Simply Medicine 04/22/2023

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Episode Transcript

(00:09):
A rebel. We all want tochange the world. Back pain can cause
people to miss out on a lotof work and the fun things in life.
But what's the root cause of yours? We're going to discuss it.
I'm Eginette Levy and welcome to SimplyMedicine, the show designed to make medicine

(00:32):
better, simpler, and less expensivefor you. Thanks for joining us for
this week's edition of Simply Medicine.We're going to be discussing back pain.
It's a big issue, a bigmedical issue. Will also be talking with
a nurse practitioner who helped design adevice for children who are getting anaesthesia as
they go into surgery to help reducethat anxiety. If you've ever seen a

(00:53):
child going into surgery, you knowhow much putting that mask on them can
really freak them out. Also,we're going to talk with a woman who
is the first person, the firstrecipient of a heart transplant from the christ
Hospital. They started performing heart transplantslast year. But first let's talk about
back pain. I read once thatit's a major cause of people missing out

(01:17):
on work. And if you've everexperienced back pain, you've thrown out your
back, You've tweaked something. Youknow how debilitating it can be. I
know I've experienced pain from my psiaticnerve being kind of touched by a bulging
disk and things like that, andit's just it's awful when it acts up.
Joining me to discuss this topic isdoctor Ryan Seal. He's an orthopedic

(01:42):
spine surgeon at the Christ Hospital herein Cincinnati. Welcome back to simply Medicine.
Doctor Seal, tell me a littlebit about back pain and what typically
is the cause of back pain.Sure, so, back pain can have
several different sources. One of themost important things to realize is that if
you experience back pain, you're notalone. In fact, the majority of
people were experienced back pain at somepoint in their adult life. I think

(02:06):
eight out of ten is what theliterature tells us. But the majority of
back pain gets better. Sometimes ittakes a while, though, and it
usually takes anywhere from a few weeksto even a year, but the majority
gets better. There's several different sources, and the majority of the sources are
actually not within the spine itself,but they're actually from the multitude of muscles
and ligaments that connect your spine together. And help it move. So even

(02:29):
just a strain of one single musclein your low back can cause what feels
like just the most miserable, severepain in your back. So that's one
one thing that can start it.It can just be something as simple as
a muscle strain or spasm. Whatcauses a muscle strain or spasm? Is
it overuse? Is it just movingfunny? You know? I know I've

(02:50):
just bent over before to pick somethingup, and then I stand up and
I've got a huge twinge in mylower back. So you know what what
causes these things? So you knowit can be I mean, just like
any muscular or muscular skeletal injury.It can be from one obvious episode where
you do something too much, oryou do something the wrong way, like

(03:12):
picking up something heavy turning the wrongway, where a muscle just fires in
an admirable way and you get thesemicroscopic tears in them, which then causes
inflammation, which sends signals to yourbrain that says, hey, it hurts
here. Okay. So that's oneobvious thing and most people have probably experienced
that. But it can also belike this small accumulation over time where you're

(03:35):
constantly kind of doing something that's alittle bit different, and then that can
add up, whether it be overa week or a month or years.
For example, I see patients allthe time who, let's say they go
on vacation. All right, theygo on vacation, they're doing something different
from what their normal routine is,and they're walking on the beach, which
is great. They're doing a lotmore walking, but they're doing so without

(03:58):
shoes or different terrain. And suddenlythat manifest itself and just a change in
your activity, which can then leadto a muscular strain because you're using muscles
or trying to do things in adifferent way. Now, that doesn't mean
the pain is gonna last forever,but it can lead to that pain,
which then makes you think that there'ssomething serious going on. I will say
also, when when COVID came through, there were so many more people working

(04:18):
from home that we saw a lotof people with all this back pain because
suddenly they were sitting anymore, theywere doing work from their desk, they
weren't getting up as often because theywere at home, or for as long
because they weren't at the office.They weren't getting up to commute. So
all of that led to more timeof people coming into the office, but

(04:40):
it didn't lead to more operations forpeople. So I feel like we saw
like standing desks shoot up and youknow stay rocket and popularity. I know
I have one myself, because ifyou're sitting at a computer for a long
period of time, you know,you tend to not be sitting up straight,
you know, engaging your or asyou should be, all of that

