Tag: marijuana

Concussion Test // Pot & Pain Meds // Chords and Codons

 

Romberg testConcussion Test (Starts 1:00)  David Howell is chief researcher at Children’s Hospital Colorado.  Howell says the century old Romberg Balance Test can help evaluate how long a child will need therapeutic intervention after a blow to the brain.

 

CannabisPot & Pain Meds (Starts 7:00 )  Mark Twardowski is doctor in Grand Junction who does endoscopic procedures that include pain medications.  Twardowski has just published an analysis that shows his patients who use marijuana need more pain medication and sedation during a procedure, such as a colonoscopy, compared to patients who do not report having used marijuana.  GO HERE FOR INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

 

Chords and CodonsChords and Codons (Starts )  Fulbright Scholar Colin Campbell is a scientist who specializes in spectroscopy.  He also composes songs that turn science data into music.  Today (April 16th) at 5:30, Campbell’s songs will be part of a performance at CU-Boulder’s Biofrontiers Institute in the Butcher Auditorium.

 

Hosts/Producer/Engineer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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Clinical Trials Test MDMA as PTSD Treatment

Artwork credit: MDMA trial participant Allison Heistand-Phelps
Artwork credit: MDMA trial participant Allison Heistand-Phelps

This week on How on Earth host Susan Moran interviews two investigators of FDA-approved clinical trials testing the efficacy and safety of the illegal drug MDMA — known in an altered form as Ecstasy or Molly — as a treatment (along with psychotherapy sessions) for Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Our guests are Marcela Ot’alora and Bruce Poulter, investigators of the Colorado trial. Marcela is a licensed psychotherapist and Bruce is a registered nurse with a masters degree in public health

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that affects up to one in 12 people in the United States, and it’s at least as common in some other countries. It is a serious, and costly, public health problem. If the trials are successful,  MDMA, which has its critics, could become commercially available as a medically prescribed treatment by 2021. The trials are being funded by a nonprofit organization, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which promotes careful and beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:08 — 24.8MB)

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