Inspired by big-name stars, more children take up mixed martial arts, but pediatricians warn about the dangers
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mma-for-kids-conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-ronda-rousey/
Friday, August 25, 2017
Health officials mark milestone in measles outbreak
Measles outbreak was state's largest in decades, with one community especially hard hit
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/measles-outbreak-ends-minnesota-announcement-ed-ehlinger/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/measles-outbreak-ends-minnesota-announcement-ed-ehlinger/
More kids take up MMA despite risks
More children than ever are taking part in mixed martial arts, or MMA, but pediatricians have some warnings about the risk. CBS News' Danielle Nottingham reports.
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/more-kids-take-up-mma-despite-risks/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/more-kids-take-up-mma-despite-risks/
How addiction changes the brain
President Trump has called the opioid epidemic a national emergency, and 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/science-of-addiction-national-geographic-fran-smith/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/science-of-addiction-national-geographic-fran-smith/
Aetna responds after patients' HIV status revealed in envelope window
The company is reviewing processes to ensure it never happens again, saying "this type of mistake is unacceptable"
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawyers-aetna-envelope-window-reveals-patients-hiv-status/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawyers-aetna-envelope-window-reveals-patients-hiv-status/
Some Newborns Don't Get Heart, Hearing Loss Tests
Such screens are critical to early intervention efforts, CDC officials say
From: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/news/20170825/some-newborns-dont-get-heart-hearing-loss-tests?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Can you retrain an addicted brain?
President Trump has called the opioid epidemic a national emergency, and 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Fran Smith, who wrote the cover story of September's National Geographic article, "How science is unlocking the secrets of addiction," joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss addiction's impact on the brain's pathways.
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/can-you-retrain-an-addicted-brain/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/can-you-retrain-an-addicted-brain/
Many Migraine Patients Given Unnecessary Opioids
Addictive painkillers should be treatment of last resort, headache expert says
From: http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/news/20170825/many-migraine-patients-given-unnecessary-opioids?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Right brain/left brain, right?
Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling
If you’re like me, you learned that about 90% of people are right-handed and much of the reason is genetic. And that’s true, although it remains a mystery why our genetic evolution led to so many more righties than lefties).
But for certain tasks, handedness can be “overcome.” For example, right-handed kids learning to play tennis, golf, or baseball can become successful hitting from “the other side.” It may be more a matter of how they are taught and what gets reinforced than about a hard-wired preference for one hand or the other.
According to new research, the idea of people being “left-brained” or “right-brained” may also be less fixed than we’d thought.
Recognize yourself?
According to conventional wisdom, people tend to have a personality, thinking style, or way of doing things that is either right-brained or left-brained.
Those who are right-brained are supposed to be intuitive and creative free thinkers. They are “qualitative,” big-picture thinkers who experience the world in terms that are descriptive or subjective. For example, “The skies are gray and menacing; I wonder if it’s going to rain?”
Meanwhile, left-brained people tend to be more quantitative and analytical. They pay attention to details and are ruled by logic. Their view of the weather is more likely, “The forecast said there was only a 30% chance of rain but those cumulonimbus clouds will probably bring thunder as well as rain.”
A popular book first published in 1979, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, extends this concept. It suggests that regardless of how your brain is wired, getting in touch with your “right brain” will help you see — and draw — things differently.
These notions of “left and right brain-ness” are widespread and widely accepted. But they may also be wrong.
Location matters
There is truth to the idea that some brain functions reside more on one side of the brain than the other. We know this in part from what is lost when a stroke affects a particular part of the brain. For example, it has long been thought that, in most people, control of language resides in the left side of the brain. And there are areas of the right half the brain that control movement of the left arm and leg (and vice versa). Damage to the front part of the brain is linked with reduced motivation, difficulty planning, and impaired creativity. Meanwhile, the back of the brain (the occipital cortex) integrates visual information from the eye. Damage to this area can cause partial or complete blindness. These are just a few examples of how certain parts of the brain appear responsible for specific functions. So, location does matter.
