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Brain Blogger covers topics from multidimensional biopsychosocial perspectives. It reviews the latest news and stories related to neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology. It serves as a focal point for attracting new minds beyond the science of the mind-and-brain and into the biopsychosocial model.
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- June 6, 2009
- 12:37 PM
- 871 views
Who Should Decide the Survivability of Newborns?
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Among the most controversial of medical issues is the resuscitation of newborns that are unlikely to survive. The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA), enacted in 2002, and the enforcement guidelines later issued by the United State’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) outlined clinical procedures to be used in the resuscitation and care of [...]... Read more »
Campbell, D., & Fleischman, A. (2001) Limits of Viability: Dilemmas, Decisions, and Decision Makers. American Journal of Perinatology, 18(03), 117-128. DOI: 10.1055/s-2001-14530
HUSSAIN, N., & ROSENKRANTZ, T. (2003) Ethical considerations in the management of infants born at extremely low gestational age. Seminars in Perinatology, 27(6), 458-470. DOI: 10.1053/j.semperi.2003.10.005
Partridge, J., Sendowski, M., Drey, E., & Martinez, A. (2009) Resuscitation of Likely Nonviable Newborns: Would Neonatology Practices in California Change if the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act Were Enforced?. PEDIATRICS, 123(4), 1088-1094. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-0643
Sayeed, S. (2005) Baby Doe Redux? The Department of Health and Human Services and the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002: A Cautionary Note on Normative Neonatal Practice. PEDIATRICS, 116(4). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2005-1590
Bastek, T. (2005) Prenatal Consultation Practices at the Border of Viability: A Regional Survey. PEDIATRICS, 116(2), 407-413. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2004-1427
Partridge, J. (2005) International Comparison of Care for Very Low Birth Weight Infants: Parents' Perceptions of Counseling and Decision-Making. PEDIATRICS, 116(2). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2004-2274
- June 3, 2009
- 08:46 AM
- 868 views
Reflections on Plasticity
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Neuroplasticity is a relatively new concept for researchers. Up until the 1970s, scientists held firm to the belief that once we exit childhood, our neurons are fixed and we are unable to grow any new ones, except for very select areas of the brain such as the hippocampus where memory is processed. Since that time, [...]... Read more »
MERZENICH, M., KAAS, J., WALL, J., NELSON, R., SUR, M., & FELLEMAN, D. (1983) Topographic reorganization of somatosensory cortical areas 3b and 1 in adult monkeys following restricted deafferentation. Neuroscience, 8(1), 33-55. DOI: 10.1016/0306-4522(83)90024-6
- May 31, 2009
- 03:38 PM
- 1,158 views
Death and Dying in Tough Economic Times
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Cash-strapped states and private health care providers are looking for ways to cut costs and save money in these economic times. While across-the-board cuts in spending are intuitively appealing and a seemingly straightforward method for saving money, it turns out that some health care expenditures actually lead to cost savings. Spend money to save money [...]... Read more »
Morrison, R., Penrod, J., Cassel, J., Caust-Ellenbogen, M., Litke, A., Spragens, L., Meier, D., & , . (2008) Cost Savings Associated With US Hospital Palliative Care Consultation Programs. Archives of Internal Medicine, 168(16), 1783-1790. DOI: 10.1001/archinte.168.16.1783
