The drug and medical device database company First Databank has partnered with Amazon Alexa to allow consumers to ask the device more specific information about a drug and its side effects.

Consumers can now ask an Alexa device common drug-related questions such as "What is Tylenol?" or "What is the difference between Advil and Tylenol?" The answers are stored in the First Databank databases.

The Heavy Burden of Obesity Stigma

An international panel of experts representing major health organizations is calling for an end to the stigma faced by individuals who are obese. "Weight stigma and discrimination are pervasive and cause significant harm to affected individuals," they wrote in a statement published in the journal Nature Medicine.

They said such discrimination can lead to those with obesity having reduced access to care.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 42% of American adults are obese, almost 10% severely so.

Body of Knowledge

Charley horses are muscle spasms that occur (most commonly in the legs) when a muscle suddenly tightens and doesn't release for several minutes. Among the reasons: poor circulation, overexertion, insufficient stretching, dehydration and potassium deficiency.

Get Me That, Stat!

With the novel coronavirus spreading, rural hospitals, whose resources tend to be much more limited than urban hospitals, are at particular risk — as are their patients. The pandemic threat follows a year of bad news. In 2019, says the Chartis Center for Rural Health, 19 hospitals in rural America shut their doors — the most ever. Nearly 1 out of every 4 open rural hospitals has early warning signs that indicate it is also at risk of closing in the near future.

Mark Your Calendar

May is a busy month for staying aware. It is national awareness month for strokes, arthritis, cystic fibrosis, food allergies, healthy vision, hepatitis, lupus, melanoma/skin cancer prevention, mental health, celiac disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, physical fitness, teen pregnancy prevention and ultraviolet light, the last of which, of course, you can't see.

Counts

80,000: Average amount in dollars that female chairs of medical school departments are paid less than their male counterparts

Source: JAMA Network

Stories for the Waiting Room

Children born to mothers who both drank and smoked beyond the first trimester of pregnancy have a 12-fold increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, compared with those unexposed or only exposed in the first trimester of pregnancy, says a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant under 1 year of age. Many studies have shown that the risk of SIDS is increased by maternal smoking during pregnancy. Some studies have found that prenatal alcohol exposure, particularly from heavy drinking during pregnancy, can increase SIDS risk.

"Ours is the first large-scale prospective study to closely investigate the association between prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure and the risk of SIDS," said study author Dr. Amy J. Elliott of the Avera Research Institute Center for Pediatric & Community Research in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. "Our findings suggest that combined exposures to alcohol and tobacco have a synergistic effect on SIDS risk, given that dual exposure was associated with substantially higher risk than either exposure alone."

Phobia of the Week

Ergophobia: fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon's fear of operating.

Hypochondriac Guide

Retired husband syndrome is a psychosomatic, stress-induced condition that afflicts women, specifically older women whose recently retired husbands are now underfoot at home. It can actually result in physical ailments, such as stomach ulcers and rashes.

Observation

"A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree." — British-Irish writer and poet Spike Milligan (1918-2002)

Sum Body

Two ways to wear a face mask without fogging your glasses.

1. Place a facial tissue inside the mask. The tissue will absorb moisture coming out of your mouth that might otherwise be rerouted up to your glasses

2. Wash glasses in soapy water, and dry them. Some soap residue will remain, making it more difficult for moisture to form on the surfaces.

Fit to Be Tried

There are thousands of exercises, and you've only got one body, but that doesn't mean you can't try them all. Since you probably can't go to the gym right now, here are eight objects around the house that you can use as makeshift dumbbells (with estimated weight):

1. Standard brick (4.2 pounds)

2. Six-pack of canned beer (5)

3. Oxford American Dictionary, 3rd Edition (7)

4. Gallon of milk (8.6)

5. Cat (10, on average)

6. Bag of dry dog food (15)

7. Hardcover box set of "Harry Potter" books (20)

8. New car tire (25)

Med School

Q: Can flatulence spread disease?

A: Short answer: If you're wearing pants, no. Longer answer: Australian researchers actually asked this question after a nurse queried about whether gaseous surgeons might be contaminating operating rooms. The researchers asked colleagues to fart twice directly into Petri dishes, once wearing pants and once not. (Science is not always pretty.) The first Petri dish stayed pristine; the second grew bacteria overnight. The researchers did not analyze the kinds of bacteria.

Last words

"Let me die in the old uniform in which I fought my battles for freedom. May God forgive me for putting on another." — Benedict Arnold (1741-1801), an American military officer who notoriously defected to the British during the American Revolutionary War. He died of edema at the age of 60 and reportedly wanted to wear his old Continental Army uniform.

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.

Photo credit: HeikoAL at Pixabay