Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/k1bHDtP93Zw   Our friends and neighbors sadly dependent on heroin call themselves “addicts,” but they would prefer we call them “people who use drugs.”   This finding comes from a first-of-its-kind study by psychiatrists and health law experts at UMass and Boston University.   The study polled participants embarking on an inpatient heroin withdrawal program.  While 70% of the patients referred to themselves as “addicts,” fewer than 15% preferred terms such as “users” or “junkies.”  The most hated designations were “heroin misuser”  or “heroin-dependent.”   The preferred “people who use drugs” begins with the word “people” emphasizing that those on heroin or any other substance are first and foremost people.  As they work to break their habits, they deserve our love, respect, and support.   Ekaterina Pivovarova, Michael D. Stein. In their own words: language preferences of individuals who use heroin. Addiction, 2019; DOI: 10.1111/add.14699   #Heroin #addict #druguser

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/Xk6ebT6Hchw   Women looking for a cheaper alternative to tampons need look no further than the Menstrual Cup.  Now this is not a new invention and it’s been around since the 1930’s, but a new meta-analysis just published in The Lancet reviewed the experiences of some 3300 women using the cup to determine its utility and safety.   The majority of menstrual cups are placed in the vagina to trap and hold menstrual flow.  There is an alternative menstrual disc that fits over the cervix, but it may be more difficult to insert and remove.  Even inserting the vaginal cup takes a little practice, but after 2 cycles it seemed easy to most users.    The study showed that nearly three-quarters of women trying the cups planned to continue their use.  The incidence of leakage and infection was no different than for other menstrual products.  The cup did not damage linings, but there were a few cases of allergy to the cup materials.   Multi-use menstrual cups are convenient and cheap.  If you aren

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/tLIrv6XIfMg   Players who tackle their opponents by leading with the shoulders rugby-style rather than with the head football-style sustain fewer and less forceful impacts.  This is the conclusion of a sports medicine study at West Virginia’s Marshall University to be presented next week to the American Academy of Neurology’s Sports Concussion conference.   The study focused on 20 football players and 10 rugby players during practice season play.  The serious impacts they sustained and the impact forces were quantitated by helmet and mouthguard sensors.   The shoulder-first rugby tacklers sustained significantly fewer impacts with significantly lower impact forces compared with the head-first football tacklers.  The average football-associated impact force was 63 X g, 3 times greater than the average rugby-associated force at 21X g.   If brain-damaging tackling continues to be permitted in high school and college sports at all, mandating shoulder-first tackling may be a first step t

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/tjCw6J7GYZk   A new cannabis-based drug can effectively treat those addicted to marijuana.  An Australian study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that nabiximols, a CBD-THC combo medication marketed as Sativex™, can not only help weed users quit by reducing withdrawal symptoms, but also diminish their chances of relapse.   The University of Sydney’s Drug & Alcohol Services followed 128 patients taking Sativex over a 12 week period.  This drug is administered by spraying it under the tongue once every waking hour.  Those using the active drug versus a control inactive liquid spray consumed significantly less cannabis, were not bothered by withdrawal cravings, and maintained a reduced using pattern over a longer period of time.   Sativex is the first cannabis-based drug that effectively helps users off marijuana.  The fact that such a drug is necessary in the first place should be a wake-up call to those who proclaim weed to be completely harmless.   Nicholas Lintzeri

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/0rJe-bmI3OA   Every week there is more news that the bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract affect not only your body’s metabolism and immune system but also the health of distant organs such as your brain.  A new study from the Baylor College of Medicine shows that you need a healthy diet to spawn healthy bacteria in your gut’s microbiome.   The investigators studied nearly 100 colonoscopy samples from 34 polyp-free subjects and analyzed the bacterial spectrum found in each.  Those subjects with higher so-called Health Eating Index values (HEI) had a preponderance of healthy bacteria.  Those with lower diet scores had fewer healthy and more pathologic bacteria present.   Once again, you are what you eat.  Think about that when you bypass the fruits and veggies in favor of that juicy cheeseburger and a side of fries.   Yanhong Liu, Nadim J Ajami, Hashem B El-Serag, etal. Dietary quality and the colonic mucosa–associated gut microbiome in humans. The American Journal of Clinical Nut