But for more individual personality traits, such as creativity or a tendency toward the rational rather than the intuitive, there has been little or no evidence supporting a residence in one area of the brain. In fact, if you performed a CT scan, MRI scan, or even an autopsy on the brain of a mathematician and compared it to the brain of an artist, it’s unlikely you’d find much difference. And if you did the same for 1,000 mathematicians and artists, it’s unlikely that any clear pattern of difference in brain structure would emerge.
The right-brain/left brain myth?
So, is the idea of “thinking with the left side of your brain” a myth? Maybe. But, the lack of proof does not prove the opposite. For people living thousands of years ago, an inability to prove the earth was round did not prove the earth was flat!
But, the evidence discounting the left/right brain concept is accumulating. According to a 2013 study from the University of Utah, brain scans demonstrate that activity is similar on both sides of the brain regardless of one’s personality.
They looked at the brain scans of more than 1,000 young people between the ages of 7 and 29 and divided different areas of the brain into 7,000 regions to determine whether one side of the brain was more active or connected than the other side. No evidence of “sidedness” was found. The authors concluded that the notion of some people being more left-brained or right-brained is more a figure of speech than an anatomically accurate description.
The bottom line
If you’ve always thought of yourself as a “numbers person” or a creative sort, this research doesn’t change anything. But it’s probably inaccurate to link these traits to one side of your brain. We still don’t know a lot about what determines individual personality; but it seems unlikely that it’s the dominance of one side of the brain or the other that matters.
The post Right brain/left brain, right? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
From: Robert H. Shmerling, MD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/right-brainleft-brain-right-2017082512222
Article spotlights dental role in childhood obesity prevention
The dentist's role in childhood obesity prevention is examined in a publication the ADA helped develop that is available online.
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/article-spotlights-dental-role-in-childhood-obesity-prevention
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/article-spotlights-dental-role-in-childhood-obesity-prevention
Reading and writing and dental care
There was pizza and popcorn, puzzles and games, movies, balloon hats and — the main event — dental care at a back-to-school event the Louisiana State University Health New Orleans After-Hours Pediatric Dental Clinic hosted Aug. 14.
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/reading-and-writing-and-dental-care
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/reading-and-writing-and-dental-care
Tips to stay safe as Hurricane Harvey approaches
What to put in your "go-bag," and other advice for anyone facing a weather emergency
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-harvey-texas-safety-tips/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-harvey-texas-safety-tips/
High school friendships might predict future well-being
New research affirms being popular in high school isn't everything
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-school-friendships-might-predict-mental-well-being-later-in-life/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-school-friendships-might-predict-mental-well-being-later-in-life/
Awake for Aneurysm Brain Surgery, Better Results?
In new approach to the dangerous lesions, surgeons can get patient feedback during the procedure
From: http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20170824/awake-for-aneurysm-brain-surgery-better-results?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Opioid epidemic takes toll in Maine lobster industry
The nation's opioid crisis has hit hard in Maine, where at least one person died every day last year of drug overdoses. Economic leaders say the impact of the opioid epidemic on the lobster industry could affect an entire generation. CBS News' Kenneth Craig reports.