Mularski, R., Curtis, J., Billings, J., Burt, R., Byock, I., Fuhrman, C., Mosenthal, A., Medina, J., Ray, D., Rubenfeld, G.... (2006) Proposed quality measures for palliative care in the critically ill: A consensus from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Critical Care Workgroup. Critical Care Medicine, 34(Suppl). DOI: 10.1097/01.CCM.0000242910.00801.53
Phelps, A., Maciejewski, P., Nilsson, M., Balboni, T., Wright, A., Paulk, M., Trice, E., Schrag, D., Peteet, J., Block, S.... (2009) Religious Coping and Use of Intensive Life-Prolonging Care Near Death in Patients With Advanced Cancer. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 301(11), 1140-1147. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2009.341
Ray, D., Fuhrman, C., Stern, G., Geracci, J., Wasser, T., Arnold, D., Masiado, T., & Deitrick, L. (2006) Integrating palliative medicine and critical care in a community hospital. Critical Care Medicine, 34(Suppl). DOI: 10.1097/01.CCM.0000237046.62046.49
TAYLORJR, D., OSTERMANN, J., VANHOUTVEN, C., TULSKY, J., & STEINHAUSER, K. (2007) What length of hospice use maximizes reduction in medical expenditures near death in the US Medicare program?. Social Science , 65(7), 1466-1478. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.05.028
Zhang, B., Wright, A., Huskamp, H., Nilsson, M., Maciejewski, M., Earle, C., Block, S., Maciejewski, P., & Prigerson, H. (2009) Health Care Costs in the Last Week of Life: Associations With End-of-Life Conversations. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(5), 480-488. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2008.587
- May 28, 2009
- 12:28 PM
- 1,197 views
Medicate or Educate? - Just Pop a Polypill
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
At this moment, a trial is underway in India. This trial, named the TIPS trial, involves a new medication — a so-called “polypill” — which contains three antihypertensive drugs, a statin, and aspirin. Its researchers enthuse that it may cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by half in healthy people. So far, the study has [...]... Read more »
Xavier, D., Pais, P., Sigamani, A., Pogue, J., Afzal, R., & Yusuf, S. (2008) The need to test the theories behind the Polypill: rationale behind the Indian Polycap Study. Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine, 6(2), 96-97. DOI: 10.1038/ncpcardio1438
Ridker, P., Danielson, E., Fonseca, F., Genest, J., Gotto, A., Kastelein, J., Koenig, W., Libby, P., Lorenzatti, A., MacFadyen, J.... (2008) Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(21), 2195-2207. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0807646
- May 25, 2009
- 10:55 AM
- 1,088 views
Dressing for Success? - the White Coat Dilemma
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
For nearly 200 years, the white coat has served as a symbol of the medical profession. Originally, the white coat was worn to symbolize hope and life — an absolute contrast to the black of death and mourning that was widespread at the time. Hospitals, and the physicians who worked in them, became places of [...]... Read more »
Douse, J. (2004) Should doctors wear white coats?. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 80(943), 284-286. DOI: 10.1136/pgmj.2003.017483
KAZORY, A. (2008) Physicians, Their Appearance, and the White Coat. The American Journal of Medicine, 121(9), 825-828. DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2008.05.030
REHMAN, S., NIETERT, P., COPE, D., & KILPATRICK, A. (2005) What to wear today? Effect of doctor’s attire on the trust and confidence of patients. The American Journal of Medicine, 118(11), 1279-1286. DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.04.026
Wilson, J., Loveday, H., Hoffman, P., & Pratt, R. (2007) Uniform: an evidence review of the microbiological significance of uniforms and uniform policy in the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. Report to the Department of Health (England). Journal of Hospital Infection, 66(4), 301-307. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2007.03.026
- May 19, 2009
- 01:15 PM
- 952 views
Clearing the Haze - Is Marijuana Addictive?
