People who survive an opioid overdose are at increased risk of death in the following year, though not always due to drug use. A new study in JAMA Psychiatry looked at 75,000 adults treated for an opioid overdose between 2001 and 2007; more than 5,000 of whom died within 12 months of the event.
Of those deaths, 25 percent were related to drug use, 13 percent to circulatory system diseases and 10 percent to cancer. And compared to the general population, opioid overdose survivors are more likely to die of viral hepatitis, suicide and chronic respiratory diseases.
Study authors said some of the higher risk reflects risky behaviors more common among drug users, such as smoking. More than 63,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2016, primarily opioids.
Body of Knowledge
A kitchen faucet would need to run continuously, fully open, for at least 45 years to equal the amount of blood pumped by the heart over the course of the average person's lifetime.
Counts
283: Number of times hospital staff incorrectly used protective equipment against infectious pathogens in 325 observed situations (from touching one's face with contaminated gloves to walking into a sick person's room without any protective equipment)
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine
Stories for the Waiting Room
Scientists restored some lost movements in rats that had experienced strokes by zapping them with tiny bits of electricity. The stimulation artificially bolstered the low-frequency oscillations in neurons in the brain that are weakened in some stroke patients but are crucial to coordinating some movements. The work might lead to brain implants in some human stroke patients to improve motion control.
Doc Talk
Activated partial thromboplastin time: a test to measure the time required for a fibrin clot to form in a blood sample
Mania of the Week
Empleomania: an obsession with holding public office. More commonly known as incumbency.
Number Cruncher
A Sonic fudge brownie molten cake sundae (276 grams) contains 800 calories, 306 from fat. It has 34 grams of total fat or 52 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet, according to the caloriecount.com database.
It also contains 65 milligrams of cholesterol (22 percent); 610 mg of sodium (25 percent); 117 grams of total carbohydrates (39 percent); 4 grams of dietary fiber (16 percent), 73 grams of sugar and 8 g of protein.
Never Say Diet
The Major League Eating record for watermelon is 13.22 pounds in 15 minutes, held by Jim Reeves. Ten minutes to eat; five minutes to pick out the seeds.
Best Medicine
Sam visits his doctor for his annual physical.
"Everything looks good," declares Sam's doctor. "You're doing OK for your age."
"For my age," exclaims Sam. "I'm only 75. I want to know if I'll make 80."
"Well" replies the doctor, "do you drink or smoke?"
"No," says Sam.
"Do you eat fatty meats or sweets?"
"No."
"What about activities? Do you engage in thrilling behaviors like racing cars or skiing?"
"Absolutely not," says Sam. "I would never engage in dangerously thrilling activities."
"In that case," the doctor says, "why would you want to live to be 80?"
Observation
"My music isn't just music. It's medicine."
—Noted musician and non-doctor Kanye West
Medical History
This week in 1983, a baboon was the first nonhuman primate conceived in a lab dish. Researchers in San Antonio, Texas took baboon eggs with attached spermatozoa and transferred them surgically into the oviduct of another baboon, who then gave birth to the offspring.
Sum Body
Five medical treatments, once upon a time:
1. Dead mouse paste, used by ancient Egyptians to sooth toothaches
2. Sheep liver diagnosis, before blood tests and X-rays, Mesopotamian doctors scrutinized the livers of sacrificed sheep for what ailed their owners
3. Partial tongue snipping was an 188th century remedy for stuttering
4. Paraffin wax was an early version of Botox and collagen, injected to smooth wrinkles and augment breasts where, not surprisingly, it formed hardened lumps called paraffinomas.
5. "Powder of sympathy" was a balm for sword wounds, composed of earthworms, pig brain, iron rust and bits of mummified corpse. It was applied to the sword, which then healed the wounded person through "sympathetic magic."
Curtain Calls
In 1977, Formula One racecar driver Tom Price was killed at the South African Grand Prix when he was struck in the head by a track marshal's fire extinguisher. Track marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren was running across the racetrack to douse flames from a burning car (one of Price's teammates) when Price's speeding vehicle fatally struck him, the extinguisher sent flying.
To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
View Comments