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/opioid-epidemic-takes-toll-in-maine-lobster-industry/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/opioid-epidemic-takes-toll-in-maine-lobster-industry/
Pot Won't Harm Healthy Young Kidneys, Study Finds
Researchers recommend more study on older users
From: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20170824/pot-wont-harm-healthy-young-kidneys-study-finds?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Human Gut Germs Dictated by Diet
Lifestyle advances over thousands of years may have altered people's microbial makeup, study suggests
From: http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news/20170824/human-gut-germs-dictated-by-diet?src=RSS_PUBLIC
As Hurricane Harvey Targets Texas, Tips to Protect Yourself
Forecasters say it could be worst such U.S. storm in a decade
From: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20170824/as-hurricane-harvey-targets-us-protect-yourself?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Fewer Than Half Of Teens Up To Date On HPV Vaccine
Rrates still lagging against the cancer-causing virus that's caused by sexual contact, CDC says
From: http://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/hpv-genital-warts/news/20170824/fewer-than-half-of-teens-up-to-date-on-hpv-vaccine?src=RSS_PUBLIC
After Heart Attack, Just 1 in 3 Go for Rehab: CDC
Recommended outpatient treatment reduces risk of recurrence
From: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20170824/after-heart-attack-just-1-in-3-go-for-rehab-cdc?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Some treatment centers accused of keeping addicts hooked
"The incentive is to keep them in this relapse system, this gravy train that doesn't end until the person leaves in a body bag or an ambulance. There's no money in sobriety"
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-treatment-centers-keep-addicts-hooked-for-insurance-dollars/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-treatment-centers-keep-addicts-hooked-for-insurance-dollars/
Report: This region's health lags way behind rest of U.S.
The 25 million people who live here have struggled to keep up with the health gains of other Americans
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/appalachia-health-continues-to-lag-behind-rest-of-the-us/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/appalachia-health-continues-to-lag-behind-rest-of-the-us/
Study reveals link between quality of sleep and risk of dementia
In the study, as the amount of REM sleep declined, the risk of dementia increased
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rem-sleep-dementia-study-health/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rem-sleep-dementia-study-health/
When a drug does serious harm, the FDA wants to hear from you
I frequently lecture to physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals on drug safety, and I often start by asking how many people have ever observed a serious adverse drug event. Almost everyone in the room raises his or her hand. I then ask how many have ever reported a serious adverse drug event to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or to a drug company, and almost all of the hands go down. Often, healthcare providers do not know the important role that they can play in drug safety surveillance. Even less well known is that consumers can also contribute directly to enhancing drug safety surveillance by reporting adverse drug events that they personally have experienced.
What is a serious adverse event?
The FDA describes an adverse event as “any undesirable experience associated with the use of a medical product” (this includes medical devices as well as drugs). A serious adverse event is one that is life-threatening, requires hospitalization, results in permanent damage or disability (including birth defects), or that jeopardizes the health or life of the person using it in some other way.
The FDA’s role in drug safety
The FDA is responsible for regulating many of the products we use every day, from foods and cosmetics to dietary supplements and medical devices. It is also in charge of assuring the safety and effectiveness of medicines. This includes approving prescription drugs that have been proven to work after a series of rigorous studies, as well as monitoring whether these drugs cause unforeseen problems once they are approved and used by large numbers of individuals.
One of the main tools that the FDA uses to monitor for adverse events after a drug is approved is called MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program. Anyone, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and patients themselves, can go to the MedWatch website and report a suspected problem with a drug. The FDA uses a separate reporting system for adverse events related to vaccines, called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. These websites ask a series of questions related to the problem (e.g., what kind of problem it was, the date that it occurred, test results) and the product(s) thought to have caused the problem. Some questions require responses in order to provide the FDA some minimally necessary information, but others do not. Individuals are encouraged to provide as much specific information as they can. Individuals can also report an adverse drug event to the company that makes the drug. Drug companies are then required to send all reports of serious adverse drug events to the FDA.
What happens after you report an adverse event to the FDA?
The FDA collects and evaluates all of this information to determine whether further evaluation of particular drug products is needed. Each year, the FDA receives more than a million reports of suspected adverse drug events, but it is believed that this represents only a fraction of all of the adverse events that occur; after all, Americans fill more than 300 million prescriptions each year. Only a small portion of the reports that the FDA receives comes directly from patients.
As patients, we have the most information about adverse drug events that we experience, and are often in the best position to describe the problem and the circumstances surrounding it. The FDA’s MedWatch system allows us not only to notify the FDA about problems, but it provides the FDA critical information needed to make decisions and issue communications that can help others. For example, in 2001 the cholesterol drug cerivastatin (Baycol) was removed from the market because of reports linking it to a rare condition called rhabdomyolysis, which causes injury to and breakdown of muscles and can lead to kidney failure.
