Focus on Neurology and Psychiatry

Latest Episodes:

Fight or Flight: Understanding Our Body's Response to Adrenaline Aug 21, 2018

Show notes

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

In a time when humans walked among wild animals, the fight-or-flight response could've been the difference between eating dinner or being dinner. Today, however, the effect of this stress could be much more problematic for our society. In a review of his findings, Dr. Pratha Dutta joins Dr. Brian McDonough to focus on how our body and immune system react to sympathetic activation and what this might mean for some of your patients.

Beauty in the Broken Places: Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience Jul 27, 2018

Show notes

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Guest: Allison Pataki

Five months pregnant, on a flight headed for Hawaii, Allison Pataki's life took a sudden turn when she witnessed her husband, Dave Levy, lose consciousness. After an emergency landing and evaluation, Levy was found to have had suffered a rare stroke.

When he woke the next day, he had amnesia, leaving the young couple holding onto hope for recovery. True to form, Pataki began to write letters to her husband—letters that became the foundation for Beauty in the Broken Places: A Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience.

FDA Warns of Serious Immune Reaction with Seizure/BPD Medicine Lamotrigine (Lamictal) May 04, 2018

Show notes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the medicine lamotrigine (Lamictal) for seizures and bipolar disorder can cause a rare but very serious reaction that excessively activates the body’s infection-fighting immune system. This can cause severe inflammation throughout the body and lead to hospitalization and death, especially if the reaction is not diagnosed and treated quickly.

A link to the full communication detailing specific information for health care professionals and a list of FDA-approved GBCAs can be found at www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety

Released 4/25/2018

Detecting Depression: How to Assess Patients & the Benefits of TMS Treatment Apr 30, 2018

Show notes

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

With a wide spectrum of symptoms, treating depression often becomes frustrating—not only for the patient, but for the primary care physician as well. Joining Dr. Brian McDonough is Dr. Paul Gross, founder of the TMS Center of Lehigh Valley, to address the difficulties of properly identifying depression. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Green also exposes the impactful therapy Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), which has been linked to improving other diseases beyond depression.

High Price: How A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery is Challenging Society's Perception on Drugs Feb 19, 2018

Show notes

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD
Guest: Carl Hart, MD

Carl Hart, who grew up in one of Miami’s toughest neighborhoods, escaped a life of crime and drugs and avoided becoming one of the crack addicts he now helps treat as the Chair of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. His landmark, controversial research is redefining our understanding of addiction and demonstrates how personal experience and scientific study can inform and validate each other for a deeper understanding of human behavior and addiction.

Host Dr. Maurice Pickard talks with Dr. Hart, author of the book High Price, about the relationship between drugs and pleasure, choice, and motivation, both in the brain and in society. They explore how his research sheds new light on common ideas about race, poverty, and drugs, and explain why current policies are failing.

Dr. Bennett Omalu on the Dangers of Concussions and CTE Jan 19, 2018

Show notes

Host: Shira Johnson, MD
Guest: Bennett Omalu, MD

Many studies have demonstrated long-lasting and even permanent brain damage that can originate from just one concussion. With athletes suffering multiple repeated head traumas due to high-contact sports, the controversies over player safety and long-term health risks remain hot-button issues.

Pathologist Dr. Bennett Omalu coined the term "CTE" and published the first evidence for chronic traumatic encephalopathy after autopsying American football players. In this second of a two-part interview, he shares his perspectives on CTE in athletes and the lifelong dangers of contact sports.

The Autopsy that Changed American Sports: Dr. Bennett Omalu and the Story of CTE Jan 19, 2018

Show notes

Host: Shira Johnson, MD
Guest: Bennett Omalu, MD

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others who experience repetitive brain trauma. Pathologist Dr. Bennett Omalu coined the term "CTE" and published the first evidence for this condition after autopsying American football players.

Host Dr. Shira Johnson welcomes Dr. Omalu to share the story of his discovery and the medical, athletic, and public responses that followed.

Beyond Medication: Treatment Options for Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Dec 11, 2017

Show notes

Host: David Weisman, MD

It is estimated that approximately 30% of epilepsy patients are drug-resistant, meaning their seizures do not successfully respond to anti-seizure medications. What other treatment options are available to patients who aren’t responding to medication?

Host Dr. David Weisman chats with Dr. Lara Marcuse, Co-Director of Mount Sinai Epilepsy Center, about new and emerging treatment options for epilepsy.

Concussions and Blast Injuries in War: How to Protect our Military Personnel Dec 11, 2017

Show notes

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN

There is still a great deal to learn about the long term effects of blast injuries on military personnel. Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to a blast can produce both overt and subtle neurological consequences in the brain, but much remains unknown.

Host Dr. Andrew Wilner is joined by Dr. Jack Tsao, Director of Traumatic Brain Injury Programs for the US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and Professor of Neurology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is a Captain in the United States Navy, and an expert in detection and prevention of traumatic brain injury in active duty military personnel.

Altering the Collision Course: Protective Effects of Omega-3 Intake on Concussions Dec 05, 2017

Show notes

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

There is nearly a 20% chance that each of us will suffer a concussion this year. More concerning yet, over 30% of those concussions will lead to a long-term, potentially permanent disability. Many studies have explored how the use of Omega-3 fatty acids may add some measure of resilience within the brain to withstand injury in those at significant risk.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough chats with Dr. Michael Lewis, founder of the nonprofit Brain Health Education and Research Institute about how the utilization of Omega-3 fatty acids may facilitate the concussion healing process and relieve symptoms.