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/TLtTka9aWa4   Just 10 minutes petting a friendly dog or cat can significantly diminish the stress on a college student stemming from academic demands, social pressures, and student loans.  The data gathered from 249 students at the Washington State University by scientists there quantitated stress levels by measurement of steroids in the students’ saliva.   The students who actually petted animals had significantly lower stress hormones compared with those watching others petting, or those merely seeing pictures of the animals.   If you find yourself under stress from not only school but also work or your parental responsibilities, consider bringing a pet into your life.  Be sure, though, to choose one that doesn’t exacerbate the demands on your time, attention, or budget.   Patricia Pendry, Jaymie L. Vandagriff. Animal Visitation Program (AVP) Reduces Cortisol Levels of University Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial. AERA Open, 2019; 5 (2): 233285841985259 DOI: 10.1177/23328584

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ooe4-3n-D-0   If you have problems hearing and reject wearing a hearing aid due to pride, you are increasing your chances of losing your mind later in life.  British investigators at the University of Exeter recently presented the data behind this warning to the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Los Angeles.   The study looked at 25,000 hearing impaired persons who were given annual cognitive tests over a 2 year period.  The hearing aid-wearing participants showed better attention, working memory, and faster reaction times compared with non-wearers.  This confirms other studies which show that hearing loss may lead to a loss of brain function, memory skills, and outright dementia.     If you have a hearing loss, embrace the 21st century by using bionic ears to maintain not only your social relationships but also your vital brain function.   University of Exeter. "Wearing hearing aid may help protect brain in later life." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 July 2019. ww

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/YiI9buLkoCg   When women of child-bearing age undergo surgery, their postoperative pain medications often addict them to narcotics.   These dependencies then create a drug problem for their babies even years later.     A study of 2.2 million Canadian births over the past 27 years concludes that neonates born to mothers who had heart, thoracic, urologic, or neurologic surgery were 1.6 times more likely to develop an opioid withdrawal problem at birth.   Young women may undergo painful procedures and are prescribed powerful narcotics for extended periods of time.  I echo the study authors’ pleas that surgeons operating on potential mothers soft pedal and, if at all possible, completely avoid use of opioids for postop pain control.   If you as a woman are facing such surgery, demand alternatives to narcotics including industrial-strength Tylenol possibly assisted by NSAIDs like ibuprofen and potentiating drugs such as the antihistamine Benadryl.  Be on guard, and avoid becoming addicte

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/joU9-5CEU4s   Extreme training drills inflicted on high school and college football players by over-zealous coaches produce more non-traumatic fatalities than game play.  This conclusion comes from a study of 187 such deaths occurring over the past 20 years and just presented to the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting.   Football remains the most dangerous sport for young people clocking the largest number of fatalities, and there are 2 to 3 times more non-traumatic deaths than traumatic ones.  The data shows that 52% of these tragedies are associated with cardiac problems, 24% with heat exhaustion, and 5% with asthma.  Most deaths occurred in August before the regular season.   The study authors blame unreasonably intense workouts and punishing drills as the causes for these unnecessary deaths.  We should add lax medical screening for both heart and sickle cell disease.   You parents of teens and young adults playing football should be certain that your

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/Ij4Np7YmIlc   A British meta-analysis of 21 studies and 4.4 million persons warns that adults who had been born prematurely are less likely than their full term peers to form romantic relationships, enjoy sex, or pursue parenthood.  These results were just published online in the journal JAMA Network Open.   Those born at 37 weeks or earlier or with low birth weights were 28% less likely to have experienced a true love partnership, 57% less likely to have had sexual intercourse, and 22% less likely to have become a parent.  Those born even earlier at 32 weeks or less were that much less likely to form relationships and 3 times less likely to have sex and become parents.   If you are a parents of  preterm baby who will likely become a somewhat shy child and adolescent, be sure to encourage the child to foster close relationships as they mature.  This will oppose these reported tendencies so that your chil can have a fulfilling love life and, in time, a family.   Marina Mendonça, Ayten

