case before the medicine is composed. Being educated about securely utilizing narcotics could forestall reliance, and, eventually, spare your life.

New research on yoga has yielded promising proof that yoga could supplement conventional treatment for sorrow. The logical investigation of yoga has developed quickly in the previous decade. Somewhere in the range of 1975 and 2014, a sum of 312 randomized controlled preliminaries on yoga from 23 nations were distributed. Somewhere in the range of 2005 and 2015, 24 randomized controlled preliminaries have examined yoga as an approach to help treat sadness — about multiple times the number that existed before 2005. The majority of these examinations are still restricted because of little example sizes or have concentrated on explicit gatherings, for example, pregnant ladies or more seasoned grown-ups, so results can't be summed up. In any case, these examinations propose that yoga can be a valuable device to consider close by conventional types of treatment for sorrow, for example, medicine or psychotherapy.

Late little examinations introduced at the American Psychological Association's 125th yearly tradition keep on supporting the job of yoga in the treatment for wretchedness. One investigation of 23 veteran men found that doing yoga twice week after week for about two months altogether decreased dimensions of sorrow. The examination additionally discovered that these men exceedingly delighted in yoga, rating their experience by and large 9.4 on a size of 1-10. Two investigations of Bikram yoga, a particular arrangement of 26 presents done in warmed rooms, found that more than about two months yoga decreased sorrow manifestations. A preventative note: hot yoga may not be alright for everybody, particularly pregnant ladies or individuals who are inclined to hyperextension of joints. Warmth increments inside body temperature and the laxity of joints, the two of which can build the danger of wounds.

Are a few styles of yoga more useful for melancholy than others?

There isn't sufficient proof to suggest explicit styles of yoga for melancholy, so it is increasingly essential to pick a style that accommodates one's body and individual inclinations, since normality and consistency are critical to receive rewards and decrease danger of damage. A 2016 audit of general yoga inquire about backings this, finding a few styles of yoga yielded positive outcomes. The most ordinarily considered styles of yoga are hatha yoga, which is a general umbrella term for yoga that incorporates development and represents; a coordinated methodology, which consolidates yoga breathing, development and presents, and reflective states; and Iyengar yoga, a type of hatha yoga that underscores exact body arrangement and relaxing.

Shouldn't something be said about yoga for gentle sorrow?

Research is progressing with respect to whether yoga all alone can help treat less extreme types of melancholy. One pilot ponder situated in San Francisco is the primary US-based randomized controlled preliminary to look at whether yoga alone could diminish side effects of mellow to direct despondency. Scientists selected 38 grown-ups who had gentle to direct misery and were not officially associated with customary types of treatment, including medicine or talk treatment. One gathering completed a yoga class twice week by week that included breathing, careful stances, and a profound unwinding present. The other gathering found out about yoga history and reasoning. The investigation found that the gathering that did yoga had fundamentally less despondency toward the finish of about two months.

The hour and a half yoga class in the pilot think about joined yoga breathing, stances, and profound unwinding. The main area was 20 minutes of yoga breathing activities, including nadi shodhana (interchange nostril) breath, ujjayi (triumphant) breath, and brahmari (honey bee) breath. Postures concentrated on backbend or "chest-opening" presents, including cobra present, bow present, fish present, connect present, camel posture, and youngster's posture. The last posture of the class was profound unwinding in body present for 15 minutes.

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