Ted Kennedy and brain tumors

Whenever a really famous person develops a certain disease, an opportunity opens up for increased disease awareness (and possibly much more). For instance, Lance Armstrong has his foundation that is devoted to cancer. I doubt we'll see anything from Michael Jackson regarding propofol. However, I hope we may see something regarding Ted Kennedy and brain tumors (specifically, glioblastoma). My deepest condolences go out to the Kennedy family.

Glioblastoma (or GBM) is a rapidly fatal cancer and it's quite amazing to see how long Ted Kennedy lived with this terrible condition. I really hope that we'll see the creation of some type of brain cancer foundation as a tribute to him.

Doctor's can't say "no"

It's strange, but true. Doctors have such a difficult time saying "no" to patients. Look at our famous deceased celebrity. CNN is reporting that some physicians simply couldn't say no to him. As a result, he had an anesthesiologist put him to sleep each night and then wake him up each morning. Talk about an interesting moonlighting gig! Can you imagine the conversation the next morning?

Q: "So, what did you do last night?"
A: "Oh, I put Michael Jackson to sleep..."

Why do doctors have such a hard time saying no? Whether it's about antibiotics or controlled substances, so many physicians don't wish to spend extra time to explain why the answer is no. Instead, it's so much easier (and much faster) to say yes. If you want to increase your revenues and see more patients, then you're going to say yes more often than no. Read the CNN story here.

Prescription drug abuse - who's fault is it?

CNN has a story about prescription drug abuse because a recent celebrity (I think we all know who) may have had some problems related to pain pills and sedatives. The story starts with this line:

People who abuse prescription drugs often do so believing the pills are safe because they are prescribed by doctors and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, addiction experts tell CNN.

When we look at the recent statistics, we realize that this is a huge problem:

In 2005, non-medical use of painkillers contributed to more than 8,500 deaths. Overdose deaths involving prescription pain relievers increased 114 percent from 2001 to 2005.

Perhaps the media is to blame? Do you feel that celebrity death stories (related to drug abuse) have been glamorized in any way? We all know that many celebrities have problems with substance abuse. How does that get portrayed to young people living in America?

By 2008, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration's Web site, 38 states had passed legislation to create a database for physicians and pharmacists to prevent abusers from obtaining multiple prescriptions.

Many drug addicts are very sophisticated and they have developed clever schemes to beat the system. Some have multiple identities. Others cross state lines and they eventually learn where they can go for their drugs.

So who's to blame for this drug abuse problem? The doctor? The patient? The drug company? The FDA? Or "all of the above"? What can be done to alleviate this common problem? Certain patients refuse to take controlled substances because they fear addiction. Some physicians
To read the story, click here.

CNN's Sanjay Gupta: Xanax is highly addictive

Xanax (alprazolam) is a DEA controlled substance because it's highly addictive.

10 Xanax pills a night?

How does 10 Xanax pills a night sound? Not too bad if you're down from 30-40 pills.

Everyone wants to learn about vitiligo

All of a sudden, search engines like Google and Yahoo saw a surge in people searching for "vitiligo." Why? You haven't been watching the news, have you? So, let me give you my thoughts about vitiligo. Vitiligo appears to be an autoimmune process directed against melanocytes. These melanocytes provide pigmentation for your skin. Destroy those melanocytes and you're left with no pigment.

Here are some interesting facts about vitiligo:

• Vitiligo is a component of the polyglandular autoimmune syndrome type II (which includes autoimmune thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus, primary adrenal insufficiency, and hypopituitarism.
  
• Vitiligo can occur in association with autoimmune hepatitis, alopecia areata, and pernicious anemia.
• Many people with vitiligo have no family history of vitiligo nor a history of other autoimmune diseases

Given all our recent advances in medical technology, I wonder what type of treatments or cures we'll eventually find for vitiligo. Gene therapy?

Was Michael Jackson's death preventable?

So many people are speculating about what caused Michael Jackson's death. Was it due to drugs? Drug abuse? Prescription drug interactions? Did he have a bad heart? If toxicology tests are going to take six to eight weeks (according to Ed Winter, assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County), then we have plenty of time to speculate and throw ideas around. Will we discover the truth, or will it be hidden from the public?

A recent article in CNN talks about the possibility of drug interactions rooted in prescription opioid medications such as OxyContin and Demerol. Was Jackson in denial about potential drug problems? Demerol can have significant drug-drug interactions and cause serious problems. It's often used to treat patients who present to the emergency room for acute pancreatitis (in reality, almost any opioid will work to relieve pain, but demerol is used in "classic textbook cases." I won't go into the sphincter of Oddi right now). In a highly visible case, 18-year-old Libby Zion died in a New York hospital in 1984 presumably because of drug-drug interactions.

So, was Jackson's death a preventable death? If it was due to drug-drug interactions that could have been avoided, perhaps his story will serve as a public health campaign. To view the CNN article, click here. Image source: CNN

CNN's Sanjay Gupta talks about Michael Jackson's death

Jackson's health and mental problems

We know that Michael Jackson had many health problems (and many rumored health conditions). We don't know the details about his mental health or about the care he received for his addictions and other mental health conditions. CNN reports that we know Jackson had the following problems:

• He was addicted to pain killers
• He had numerous plastic surgery
• He had vitiligo
  
• He's been accused of child molestation
• Rumors about alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
• Rumors about the need for a lung transplant
  
• Rumors about skin cancer

Celebrities never get any privacy, do they? Would you like the entire world to know about the list of your health and mental conditions?

Michael Jackson's death

We've all heard the news. The King of Pop died at the age of 50 at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. According to CNN, he suffered a cardiac arrest. I don't think we know any details beyond that at this point. So, were you a fan of Michael Jackson? I remember being a fan when I was a very young child. Everyone I knew was a fan, so I figured that I'd be a fan too. I remeber him as the pop star who always wore sunglasses.