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
In the past few years, as addiction researchers have been mapping out the chemical alterations in the brain caused by alcohol, nicotine, methamphetamine, and other drugs, America’s most popular illegal drug has remained largely a scientific mystery. It is a drug that millions of Americans have been using regularly for years, and, from a clinical [...]... Read more »
Budney, A. (2004) Review of the Validity and Significance of Cannabis Withdrawal Syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(11), 1967-1977. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.161.11.1967
Kouri, E., & Pope, H. (2000) Abstinence symptoms during withdrawal from chronic marijuana use. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 8(4), 483-492. DOI: 10.1037/1064-1297.8.4.483
Rodriguez de Fonseca, F. (1997) Activation of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor in the Limbic System During Cannabinoid Withdrawal. Science, 276(5321), 2050-2054. DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5321.2050
Tanda, G. (1997) Cannabinoid and Heroin Activation of Mesolimbic Dopamine Transmission by a Common µ1 Opioid Receptor Mechanism. Science, 276(5321), 2048-2050. DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5321.2048
- May 13, 2009
- 10:39 AM
- 859 views
Barriers to Emergency Contraception
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Emergency contraception (EC) has been available in the United States for almost a decade. It is a safe and effective contraceptive choice when other methods have failed or have not been used and a pregnancy is not desired. Still, many barriers exist to the prompt and reliable provision of EC to appropriate patients. While the [...]... Read more »
Chuang, C. (2004) Emergency contraception: prescribing practices of general internists compared with other primary care physicians. Contraception, 69(1), 43-45. DOI: 10.1016/j.contraception.2003.09.003
Goyal, M., Zhao, H., & Mollen, C. (2009) Exploring Emergency Contraception Knowledge, Prescription Practices, and Barriers to Prescription for Adolescents in the Emergency Department. PEDIATRICS, 123(3), 765-770. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-0193
Landau, S., Besinque, K., Chung, F., Dries-Daffner, I., Maderas, N., McGhee, B., & Foster, D. (2009) Pharmacist interest in and attitudes toward direct pharmacy access to hormonal contraception in the United States. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 49(1), 43-50. DOI: 10.1331/JAPhA.2009.07154
LANDAU, S., TAPIAS, M., & MCGHEE, B. (2006) Birth control within reach: a national survey on women's attitudes toward and interest in pharmacy access to hormonal contraception☆. Contraception, 74(6), 463-470. DOI: 10.1016/j.contraception.2006.07.006
NELSON, A., & JAIME, C. (2009) Accuracy of information given by Los Angeles County pharmacies about emergency contraceptives to sham patient in need☆☆☆. Contraception, 79(3), 206-210. DOI: 10.1016/j.contraception.2008.10.003
Raine, T. (2005) Direct Access to Emergency Contraception Through Pharmacies and Effect on Unintended Pregnancy and STIs: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(1), 54-62. DOI: 10.1001/jama.293.1.54
Sarkar, N. (2008) Barriers to emergency contraception (EC): does promoting EC increase risk for contacting sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS?. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 62(11), 1769-1775. DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-1241.2008.01827.x
Xu, X., Vahratian, A., Patel, D., McRee, A., & Ransom, S. (2007) Emergency Contraception Provision: A Survey of Michigan Physicians from Five Medical Specialties. Journal of Women's Health, 16(4), 489-498. DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2006.0196
- May 7, 2009
- 10:29 AM
- 1,128 views
Wash Your Hands, Save a Life
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Health care-associated infections (HAI) occur in a variety of settings and are caused by a variety of pathogens. They occur in ambulatory, institutional, hospital, and home-based settings. Four primary categories of HAIs exist, most of which are seen in acute care settings: surgical site infections, central line-associated blood stream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and catheter-related urinary [...]... Read more »
Banfield, K., Kerr, K., Jones, K., & Snelling, A. (2007) Hand hygiene and health-care-associated infections. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 7(5), 304-304. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70088-9
- May 4, 2009
- 07:38 AM
- 920 views
Are Humans Hard-Wired to Torture?
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
With the reign of the Bush administration at an end, one issue that has plagued his legacy is the government-sanctioned acts of torture. The United States government was involved with several controversial actions ranging from the indefinite detention of so-called enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, to the outright abuses and torture at Abu Ghraib. The [...]... Read more »
Burger, J. (2009) Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today?. American Psychologist, 64(1), 1-11. DOI: 10.1037/a0010932
Milgram, S. (1963) Behavioral Study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371-378. DOI: 10.1037/h0040525
- May 1, 2009
- 11:07 AM
- 953 views
Be a Doctor! The Hours are Great!
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Residency training in the United States has historically been a period of abusive hours and intense training. Until recently, there was no limit to the number of hours per week a resident could work. In fact, that has something to do with why they’re called “residents” in the first place: they practically lived in the [...]... Read more »
E. Ray Dorsey, David Jarjoura, & Gregory W. Rutecki. (2003) Influence of Controllable Lifestyle on Recent Trends in Specialty Choice by US Medical Students. JAMA, 290(9), 1173-1178.
