Pufferfish Toxin to Replace Opioids?
Razi Berry In Japan, pufferfish is considered a delicacy, but the tickle to the taste buds comes with a tickle to the nerves. Fugu contains tetrodotoxin, a strong nerve toxin. In low doses, tetrodotoxin is shown in clinical trials to be a replacement for opioids in relieving cancer related pain. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, […]
Breathing is Less Rhythmical in the Brain Than You May Think
Razi Berry Breathing propels everything we do — so its rhythm must be carefully organized by our brain cells, right? Wrong. Every breath we take arises from a disorderly group of neurons — each like a soloist belting out its song before uniting as a chorus to harmonize on a brand-new melody. Or, in this […]
096: Making Friends As An Adult w/ Hope Kelaher
The importance of social connections when it comes to our health and wellbeing is something that many health professionals are starting to take seriously. Studies show that loneliness can be detrimental to our health in many ways, and our relationships can affect both our emotional and physical wellbeing.
CDC’s COVID-19 Self-Checker
Razi Berry The COVID-19 pandemic has been overwhelming to the healthcare system globally. Many countries are finding it difficult to keep up with increasing infections. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched an online triage tool to assist with this burden. Individuals will be able to use the online tool to […]
Alcoholics Anonymous May be Most Effective Treatment for Those Wishing to Stop Alcohol Use
Razi Berry Alcoholics Anonymous, the worldwide fellowship of sobriety seekers, is the most effective path to abstinence, according to a comprehensive analysis conducted by a Stanford School of Medicine researcher and his collaborators. Alcoholics Anonymous may be most effective path to abstinence After evaluating 35 studies — involving the work of 145 scientists and the […]
Babies Know Grammar at 8 Months
Razi Berry Even before uttering their first words, babies master the grammar basics of their mother tongue. Thus, eight-month-old French infants can distinguish function words, or functors — e.g. articles (the), personal pronouns (she), or prepositions (on) — from content words — e.g. nouns (rainbow), verbs (to drive), or adjectives (green). Functors are frequently encountered […]
Risk Factors Associated with Death in Hospitalized COVID-19 Adults
Razi Berry Being of an older age, showing signs of sepsis, and having blood clotting issues when admitted to hospital are key risk factors associated with higher risk of death from the new coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a new observational study of 191 patients with confirmed COVID-19 from two hospitals in Wuhan, China, published in […]
COVID-19 Less Severe in Children
Razi Berry As outbreaks of COVID-19 disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues worldwide, there’s reassuring evidence that children have fewer symptoms and less severe disease. That’s among the insights provided by an expert review in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, the official journal of The European Society for […]
095: Changing Your Brain For The Better w/ Dr. Shauna Shapiro
Do you sometimes feel stuck in the way that you feel or the habits that fill your days? Dr. Shauna Shapiro is a clinical psychologist, author, TEDx speaker, and mindfulness expert who is passionate about neuroplasticity, or our brain’s ability to change. The feelings of not being enough or self-critical thoughts are hardwired into our brains, but when you are able to pay attention with kindness and curiosity instead, you can start to change your brain for the better.
COVID-19 Not Transmitted to Fetus, Study Suggests
Razi Berry Finally, some good news! Finally, some good news has emerged about the novel coronavirus that has spread to about 50 countries across the world. Chinese professors report in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics that it doesn’t appear that the viral infection is transmittable from pregnant mothers to newborns at birth. Second study out […]