Tuesday, January 13

SELF-CARE

Using Indoor Air Filters Near Busy Highways Can Reduce Blood Pressure
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Using Indoor Air Filters Near Busy Highways Can Reduce Blood Pressure

The big idea For people living near busy highways, using air filters indoors results in short-term improvements to blood pressure, according to a new study I co-authored. Busy highways are large sources of air pollution. Larry D. Moore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Next to busy highways and major roadways, there are high concentrations of air pollution – including exceptionally tiny, invisible and odorless ultrafine particles from burning fuel. My colleagues Neelakshi Hudda, Misha Eliasziw and I tested how using air filters indoors near a highway can reduce exposure to ultrafine and other particulate pollutants – and what effect that has on blood pressure. Our team tested 77 participants over three two-hour sessions in a room next to a busy highway. We manipulated the level of air pollu...
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More Than Half Of People Using Medical Cannabis For Pain Experience Weed Withdrawal Symptoms
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More Than Half Of People Using Medical Cannabis For Pain Experience Weed Withdrawal Symptoms

In stark contrast to the overblown fears portrayed during decades past, these days, most people think cannabis is relatively harmless. While weed is indeed less dangerous than some other drugs, it is not without risks.   CC BY-ND In a study published Jan. 5, my colleagues and I found that 59% percent of people using medical cannabis for chronic pain experienced moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms if they stopped ingesting weed for hours or days. Most states in the U.S. have legalized cannabis for medical purposes and 15 have legalized it for recreational use. More people are using cannabis, especially older adults, and the perceived harms from weed use are steadily decreasing. While many people report therapeutic benefits or enjoy recreational use of cannabis, it is important peo...
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Black Licorice Spooky And Dangerous Side
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Black Licorice Spooky And Dangerous Side

Black licorice may look and taste like an innocent treat, but this candy has a dark side. On Sept. 23, 2020, it was reported that black licorice was the culprit in the death of a 54-year-old man in Massachusetts. How could this be? Overdosing on licorice sounds more like a twisted tale than a plausible fact. I have a longstanding interest in how chemicals in our food and the environment affect our body and mind. When something seemingly harmless like licorice is implicated in a death, we are reminded of the famous proclamation by Swiss physician Paracelsus, the Father of Toxicology: “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.” I am a professor in the department of pharmacology and toxicology and author of the book “Pleased...
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What’s in your medicine may surprise you – a call for greater transparency about inactive ingredients
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What’s in your medicine may surprise you – a call for greater transparency about inactive ingredients

There are many more ingredients in every pill you take than what is listed on the bottle label. These other ingredients, which are combined with the therapeutic one, are often sourced from around the world before landing in your medicine cabinet and are not always benign. Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which requires manufacturers to report real or potential drug shortages to the FDA. Manufacturers are now required to report disruptions in the manufacturing of an active pharmaceutical ingredient – the part of the medicine that produces the intended therapeutic benefit. But the CARES Act doesn’t include excipients - the “inactive” ingredients that make up the bulk of a final medicine. It also doesn’t include the materials...
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How dangerous heat waves can kill
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How dangerous heat waves can kill

Heat waves are the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, not the more photogenic windstorms and floods. Hotter summers from climate change are causing concerns over new dangers to people. As a medical school professor, I’ve focused on physiology, neuroscience, the evolution of the big brain and, more recently, climate science and civilization’s vulnerability to abrupt shocks from climate change. Today I’m wearing my physiologist’s hat and asking: How do heat waves kill? We can take the heat – usually Thanks to our meat-eating ancestors, who could run down prey in long midday chases on the African savanna, we humans are able to keep our body temperature in the range where we function best in a wide range of conditions, even those combining extreme heat with extreme...
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Your Bestest Friend – You
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Your Bestest Friend – You

I have a friend, Maggie, who has been my friend since 1968, and she calls me her "bestest" friend as a way of appreciating our connection. It always makes me smile, and I feel the same about her. Often, my clients have trouble learning to appreciate and trust themselves, and I think Maggie's phrase should apply to the only relationship we'll have from birth to death-the relationship with self. Are you your own bestest friend? Whether you realize it or not, the relationship you have with yourself sets the pattern for how you connect with others. By developing a nurturing way to relate to yourself, you create a personal experience of both giving and receiving friendship. (This is also an advance peek at my newest book, "Commuter Marriage: How to stay close when you're far apart") Best of a...
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Is telehealth as good as in-person care? A telehealth researcher explains how to get the most out of remote health care
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Is telehealth as good as in-person care? A telehealth researcher explains how to get the most out of remote health care

COVID-19 has led to a boom in telehealth, with some health care facilities seeing an increase in its use by as much as 8,000%. This shift happened quickly and unexpectedly and has left many people asking whether telehealth is really as good as in-person care. Over the last decade, I’ve studied telehealth as a Ph.D. researcher while using it as a registered nurse and advanced practice nurse. Telehealth is the use of phone, video, internet and technology to perform health care, and when done right, it can be just as effective as in-person health care. But as many patients and health care professionals switch to telehealth for the first time, there will inevitably be a learning curve as people adapt to this new system. So how does a patient or a provider make sure they are using telehealth...
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A Student’s Perspective on Finding Hope, Love, Justice, and Common Humanity
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A Student’s Perspective on Finding Hope, Love, Justice, and Common Humanity

Marching in a steady stream of people shouting familiar slogans through face masks, some of them awkwardly trying to socially distance, my first protest was fairly different from anything I’d have imagined before 2020. That didn’t make it any less powerful. The speeches given by religious and local Black community leaders, united after the police killing of George Floyd, drew in the hundreds of passionate, chanting protesters who were occupying City Hall and stunned them into mournful silence. Nor did it make it any less necessary. Mapping Police Violence data found that Black people in America are not only 3 times more likely to be killed by police than White people, they are also 1.3 times more likely to be killed while unarmed, culminating this year with the tragic deaths of George Flo...
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6 ways to build motivation to do your schoolwork now that you’re forced to learn online at home
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6 ways to build motivation to do your schoolwork now that you’re forced to learn online at home

Even in normal circumstances, it can be hard to get motivated to do your schoolwork. But these are not normal circumstances. The switch to remote instruction caused by COVID-19 has been unsettling. Patterns have changed. Habits have been disrupted. Remote classes are simply different from classes that involve face-to-face instruction. As a researcher who looks at what it takes to get through college, I have a few tips that could maximize your motivation and productivity when you’re at home going to school online. 1. Guard your time You do not need large amounts of time to be productive. Instead, be intentional and focused in short blocks where you can work without interruption. Protect these open times by setting up your workspace to minimize distraction – including silencing notificatio...
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Who Can You Trust and Why?
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Who Can You Trust and Why?

I always find it interesting to watch politicians who attack their opponents and then, when they drop out of the race because of lack of support, back the person who they have been trashing. It is easy to attack others and make promises when you are hoping that others will vote for you! But the process doesn't always seem to be honourable. It is easy to listen to a charming individual who seems to have a good line but keep in mind the old expression that states: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". To trust means that you have confidence that someone or something is reliable and honest. You can trust the sun to rise each day. But how do you know who you can trust? There are several markers that will help you to decide if you should trust someone: They have a good track ...
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