(05:01):
good stuff. We are here talkingwith doctor Ryan Seal. He's an orthopedic
surgeon with a Christ's Hospital here inCincinnati, and we're talking about back pain
and whether or not when you haveback pain, is it a muscle issue,
is it a disc issue? Whoknows? And that's one of my
main questions to you. You know, you talked about a muscle strain or
muscle spasm that can sometimes occur withthe back. How do you know that

(05:26):
it's not maybe a herniated disc versusa muscle spasm or muscle strain, and
can you have both at the sametime. Yeah, So what I would
say is if you have a problemthat is within the spinal canal, like
a herniated disk or some substantial arthritisand degenerative disc disease and other things that
we talk about. Often those canthen lead to the muscle spasm, and

(05:50):
then that's where things get a littlecomplicated. But to answer your specific question,
if a patient has a discarniation,that's meaningful. Often you won't just
have the sensation of muscle spasm inyour back. You're gonna have the sciatica
symptoms which patients often complain of,and that most people are familiar with,
the pain shooting down your leg.Keep in mind, though, that that

(06:12):
pain doesn't have to be in whatpeople traditionally consider the sciatic portion. More
often than not, it does occurkind of back in the buttock, down
the back of the leg to theheel and the bottom of the foot,
but it can occur on the sideof the leg. Sometimes patients can plain
of pain radiating into their groin orinto their thigh. Sometimes they simply complain
of some dense numbness in their shinor in the top of their foot.

(06:33):
Those are the types of things thatwould make you believe, all right,
this may not just be a musclespasm. There could be something else going
on, like a discarniation. Thediscarniation issue, it's my understanding. Please
correct me if I'm wrong. You'rethe expert that typically you have to do
an MRI to detect that it's notalways visible on an X ray. Is

(06:54):
that correct? So that's one hundredpercent correct. So you cannot get any
sense of exactly what's going on insidethe spinal canal without an MRI. There
are some other studies and patients whocan't get MRIs for various reasons. But
MRI is the definitive study to seeif you have a meaningful discarniation because it
shows us the nerves, it showsus the discs themselves, whereas an X

(07:15):
ray really shows us the alignment ofthe bones and things of that nature,
but it can't show us inside thecanal. It can't show us the nerves
or the discs themselves. And anMRI, I mean, most insurance,
as far as I know, Icould be wrong about this, they typically
want you to do things like PTand stuff like that before they sign off
on an MRI. I mean,you're not going to just say I mean,

(07:39):
you, as a doctor may sayI want my patient to get an
MRI, but that's not a firstyou know, that's not one of the
things you can do first to detectit correct. So you know, imaging
isn't always the first line. Imean a lot of patients want to come
in and say, all right,there's something going into my back. Doesn't
MRI make sense here? But insurancecompanies kind of look at the big picture,
right, they're trying to save money. But as physicians in some degree

(08:01):
try and do the same thing.But we look at each case individually,
right. So if a patient comesin and they don't have any overtly concerning
findings from a neurologic standpoint, andwe do that through a history and a
physical examination, then often we don'tpursue the MRI. Initially, we pursue
some physical therapy, maybe some medications, and after that, if that does

(08:22):
not improve the situation in a meaningfulway, then that's when an MRI can
be helpful. Is there really anythingyou can do to help a herniated disk?
I've heard of, you know,some surgeries that where you can put
some things. I don't want tomisstate this, I'll let you do it.
It's you. You know, whenthe spongey stuff kind of wears out,

(08:43):
if you can kind of somehow repairthat or put in replacement I'm not
sure so. Unfortunately, when itcomes to discarniations in the lumbar spine,
we don't have the technology to replaceor regenerate the disks. Usually with the
goal of the operations in the surgeriesare is to relieve that unrelenting leg pain
or that new acute, severe painthat patients are experiencing because of the pressure

(09:07):
on the nerves. In those situations, we are simply taking out the small
fragment that's causing a problem and tryingto leave the rest of the rest of
the disc alone. So imagine ifyou had a bottle of Ketchup, perfectly
good bottle of Ketchup, and atiny little bit leaks out on a shirt.
Okay, well you're not going tothrow away the whole bottle of Ketchup

(09:28):
just to take care of that tinylittle dot. Right, You go in,
you take care of the dot,you treat the stain, and then
that's it. But the bottle ofKetchup doesn't necessarily go bad just because you
stain the shirt. You treat theshirt, get the stain out, the
shirt's good. The bottle of Ketchupis fine for the next time, and
then you carry on. Well,this has been a very interesting chat.
I appreciate you coming on doctor RyanSeal to talk with us about this.