In order for this system to work, the FDA needs to hear from you or your healthcare provider, either directly or through reports submitted to drug companies.
The post When a drug does serious harm, the FDA wants to hear from you appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
From: Joshua Gagne, PharmD, ScD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/drug-serious-harm-fda-wants-hear-2017082412310
WHO: Understanding and Managing Fear - Training for humanitarian workers in emergencies
From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwjVYDJUXs8
IHS looks at new ways of addressing oral health disparities
Despite making progress in early childhood caries with prevention and improved access, American Indian and Alaska Native children continue to "suffer disproportionately from dental disease" across all age groups, according to the Indian Health Service Division of Oral Health.
From: By Jennifer Garvin http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/ihs-looks-at-new-ways-of-addressing-oral-health-disparities
From: By Jennifer Garvin http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/ihs-looks-at-new-ways-of-addressing-oral-health-disparities
Mayo Clinic Minute: Schooling kids on hand-washing
From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCtdIB6Uzk0
MMA for kids more popular than ever, despite risks
Inspired by big-name stars, more children take up mixed martial arts, but pediatricians warn about the dangers
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mma-for-kids-conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-ronda-rousey/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mma-for-kids-conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-ronda-rousey/
Mayo Clinic Minute: The heirloom advantage
From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65e7BlE0BZ4
#AsktheMayoMom about Children's Eye Health
From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2I1qi2duOA
Some Newborns Don't Get Heart, Hearing Loss Tests
Such screens are critical to early intervention efforts, CDC officials say
From: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/news/20170825/some-newborns-dont-get-heart-hearing-loss-tests?src=RSS_PUBLIC
As Hurricane Harvey Targets Texas, Tips to Protect Yourself
Forecasters say it could be worst such U.S. storm in a decade
From: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20170824/as-hurricane-harvey-targets-us-protect-yourself?src=RSS_PUBLIC
More kids take up MMA despite risks
More children than ever are taking part in Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, but pediatricians have some warnings about the risk. CBS News' Danielle Nottingham reports.
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/more-kids-take-up-mma-despite-risks/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/more-kids-take-up-mma-despite-risks/
Article spotlights dental role in childhood obesity prevention
The dentist's role in childhood obesity prevention is examined in a publication the ADA helped develop that is available online.
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/article-spotlights-dental-role-in-childhood-obesity-prevention
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/article-spotlights-dental-role-in-childhood-obesity-prevention
Reading and writing and dental care
There was pizza and popcorn, puzzles and games, movies, balloon hats and — the main event — dental care at a back-to-school event the Louisiana State University Health New Orleans After-Hours Pediatric Dental Clinic hosted Aug. 14.
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/reading-and-writing-and-dental-care
From: By Michelle Manchir http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/reading-and-writing-and-dental-care
How addiction changes the brain
President Trump has called the opioid epidemic a national emergency, and 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/science-of-addiction-national-geographic-fran-smith/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/science-of-addiction-national-geographic-fran-smith/
Many Migraine Patients Given Unnecessary Opioids
Addictive painkillers should be treatment of last resort, headache expert says
From: http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/news/20170825/many-migraine-patients-given-unnecessary-opioids?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Right brain/left brain, right?
Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling
If you’re like me, you learned that about 90% of people are right-handed and much of the reason is genetic. And that’s true, although it remains a mystery why our genetic evolution led to so many more righties than lefties).
But for certain tasks, handedness can be “overcome.” For example, right-handed kids learning to play tennis, golf, or baseball can become successful hitting from “the other side.” It may be more a matter of how they are taught and what gets reinforced than about a hard-wired preference for one hand or the other.
According to new research, the idea of people being “left-brained” or “right-brained” may also be less fixed than we’d thought.
Recognize yourself?
