December 26th, 2009 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
Tags: Addiction Medicine, cigarette, nicotine, Pathophysiology, Quitting, Receptors, smoking
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I was recently asked to review a new textbook on Nicotine Psychopharmacology, containing 18 very thorough chapters describing the latest evidence on the effects of smoking and nicotine on the brain and behavior. Much of it, though interesting, was a very heavy read. But it occurred to me that it might be useful to try to summarize what the 544 pages in this new book suggests about the effects of nicotine and the reasons smokers get addicted. So here is an attempt to describe how nicotine addiction works, in simplified terms.
When a smoker inhales nicotine from a cigarette, the drug is carried to the brain in highly concentrated form within around 10-15 seconds. The drug then Read more »
This post, How Cigarette Nicotine Affects The Brain, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
December 24th, 2009 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Oncology, Plastic Surgery, Skin Cancer, Tanning Beds, Tanning Salons, Winter
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It’s winter so why think about skin cancer? One of the major risk factors is UVA and UVB rays from sun exposure which is much more common in the summer. Tanning beds never cease being used, regardless of season and may even be used more in the winter than summer.
There is never a wrong season to be reminded of the prevalence of skin cancer or the risk factors for skin cancer or ways to prevent skin cancer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
December 23rd, 2009 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Addiction Medicine, New Years Resolutions, Psychiatry, Quitting Smoking, smoking cessation
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As we approach the beginning of the new year, many of us are considering our New Year resolutions for 2010. For many smokers, quitting will be near the top of the list. Particularly in these tough financial times, many smokers are deciding it doesn’t make financial sense to keep smoking. When it comes to new year resolutions, it’s not essential that the change start immediately from midnight on December 31st, but if there isn’t a plan to get started pretty soon afterwards there’s a real risk that the planned change never happens. Read more »
This post, New Years Resolutions And Tips To Help You Quit Smoking, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
December 22nd, 2009 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Blausen, Internal Medicine, iPod Touch, Medical Education, Technology
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Originally posted in MedPage Today
by Iltifat Husain
There has been a great deal of commentary profiling medical applications that are useful for healthcare providers. However, there hasn’t been much talk about how mobile medical applications can enhance the doctor-patient experience and in turn help optimize your practice’s overall experience. In future posts, we’ll focus more on applications for medical providers, but this post will discuss applications centered around the physician-patient relationship.
We all know how busy clinic can be and this leads to increased waiting times for patients. Understandably, patients often complain that this is the most frustrating time for them, and no one likes walking in excessively late to an angry patient because you had to deal with another patient’s medical emergency. So how can this downtime be made more bearable and productive at the same time?
Here is where the iPod Touch comes in. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
December 21st, 2009 by Joseph Scherger, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
Tags: Diet Soda, Food and Nutrition, Obesity, Primary Care, Weight Gain
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You would expect that diet sodas would help you lose weight since they have no or minimal calories. Drinking a diet soda rather than a regular soda saves you all that sugar, right? Many people develop diet soda drinking habits due to several factors, the caffeine, the sweetness or just wanting to drink something without the calories.
The link between diet sodas and weight is not what you might expect. Reviewed recently in the medical journal JAMA (Dec. 9, 2009), a major heart study showed that people who drank more than 21 diet sodas per week had twice the risk of becoming overweight or obese compared with people who don’t drink diet soda. In another major study, daily consumption of diet soda was associated with a 67% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (cause by excess weight). Drinking diet sodas gives you the same “sweet tooth” behavior as other sweets and actually results in people eating more calories than if they stayed away from sweets in general. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at eDocAmerica*