(09:50):
One final thought from me, orone final question I should say, is
there anything you can do to preventdisc herniation or degeneration? A lot of
these things are genetic. Sometimes itcan come from think, you know,
exercising too much, things of thatnature. So is there anything to prevent
this? Sure? So, likeyou mentioned, genetics does play a role,

(10:11):
right, So it's important for patientsto remember that there's a certain element
of this that they can't control andif those things cause the problem, then
you just live with it and wecan help. Having said that, there
are some elements which are under patient'scontrol. So the first one I talk
to patients about, which is areally tough one, is weight. So
there is evidence to suggest that weightabove what we would consider normal for a

(10:31):
person's height can lead to increase stresson the disc degeneration of the potential for
herniations and other problems. The nextis smoking and tobacco use and nicotine use
that has been proven to cause discsto deteriorate more rapidly and potentially cause problems.
Okay, beyond that, there arecertain jobs that we think can cause
issues. One that comes to mindis like a long haul truck driver and

(10:56):
this would be over decades experiences repetitivevibration or pistoning of his low back.
We think that that can lead todegeneration of the disks. Having said that,
that is after a long, longperiod of time, discarnations themselves can
happen with an aggressive or cough orsneeze. So it's it's not I don't

(11:16):
think patients should live their lives scaredof those things happening. But if you're
gonna pick up something heavy, youknow, do the things that you know
to do right, keep your backin a night's neutral position, bend at
the knees if you can have somehelp to do so, to do that.
But beyond that, smoking weight,tobacco, you know, those are
the things to avoid. Doctor RyanSeal, We appreciate you coming on again,

(11:39):
happy to be here. Thank you. Up next, a new device
designed at Children's Hospital here in Cincinnatito help children who are receiving anesthesia can
be a really stressful experience for them. We're going to talk to one of
the people who helped design it.I'm Enginette Levy, and this is Simply
Medicine on fifty five KRC the talkstation. I'm an Ginette Leib and this

(12:03):
is Simply Medicine on fifty five KRCthe talk Station. If you've ever had
a child and watched your child gointo surgery, or at least be prepped
for surgery, you know it canbe terrifying for them. Well, there
is somebody at since Any Children's Hospitalwho has come up with something to make
that process a little less stressful forthe child, the parent, and everybody

(12:26):
involved, particularly the child. Sheis doctor Abbey Hess. She's a nurse
practitioner with the Department of Anesthesiology,and she is also a clinical researcher there
at since Any Children's Hospital. Soat Abby Hess, welcome to Simply Medicine.
Thanks for coming on. When kidsare getting ready to go into surgery,

(12:46):
they have to be put under anesthesia, and that can be a really
scary experience, especially for a youngerchild. So talk to us a little
bit about what your experience has beenin seeing children deal with this. Yeah.
Absolutely, it's such a high anxietymoment. You know, kids roll
back into the operating room on thatstretcher and we put an anesthesia mask on

(13:07):
their face to have them breathe gasesand go off to sleep. And over
the years, you know, studieshave shown that that is often the highest
point of anxiety for kids, andso we really want to make that a
lot easier because we know that kidswho go to sleep fighting may wake up
fighting and have more difficult wake up, so higher reports of delirium, higher

(13:30):
reports of pain, and sometimes evennegative behavioral changes after they go home.
And so we really want to makethat moment as low stress, low anxiety
as we can, both for thatmoment in the hospital but also for kind
of their long term outcomes. Iknow one of the things that they do
is they flavor the anaesthesthesia to makeit like smell good or taste good whatever,

(13:50):
And you know that that helps Ithink for just like a second or
two, obviously kids like things thatsmell good and taste good. Tell us
a little bit about the specifics ofthis, just so parents kind of can
visualize it since we're doing radio here. Yeah, So what we've created it's
called the Easy Induction App and it'sa breathing controlled video game. So picture

(14:16):
a standard tablet and then into theback of the case we built a breathing
censor, and that little breath sensorit actually connects just to our normal anesthesia
mask and anesthesia tubing, and sothe kid puts all the anesthesia mask,
that tubing is connected to the tablet, and when they breathe into the mask,
they can win different challenges like blowingup balloons or flying a hot air