- April 28, 2009
- 02:22 PM
- 991 views
Lose Weight to Go Green
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
The newest target of the worldwide “Go Green” campaign is obesity. Virtually everyone understands the concepts of reduce, reuse, and recycle in the context of being better stewards of the environment, but now “reduce” may mean reducing your waistline. An article recently published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, suggests that the prevalence of obesity [...]... Read more »
AKHTAR, A., GREGER, M., FERDOWSIAN, H., & FRANK, E. (2009) Health Professionals' Roles in Animal Agriculture, Climate Change, and Human Health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(2), 182-187. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.09.043
Edwards, P., & Roberts, I. (2009) Population adiposity and climate change. International Journal of Epidemiology. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyp172
- April 25, 2009
- 09:37 AM
- 1,211 views
The Many Facets of Addiction
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
The science of neurology has created a paradigm shift in our basic understanding of the structure of the brain and the rest of the human nervous system. It has taken a long time, and a large group of doctors, clinicians and assorted scientists to piece together the ways in which this new knowledge of the [...]... Read more »
Kreek, M., LaForge, K., & Butelman, E. (2002) Pharmacotherapy of addictions. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 1(9), 710-726. DOI: 10.1038/nrd897
Leshner, A. (1997) Addiction Is a Brain Disease, and It Matters. Science, 278(5335), 45-47. DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5335.45
- April 23, 2009
- 12:03 PM
- 1,388 views
The Adoption of Health IT
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Dr. David Blumenthal is the newly appointed National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. You may have seen his name as the director of the Institute for Health Policy at the Massachusetts General Hospital (also known as “Mass General”) and Partners Healthcare System which is part of the Harvard hospital system. It’s too bad for Harvard. [...]... Read more »
Blumenthal, D. (2009) Stimulating the Adoption of Health Information Technology. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(15), 1477-1479. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp0901592
- April 20, 2009
- 06:39 AM
- 937 views
Tax Your Way Thin
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
The obesity epidemic in the United States has stirred emotions and inspired calls for public health initiatives to get American thin. The idea of food taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks levied to curb the consumption of such beverages is discussed in an article published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The idea of an excise [...]... Read more »
Brownell, K., & Frieden, T. (2009) Ounces of Prevention -- The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages. New England Journal of Medicine. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp0902392
- April 17, 2009
- 08:18 AM
- 1,926 views
Objective Testing for Alzheimer’s Disease
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
The clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at the earliest clinical stages can be difficult. Given the variability in clinical threshold at which there is functional compromise in one’s social and professional life — a necessary component to AD diagnosis — there are several in-organic factors that affect early detection. Health professionals and biomedical scientists [...]... Read more »
CHUPIN, M., MUKUNABANTUMBAKULU, A., HASBOUN, D., BARDINET, E., BAILLET, S., KINKINGNEHUN, S., LEMIEUX, L., DUBOIS, B., & GARNERO, L. (2007) Anatomically constrained region deformation for the automated segmentation of the hippocampus and the amygdala: Method and validation on controls and patients with Alzheimer’s disease. NeuroImage, 34(3), 996-1019. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.10.035
Colliot, O., Chetelat, G., Chupin, M., Desgranges, B., Magnin, B., Benali, H., Dubois, B., Garnero, L., Eustache, F., & Lehericy, S. (2008) Discrimination between Alzheimer Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Normal Aging by Using Automated Segmentation of the Hippocampus. Radiology, 248(1), 194-201. DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2481070876
Gauthier, S., Reisberg, B., Zaudig, M., Petersen, R., Ritchie, K., Broich, K., Belleville, S., Brodaty, H., Bennett, D., & Chertkow, H. (2006) Mild cognitive impairment. The Lancet, 367(9518), 1262-1270. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68542-5
Hunderfund, A., Roberts, R., Slusser, T., Leibson, C., Geda, Y., Ivnik, R., Tangalos, E., & Petersen, R. (2006) Mortality in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: A prospective community study. Neurology, 67(10), 1764-1768. DOI: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000244430.39969.5f
Lakhan, S. (2006) Schizophrenia proteomics: biomarkers on the path to laboratory medicine?. Diagnostic Pathology, 1(1), 11. DOI: 10.1186/1746-1596-1-11
Petersen RC, & Negash S. (2008) Mild cognitive impairment: an overview. CNS Spectr, 13(1), 45-53.
