Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/xGAirF0H81Y

Two-thirds of patients hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia are receiving excess antibiotic therapy that puts them at risk for undesirable side effects and complications.   This finding is the conclusion of a study by the University of Michigan and the Michigan Hospital Consortium.

The investigators reviewed the records of some 6500 pneumonia patients admitted to Michigan Hospitals.  Over 90% of the excess antibiotic therapy was due to extra antibiotics prescribed at discharge.  The clinicians prescribing discharge medications failed to properly account for in-hospital days of antibiotic therapy.

Typical therapy for community acquired pneumonia is a minimum of 5 days and therapy is continued until you are free of fever for 3 days.  Complicated infections may require 10-14 days of therapy.

Unnecessary antibiotic therapy places patients at risk for developing antibiotic resistance, the outgrowth of so-called opportunistic bacteria such as Clostridium difficile, better known as C. Diff., a possibly life-threatening allergy to any given antibiotic, or a combinations of complications that can bankrupt you.

Overmedication is often due to communication errors or improper documentation in your hospital record.  Be certain to question your doctors before you leave the hospital about the need for those extra days of antibiotics.

Excess Antibiotic Treatment Duration and Adverse Events in Patients Hospitalized With Pneumonia: A Multihospital Cohort Study.  Ann Intern Med. 7/9/2019.

DOI: 10.7326/M18-3640

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2011819-overview#a1

#Antibiotics #pneumonia #overtreatment 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/xGAirF0H81Y

Two-thirds of patients hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia are receiving excess antibiotic therapy that puts them at risk for undesirable side effects and complications.   This finding is the conclusion of a study by the University of Michigan and the Michigan Hospital Consortium.

The investigators reviewed the records of some 6500 pneumonia patients admitted to Michigan Hospitals.  Over 90% of the excess antibiotic therapy was due to extra antibiotics prescribed at discharge.  The clinicians prescribing discharge medications failed to properly account for in-hospital days of antibiotic therapy.

Typical therapy for community acquired pneumonia is a minimum of 5 days and therapy is continued until you are free of fever for 3 days.  Complicated infections may require 10-14 days of therapy.

Unnecessary antibiotic therapy places patients at risk for developing antibiotic resistance, the outgrowth of so-called opportunistic bacteria such as Clostridium difficile, better known as C. Diff., a possibly life-threatening allergy to any given antibiotic, or a combinations of complications that can bankrupt you.

Overmedication is often due to communication errors or improper documentation in your hospital record.  Be certain to question your doctors before you leave the hospital about the need for those extra days of antibiotics.

Excess Antibiotic Treatment Duration and Adverse Events in Patients Hospitalized With Pneumonia: A Multihospital Cohort Study.  Ann Intern Med. 7/9/2019.

DOI: 10.7326/M18-3640

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2011819-overview#a1

#Antibiotics #pneumonia #overtreatment 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/V_ctJH6Fujc

This definitive conclusion comes from a comprehensive meta-analysis of 277 clinical trials involving nearly one million participants just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.  The study concludes that few of the 16 food supplements touted to improve your cardiovascular health did so.  

Only omega-3 fatty acids seemed to reduce heart attacks.  Folic acid seemed to have some benefit for reduction of strokes.  Furthermore, only 1 of the 16 so-called heart-healthy diets was legitimately helpful, and that dietary modification was reducing ingested salt.

The food supplement industry operates in the Wild West with no FDA regulatory authority to test the safety or effectiveness of the products being sold to an unsuspecting public.  My advice is simple and direct: DON’T BUY THIS CRAP!

Khan SU, Khan MU, Riaz H, Valavoor S, Zhao D, Vaughan L, et al. Effects of Nutritional Supplements and Dietary Interventions on Cardiovascular Outcomes: An Umbrella Review and Evidence Map. Ann Intern Med. [Epub ahead of print 9 July 2019] doi: 10.7326/M19-0341

#Supplements, cardiovasculardisease, stroke

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/V_ctJH6Fujc

This definitive conclusion comes from a comprehensive meta-analysis of 277 clinical trials involving nearly one million participants just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.  The study concludes that few of the 16 food supplements touted to improve your cardiovascular health did so.  

Only omega-3 fatty acids seemed to reduce heart attacks.  Folic acid seemed to have some benefit for reduction of strokes.  Furthermore, only 1 of the 16 so-called heart-healthy diets was legitimately helpful, and that dietary modification was reducing ingested salt.

The food supplement industry operates in the Wild West with no FDA regulatory authority to test the safety or effectiveness of the products being sold to an unsuspecting public.  My advice is simple and direct: DON’T BUY THIS CRAP!

Khan SU, Khan MU, Riaz H, Valavoor S, Zhao D, Vaughan L, et al. Effects of Nutritional Supplements and Dietary Interventions on Cardiovascular Outcomes: An Umbrella Review and Evidence Map. Ann Intern Med. [Epub ahead of print 9 July 2019] doi: 10.7326/M19-0341

#Supplements, cardiovasculardisease, stroke

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/US61BSXwDno

Playing the Minecraft video game, indeed playing it without any instructions, appears to drive a higher level of creativity.  A just published study from the psychologists at the Iowa State University compared the effects of playing this popular game with playing a race car game or merely watching TV.

The 352 college undergrads each spent 40 minutes playing or watching TV.  They then completed the creative task of drawing an alien creature, and their work was then graded for creativity by judges unaware of what they played or watched before picking up the pencils.

