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Are antidepressants and bladder medications contributing to dementia?

Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied Healthcare

Dementia is the leading cause of dependence and disability. The number of people living with dementia worldwide is currently estimated at 47 million and is projected to increase to 75 million by 2030 and triple by 2050. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors that affect the brain over time. A new landmark study led by the University of East Anglia (UK) and funded by Alzheimer's Society, however, indicates that antidepressants and bladder medications may be linked to dementia.

Sleep better to work better

Lisa Mulcahy Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Your inbox is filled to the brim, you're cruising toward multiple deadlines, and you're facing a day full of meetings — all on four hours of sleep. There’s no doubt about it: we all face insomnia from time to time, and it's bound to make an impact at the office. Yet, you can break the pattern. If you've been feeling extra-exhausted lately, here are a range of surprising but surefire tips for rebooting your internal clock and making a fresh start when it comes to getting the rest you need.

New ways to help your patients comply with medical instructions

Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied Healthcare

Every doctor has to deal with a difficult, frustrating fact: some patients simply don't follow their recommendations properly. Obviously, this situation is worrisome in that it can lead to adverse outcomes, hospitalizations and drug interactions. There's good news, though: researchers have been looking into innovative ways for physicians to encourage more convenient compliance. Try these fresh, proven tips to help your patients more effectively focus on participating in their own care.

Your stress, my brain: Communicating stress to others

Dorothy L. Tengler Mental Healthcare

Stress affects everyone. Whether it’s routine stress related to pressures at work, school or family, stress that occurs from a sudden negative change, such as job loss, divorce, illness or traumatic stress that occurs after a major accident, physical assault or natural disaster, our recovery depends on our coping skills. Recognizing the signs of stress, such as insomnia, increased alcohol consumption, anger, depression and low energy levels, is the first step in coping.

Are cannabinoid products causing preventable blindness?

Dr. Denise A. Valenti Pharmaceutical

Are users of cannabinoids slowly going blind and not knowing it? Cannabidiol has been shown to cause the transient glaucoma symptom of high eye pressure. Cannabidiol-CBD is the nonpsychoactive ingredient found in marijuana and hemp. There needs to be more research related to cannabinoids, including CBD. Not once, but twice, the media and the public have failed to notice research findings that CBD spikes the pressure of eyes in animals.

Nursing faces a huge expertise gap in coming years

Joan Spitrey Healthcare Administration

There is little debate that healthcare is facing a potentially unprecedented nursing shortage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2014-2024, the total number of job openings for nurses due to growth and replacements will be 1.09 million by 2024. One of the significant contributing factors to the future need for nurses is the impending retirement of baby boomers, who currently make up 40 percent of registered nurses in the United States. The loss of these nurses caring for patients will also see years of experience and expertise go by the wayside, leaving nursing with a significant knowledge gap.

Ways to calm an anxious dental patient

Lisa Mulcahy Oral & Dental Healthcare

Sure, you can break out the gas or needle to sedate a nervous patient in your chair — but setting a accepting, relaxing and communicative atmosphere in your practice can actually be a better way to calm things down. These simple and research-proven tips can help your patients relax, and see you as an empathetic professional who has their emotional comfort, as well as their physical comfort, as a priority.

Physicians unhappy with EHRs may have unhappy patients, too

Scott E. Rupp Healthcare Administration

Physicians unhappy with an EHR system could pass that sentiment on to their patients — in the form of lower patient satisfaction scores, so says a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. That makes complete sense, of course. How many times have you expressed discontent about some object or form of technology only to see those same sentiments reflected in the attitudes of your spouse or partner, children or co-workers?

7 tips to perfect word-of-mouth marketing at your PT practice

Jarod Carter Sports & Fitness

While online marketing may be shiny and glamorous, word-of-mouth marketing is the bedrock of any successful cash-based physical therapy practice. But it doesn’t always "just happen organically," and there are many ways to maximize these types of referrals for your private practice. In this article, Jarod Carter shares the most successful methods he uses at his clinic to get high-converting reviews and word-of-mouth referrals from his patients.

What to make of the drop in pharmacy school enrollments

Jason Poquette Pharmaceutical

In his excellent blog, Kevin Mero, the president of PharmacyWeek, detailed the latest data on pharmacy school enrollments…and for the first time ever, they are all down! The data come from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) website and refers to the latest information from 2017. Could this be the tipping point for the infusion of pharmacists into workforce? And what does a downward trend in pharmacy school enrollment mean?

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