This small randomized double blind study examined the effects of intranasal ketamine in the treatment of resistant depression published December 27, 2017 by Ella J. Daly, MD1 et al in JAMA Psychiatry and found significant improvement of depressive symptoms. Depression was assessed by the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale total score, and was observed after 1 week with intranasal esketamine, and compared… Read More
Georgia based Gwinnett Medical Center has developed an innovative solution in response to the growing number of psychiatric patients coming into its two hospitals’ emergency departments. They noted an annual increase of 20% over the last several years while only having a 1% overall increase in total ED visits. In response to this situation Gwinnett will… Read More
The FDA approved on November15, 2017 a new type considered a “first-in-class” electric neurostimulation device to relieve symptoms of opioid withdrawal. The NSS-2 Bridge device is a small, battery-powered electrical nerve stimulator that is placed behind a patient’s ear and emits electrical pulses to stimulate branches of certain cranial nerves. Patients can use the device… Read More
This is potentially a landmark study published in the October 18, 2017 issue of JAMA Psychiatry that looks at whether a monthly injection of naltrexone (Vivitrol (TM)) is as effective as daily buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone(TM)). This study concluded that in the short-term Monthly naltrexone shots (Vivitrol) worked as well as daily buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone) for treating opioid… Read More
This CDC link and publication shows opiate prescribing rates by county and state. Interesting to see the discrepancies from county to county and state to state. Here are the highlights of the data After a steady increase in the overall national opioid prescribing rate from 2006, the total number of prescriptions dispensed peaked in 2012… Read More
Many people don’t realize that cherry and peach pits, apple seeds and other fruit seeds contain cyanide and it is possible to suffer cyanide poisoning after consuming cherry pits. If you crack open at little as two or three cherry pits and eat the substance inside, you can develop cyanide poisoning. The contents of the… Read More
Researchers published a study in the July 5, 2017 issue in Emergency Medicine Journal found that long distance runners doubled their risk of acute kidney/renal injury or renal problems. This was troubling as studies have shown that nearly 75 percent of ultramarathoners use ibuprofen while running to relieve pain. The study examined the… Read More
The CDC has been studying the Flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) regularly assess since 2003-4 to confirm the value of flu vaccination as a public health intervention. Unfortunately, the flue vaccine effectiveness has not been that high as seen in this CDC table. It is interesting that the influenza vaccine has very limited effectiveness and is often… Read More
A February 1, 2017 Forbes article examines the burnout epidemic affecting 95 percent of all businesses. They state it reaching crisis and epidemic proportions According to a study in the Employee Engagement Series conducted by Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace, 95 percent of human resource leaders say that employee burnout is sabotaging their workforce. and… Read More
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