According to conventional wisdom, people tend to have a personality, thinking style, or way of doing things that is either right-brained or left-brained.
Those who are right-brained are supposed to be intuitive and creative free thinkers. They are “qualitative,” big-picture thinkers who experience the world in terms that are descriptive or subjective. For example, “The skies are gray and menacing; I wonder if it’s going to rain?”
Meanwhile, left-brained people tend to be more quantitative and analytical. They pay attention to details and are ruled by logic. Their view of the weather is more likely, “The forecast said there was only a 30% chance of rain but those cumulonimbus clouds will probably bring thunder as well as rain.”
A popular book first published in 1979, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, extends this concept. It suggests that regardless of how your brain is wired, getting in touch with your “right brain” will help you see — and draw — things differently.
These notions of “left and right brain-ness” are widespread and widely accepted. But they may also be wrong.
Location matters
There is truth to the idea that some brain functions reside more on one side of the brain than the other. We know this in part from what is lost when a stroke affects a particular part of the brain. For example, it has long been thought that, in most people, control of language resides in the left side of the brain. And there are areas of the right half the brain that control movement of the left arm and leg (and vice versa). Damage to the front part of the brain is linked with reduced motivation, difficulty planning, and impaired creativity. Meanwhile, the back of the brain (the occipital cortex) integrates visual information from the eye. Damage to this area can cause partial or complete blindness. These are just a few examples of how certain parts of the brain appear responsible for specific functions. So, location does matter.
But for more individual personality traits, such as creativity or a tendency toward the rational rather than the intuitive, there has been little or no evidence supporting a residence in one area of the brain. In fact, if you performed a CT scan, MRI scan, or even an autopsy on the brain of a mathematician and compared it to the brain of an artist, it’s unlikely you’d find much difference. And if you did the same for 1,000 mathematicians and artists, it’s unlikely that any clear pattern of difference in brain structure would emerge.
The right-brain/left brain myth?
So, is the idea of “thinking with the left side of your brain” a myth? Maybe. But, the lack of proof does not prove the opposite. For people living thousands of years ago, an inability to prove the earth was round did not prove the earth was flat!
But, the evidence discounting the left/right brain concept is accumulating. According to a 2013 study from the University of Utah, brain scans demonstrate that activity is similar on both sides of the brain regardless of one’s personality.
They looked at the brain scans of more than 1,000 young people between the ages of 7 and 29 and divided different areas of the brain into 7,000 regions to determine whether one side of the brain was more active or connected than the other side. No evidence of “sidedness” was found. The authors concluded that the notion of some people being more left-brained or right-brained is more a figure of speech than an anatomically accurate description.
The bottom line
If you’ve always thought of yourself as a “numbers person” or a creative sort, this research doesn’t change anything. But it’s probably inaccurate to link these traits to one side of your brain. We still don’t know a lot about what determines individual personality; but it seems unlikely that it’s the dominance of one side of the brain or the other that matters.
The post Right brain/left brain, right? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
From: Robert H. Shmerling, MD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/right-brainleft-brain-right-2017082512222
When a drug does serious harm, the FDA wants to hear from you
I frequently lecture to physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals on drug safety, and I often start by asking how many people have ever observed a serious adverse drug event. Almost everyone in the room raises his or her hand. I then ask how many have ever reported a serious adverse drug event to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or to a drug company, and almost all of the hands go down. Often, healthcare providers do not know the important role that they can play in drug safety surveillance. Even less well known is that consumers can also contribute directly to enhancing drug safety surveillance by reporting adverse drug events that they personally have experienced.
What is a serious adverse event?
The FDA describes an adverse event as “any undesirable experience associated with the use of a medical product” (this includes medical devices as well as drugs). A serious adverse event is one that is life-threatening, requires hospitalization, results in permanent damage or disability (including birth defects), or that jeopardizes the health or life of the person using it in some other way.
