22W
405S
22W
57N
91E
91W
710W
405S
710E
405N
110E
10E (by accident)
10W
110E
101N
101S
5S
710W
I went to Anaheim for work and Amoeba to get free Sigur Ros tickets for Thursday night with Karisa.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Acapulco Gold, Aunt Mary, Broccoli, Dope, Grass, Grunt, Hay, Hemp, Herb, J, Joint, Joy Stick, Killer Weed, Maryjane, Pot, Ragweed, Reefer, Smoke, Weed
Are all the synonyms my psychiatric nursing textbook "Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing" lists for marijuana. Because I might be acquainted with somebody that has tried marijuana (mj) before (maybe), I thought I'd present some information about the substance from a medical perspective. Much of this information may be common knowledge, but I'll go through a general overview and see where I go from there.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active ingredient in mj that produces mild physiologic effects including: an altered state of awareness, relaxation, mild euphoria, reduced inhibition, increased appetite, red eyes, dry mouth, increased pulse, decreased reflexes, and panic reactions. Mj is a difficult to classify drug. It is sometimes classified as a hallucinogen, although it rarely produces hallucinogenic effects; it does cause sedation, but it is not primarily a CNS depressant.
A cluster of symptoms known as "amotivational syndrome" has been described in some people with prolonged mj use. These symptoms include: apathy, lack of energy, loss of desire to work or be productive, diminished concentration, poor personal hygiene, and preoccupation with mj. Not all studies have not empirically proved this correlation, though many studies show strong associations between prolonged mj use and amotivational syndrome. Throughout mj use, tolerance can develop in heavy users, meaning higher doses are needed to reproduce a desired result. There are no physiologic withdrawal patterns of abstaining from mj, but there psychological symptoms such as cravings, difficulty sleeping, and weight loss.
So, does mj cause lung cancer? Here's a selection from a systematic review done on attempting to define a link between lung cancer and smoking (i've added definitions in brackets to some of the terminology):
That's it for this one I think; let me know what you think. I like to look up topics that might be applicable to some of my acquaintances. These kind of feel like assignments, so if you have an idea you think is interesting, post it and I'll look it up.
References:
Stuart, G., and Laraia, M. (2005). Principles and practice of psychiatric nursing. St. Louis: MO, Mosby.
Mehra, R., Moore, B., Crothers, K., Tetrault, J., and Fiellin, D. (2006). The association between marijuana smoking and lung Cancer: a systematic review. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166, 1359-1367.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active ingredient in mj that produces mild physiologic effects including: an altered state of awareness, relaxation, mild euphoria, reduced inhibition, increased appetite, red eyes, dry mouth, increased pulse, decreased reflexes, and panic reactions. Mj is a difficult to classify drug. It is sometimes classified as a hallucinogen, although it rarely produces hallucinogenic effects; it does cause sedation, but it is not primarily a CNS depressant.
A cluster of symptoms known as "amotivational syndrome" has been described in some people with prolonged mj use. These symptoms include: apathy, lack of energy, loss of desire to work or be productive, diminished concentration, poor personal hygiene, and preoccupation with mj. Not all studies have not empirically proved this correlation, though many studies show strong associations between prolonged mj use and amotivational syndrome. Throughout mj use, tolerance can develop in heavy users, meaning higher doses are needed to reproduce a desired result. There are no physiologic withdrawal patterns of abstaining from mj, but there psychological symptoms such as cravings, difficulty sleeping, and weight loss.
So, does mj cause lung cancer? Here's a selection from a systematic review done on attempting to define a link between lung cancer and smoking (i've added definitions in brackets to some of the terminology):
...There were more cytomorphologic [cell shape] changes, in particular metaplasia [transformation of one type of tissue into another type that is not normal for that tissue-occurs with tumors that do no resemble the tissue from which they are derived], alveolar macrophage tumoricidal dysfunction [dysfunctional white blood cells in the lungs designed to destroy cancerous cells before they start massive replication], enhanced oxidative stress [more injuries to tissues], and histopathologic/molecular alterations associated with marijuana smoking compared with controls or those who smoked tobacco [changes in the resemblence of cells]. These findings offer biological evidence that marijuana smoking could be associated with the development of lung cancer in humans, as has been suggested by animal studies and cell line experiments. Specifically, metaplastic cellular changes may lead to malignant transformation. Abnormal macrophage tumoricidal function may result in unchecked cellular proliferation, and enhanced oxidative stress has been described as a mechanistic link in carcinogenesis presumably via mutagenic oxidative DNA damage....Despite these findings, the small number of observational studies fail to demonstrate a clear association between marijuana smoking and diagnoses of lung cancer. Therefore, we must conclude that no convincing evidence exists for an association between marijuana smoking and lung cancer based on existing data (Mehra, R., Moore, B., Crothers, K., Tetrault, J., Fiellin, D., 2006).Basically, what the author is saying is that everything points to the likelihood of mj causing lung cancer, but based on the current studies that have been conducted, they cannot make the definite claim that there is a link. However, the author does go on to write that this could be attributed to less than ideal measurement techniques: inability to measure dosages for mj smokers, selection bias, and small sample size. So, there is a plethora of evidence that points to the likelihood of the association, but the "smoking gun" of the link has yet to be discovered. To me, it is no different than firefighters who develop lung cancer from inhaling contaminants during a fire, the high prevalence of Chinese women who develop it from frying food with certain ingredients, tobacco smoking, and coal miners from inhaling coal over a long period of time.
That's it for this one I think; let me know what you think. I like to look up topics that might be applicable to some of my acquaintances. These kind of feel like assignments, so if you have an idea you think is interesting, post it and I'll look it up.