(14:39):
balloon across a canyon. Oh that'scool. So, I know sometimes all
the time. Really things inventions cantake some time. So when did you
first start working on this? Yeah, so we got the first grant from
Cincinnati Children's Innovation Fund back in twentysixteen, and it's been a constant learning
experience since. You know, Commercializationalways takes a while. Commercialization products in

(15:03):
the medical setting often take even longerbecause there's just a lot more components when
it's going to be used in themedical setting. But yeah, so we
also had multiple rounds of funding thatwe did and multiple rounds of testing both
internally and externally, so lots ofdifferent pieces to get it from idea into
practice. We are here talking withAbby Hess. She is a nurse practitioner

(15:26):
and clinical researcher at Cincinnati Children's HospitalMedical Center Department of Anaesthesiology, and we
are talking about easy Induction and it'sa product that she has helped design and
come up with, and they're launchingit to help children kind of reduce their
anxiety as they're preparing to go intosurgery. Have you tested this on many

(15:48):
children? I would assume that it'sbeen kind of used there at Children's.
Yes, so we have used thisin practice at Cincinnati Children's. We've also
had one beta testing site at anexternal hospital. You know, the feedback
that we have gotten has been reallypositive. It's pretty amazing to see,
you know, how quickly patients figurethis out. You know, it's sort
of just like anything else on theirtablet. There's a new app. They

(16:11):
want to play it so instantly theysee these cute little zoo animals. They
put on the mask to wake themup, and then they're just you know,
enjoying getting to play the rest ofthe levels and use the rest of
the game. And so I thinkwith parents it's really nice because it also
can help them to engage their childin the process and kind of as you
mentioned, that can be a reallyhigh anxiety moment for parents too, and

(16:33):
it's often hard to know how tocoach your child through that moment. But
if you have a game where they'reable to focus on something fun and positive,
all of a sudden, it becomessomething that is really easy to get
them through that moment if they engagewell with the game. And so that's
something that our parents have shared isthat hey, this actually lower my anxiety
too. Gave me something to helpengage my child as I taught them about

(16:55):
this in the pre app area.Oh sure, sure, it looks like
it's been like sends to a particularcompany. Is Little Seed Calming Technologies.
Yes, so we are working withLittle Seed and they have licensing agreement with
Cincinnati children so they're actually now ableto get this out to other hospitals who
want to be early adopters. Youknow, we at Cincnati Children's have over

(17:18):
forty thousand anesthetics a year, andacross the country there's millions of kids who
have anesthesia. So we're really excitedto have the opportunity to partner with Little
Seeds so that we could get thisout to any hospital and to any patient
who could benefit. Well. Ithink it's really interesting and exciting. So
I mean, when will this processstart it says in twenty twenty three.

(17:40):
Obviously that's this year. So arethere people, you know, other medical
facilities hospitals right now who are beingpitched this or who have already signed onto
it. Yes, so Little Seedis currently partnering with several different organizations to
get some of these devices out toour early adopters. They're more than happy

(18:00):
to have other hospitals, you know, contact them to talk about the next
steps in the process too. Butyes, our goal is to first have
this with the early adopters and thenLittle Seed will work with scaling it up
from there. Well, I thinkit's really exciting anything you can do to
reduce stress and anxiety levels for everybodyinvolved, particularly the child of when they're

(18:21):
preparing for surgery. It's scary enough. So I think this is cool and
it's just another thing that Cincinnati Children'shas developed to help our kids. So
doctor Abby has thank you so muchfor coming on. We appreciate it,
Thank you so much. Coming up, we'll hear from a woman who has
a new heart. I'm Anginette Levyand you're listening to Simply Medicine on fifty

(18:41):
five KRC, the talk station.I'm Anginette Levy, and you're listening to
Simply Medicine on fifty five KARC,the talk station. It is Donate Life
Month. That means so we're highlightingcases of Oregon donation, organ transplantation and
really trying to get the word outabout people becoming organ donors. Recently,

(19:06):
the Christ Hospital started a heart transplantprogram and we've told you about it on
the show before. And joining meto discuss this is Terry Cecir and her
husband George. Terry was the firstpatient at the Christ Hospital to receive a
heart transplant through this program. SoTerry and George, welcome to Simply Medicine.