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/S9oKOm2pkOw   To kill your craving for booze, butts, and beer, convene with Mother Nature in the open green space of a park on a regular basis.  This is the bottom line from British study just published in the journal Health & Place.   The investigators surveyed nearly 150 subjects to determine their exposure to green spaces either in and around their residence or during visits to parks.  The data demonstrated that passion for unhealthy food, drink, or drugs diminished as green space exposure time increased.   So we now have one more reason to hit the great outdoors on a regular basis.  If you combine such regular visits with exercise, all the better.   Leanne Martin, Sabine Pahl, Mathew P. White, Jon May. Natural environments and craving: The mediating role of negative affect. Health & Place, 2019; 58: 102160 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102160   #Outdoors #greenspace #overeating #drugs #alcohol

Vidcast: : https://youtu.be/j2dzIsHcqJs   Exposure to the dirty air that accompanies excessive automobile traffic leads to blockage of the coronary arteries escalating the risk of heart attack and sudden death.  University of Buffalo environmental health specialists studied nearly 8900 Chinese adults of all ages.   Because of China’s problematic air contamination, subjects were exposed to significant quantities of nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and ozone.Those who lived closer to roadways had more advanced arterial calcium deposits and blockage leading to coronary artery disease.     This study is a wake-up call for the science-deniers running our government and corporations to adhere to the strictest of automobile emission standards.  It is also a “heads up” reminding you to spend as much time as possible away from traffic and in those fresh air green spaces.   Meng Wang, Zhi-Hui Hou, Hao Xu, Yang Liu, Matthew J. Budoff, Adam A. Szpiro, Joel D. Kaufman, Sverre Vedal, Bin Lu. Association of Estimated L

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/aSqAIaL7lFo   Before you can come to someone’s rescue in a true altruistic spirit, you must first imagine your plan of attack.  Psychologists at Boston College employed MRI scanning to study the brain activity of 18 young, healthy adults before and while they remembered and imagined helping others in distress.   Those participants whose scans indicate more powerful imaginative thinking indicated a greater willingness to help others.  That help could come with direct physical assistance or with monetary support.  In order to help, you must first imagine how you might safely and effectively pull off the rescue.   This is yet another aspect of life that benefits from a ready imagination.  To exercise and spark yours, you can daydream, doodle, read fiction, exercise, and take calculated risks.     Brendan Gaesser, Josh Hirschfeld-Kroen, Emily A Wasserman, Mary Horn, Liane Young. A role for the medial temporal lobe subsystem in guiding prosociality: the effect of episodic processes on wi

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/oD9WB_S7kZc   Even if you’re at a normal weight or maybe a few pounds over, cutting an extra 300 calories out of your daily tally has significant health benefits.  A Duke University study of 218 young and middle aged healthy and non-obese subjects now shows that reducing your calorie intake by about 12% over a 2 year period will significantly improve your cardiovascular, metabolic, and general health.   Those participants who trimmed the calories had a significant reduction in those inflammatory factors that drive heart disease, cancer and mental decline.  As a bonus, they realized a 10% weight loss nearly ¾ of which was from fat.   I’ll bet you can consume 300 fewer calories a day without even missing them.  Forgo that candy bar, bypass the bagel, skip the second slice of pepperoni pizza, or avoid that large cup of Coke,   Then again, you can also burn 300 extra calories with longer or more intense exercise.  It’s your choice.   William E Kraus, Manjushri Bhapkar, Kim M Huffman, Ca

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/mBkTDPeg6lI   Throughout life, we accumulate brainpower, known technically as Cognitive Reserve (CR), by participating in formal education, reading, writing, gaming, and having social interactions.  A new study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute’s Neurobiology Department and Chicago’s Rush University Alzheimer’s Research Center tells us that this extra Cognitive Reserve may protect us from from developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias as we age.   The study group of some 1600 healthy older adults was followed for 20 years and their CRs tabulated.  Those with the highest CR scores were nearly 40% less likely to develop dementia., though about one-quarter of the group eventually developed Alzheimer’s.     If you want to enjoy a long life in full possession of your brainpower, commit to making regular deposits to your mind’s Cognitive Reserve by learning, reading, problem-solving, and socializing now and always.   Xu H, Yang R, Qi X, et al. Association of Lifespan Cognitive Reserve I