The most creative work was done by those who played Minecraft without any instructions or limitations so that their intellectual energies could run free.  

Many video games drive creativity by tasking the player to create characters and and unique strategies.  Given their popularity and proven effectiveness as creativity catalysts, educators are now looking for ways to incorporate these games into formal education.

Jorge A. Blanco-Herrera, Douglas A. Gentile, Jeffrey N. Rokkum. Video Games can Increase Creativity, but with Caveats. Creativity Research Journal, 2019; 31 (2): 119 DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2019.1594524

#Minecraft #creativity #education

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/US61BSXwDno

Playing the Minecraft video game, indeed playing it without any instructions, appears to drive a higher level of creativity.  A just published study from the psychologists at the Iowa State University compared the effects of playing this popular game with playing a race car game or merely watching TV.

The 352 college undergrads each spent 40 minutes playing or watching TV.  They then completed the creative task of drawing an alien creature, and their work was then graded for creativity by judges unaware of what they played or watched before picking up the pencils.

The most creative work was done by those who played Minecraft without any instructions or limitations so that their intellectual energies could run free.  

Many video games drive creativity by tasking the player to create characters and and unique strategies.  Given their popularity and proven effectiveness as creativity catalysts, educators are now looking for ways to incorporate these games into formal education.

Jorge A. Blanco-Herrera, Douglas A. Gentile, Jeffrey N. Rokkum. Video Games can Increase Creativity, but with Caveats. Creativity Research Journal, 2019; 31 (2): 119 DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2019.1594524

#Minecraft #creativity #education

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/zw1NDorVPvA

News has a greater impact where you view it on a larger screen versus on your smartphone.  Communication research at the University of Michigan and Texas A&M University measured the responses of participants viewing news stories on a 13 inch laptop and on a 5 inch phone.

Using physiologic measurements of attention including heart rate variability and skin conductance measurements, the video presented on the larger screen was more compelling and engaging.  The data did not directly show whether or not the smaller screen reduced the subjects’ comprehension of the stories but that is the implication.

Using your cellphone to inform yourself has both pros and cons.  The phone provides high availability, but you might just have to force yourself to pay more attention to the teeny-tiny screen.

Johanna Dunaway, Stuart Soroka. Smartphone-size screens constrain cognitive access to video news stories. Information, Communication & Society, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1631367

#News #smartphone #laptop

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/zw1NDorVPvA

News has a greater impact where you view it on a larger screen versus on your smartphone.  Communication research at the University of Michigan and Texas A&M University measured the responses of participants viewing news stories on a 13 inch laptop and on a 5 inch phone.

Using physiologic measurements of attention including heart rate variability and skin conductance measurements, the video presented on the larger screen was more compelling and engaging.  The data did not directly show whether or not the smaller screen reduced the subjects’ comprehension of the stories but that is the implication.

Using your cellphone to inform yourself has both pros and cons.  The phone provides high availability, but you might just have to force yourself to pay more attention to the teeny-tiny screen.

Johanna Dunaway, Stuart Soroka. Smartphone-size screens constrain cognitive access to video news stories. Information, Communication & Society, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1631367

#News #smartphone #laptop

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/HZEdnMcBC_c

If you’re trying to resist the siren song of alcohol, a juicy steak, or a huge chunk of cheesecake, that task will be far easier if your memory is clear, you aren’t fatigued, and you are not otherwise under stress.  This conclusion stems from a study of Welch participants recently published in the journal Psychological Science.

Their data shows that the ability of our mind’s executive function to help us avoid giving into drug, food, or other temptations is impaired if we literally have much on our minds.  That load includes an abundance of information uppermost in our minds or an abundance of demands on our attention. 

The byword is prepare, prepare, prepare.  If temptation is just ahead, clear the decks of your mind by relaxing or distracting so that you may properly confront and cope.

Poppy Watson, Daniel Pearson, Michelle Chow, Jan Theeuwes, Reinout W. Wiers, Steven B. Most, Mike E. Le Pelley. Capture and Control: Working Memory Modulates Attentional Capture by Reward-Related Stimuli. Psychological Science, 2019; 095679761985596 DOI: 10.1177/0956797619855964

#Alcohol #obesity #addiction #stress #memory #fatigue

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/HZEdnMcBC_c

If you’re trying to resist the siren song of alcohol, a juicy steak, or a huge chunk of cheesecake, that task will be far easier if your memory is clear, you aren’t fatigued, and you are not otherwise under stress.  This conclusion stems from a study of Welch participants recently published in the journal Psychological Science.

Their data shows that the ability of our mind’s executive function to help us avoid giving into drug, food, or other temptations is impaired if we literally have much on our minds.  That load includes an abundance of information uppermost in our minds or an abundance of demands on our attention. 

The byword is prepare, prepare, prepare.  If temptation is just ahead, clear the decks of your mind by relaxing or distracting so that you may properly confront and cope.

Poppy Watson, Daniel Pearson, Michelle Chow, Jan Theeuwes, Reinout W. Wiers, Steven B. Most, Mike E. Le Pelley. Capture and Control: Working Memory Modulates Attentional Capture by Reward-Related Stimuli. Psychological Science, 2019; 095679761985596 DOI: 10.1177/0956797619855964

#Alcohol #obesity #addiction #stress #memory #fatigue