(19:26):
Thank you very much, thank you, thank you for having this.
Terry, just quickly tell us whyyou needed a heart transplant. I had
been diagnosed with cardio myopathy and heartfailure nineteen years ago, and during that
time, until probably a year ago, I had been moving along, as

(19:47):
doctor O'Brien, my cardiologist part failurespecialist, said, riding the wave.
And every time I needed something tonew because my numbers were going in the
wrong direction, a new medica,a new device became available, and for
those nineteen years we pretty much justlived our life, and it was always

(20:10):
in the back of our minds thatheart failure you don't recover from it.
It's something that is progressive and thereis an end game. And last summer,
doctor O'Brien said, you know,our numbers are going in the wrong
direction, and I think we needto refer you to the Advanced Heart Failure

(20:30):
Clinic. And so that's what firststep that brought me towards a heart transplant.
Now, Terry, I'm a woman, and they say you should never
ask a woman her age, butI have to ask you, how old
are you? I just turned sixtythree, Okay, so please don't hold
that against me, but I thinkit's important to note that you can be
younger and experienced the need for aheart transplant and can be experiencing heart failure.

(20:56):
It's really it's a really scary thing. So how long were you on
the list? Well, actually Ihad to go through the testing to see
if I qualified or a hard transplantor if I would have to have an
LVAD, which is an assistive devicethat pumps the heart. It's an internal

(21:17):
device, and so most of thecriteria, the tests and things were the
same for either procedure. And thenit was determined that I was a candidate
for a heart transplant, and soafter testing on November first, I was
listed with UNOS and on November fourthwe got notification that a heart was available.

(21:41):
And because I was a patient inthe hospital on an Impella pump that
was pumping my heart to help takethe stress off of the heart, I
entered the listing as a number twolevel two status and so the heart became
available, you know, virtually withinthree days. Wow. Listed, So

(22:04):
you go through the heart transplant.You know, your husband George is with
you. That's George. How howscary was this when her condition became more
serious and the prognosis more grave.Well, of course it took us a
little bit of back. When wewere first referred to the Advanced Heart Failure

(22:25):
program. Its knew that, asas Terry had mentioned in the long journey
we've been on with heart failure,that the endgame was, you know,
probably a transplant at some point.But Terry had done so well through the
nineteen years that she'd been you know, end heart failure that we had just
sort of kind of put that inthe back of our mind. And this
all happened very quickly. We reallystarted engaging with a heart failure team at

(22:52):
the beginning of October last year,and Rice Hospital had was just about to
become defied to do hard transplants.That happened on October seventh. We've met
with the surgeon on October the twentythird, the heart transplant surgeon, doctor
Dowling, and then went to thetesting and into the hospital on the twenty

(23:15):
sixth of October, and then,as Terry said, November first, the
listing and then the heart on Novemberfourth. So it was scary, it
was no question about it. Itwas something that you know, we had
thought about and talked about, butnot really something that we expected. I
think it was probably beneficial that thingsmoved along as quickly as they did because

(23:36):
we didn't have a whole lot oftime to think about it. There was
some you know, concern and alittle bit of trepidation when it came to
the fact that she was going tobe the first. But we did some
research on the doctors and on theprogram, and we've been with doctor O'Brien
in the Christ's Hospital for sixteen yearsand had a lot of confidence and we
certainly felt that being the first wasactually going to allow a lot of scrutiny

(24:00):
on Terry in terms of them watchingher. And I know in the post
transplant time frame when she was stillin the CBICU, I know I felt
comfortable because there were literally there's nothingshe could do that somebody wasn't monitoring and
watching and reacting to if anything,you know, went in the wrong way.
So, you know, scary,but it's also interesting that that Terry

(24:25):
through the entire thing has had justthis very zen attitude about it, and
that was inspirational to me, andI know it helped me through, you
know, my part of it aswell, because you know, as a
caregiver, and it's it's a lottoo, but certainly nothing compared to,
you know, what she went through. She had all of those misgivings and
the physical part of going through thatmajor surgery. And on November fourth,

(24:49):
when we were notified that a matchwas found, there was a delay.
We didn't the heart didn't arrive tothe hospital until the evening of November if
and during that time twin the morning, when we found out the heart was
available and the arrival of the heart, I just kind of went into like
he said, this is zen feeling, and I didn't get upset, I

(25:11):
didn't get nervous. I was verycalm. And I don't know where that
came from. Um, everything hasseemed to fall into place all along during
my advanced heart failure and in priorthat, it just was we were calm,
We were right, you know,and we said whatever the donor family
and the you know, the donorneed, if they need extra time,

