Controversy Surrounding Marijuana

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I recently watched a very controversial documentary shown on Wealth TV (re-run had previously aired) titled Marijuana Miracle Cure 2 Wired for Weed. This came out a few months ago in 2013, and seems to be a follow up to their Marijuana Miracle Cure program from 2012. If you have not seen it, you may be able to catch another re-run on Wealth TV or you may be able to find the entire 1 hour program (including commercials) on YouTube. The documentary raises some interesting points about marijuana (aka cannabis) and it’s potentially medical properties. Now the first question, I have, is why does Wealth TV have a documentary on marijuana? It seems from the documentary that they are genuinely interested in the potential medical issues of marijuana. This is because of the focus and nature of the documentary, but there … Read more

Long Term Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

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An interesting article appears in the journal PLOS ONE looking at the consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) using rate models. The researchers used rat models and found that overtime TBI results in progressive brain deterioration characterized by elevated inflammation and suppressed cell regeneration. Long-term neurological deficits from TBI related to inflammation may cause more severe secondary injuries and even predispose people to neurodegenerative diseases later in life. Traumatic brain injuries are important to study since troops in the U.S. military have increasingly suffered TBI from improvised explosive devices. One of the coauthors from the journal article (Dr. Paul R. Sanberg) says “Progressive injury to hippocampal, cortical and thalamic regions contributes to long-term cognitive damage post-TBI. Both military and civilian patients have shown functional and cognitive deficits resulting from TBI.” In the study researchers looked at different parts of the … Read more

Potential Risks of Surgery for Wisdom Teeth (Third Molars)

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M. Anthony Pogrel in his article “What Are the Risks of Operative Intervention?” in the Journal of Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery vol. 70, pp. 33-36, 2012, suppl. 1, goes into complications associated with removing impacted wisdom teeth (third molars). I have previously explored this topic in detail over at http://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html. Although I did a poor job of distinguishing actual complications from negligence. In the article, Pogrel describes how studies have indicated that around 10% (1 in 10) of people undergoing removal of third molars may suffer from a complication. However, most of these complications are mild and will completely resolve in time. Pogrel states “Complications from M3 removal can be divided into 2 groups: those that are short-lived and self limiting, including bleeding, inflammatory complications such as surgical site infection and alveolar osteitis, or “dry socket,” drug reactions, displaced crowns … Read more

Senate Report Calls for Removing Deceptive Corporate Dentistry Entities From Medicaid

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Previously I have written an article titled Fraud and Abuse in Medicaid Clinics where a discussion was made that currently dentists have large amounts of debt when they graduate from school. This leads to them having to face potentially hard and difficult choices to pay their bills as they essentially become indentured servants. Recently Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) published a 1517 page report in June 2013, titled “JOINT STAFF REPORT ON THE CORPORATE PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY IN THE MEDICAID PROGRAM.” This report is a very large PDF file (143 MB) and is available for download over at http://www.finance.senate.gov/library/prints/.  Don’t be intimidated by the size of the report though as it really is a bit over 30 pages with the rest of the 1400+ pages serving as an appendix. Hence, it is very readable. The report talks … Read more

Melatonin may be more effective than Amitriptyline for Migraine Prevention

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Melatonin is an over the counter supplement and it has shown to be more effective than placebo for migraine prevention. In addition, it has a more favorable adverse effect profile than the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline. A study from a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial showed that 3 mg of melatonin was more effective than placebo and had similar efficacy as 25 mg of amitriptyline. In addition, melatonin is better tolerated then amitriptyline without as much daytime sleepiness and no side effects of weight gain. Melatonin is a hormone that helps to regulate the sleep and wake cycle. It is often used to aid with sleep and help with jet lag. I have used melatonin (3mg or more most nights) to aid with falling asleep when it was suggested by a physician due to trouble falling asleep ever since having a … Read more