Mark's Musings - February 4

Below is an aggregation of the stories I posted on LinkedIn since my last edition. I curate them through the prism of an "intersection of chronic pain and appropriate treatment" and so they come attached with my opinion.

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The one word that carries so much weight in the cancer experience (95 views)

That one word - Diminished ("made smaller or lesser") - can be applicable if you substitute #ChronicPain for #Cancer. The inability to do what you once did can have a BIG emotional and psychological impact. If you're in that situation -- alongside other descriptive words like Helpless, Angry, Depressed, Isolated, Embarrassed - reach out for help. Don't let those words define you. What makes "diminished" even more dangerous is when it's not just about the present but the foreseeable future. How do you deal with a long-term situation where you can't do what you used to do / want to do? The answer is to strive to make the "new normal" the best it can be. I know many people who have done just that, and in most cases their "new normal" - albeit different - is even better than their "old normal." If you're having a hard time with it, seek a professional that can offer Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you "learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their inner emotions and, instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent them from moving forward in their lives."

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Employers’ dream of controlling health costs turns to workers’ sleep (172 views)

"About 1 in 4 large employers offer programs to help workers get better sleep and more than half plan to implement such efforts by 2021." Are you among that number? If not, shouldn't you be? While the evidence on cost savings from #wellness programs is still unclear, the two studies cited in this article about employers offering diagnosis and treatment for sleep apnea clearly show health and cost benefits. Higher productivity from people fully cognitively & emotionally engaged at work (which is impossible when sleep deprived) seems like a pretty obvious benefit to me. "Analysis of data from more than 150,000 employed adults" concluded that 36 percent had inadequate sleep (7 hours or less). Why does that matter? "Inadequate sleep is associated with mild to severe physical and mental health problems, injury, loss of productivity, and premature mortality." But if you're an employer of one of these professions ...

"In 2018, professions with the highest levels of poor sleep included the police and military (50%), health care support occupations (45%), transport and material moving (41%), and production occupations (41%)"

... You should be especially diligent in helping your employees get adequate sleep. Given their responsibilities, being sleep deprived could be a matter of life or death (for them and those around them).

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Marijuana legalization is about to have a huge year (301 views)

An interesting overview of what may happen this year to continue pushing forward the legalization of #cannabis, both medical and recreational, around the country. Maybe as many as 18 states, including some you might not expect like Arkansas and North Dakota. With 66-67% of polled Americans supporting #marijuana legalization, the question may be more about "when" and not "if". The states potentially in play include:

1. Illinois (recreational marijuana legalized effective January 1 and they had a big first week)
2. New York, New Mexico, Connecticut, and Rhode Island (recreational legalization by their legislatures)
3. Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota (recreational legalization by ballot initiative)
4. Idaho, Mississippi, Nebraska, and South Dakota (medical marijuana)
5. Virginia (decriminalize recreational use)

There are obviously a lot of days left in 2020 where none / some / all of the above happens. But this fact is irrefutable: Love it or hate it, marijuana has been NORMLized.

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What's a normal resting heart rate? (745 views)

Do you know what your resting heart rate is? Normal is in the range of 60-100 beats per minute. Fitbit shows my average for January is 60 and for the past 12 months is 59. "A lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness" so knowing yours is an important gauge of your heart health. And the best way to promote heart health is to #exercise regularly, even (especially) if you're in #ChronicPain. "Consult your doctor if your resting heart rate is consistently above 100 beats a minute (tachycardia) or if you're not a trained athlete and your resting heart rate is below 60 beats a minute (bradycardia) — especially if you have other signs or symptoms, such as fainting, dizziness or shortness of breath."

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Intrinsic Motivation (315 views)

Great article from Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims (aka David Langham, Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims at the Division of Administrative Hearings). Some people are more naturally "intrinsically motivated" while others can build it up over time thru various circumstances. Ultimately it comes down to doing something because you WANT to, not because you HAVE to. Knowing your purpose in life and then aligning everything you do to that will create motivation. When it comes to #ChronicPain, that means doing the little things - the minute-by-minute details - right. Stretching hurts. Not eating that dessert is a bummer. Practicing gratitude may not be natural. But doing them - even (especially) when nobody else is looking - means it's now an intrinsic ("belonging naturally; essential") part of your life. Find what gives your life meaning. Then. Do. It.

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Your Mind Has the Power to Relieve Pain as Much as Morphine (50 views)

Thanks, Shan Padda, for sharing this. "Pain occurs in your brain — and can end there ... Any event becomes whatever my brain interprets and defines it to be." The brain is the most important pain management tool. Saying that used to be scary for #WorkersComp payers, but more and more are embracing that scientific fact and not just talking about it but paying for it. Not 100%, unfortunately, but our industry is making progress. Here's another important quote from the article - "It’s my interpretation of the conditions that make them bearable or not." The perception of pain, as much as the sensation of pain, is what sets up people to fight or flight / freeze. #BioPsychoSocialSpiritual #resilience

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How Insys Therapeutics Bribed Doctors and Made Millions (524 views)

The arrogance, lack of remorse and pure greed demonstrated in this video should make you sick. I cannot find a count of people that directly died from this no-longer-alleged unscrupulous behavior by Insys and their #fentanyl product Subsys. But the damage is obvious and their contributory role to the #opioid epidemic is unquestioned. While the sentencing is lower than prosecutors wanted (66 instead of 180 months for Kapoor, 33 instead of 132 months for Gurry), it certainly sends a message. This jail time does not un-break all that was broken, but it is a starting point for justice.

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One-third of hospitals now use imaging AI, survey finds: 3 things to know (132 views)

If I did the math right, half of all hospitals will have Artificial Intelligence assisting (replacing?) radiologists by 2022. And, interestingly, a majority (57%) see it's value "to assist in or improve the accuracy of diagnoses." Less mistakes = Better care.

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In addition, I published two blogposts:

• "Mark's Musings - January 27" on January 27
• "Medical Marijuana’s March on Society" on January 31 by WorkCompWire

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"It's Never the Wrong Time to do the Right Thing" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

#PreventTheMess + #CleanUpTheMess = The Answer.