The FDA’s role in drug safety
The FDA is responsible for regulating many of the products we use every day, from foods and cosmetics to dietary supplements and medical devices. It is also in charge of assuring the safety and effectiveness of medicines. This includes approving prescription drugs that have been proven to work after a series of rigorous studies, as well as monitoring whether these drugs cause unforeseen problems once they are approved and used by large numbers of individuals.
One of the main tools that the FDA uses to monitor for adverse events after a drug is approved is called MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program. Anyone, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and patients themselves, can go to the MedWatch website and report a suspected problem with a drug. The FDA uses a separate reporting system for adverse events related to vaccines, called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. These websites ask a series of questions related to the problem (e.g., what kind of problem it was, the date that it occurred, test results) and the product(s) thought to have caused the problem. Some questions require responses in order to provide the FDA some minimally necessary information, but others do not. Individuals are encouraged to provide as much specific information as they can. Individuals can also report an adverse drug event to the company that makes the drug. Drug companies are then required to send all reports of serious adverse drug events to the FDA.
What happens after you report an adverse event to the FDA?
The FDA collects and evaluates all of this information to determine whether further evaluation of particular drug products is needed. Each year, the FDA receives more than a million reports of suspected adverse drug events, but it is believed that this represents only a fraction of all of the adverse events that occur; after all, Americans fill more than 300 million prescriptions each year. Only a small portion of the reports that the FDA receives comes directly from patients.
As patients, we have the most information about adverse drug events that we experience, and are often in the best position to describe the problem and the circumstances surrounding it. The FDA’s MedWatch system allows us not only to notify the FDA about problems, but it provides the FDA critical information needed to make decisions and issue communications that can help others. For example, in 2001 the cholesterol drug cerivastatin (Baycol) was removed from the market because of reports linking it to a rare condition called rhabdomyolysis, which causes injury to and breakdown of muscles and can lead to kidney failure.
In order for this system to work, the FDA needs to hear from you or your healthcare provider, either directly or through reports submitted to drug companies.
The post When a drug does serious harm, the FDA wants to hear from you appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
From: Joshua Gagne, PharmD, ScD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/drug-serious-harm-fda-wants-hear-2017082412310
Aetna responds after patients' HIV status revealed in envelope window
The company is reviewing processes to ensure it never happens again, saying "this type of mistake is unacceptable"
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawyers-aetna-envelope-window-reveals-patients-hiv-status/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawyers-aetna-envelope-window-reveals-patients-hiv-status/
Can you retrain an addicted brain?
President Trump has called the opioid epidemic a national emergency, and 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Fran Smith, who wrote the cover story of September's National Geographic article, "How science is unlocking the secrets of addiction," joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss addiction's impact on the brain's pathways.
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/can-you-retrain-an-addicted-brain/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/can-you-retrain-an-addicted-brain/
Awake for Aneurysm Brain Surgery, Better Results?
In new approach to the dangerous lesions, surgeons can get patient feedback during the procedure
From: http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20170824/awake-for-aneurysm-brain-surgery-better-results?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Pot Won't Harm Healthy Young Kidneys, Study Finds
Researchers recommend more study on older users
From: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20170824/pot-wont-harm-healthy-young-kidneys-study-finds?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Fewer Than Half Of Teens Up To Date On HPV Vaccine
Rrates still lagging against the cancer-causing virus that's caused by sexual contact, CDC says
From: http://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/hpv-genital-warts/news/20170824/fewer-than-half-of-teens-up-to-date-on-hpv-vaccine?src=RSS_PUBLIC
IHS looks at new ways of addressing oral health disparities
Despite making progress in early childhood caries with prevention and improved access, American Indian and Alaska Native children continue to "suffer disproportionately from dental disease" across all age groups, according to the Indian Health Service Division of Oral Health.
From: By Jennifer Garvin http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/ihs-looks-at-new-ways-of-addressing-oral-health-disparities
From: By Jennifer Garvin http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/ihs-looks-at-new-ways-of-addressing-oral-health-disparities
Right brain/left brain, right?
Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling
If you’re like me, you learned that about 90% of people are right-handed and much of the reason is genetic. And that’s true, although it remains a mystery why our genetic evolution led to so many more righties than lefties).
But for certain tasks, handedness can be “overcome.” For example, right-handed kids learning to play tennis, golf, or baseball can become successful hitting from “the other side.” It may be more a matter of how they are taught and what gets reinforced than about a hard-wired preference for one hand or the other.
According to new research, the idea of people being “left-brained” or “right-brained” may also be less fixed than we’d thought.
Recognize yourself?
According to conventional wisdom, people tend to have a personality, thinking style, or way of doing things that is either right-brained or left-brained.
Those who are right-brained are supposed to be intuitive and creative free thinkers. They are “qualitative,” big-picture thinkers who experience the world in terms that are descriptive or subjective. For example, “The skies are gray and menacing; I wonder if it’s going to rain?”
Meanwhile, left-brained people tend to be more quantitative and analytical. They pay attention to details and are ruled by logic. Their view of the weather is more likely, “The forecast said there was only a 30% chance of rain but those cumulonimbus clouds will probably bring thunder as well as rain.”
A popular book first published in 1979, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, extends this concept. It suggests that regardless of how your brain is wired, getting in touch with your “right brain” will help you see — and draw — things differently.
These notions of “left and right brain-ness” are widespread and widely accepted. But they may also be wrong.
Location matters
There is truth to the idea that some brain functions reside more on one side of the brain than the other. We know this in part from what is lost when a stroke affects a particular part of the brain. For example, it has long been thought that, in most people, control of language resides in the left side of the brain. And there are areas of the right half the brain that control movement of the left arm and leg (and vice versa). Damage to the front part of the brain is linked with reduced motivation, difficulty planning, and impaired creativity. Meanwhile, the back of the brain (the occipital cortex) integrates visual information from the eye. Damage to this area can cause partial or complete blindness. These are just a few examples of how certain parts of the brain appear responsible for specific functions. So, location does matter.
But for more individual personality traits, such as creativity or a tendency toward the rational rather than the intuitive, there has been little or no evidence supporting a residence in one area of the brain. In fact, if you performed a CT scan, MRI scan, or even an autopsy on the brain of a mathematician and compared it to the brain of an artist, it’s unlikely you’d find much difference. And if you did the same for 1,000 mathematicians and artists, it’s unlikely that any clear pattern of difference in brain structure would emerge.
The right-brain/left brain myth?
So, is the idea of “thinking with the left side of your brain” a myth? Maybe. But, the lack of proof does not prove the opposite. For people living thousands of years ago, an inability to prove the earth was round did not prove the earth was flat!
But, the evidence discounting the left/right brain concept is accumulating. According to a 2013 study from the University of Utah, brain scans demonstrate that activity is similar on both sides of the brain regardless of one’s personality.
They looked at the brain scans of more than 1,000 young people between the ages of 7 and 29 and divided different areas of the brain into 7,000 regions to determine whether one side of the brain was more active or connected than the other side. No evidence of “sidedness” was found. The authors concluded that the notion of some people being more left-brained or right-brained is more a figure of speech than an anatomically accurate description.
The bottom line
If you’ve always thought of yourself as a “numbers person” or a creative sort, this research doesn’t change anything. But it’s probably inaccurate to link these traits to one side of your brain. We still don’t know a lot about what determines individual personality; but it seems unlikely that it’s the dominance of one side of the brain or the other that matters.
The post Right brain/left brain, right? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
From: Robert H. Shmerling, MD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/right-brainleft-brain-right-2017082512222
Minnesota health officials to make announcement about measles
State Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger among others will make announcement Friday and recognize partners who helped stop it
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/measles-outbreak-ends-minnesota-announcement-ed-ehlinger/
From: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/measles-outbreak-ends-minnesota-announcement-ed-ehlinger/
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