(25:34):
that was okay with us. Iwasn't going to get worked up about you
knows that delays or anything. Again, whatever the donor family needs, they
should be the priority. Yeah.One of the things that what they were
doing, you know, saying goodbye, and I was fortunate to receive this
gift from them. Every time theycome in and say something like, you

(25:56):
know, there's another delay, We'resorry. There's response was always listening to
the donor and the donor family aregoing through something far worse than we are.
We're happy to sit here and wait, and they, the donor and
the donor family, which of courseare anonymous to us at this point,
have always been part of the picturefor us from the very beginning. It's

(26:17):
been the one area that I knowTerry gets the most emotional about and I
do as well when you think aboutthe sacrifice that was may save her lack.
We are here talking with Terry Cecirand her husband George, and Terry
was the recipient of the first hearttransplant performed by the christ Hospital surgeons at
the Christ's Hospital. That program startedlast year and she's here with us,

(26:41):
Thank goodness. And Terry, howare you feeling. I've actually feeling better
every day, stronger. I'm notback to where I was prior at the
transplant, but I can feel thatI am getting there. Spring. Amen,
I thought, that's all I need. I need Spring to finally be

(27:03):
here. And you know, justall the newness, renewed sense of life
with Spring is what I was lookingforward to. And really this is where
I saw a term in how Ifeel. As sadly, as you mentioned,
someone had to lose a loved one, someone had to pass away in
order for you to get a heart. But you wouldn't have gotten that heart

(27:26):
had that person not been an organdonor or been willing to donate their organs
after they passed away. So thisis an incredibly important thing, you know,
checking that box when you get yourdriver's license or letting your family know
what your wishes are. Absolutely.Yeah. We have been donors listed on

(27:48):
with our driver's license for many years. And you know, you check that
box and then you don't really thinkabout it. You know, life goes
on and you always assume everything's goingto be okay, that you're not going
to need this wonderful gift, orthat someone you know and love is not
going to receive it. But itdoes happen, and you need to be
prepared. As you said, letyour family members know, you know,

(28:11):
check that box because it is themost wonderful gift that you could give to
someone else. Well, Terry,we wish you the very best and we're
so glad that you were able toget this transplant. And we hope that
you know things you continue to improveand that that heart keep speeding strongly for
you and for George. Thank youso much for joining us. Oh,

(28:33):
you're very welcome. Thank you verymuch, you're very welcome, and thanks
again for having us and for highlightingthe need for donation. It's certainly a
wonderful thing and something that we're verypassionate about, no doubt, very very
easy to do. Just check thatbox. Absolutely coming up we have some
big news for you about DeMar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills player that collapsed in

(28:56):
Cincinnati earlier this year during a gameagainst the Bengals. Plus we have some
COVID vaccine news you'll want to hearabout. And later we'll talk with somebody
from the DA about a drug that'shitting the streets that's very dangerous. I'm
an Ginette Levy and you're listening toSimply Medicine on fifty five KARC, the
Talk station. I'm an Ginette Levyand you're listening to Simply Medicine on fifty

(29:22):
five KARC the Talk Station. Alot going on in the health world this
week, a lot of health news. First up, a big update for
you. Buffalo Bill's safety DeMar Hamlinwill return to the field. He announced
this week that he's been cleared toplay. Hamlin became a household name in
the worst way earlier this year.You probably saw it when he collapsed on

(29:45):
the field of pay Course Stadium aftertaking a hard hit during a Bengals game.
There's no sugarcoating it. His heartstopped beating, he basically died.
Hamlin spoke at a news conference.I'm blessed to have a wonderful medical staff,
wonderful wonderful trainers here who treat mewith the care of their children,

(30:07):
and that ten to eleven carriage justgives me confidence, faith, strength,
just all the wonderful things, youknow, just to keep going in this
journey that I've been on so far. This event was life changing, but
it's not the end of my story. So I'm here to announce that I
plan on making a comeback to theNFL. Hamlin confirmed what many had long
suspected, commocio cortis led to hiscollapse. The American Heart Association says that

(30:33):
leads to cardiac arrest following a blowto the chest. That's time just right
or wrong if you think about itthat way. Commodio cortis is the leading
cause of death in youth and youthathletes across all sports. So that's something
I personally will be taking a stepinto make a change. And also with

