The Mayo Clinic Diet Book, Second Edition

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSRxTKKn1yQ

If Only You Would Ask: Mayo Clinic Radio

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfxz-ZV1YIU

Working through workplace stigma: Coming back after an addiction

My first day returning to work after being treated for a severe opiate addiction was one of the most daunting moments of my life. Everyone in the office, from my manager to the administrative assistants, knew that forged prescriptions and criminal charges were the reason I had been let go from my previous job. My mind was spinning. What would my coworkers think of me? Who would want to work alongside an “addict”? Would they ever come to trust me? Did I even deserve to be here?

When my life was crashing and burning due to my addiction (detailed in my memoir Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction), a return to work seemed like a distant prospect, barely visible on a horizon clouded by relapses, withdrawal, and blackouts. My finances, my professional reputation, and my family life were in terrible shape due to my drug-seeking behavior. Working was not a tenable option until I received treatment and established a solid track record of recovery, which a potential employer could rely on.

The fact that I was now in recovery was a great development, and it was further ratification of my progress that I had landed a job and was returning to work. So, why wasn’t I feeling overjoyed?

How stigma affects the return to work

As it turns out, the transition back to work after someone is treated for an addiction can be profoundly stressful. People recovering from addiction already tend to suffer disproportionately from guilt, shame, and embarrassment, and these feelings are often brought to the forefront during the unique challenges of returning to work.

Stigma is what differentiates addiction from other diseases, and is primarily what can make the return to work so difficult. If I had been out of work to receive chemotherapy or because of complications from diabetes, I certainly wouldn’t have felt self-conscious or self-doubting upon resuming my employment. With addiction, due to the prejudices that many people in our society hold, the return is psychologically complex and anxiety-producing. As I entered my new office, I was walking right into the fears, preconceptions, and potential disdain that my new officemates might share toward people suffering from a substance use disorder. For all I knew, I was the “dirty addict” that they now, against their wishes, had to work with.

“Bring your body and your mind will follow”

What I was taught in recovery, to deal with situations like this, is to “just keep your head up” and to “put one foot in front of the other.” Or, “bring your body, and your mind will follow.” When I first heard these phrases, I thought that they were mere platitudes, phrases without content, provided to motivate us through dark times. Now, I think they hold a great deal of wisdom.

As I walked through the door on my first day back, I did feel everyone’s eyes on me, and I did wonder if they were judging and criticizing me, but I made it to my desk without incident, and managed to power through my self-consciousness and get into the flow of my work. Every day, it became easier as I did a good job, deepened my connections with my colleagues, and accumulated good will, which would eventually replace any negative images that may have accompanied my arrival. Within weeks this was a non-issue, though at office get-togethers, my co-workers still somewhat awkwardly don’t know whether to put a wine glass at my place setting.

With all I had learned in recovery about communication, about humility, about connecting with others, I feel that I was in a better position to thrive in my workplace than I was before my addiction started in the first place. As more of my brothers and sisters in recovery return to employment, and as we succeed, the more difficult will it be for people to hold on to their negative attitudes and prejudices about substance use disorders. We can defeat the stigma by confronting it, putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.

 

The post Working through workplace stigma: Coming back after an addiction appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Peter Grinspoon, MD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/workplace-stigma-addiction-2018010513040

Lawsuit seeking fluoridation ban moves forward

A federal judge in December denied the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's motion to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to ban the fluoride additives used in community water fluoridation.

From: By Michelle Manchir
http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2018-archive/january/lawsuit-seeking-fluoridation-ban-moves-forward

Revisions sought for standard related to clinical terminology

Dental professionals are invited to review and suggest revisions to a diagnostic code set developed in part by the ADA.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2018-archive/january/revisions-sought-for-standard-related-to-clinical-terminology

2017 Census of Agriculture PSA – Respond Now

From: USDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHgDba0ME44

Infectious Diseases A-Z: Severe season for influenza

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhryqKl6-Ck

Is “man flu” really a thing?

Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling

This one got by me. I’d never heard of “man flu” but according to a new study of the topic, the term is “so ubiquitous that it has been included in the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries. Oxford defines it as ‘a cold or similar minor ailment as experienced by a man who is regarded as exaggerating the severity of the symptoms.’”

Another reference called it “wimpy man” syndrome. Wow. I’d heard it said (mostly in jest) that if men had to carry and deliver babies, humankind would have long ago gone extinct. But wimpy man syndrome? I just had to learn more.

What is man flu?

As commonly used, the term man flu could be describing a constitutional character flaw of men who, when felled by a cold or flu, embellish the severity of their symptoms, quickly adopt a helpless “patient role,” and rely heavily on others to help them until they recover. Another possibility is that men actually experience respiratory viral illnesses differently than women; there is precedent for this in other conditions. Pain due to coronary artery disease (as with a heart attack or angina) is a good example. Men tend to have “classic” crushing chest pain, while women are more likely to have “atypical” symptoms such as nausea or shortness of breath. Perhaps the behavior of men with the flu is actually appropriate (and not exaggerated), and based on how the disease affects them.

Here are the highlights from the study:

• Influenza vaccination tends to cause more local (skin) and systemic (bodywide) reactions and better antibody response in women. Testosterone may play a role, as men with the highest levels tended to have a lower antibody response. A better antibody response may lessen the severity of flu, so it’s possible that vaccinated men get more severe symptoms than women because they don’t respond to vaccination as well.
• In test tube studies of nasal cells infected with influenza, exposure to the female hormone estradiol reduced the immune response when the cells came from women, but not in cells from men. Treatment with antiestrogen drugs reduces this effect. Since flu symptoms are in large part due to the body’s immune reaction, a lessened immune response in women may translate to milder symptoms.
• In at least one study reviewing six years of data, men were hospitalized with the flu more often than women. Another reported more deaths among men than women due to flu.
• A survey by a popular magazine found that men reported taking longer to recover from flu-like illnesses than women (three days vs. 1.5 days).

Taken together, these findings suggest that there may be more to “man flu” than just men exaggerating their symptoms or unnecessarily behaving helplessly. While the evidence is not definitive, they suggest that the flu may, in fact, be more severe in men.

If it’s true that men get sicker with the flu, why?

Some have suggested that early man evolved to require more prolonged rest while sick to conserve energy and avoid predators. In more modern times, the advantage of a longer recovery time is less clear beyond the obvious. When you don’t feel well, it’s nice to be taken care of. Of course, that’s true for women as well.

The bottom line

Diseases can look different in men and women. That’s true of coronary artery disease. It’s true of osteoporosis, lupus, and depression. And it may be true of the flu. So, I agree with the author of this new report, who states “…the concept of man flu, as commonly defined, is potentially unjust.” We need a better understanding of how the flu affects men and women and why it may affect them differently.

Until then, we should all do what we can to prevent the flu and limit its spread. Getting the flu vaccination, good handwashing, and avoiding others while sick are good first steps. And they’re the same regardless of your gender.

The post Is “man flu” really a thing? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Robert H. Shmerling, MD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/man-flu-really-thing-2018010413033

Emergency rooms overcrowded with flu patients

More than half of the country is seeing a spike in flu cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 26 states are seeing high activity. In all but four states, the flu is widespread. CBS News' John Blackstone reports on the national outbreak.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/emergency-rooms-overcrowded-with-flu-patients/