- April 14, 2009
- 09:32 AM
- 998 views
Free Will and the Philosophy of Science
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
For many years the discussion over the existence of free will was limited to philosophers and theologians. Scientists started talking about free will once science started separating as a discipline from philosophy. However, it wasn’t until the rise of functional neuroimaging that some neuroscientists started studying if the brain and deterministic brain processes could explain [...]... Read more »
Soon, C., Brass, M., Heinze, H., & Haynes, J. (2008) Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain. Nature Neuroscience, 11(5), 543-545. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2112
- April 11, 2009
- 08:52 AM
- 1,182 views
Electronic Health Information - Small Steps, but No Giant Leaps
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
More than 5 years ago in his state of the union address, President George W. Bush announced a goal that all Americans have electronic health records within 10 years. Since then, momentum has been building towards that target, but we still have a long way to go. A recent special article published online by the [...]... Read more »
CUSACK, C. (2008) Electronic Health Records and Electronic Prescribing: Promise and Pitfalls. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, 35(1), 63-79. DOI: 10.1016/j.ogc.2007.12.010
FRIEDMAN, L., HALPERN, N., & FACKLER, J. (2007) Implementing an Electronic Medical Record. Critical Care Clinics, 23(3), 347-381. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccc.2007.05.001
Hollar, D. (2009) Progress along developmental tracks for electronic health records implementation in the United States. Health Research Policy and Systems, 7(1), 3. DOI: 10.1186/1478-4505-7-3
Jacobs, B. (2007) Electronic medical record, error detection, and error reduction: A pediatric critical care perspective. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 8(Suppl). DOI: 10.1097/01.PCC.0000257484.86356.39
Jha, A., DesRoches, C., Campbell, E., Donelan, K., Rao, S., Ferris, T., Shields, A., Rosenbaum, S., & Blumenthal, D. (2009) Use of Electronic Health Records in U.S. Hospitals. New England Journal of Medicine. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsa0900592
LAGREWJR, D., STUTMAN, H., & SICAEROS, L. (2008) Voluntary physician adoption of an inpatient electronic medical record by obstetrician-gynecologists. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 198(6), 6900-690000000. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2008.03.022
- April 5, 2009
- 09:19 AM
- 1,456 views
Who Gets to be a Doctor?
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
I was intrigued by a recent article in the New York Times describing how a Swedish medical school admitted a student whom they later learned had done jail time for murder. Apparently Swedish universities aren’t allowed to do criminal background checks, and even if they were, the student in question had legally changed his name [...]... Read more »
Papadakis, M. (2005) Disciplinary Action by Medical Boards and Prior Behavior in Medical School. New England Journal of Medicine, 353(25), 2673-2682. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsa052596
- April 1, 2009
- 02:27 PM
- 1,136 views
Father’s Milk
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
There’s a great scene in Meet the Parents in which Ben Stiller’s character Greg is trying to convince his future father-in-law, played by Robert DeNiro, of his history of milking cats in Detroit. He claims it’s possible because cats have nipples. DeNiro’s character replies, “I have nipples, Greg. Can you milk me?”
In spite of [...]... Read more »
Devidayal. (2005) A Male Infant with Gynecomastia-Galactorrhea. The Journal of Pediatrics, 147(5), 712-712. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2005.06.026
- March 30, 2009
- 08:31 AM
- 1,026 views
Transparency in the Pharmaceutical Industry
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
With the intensifying call for transparency in corporate America, several pharmaceutical companies have announced plans to jump on the proverbial bandwagon early. In anticipation of the passage of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act in the U.S. Senate, Eli Lilly and Merck have announced plans to establish online registries of payments made to physicians. Additionally, Glaxo [...]... Read more »
Kondro, W. (2008) Pharma giants to create databases on gifts to physicians. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 179(11), 1118-1118. DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.081669
LICHTER, P. (2008) Debunking Myths in Physician–Industry Conflicts of Interest. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 146(2), 159-171. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2008.04.007
MARCO, C., MOSKOP, J., SOLOMON, R., GEIDERMAN, J., & LARKIN, G. (2006) Gifts to Physicians from the Pharmaceutical Industry: An Ethical Analysis. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 48(5), 513-521. DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2005.12.013
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