(30:55):
that being said, you know theAU, the awareness around CPR, and
the access to a these have beenlower in that number as well. Hamlin
is eager to get back on thefield. The FDA made changes this week
to simplify getting vaccinated for COVID,and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
has signed off on it. Theagencies say adults older than sixty five can

(31:17):
get a second booster at least fourmonths after their last dose, and the
updated vaccine developed for omicron variants canbe used as the initial vaccine instead of
the vaccines that were produced at thebeginning of the pandemic. It's not yet
known whether younger adults and children willbe allowed to get additional doses of the
omicron vaccine. The FDA plans tolook at that later this year. Comedian

(31:40):
Ray Romano from the show Everybody LovesRaymond You remember him, I'm Sure,
revealed this week that he may havedied from a quote widowmaker heart attack had
doctors not put a stent in toopen his main artery. Romano said that
he had ninety percent blockage in thatmain artery after battling high cholesterol for years
and not taking medications called statins totreat it. If you like music,

(32:04):
listening to it, or playing itgood news, it might just slow down
dementia. Researchers at the University ofSwitzerland and Geneva studied one hundred thirty two
adults between the ages of sixty twoand seventy eight. Some were retired and
all were healthy. Study participants splitthe group into two and had them take
classes piano playing and musical awareness.The researchers found listening to music appeared to

(32:30):
increase gray matter in the brain,which helps the brain remain sharp. There
are new concerns over kids abusing ADHDmedications. In a new study, GEMA
Network Open published a study which foundas many as one in four kids said
they used drugs such as Riddlin oradderall without a prescription. Rittlin and adderall

(32:50):
are stimulants and you have to havea prescription. You even have to show
your ID when you pick those upat the pharmacy because they are controlled substances.
Medical uses of stimulants such as Riddlinand adderall include getting a recreational high
or to stay awake, but misusecan cause psychosis, anger, paranoia,
and even death by overdose. GolferTiger Woods had another surgery on his ankle

(33:15):
after dropping out of the Masters.Woods posted on his Twitter account that he
had surgery this week. It wasa subtailor fusion procedure to address post traumatic
arthritis from a previous fracture. Basically, doctors put screws in part of his
ankle, which will limit his rangeof motion. Woods was seriously injured in
a crash back in twenty twenty oneand has had issues since. It's not

(33:37):
clear weather Woods we'll be able toreturn to the golf course following this surgery.
But the surgery was called a successand he is recovering. Up next
a new drug on the streets that'skilling people. It's a big concern.
Stay tuned. I'm Anginette Levy andyou're listening to Simply Medicine on fifty five
krc the talk station. I'm AginetteLevy and you're listening to Simply Medicine on

(34:04):
fifty five krc B talk station.We've talked a lot on this show about
fentanyl, the street variety of fentanyl, not the stuff you're given at the
hospital for pain, and it seemsto be getting worse all of the time.
The drug dealers, they put thesedrugs in there to help cut them
and make them make the fentyl moreaddictive than it already is. And the
latest drug that's out there mixed inwith the fentanyl is called xylazine, and

(34:29):
it's causing a lot of concern amongpeople in the business of keeping drugs off
the streets. Joining me to discussthis as somebody who's been on the show
before, Jason Schumacher of the Cincinnatioffice, Dayton office, Southwest Ohio region
of the DA. So, Jason, welcome back to Simply Medicine. Hey,
thanks for having us. It's suchan important message and we appreciate you

(34:51):
helping us spread the word. Yeah, most definitely, it's very important.
So fentanyl, you know, it'sout on the street. It's what's mixed
with heroin, and it's basically whatheroin is any more these days. So
tell us what zila zine is andwhere it came from. Yeah, you're
you're correct. So fentanyl first,I'll start with fentanyl quick is by far

(35:14):
the deadliest drug that we've ever seenin this country, and it is killing
people at at an alarming rate.What's really scary for us that the DA
is we know that as deadly asas fentanyl is, Zilah's zylazine connected or
mixed with fentanyl is even deadlier.So it's it's extremely scary and it's important

(35:37):
everybody becomes aware of this threat thatwe're seen in the US. Where does
silencing come from? I mean,is it actually a real drug or what
is it? It is? It'sit's not intended for humans. So zilazine
it's a very powerful non opiate opiatedrug. That's actually it's approved by the
FDA for vein veterinarian youth. Sowe see it a lot for like large