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/mLKKARFLkTM  This is Health News You Should Use, the latest medical discoveries and commonsense advice that you can use in a practical way to keep yourself and your family healthy.   Here are this weeks stories : Warmer Screens At Night May Curb Your Appetite Odd Eating Indicates Autism Exercise Fuels Better Thinking For the Overweight Lassie May Prevent Childhood Allergies Mind Clearing Helps You Resist Temptations Larger Screens Deliver Video News More Powerfully Minecraft Play Increases Creativity Hospitalized Pneumonia Patients Over-treated With Antibiotics Exercise Is Better The Same Time Each Day Triclosan Weakens Womens’ Bones Will Sugary Drinks Give You Cancer? Toddlers Word Learning Soars In Daycare Maternal Obesity Triggers Childhood Leukemia Marijuana For Chronic Pain A High Tech Vaccine For Fake News For show notes and references to for the stories, check out my website at: https://www.drhowardsmith.com/july-2019-2nd-week-health-news #Bluelight #sugar #obesity #warmlight

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/F2wbdM4T7EA There is an epidemic of lies on the internet, and we are all confronted daily with so-called news that is, in fact propaganda.  Just as your brain can be conned, it is possible to train it to withstand these attacks with an electronic from of BS repellent. The UK’s University of Cambridge and its Social Decision-Making Lab have developed a browser game called Bad News that can help your brain withstand the assault of half-truths and frank lies.  A group of 15,000 test subjects played the game for only 15 minutes yet afterward were 24% more likely to dismiss fake headlines and tweets, 20% less likely to fall for a false conspiracy, and 19% more likely to believe a legitimate new source that was being smeared and trolled online. You can and should try the game yourself at getbadnews.com. With the upcoming, critical elections, we all must be more sophisticated and discerning consumers of the news.  And a can of BS repellent on your phone won’’t hurt either! Jon Roozenbeek &

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Mmr5bCArcSU Cannabis in its various forms does curb pain.  This is the conclusion of study from New York’s Einstein College of Medicine and the University of Miami just published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. The investigators studied 1000 user-customers of a Colorado dispensary with most being under the age of 50.  Nearly two-thirds of the group reported using cannabis for pain relief, and almost three-quarters of pain sufferers used it daily.   Eighty percent reported that marijuana was extremely or very helpful for controlling their pain.  Eighty-two percent stopped or reduced use of over-the-counter pain meds, and a full 88% stopped or reduced use of opioids. Given our current opioid crisis, this news is good news indeed.  If you suffer from chronic pain, you should receive care from pain specialists who can offer you cannabis as yet one more option. Marcus Bachhuber, Julia H. Arnsten, Gwen Wurm. Use of Cannabis to Relieve Pain and Promote Sleep by Customers at an Adult

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/pKHclU_qRSA Summer is a prime time for baby-making.  Before you take that plunge, you prospective moms, make sure your weight is under control.   A just released, frightening study from the University of Pittsburgh shows that children of women obese at the time of pregnancy were 57% more likely to develop leukemia before the age of 5.  The Pitt epidemiologists analyzed almost 2 million birth records and 3,000 pediatric cancer cases in Pennsylvania. The good news, if there is any, is that that awful statistic applies to the severely obese women with BMIs, body mass indices, above 40.  That’s equivalent to a weight of 235 pounds for a woman who is 5 ft 4 inches tall.   The risk of cancer does diminish with the BMI, so it pays to lose those pounds and approach an ideal weight before conceiving and embarking on parenthood. Shaina L Stacy, Jeanine M Buchanich, Zhen-qiang Ma, Christina Mair, Linda Robertson, Ravi K Sharma, Evelyn O Talbott, Jian-Min Yuan. Maternal Obesity, Birth Size, and

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/IfhsrH3V-X4 Toddlers nearing their second birthday learn new word associations better when they spend time with other toddlers rather than only adults.  A study published in the September edition of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology comes from Canada’s University of Waterloo. The investigators studied 88 toddlers in two groups: those who spend their days with other children and others who only spent time with peers once a week.  The children in both groups processed familiar words well.  The kids spending more time with other children were better able to pick up new words and linked them with persons and things, which is what language is all about. The “news you should use” is the unsurprising fact that developing children need contact with their peers as well as with adults.  Keep that in mind when you as a parent structure their life. Dana E. Bernier, Katherine S. White. Toddlers’ sensitivity to phonetic detail in child speech. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,