References:
Stuart, G., and Laraia, M. (2005). Principles and practice of psychiatric nursing. St. Louis: MO, Mosby.
Mehra, R., Moore, B., Crothers, K., Tetrault, J., and Fiellin, D. (2006). The association between marijuana smoking and lung Cancer: a systematic review. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166, 1359-1367.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Google Reader
I've become addicted to Google Reader, and I changed the color scheme of my blog to reflect my enthusiasm, because it reminds me of it. All you have to do is type in the websites that you normally visit, and whenever they're updated, it uses the RSS feed to automatically notify you in google reader. And if you want to make things super easy, you can use iGoogle to make a google homepage, and then you get to have gmail, google reader, google notebook, and a whole bunch of other things all in one window. Chicks love it, guys are envious of it. It's revolutionizing my existence, and perhaps one day I will read so much that I'll eventually be able to predict all the things that will be written.
On a more dreary note, my ipod's battery finally died (after a good 2.5 years), so I took it apart and looked at the inside, which was pretty cool. If anybody has an extra 4th generation ipod they don't use anymore, can I have the battery? I am pumped though to be able to go get an 80 gigabyte ipod with video, maybe after one more paycheck.
----------------
Now playing: The Knife - Listen Now
via FoxyTunes
On a more dreary note, my ipod's battery finally died (after a good 2.5 years), so I took it apart and looked at the inside, which was pretty cool. If anybody has an extra 4th generation ipod they don't use anymore, can I have the battery? I am pumped though to be able to go get an 80 gigabyte ipod with video, maybe after one more paycheck.
----------------
Now playing: The Knife - Listen Now
via FoxyTunes
Monday, September 17, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Health Promotion
So, awhile ago I was noticing how nearly all of my blogging friends use blogger to upload their masterpieces. I kinda thought blogging was cool, so I wanted to have one, but I was struck with a dilemma: Why would anyone want to read my blog? I posted anyway, and people read (likely due to boredom), but I was still left with an underlying feeling that my blog was pretty pointless.
Over the summer, during my Public Health Nursing class, I realized this blog might be a good avenue to offer miniature pearls of wisdom and snippets of information that I come across in order to help people live healthier and dispel many of the health rumors that become ingrained in our society through the media. My plan is to post small, interesting, health-related information that I come across, and I can also answer questions or look into researching that topic.
DISCLAIMER: It is also important to mention that I'm not a physician, so I cannot diagnose or answer people's quirky questions. If anything ever seems different or not right, it is essential that you make an appointment with your doctor or go to the hospital. There are a lot of legal issues involved in distributing health information electronically, so I want to stay out of that by limiting my posts to more general health concepts rather than try to solve individual's specific questions.
Ok, so my first post is going to be mostly for the ladies, but all the guys that read my blog should know it too so you can tell girls about it. Folic Acid (or folate) is an essential vitamin in the diet to produce red blood cells. Generally, people don't have a deficiency of folic acid in the diet in the U.S., but the important consideration is for sexually-active females. In the early development of the fetus, folic acid is essential to build the neural tube (which eventually becomes the spinal cord and brain), and not having enough folic acid may cause the fetus to have defects such as spina bifida or anencephaly (latin: without head). 400 mcg (micrograms) is the recommendation set for all women of child-bearing age, which happens to be around the usual amount in a multivitamin; otherwise you might find folic acid in leafy vegetables, orange juice, peanuts, and whole grain bread and cereals.
So, that's about what you can expect for the future. There are many important considerations and minerals, like iron, during pregnancy, so always be sure to schedule the prenatal visits with your doctor. I'm thinking my next post is going to address smoking.
Over the summer, during my Public Health Nursing class, I realized this blog might be a good avenue to offer miniature pearls of wisdom and snippets of information that I come across in order to help people live healthier and dispel many of the health rumors that become ingrained in our society through the media. My plan is to post small, interesting, health-related information that I come across, and I can also answer questions or look into researching that topic.
DISCLAIMER: It is also important to mention that I'm not a physician, so I cannot diagnose or answer people's quirky questions. If anything ever seems different or not right, it is essential that you make an appointment with your doctor or go to the hospital. There are a lot of legal issues involved in distributing health information electronically, so I want to stay out of that by limiting my posts to more general health concepts rather than try to solve individual's specific questions.
Ok, so my first post is going to be mostly for the ladies, but all the guys that read my blog should know it too so you can tell girls about it. Folic Acid (or folate) is an essential vitamin in the diet to produce red blood cells. Generally, people don't have a deficiency of folic acid in the diet in the U.S., but the important consideration is for sexually-active females. In the early development of the fetus, folic acid is essential to build the neural tube (which eventually becomes the spinal cord and brain), and not having enough folic acid may cause the fetus to have defects such as spina bifida or anencephaly (latin: without head). 400 mcg (micrograms) is the recommendation set for all women of child-bearing age, which happens to be around the usual amount in a multivitamin; otherwise you might find folic acid in leafy vegetables, orange juice, peanuts, and whole grain bread and cereals.
So, that's about what you can expect for the future. There are many important considerations and minerals, like iron, during pregnancy, so always be sure to schedule the prenatal visits with your doctor. I'm thinking my next post is going to address smoking.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
the guy
- Tom Hughes
- Long Beach, California, United States
- I'm a registered nurse, working at Long Beach Memorial. I enjoy my job very much, though it can be very stressful and difficult at times. In my free time, I read, throw frisbees, and try to score goals for my roller hockey team. I read every piece of information available that pertains to the LA Kings, I rip movies to my hard drive to watch them later, and I love Xbox live. I recently bought a new bike that I pedal around all the time; if you're ever in Long Beach look for me. I love drinking coffee and beer, occasionally to the point of excess, but I make it a point to always have fun.
Posts
All Comments