(36:01):
animals and things like that the vetswill use, but it certainly isn't intended
for for humans. And unfortunately,uh, you know, drug trafficking organizations
are are using this drug because it'spowerful and it's extremely potent, and drug
drug customers if you will, orthose that are buying the drugs, they

(36:22):
get hooked on this drug, sothey're driving addiction and and unfortunately killing hundreds
of thousands of Americans. Where arethey getting the xylazine to put it in?
There? Is it an illicit varietylike fentyl is with the different forms
of it and analogs. Yeah,so it's it's primarily they can get it
from China. I mean, youcan order it online, like I said,

(36:43):
so typically we'll see, um,you know, you can buy it
on different pet you know sites,and things like that. Now it's intended
again for vets, but there's alsoit's become diverted and you can buy it
online through different sources. So youknow, here at the DA, we're
working very hard to make this acontrolled substance, which is going to put

(37:05):
many more restrictions on the shipment ofit, the importation, as well as
the penalties to possess it. Weare here talking with Jason Schumacher. He
is the assistant head of the DAoffice here in the Cincinnati area, Dayton
area, southwest Ohio in northern Kentucky, and we are talking about xylazine.
It's being put into fentanyl and it'sgetting out on the street. So the

(37:30):
silazine is meant for animals. Sowhen it's put into the fentanyl that people
are then using for drugs, youknow, you know, drug addicts are
using this, what happens? What'sthe impact? Yeah, So oftentimes people
have no idea when they you know, in several several ways, right with
whether it be fake pills that arelaced with fentanyl or zylazine, they have

(37:52):
no idea that they're getting it.And it's such a small amount that is
killing and poisoning Americans. So whatthey'll do is is these organizations, what
they're doing is they're driving addiction inAmerica. And at the end of the
day, a lot of the questionsthat I've gotten is why would they do
this if they know that they're killingpeople from the from these drugs. Well,

(38:14):
it's simple they number one, theydon't care. And number two,
if the drug doesn't kill you,what's going to happen is it's going to
drive addiction. You're going to comeback and you're gonna be a repeated customer
and you're gonna buy more and moreand eventually it will kill you. But
they have such a way of targetingyoung adults and children in that with the

(38:37):
social media site. So it's it'ssomething that again we have to be aware
of this. Parents and that haveloved ones, You've got to talk to
them. And I understand there isno safe pill anymore at all unless it's
prescribed by a doctor and got takein receipt from a pharmacy. And that's
really the message here. You know, maybe people who are struggling with the

(39:00):
addiction are listening to this, butmost people who are struggling with addiction or
you don't want your loved one strugglingwith addiction. You know somebody who either
is struggling with it or you havekids and stuff like that. So that's
really the point here is to havethat conversation. It is, and you
know what many people don't really understandis our DA laboratories, we know that

(39:22):
six out of ten pills, sixout of ten pills that these children they
believe that they're buying an oxycodon orpercoset or adderall, and it looks legitimate.
I could not tell the difference bylooking at one of these pills,
but six out of ten we knowcontain a lethal dose of fentanyl. And
as I said, what we've seennow the threat is this these pills.

(39:46):
Other drugs, cocaine, heroin arealso we are finding a xylazine in those
drugs as well, which again ismore powerful than fentanyl and more dangerous,
and we're seeing unfortunately more people die. Well, Jason, we appreciate you
coming back on to talk about this. There's a lot more that we could
talk about. Those counterfeit. Counterfeitpills are a big concern. We've talked

(40:07):
about that before. So let's justhope that people listening are are aware of
this and can talk with their kidsor loved ones about it, because,
as you said, there's there's nosafe pill. There's nine. Thank you
so much again, and please,if you ever have questions or concerns,
you can always go to da dotgov and there is a lot of a

(40:28):
lot of information to help educate yourselfand just be prepared and spread the awareness
so we can help people. Andthat's it for this edition of Simply Medicine.
If you've missed any part of thisshow or the other shows we have
the podcast, log onto the iHeartapp and put in simply Medicine. The
show will pop right up. We'realready working on next week's show. We'll
be talking about atrial fibrillation and anew treatment being used in the Cincinnati area

(40:52):
for it. A fib is scarystuff. I went into it once.
It's it's terrible. So we hopeyou have a safe week and a healthy
week, and we'll see you backhere next week. I'm Injinet Levy and
this is Simply Medicine on fifty fiveKRC, the talk station